Coping with Conflict – Ritual Action at the Core and on the Periphery of the Empire
Abstract
Thanks to new excavations, detailed analyses of find assemblages, and critical re-readings of Latin texts, the remains of ritual action in Rome and the Western provinces can now be more clearly identified.
Although there is no disputing that these are the material manifestation of orthopractic Roman religion, many questions regarding the exact interpretation and contextualization of the archaeological remains of the cult practices continue to exist. This is especially valid when looking for the motives behind sequenced or concentrated ritual activity – which situations triggered the erection of altars, the creation of ritual deposits or even the construction of a temple?
Using structured depositions as well as epigraphic and iconographic evidence in and around legionary fortresses and forts as a point of departure, this paper will demonstrate how religion connected Rome to its periphery in times of uncertainty. It will further show how specific events may have affected the frontier communities and which religious coping mechanisms they in turn adopted.
The combination of archaeological, epigraphic, and written sources illustrates how the omnipresence of conflict shaped religious experience in the Roman Empire.
Although there is no disputing that these are the material manifestation of orthopractic Roman religion, many questions regarding the exact interpretation and contextualization of the archaeological remains of the cult practices continue to exist. This is especially valid when looking for the motives behind sequenced or concentrated ritual activity – which situations triggered the erection of altars, the creation of ritual deposits or even the construction of a temple?
Using structured depositions as well as epigraphic and iconographic evidence in and around legionary fortresses and forts as a point of departure, this paper will demonstrate how religion connected Rome to its periphery in times of uncertainty. It will further show how specific events may have affected the frontier communities and which religious coping mechanisms they in turn adopted.
The combination of archaeological, epigraphic, and written sources illustrates how the omnipresence of conflict shaped religious experience in the Roman Empire.
Date Issued
2019-02-09
Publication Type
Conference Item
Subject(s)
Language(s)
en
Title of Event
Access(Rights)
metadata.only