Author : Franz Cumont
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
Page : 186 pages
File Size : 24,37 MB
Release : 2023-09-07
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 3368928325
Reproduction of the original.
Author : Charles King
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 47,27 MB
Release : 2020-03-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1477320202
In ancient Rome, it was believed some humans were transformed into special, empowered beings after death. These deified dead, known as the manes, watched over and protected their surviving family members, possibly even extending those relatives’ lives. But unlike the Greek hero-cult, the worship of dead emperors, or the Christian saints, the manes were incredibly inclusive—enrolling even those without social clout, such as women and the poor, among Rome's deities. The Roman afterlife promised posthumous power in the world of the living. While the manes have often been glossed over in studies of Roman religion, this book brings their compelling story to the forefront, exploring their myriad forms and how their worship played out in the context of Roman religion’s daily practice. Exploring the place of the manes in Roman society, Charles King delves into Roman beliefs about their powers to sustain life and bring death to individuals or armies, examines the rituals the Romans performed to honor them, and reclaims the vital role the manes played in the ancient Roman afterlife.
Author : Franz Cumont
Publisher : New Haven Yale University Press 1922.
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 20,8 MB
Release : 1922
Category : History
ISBN :
Author : Outi Lehtipuu
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 376 pages
File Size : 20,9 MB
Release : 2007
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9004153012
This book studies in detail the afterlife scene in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31). The description of the afterlife is related, on the one hand, to the overall Hellenistic cultural milieu and, on the other hand, to Luke's eschatological views.
Author : Fritz Graf
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 42,28 MB
Release : 2007-06-11
Category : History
ISBN : 1134119674
Fascinating texts written on small gold tablets that were deposited in graves provide a unique source of information about what some Greeks and Romans believed regarding the fate that awaited them after death, and how they could influence it. These texts, dating from the late fifth century BCE to the second century CE, have been part of the scholarly debate on ancient afterlife beliefs since the end of the nineteenth century. Recent finds and analysis of the texts have reshaped our understanding of their purpose and of the perceived afterlife. The tablets belonged to those who had been initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus Bacchius and relied heavily upon myths narrated in poems ascribed to the mythical singer Orpheus. After providing the Greek text and a translation of all the available tablets, the authors analyze their role in the mysteries of Dionysus, and present an outline of the myths concerning the origins of humanity and of the sacred texts that the Greeks ascribed to Orpheus. Related ancient texts are also appended in English translations. Providing the first book-length edition and discussion of these enigmatic texts in English, and their first English translation, this book is essential to the study of ancient Greek religion.
Author : Valerie M. Warrior
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 14,77 MB
Release : 2006-10-16
Category : History
ISBN : 1316264920
Examining sites that are familiar to many modern tourists, Valerie Warrior avoids imposing a modern perspective on the topic by using the testimony of the ancient Romans to describe traditional Roman religion. The ancient testimony recreates the social and historical contexts in which Roman religion was practised. It shows, for example, how, when confronted with a foreign cult, official traditional religion accepted the new cult with suitable modifications. Basic difficulties, however, arose with regard to the monotheism of the Jews and Christianity. Carefully integrated with the text are visual representations of divination, prayer, and sacrifice as depicted on monuments, coins, and inscriptions from public buildings and homes throughout the Roman world. Also included are epitaphs and humble votive offerings that illustrate the piety of individuals, and that reveal the prevalence of magic and the occult in the spiritual lives of the ancient Romans.
Author : Marianne Sághy
Publisher : Central European University Press
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 50,24 MB
Release : 2017-10-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9633862566
Do the terms 'pagan' and 'Christian,' 'transition from paganism to Christianity' still hold as explanatory devices to apply to the political, religious and cultural transformation experienced Empire-wise? Revisiting 'pagans' and 'Christians' in Late Antiquity has been a fertile site of scholarship in recent years: the paradigm shift in the interpretation of the relations between 'pagans' and 'Christians' replaced the old 'conflict model' with a subtler, complex approach and triggered the upsurge of new explanatory models such as multiculturalism, cohabitation, cooperation, identity, or group cohesion. This collection of essays, inscribes itself into the revisionist discussion of pagan-Christian relations over a broad territory and time-span, the Roman Empire from the fourth to the eighth century. A set of papers argues that if 'paganism' had never been fully extirpated or denied by the multiethnic educated elite that managed the Roman Empire, 'Christianity' came to be presented by the same elite as providing a way for a wider group of people to combine true philosophy and right religion. The speed with which this happened is just as remarkable as the long persistence of paganism after the sea-change of the fourth century that made Christianity the official religion of the State. For a long time afterwards, 'pagans' and 'Christians' lived 'in between' polytheistic and monotheist traditions and disputed Classical and non-Classical legacies.
Author : Edward J. Watts
Publisher : University of California Press
Page : 348 pages
File Size : 16,29 MB
Release : 2020-08-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0520379225
A compelling history of radical transformation in the fourth-century--when Christianity decimated the practices of traditional pagan religion in the Roman Empire. The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth century’s dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniors’ interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the "final pagan generation"—born to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand years—proved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them. A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.
Author : J. M. C. Toynbee
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 49,92 MB
Release : 1996-10-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9780801855078
The most comprehensive book on Roman burial practices—now available in paperback Never before available in paperback, J. M. C. Toynbee's study is the most comprehensive book on Roman burial practices. Ranging throughout the Roman world from Rome to Pompeii, Britain to Jerusalem—Toynbee's book examines funeral practices from a wide variety of perspectives. First, Toynbee examines Roman beliefs about death and the afterlife, revealing that few Romans believed in the Elysian Fields of poetic invention. She then describes the rituals associated with burial and mourning: commemorative meals at the gravesite were common, with some tombs having built-in kitchens and rooms where family could stay overnight. Toynbee also includes descriptions of the layout and finances of cemeteries, the tomb types of both the rich and poor, and the types of grave markers and monuments as well as tomb furnishings.
Author : Franz Valery Marie Cumont
Publisher : Pantianos Classics
Page : 144 pages
File Size : 48,21 MB
Release : 2020-09-07
Category :
ISBN : 9781789872705
The ancient Romans held complex beliefs in the afterlife, reflected in their religious rites, pantheon of Gods, and ideas expressed in folklore and seasonal festivals. A superb explainer of concepts commonly overlooked by students of antiquity, Franz Cumont seeks to demystify and clarify how important religion was to the Roman people. The life of the populace revolved around the celebration of yearly festivals; the Gods were considered to bring both favor and misfortune upon the society, and keeping the deities pleased occupied the minds of many citizens. This is no truer than in the burial and funerary process: complex traditions, use of certain tools and rituals for the dead were crucial for the cohesion of Roman communities. Roman society was heavily influenced by Greece, yet the author is keen to distinguish between Greek-inspired practices and those introduced by Romans or from other traditions farther afield. Cumont discusses how the funeral banquet - a feast whereby the dead person is commemorated - originated from Egyptian tradition; the sacred meal taken to honor the dead and to help their journey to the next world. The notion of the soul's transit to an afterlife is explained in intimate detail, with surviving sources by Roman scholars, plus archaeological findings, supporting Cumont's accounts. In all, the reader can gain herein a unique impression of the interplay of ancient religious traditions as reflected in Roman life.
