The altars of Republican Rome and Latium : sacrifice and the materiality of Roman religion / Claudia Moser, University of California.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moser, Claudia, author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rites and ceremonies--Rome.

Rites and ceremonies.

Sacrifice--Rome.

Sacrifice.

Altars--Rome.

Altars.

Rome (Empire).

Physical Description:

xvi, 209 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"In this book, Claudia Moser offers a new understanding of Roman religion in the Republican era through an exploration of sacrifice, its principal ritual. Examining the long-term imprint of sacrificial practices on the material world, she focuses on monumental altars as the site for the act of sacrifice. Piecing together the fragments of the complex kaleidoscope of Roman religious practices, she shows how they fit together in ways that shed new light on the characteristic diversity of Roman religion. This study reorients the study of sacrificial practice in three principal ways: first, by establishing the primacy of sacred architecture, rather than individual action, in determining religious authority; second, by viewing religious activities as haptic, structured experiences in the material world rather than as expressions of doctrinal, belief-based mentalities; and third, by considering Roman sacrifice as a local, site-specific ritual rather than as a single, monolithic practice." -- Publisher's description

In this book, Claudia Moser offers a new understanding of Roman religion in the Republican era through an exploration of sacrifice, its principal ritual. Examining the long-term imprint of sacrificial practices on the material world, she focuses on monumental altars as the site for the act of sacrifice. Piecing together the fragments of the complex kaleidoscope of Roman religious practices, she shows how they fit together in ways that shed new light on the characteristic diversity of Roman religion. This study reorients the study of sacrificial practice in three principal ways: first, by establishing the primacy of sacred architecture, rather than individual action, in determining religious authority; second, by viewing religious activities as haptic, structured experiences in the material world rather than as expressions of doctrinal, belief-based mentalities; and third, by considering Roman sacrifice as a local, site-specific ritual rather than as a single, monolithic practice.

Contents:

The organization and boundaries of sacred places

The economy of ritual: the standardization and heterogeneity of votive offerings

The seasonality of ritual: animal sacrifice

Material memory.

The economy of ritual: the site-specificity of votive offerings

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9781108428859

1108428851

9781108451130

1108451136

OCLC:

1043305485

Publisher Number:

40028910177