The Matter Of The Gods

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What did the Romans know about their gods? Why did they perform the rituals of their religion, and what motivated them to change those rituals? To these questions Clifford Ando proposes simple answers: In contrast to ancient Christians, who had faith, Romans had knowledge, and their knowledge was empirical in orientation. In other words, the Romans acquired knowledge of the gods through observation of the world, and their rituals were maintained or modified in light of what they learned. After a preface and opening chapters that lay out this argument about knowledge and place it in context, The Matter of the Gods pursues a variety of themes essential to the study of religion in history.

E-Book Content

The Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature In honor of beloved Virgil— “O degli altri poeti onore e lume . . .” —Dante, Inferno The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Classical Literature Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Foundation, which is supported by a major gift from Joan Palevsky. the matter of the gods the transformation of the classical heritage Peter Brown, General Editor I II Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity, by Sabine G. MacCormack Synesius of Cyrene: Philosopher-Bishop, by Jay Alan Bregman III Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity, by Kenneth G. Holum IV John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Century, by Robert L. Wilken V Biography in Late Antiquity: The Quest for the Holy Man, by Patricia Cox VI Pachomius: The Making of a Community in Fourth-Century Egypt, by Philip Rousseau VII Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, by A. P. Kazhdan and Ann Wharton Epstein VIII Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul, by Raymond Van Dam IX X XI Homer the Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and the Growth of the Epic Tradition, by Robert Lamberton Procopius and the Sixth Century, by Averil Cameron Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity, by Robert A. Kaster XII Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East, a.d. 180–275, by Kenneth Harl XIII Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, introduced and translated by Sebastian P. Brock and Susan Ashbrook Harvey XIV Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection, by Carole Straw XV “Apex Omnium”: Religion in the “Res gestae” of Ammianus, by R. L. Rike XVI Dioscorus of Aphrodito: His Work and His World, by Leslie S. B. MacCoull XVII XVIII On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity, by Michele Renee Salzman Asceticism and Society in Crisis: John of Ephesus and “The Lives of the Eastern Saints,” by Susan Ashbrook Harvey XIX XX XXI Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius, by Alan Cameron and Jacqueline Long, with a contribution by Lee Sherry Basil of Caesarea, by Philip Rousseau In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini, with introduction, translation, and historical commentary by C. E. V. Nixon and Barbara Saylor Rodgers XXII Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital, by Neil B. McLynn XXIII Public Disputation, Power, and Social Order in Late Antiquity, by Richard Lim XXIV The Making of a Heretic: Gender, Authority, and the Priscillianist Controversy, by Virginia Burrus XXV Symeon the Holy Fool: Leontius’s “Life” and the Late Antique City, by Derek Krueger XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX The Shadows of Poetry: Vergil in the Mind
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