Publisher's Synopsis
Series information: Several books already commissioned in the "Ancient Cultures" series will be folded into the "Religions in the Ancient World" series:Religions of the Roman Empire - James Rives, York UniversityAncient Greek Religion - Jon Mikalson, University of Virginia We are also planing the following volumes for the series:Ancient Egyptian Religion - David Silverman, University of Pennsylvania (proposal out for review)Ancient Egyptian Mythology - Ronald Leprohon, University of Toronto (preparing proposal)Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt - Steven Snape, University of Liverpool (preparing proposal) It is impossible to understand Roman society and culture without understanding Roman religion. For Romans during the Republic, their relationship with the gods was of the utmost importance, and many rituals and ceremonies were performed to ensure the gods' approval. Unlike Christianity, orthodox belief was of relatively little importance. Instead, the gods demanded correct action, in the form of sacrifice and ritual.;Despite the wealth of specialist articles and monographs published in this field in the last decade and a half, there has been no sign of a textbook that does justice to this rich, diverse and increasingly popular topic. This book will take advantage of that fact. A smaller handbook than its chief competitors, Religion of the Roman Republic presents the religion of the Romans in concrete terms, focusing on the religious culture of the Republic. Providing a complete study of public and private religion, the book integrates picture and text in order to facilitate learning and spark enthusiasm in the reader. Another major feature of the text will be its explanation of the many linguistic complexities that accompany Roman study via boxes or sidebars containing definitions of requisite Latin words and phrases. Likewise, boxes with anecdotes or details will serve the dual purpose of breaking up the page and giving point to more general ideas discussed in the main text.
