Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This fascinating, well-written book provides a clear, and at times lively, introduction/overview of religion in the Roman Empire from Caesar to Constantine. James Rives walks the reader through the variety of beliefs/worship practices from North Africa to Britain, explores the ways in which local deities and practices travelled through the empire and how Roman deities were thought to interact with them, explains the differences among practice, myth, belief and art, and considers Roman imperial attitudes toward the multiplicity of religions under its rule. He does such a smooth job of organizing that it feels as if the information naturally falls into the categories he provides, and while this certainly isn't pop history it is very clearly written, with no jargon, and with interesting details and accounts of people's interactions with their gods/goddesses/lares/sacred sites. He concludes with an account of early Christianity that is remarkably unbiased--this is not a triumphal narrative of the rise of monotheism by any means--and he leaves the reader to consider what was lost, and what has been misunderstood, about a world where caves, groves and rivers were places where anyone could pause and talk to the sacred without intermediary. He also provides an excellent glossary of assorted deities and a very complete bibliography, as well as annotated bib. notes at the end of each chapter for further reading. I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in the subject; as said, it's not a pop history, but certainly accessible to the educated lay reader (it reminded me a bit of Reuther's Goddesses and the Divine Feminine in terms of readibility/historically informed assessment of non-monotheist religion, and might appeal to anyone who enjoyed that book).
Click Here to see more reviews about: Religion in the Roman Empire (Blackwell Ancient Religions)
Get 28% OFF
Click here for more information about Religion in the Roman Empire (Blackwell Ancient Religions)
0 comments:
Post a Comment