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Full Description
The Peace of the Gods takes a new approach to the study of Roman elites' religious practices and beliefs, using current theories in psychology, sociology, and anthropology, as well as cultural and literary studies. Craige Champion focuses on what the elites of the Middle Republic (ca. 250-ca. 100 BCE) actually did in the religious sphere, rather than what they merely said or wrote about it, in order to provide a more nuanced and satisfying historical reconstruction of what their religion may have meant to those who commanded the Roman world and its imperial subjects. The book examines the nature and structure of the major priesthoods in Rome itself, Roman military commanders' religious behaviors in dangerous field conditions, and the state religion's acceptance or rejection of new cults and rituals in response to external events that benefited or threatened the Republic. According to a once-dominant but now-outmoded interpretation of Roman religion that goes back to the ancient Greek historian Polybius, the elites didn't believe in their gods but merely used religion to control the masses.
Using that interpretation as a counterfactual lens, Champion argues instead that Roman elites sincerely tried to maintain Rome's good fortune through a pax deorum or "peace of the gods." The result offers rich new insights into the role of religion in elite Roman life.
Contents
Preface ix Introduction Studying Elite Religion in the Middle Roman Republic xi 1 Elite-Instrumentalism: Persistence and Paradox 1 2 Domi: Priesthoods, Politics, and the People 23 3 Militiae: Commanders, Elite Religion, and Fear of Military Disaster 76 4 Domi et Militiae: Elite Religion at Rome in Response to External Triumphs and Crises 122 5 Understanding Elites' Religious Behaviors in the Middle Roman Republic 175 Epilogue 222 Acknowledgments 225 Bibliography 227 Abbreviations 227 Works Cited 228 General Index 247 Index Locorum 257
