An Introduction to Roman Religion

Scheid presents his own conclusions while contrasting (relatively) recent scholarship to more traditional views. I should note that this is not the place to learn about the characteristics of the traditional Roman gods, etc., but is rather an overview of what traditional Roman religion consisted it, how it was practiced, and how it was integrated in public and private life. Concise and clearly written. If you're only going to read one book on the subject, this is it.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the religion of the Romans from the Republic to the Empire. It is not a speculative work, but deals with rituals and civic duties. The relationship between the Gods and the citizen's of Rome was a mutually beneficial one. This book does not contain any of the Roman's theology.

An excellent book for beginners. Focuses on the State cult a bit overmuch, but still very good. If you are interested in this topic you should by no means confine yourself to this book, but regard it as an excellent starter text.

This s a good first entry into the intricacies of Roman religion, explaining who is who and how they fit into the big picture in terms of the gods and their priesthoods. It gives insights into some of the practices and rituals that accompanied worship of specific deities. It also gives some information about the introduction of foreign cults to Rome.

A bit dry, reads like a textbook (which is frustrating, as it could so easily have been reworded to be more engaging). But the material is great! The last chapter is particularly interesting and in all it paints a very comprehensive picture of a very different kind of religion than we have today in the west. A good introduction!

With over a thousand books in my library on ancient religion, this one stands out from most of the others. if i had to save just 5 books from that collection, this would be one of them. I tend to write in the margins and take many notes through out my reading, but this one remains empty simply because i would have underlined it all and quickly ran out of space for notes. Scheid has the rare talent of cutting out the superfluous and keeping the true weight of the subject. there is no filler in this text, only valuable and hard to find content.

Fascinating, extremely well-written, from one of the world's top scholars of the field. A must.

Quality

While the text is informative rather than didactic, it is difficult not to come away with a far greater respect for the Roman attitude to 'religion', and to see it as an attempt not unlike that of the 'secular' United States to focus on what was important for the people in their day to day lives (later interpreted as what was important for the Emperor). Against which Christianity presented a 3rd party 'superstition', and contrary to that dogma, a Roman in his 'secular' states was entitled to believe whatever he chose.The process of religion was what mattered, very much like modern taxation: you can believe what you like, as long as you pay your taxes. In these terms, Romans kept the gods on good terms through 'communal meals' (a ritually killed beast subsequently eaten as part of the ceremony).The author presents his material cleanly and very effectively, focusing only on the Roman aspect of things, but paradoxically that only makes it more intriguing to notice and reflect upon the ramifications for those of us brought up with a deeply ingrained Christian orthodoxy, even if we consider ourselves not-strictly-Christian, being atheists, spiritualists, scientists, whatever.Excellent book.

This is a very useful and very informative book, which seeks to enlighten the general reader on the aspects of Roman religion that may seem familiar to us, but about which we really probably know very little.The book is divided into five parts:Part I talks about the methodology of investigating Roman religion, the definitions and concepts, and the importance of rituals and their formulas.Part II talks of structures - divisions of time into calendars, rituals and regular festivals; and divisions of space into temples, sanctuaries and other sacred places.Part III investigates the rituals undertaken - sacrifices, auspices, divinations and augurs.In Part IV we look at the priestly figures - the colleges of priests, their numbers and roles; and the Roman gods (some of them).Part V takes all this information previously considered and reviews how Roman religion can be interpreted - the importance of ritual rather than dogma in Roman religion, and how the religion of the Roman people could be exported, compared with religions of neighbouring countries, and carried into a civic role with the growth of cities.Each chapter is broken up very helpfully into sections and subsections, allowing a reader to not be overwhelmed with so much information, and for each section to be read and digested at the reader's own pace. The terms, many of them unfamiliar or Latin, are explained and clarified. Tables of information, and a chronological timeframe are also included in the book.I found this book extremely helpful as an introduction to studying Roman religion. Highly recommended.