1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910463955503321

Autore

Ando Clifford <1969->

Titolo

The matter of the gods [[electronic resource] ] : religion and the Roman Empire / / Clifford Ando

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2008

ISBN

1-282-76225-7

9786612762253

0-520-93365-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (267 p.)

Collana

The Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature

The transformation of the classical heritage ; ; 44

Disciplina

292.07

Soggetti

HISTORY / Ancient / General

Electronic books.

Rome Religion

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-220) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Religion, law, and knowledge in classical rome -- Idols and their critics -- Interpretatio Romana -- Religion and Ius Publicum -- A religion for the empire -- Religion and imperialism at Rome -- The palladium and the Pentateuch.

Sommario/riassunto

What did the Romans know about their gods? Why did they perform the rituals of their religion, and what motivated them to change those rituals? To these questions Clifford Ando proposes simple answers: In contrast to ancient Christians, who had faith, Romans had knowledge, and their knowledge was empirical in orientation. In other words, the Romans acquired knowledge of the gods through observation of the world, and their rituals were maintained or modified in light of what they learned. After a preface and opening chapters that lay out this argument about knowledge and place it in context, The Matter of the Gods pursues a variety of themes essential to the study of religion in history.