Stealing from the gods : temple robbery in the Roman imagination / by Isabel K. Köster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Köster, Isabel K.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Latin literature--Religious aspects--History and criticism.

Latin literature.

Latin literature--Moral and ethical aspects--History and criticism.

Temples, Roman--Moral and ethical aspects--In literature.

Temples, Roman.

Robbery in literature--Religious aspects.

Robbery in literature.

Theft in literature--Religious aspects.

Theft in literature.

Robbery in literature--Moral and ethical aspects.

Theft in literature--Moral and ethical aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (293 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Temple robbery in the Roman imagination

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2026.

Summary:

Stealing from the Gods investigates how authors writing between the first century BCE and second century CE addressed the issue of temple robbery or sacrilegium. As a self-proclaimed empire of pious people, the Romans viewed temple robbery as deeply un-Roman and among the worst of offenses. On the other hand, given the constant financial pressures of warfare and administration, it was inevitable that the Romans would make use of the riches stored in sanctuaries. In order to resolve this dilemma, the Romans distinguished sharply between acceptable and unacceptable removals of sacred property. When those who conducted themselves as proper Romans plundered the property of the gods, their actions were for the good of the state. In contrast, the temple robber was viewed as a stranger to the norms of Roman society and an enemy of the state. Roman authors including Cicero, Caesar, Livy, Appian, and Pausanias present isolated, grotesque individuals whose actions have no bearing on the conduct of Romans as a whole, rendering temple robbery not a matter of collective responsibility, but of individual moral failure. By revealing how narratives of temple robbery are constructed from a literary perspective and how they inform discourses about military conquest and imperial rule, Isabel K. Köster shines a new light on how the Romans coped with the more pernicious aspects of their empire.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Note on Translations, Editions, and Abbreviations

Introduction

1. The Gods and Their Property

2. How to Write About a Temple Robbery

3. The Temple Robber's Itinerary

4. Rome's First Temple Robbery

5. The Sacred Life of Roman Plunder

6. Gods as Resources

Conclusion

Appendix: Robberies in Cicero's Verrines

Bibliography

Index Locorum

General Index.

Notes:

Title from eBook information screen..

Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-183) and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780472905416

OCLC:

1527920824