Religious Dynamics in Hispania: Cult Places, Identities, and Cultural Change in a Microcontinent

Description

The Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula, a land already inhabited by peoples who were characterized by cultural, ethnic, and social diversity, was one of the longest and most complex colonial processes to have occurred in the Roman world. Different political entities saw integration and interaction taking place at different speeds and via different mechanisms, and these differences had a profound impact on the development of religious dynamics and cultural change across the peninsula. This edited volume draws together contributions from a number of experts in the field in order to deepen our understanding of religious phenomena in Hispania - in particular cult, rituals, mechanisms, and spaces - and in doing so, to offer new insights into processes of cultural and social change, and the impact of conquest and colonialism. The chapters gathered here identify how forms of religious interaction occurred at different levels and scales, and explore the ways in which religion and religious practices underpinned the construction, development, and renegotiation of different identities. Through this approach they shed important light on the crucial role of cultic practices in defining cultural and social identity as Iberia's provincial communities were drawn into the Roman world. Table of Contents List of Illustrations Abbreviations Alejandro G. Sinner and Víctor Revilla Calvo. 1. Introduction Part I. Rituals in Context: Spaces, Scenarios, and Landscapes Ignasi Grau Mira. 2. Ritual Practices and Sacred Landscapes Thomas G. Schattner. 3. The Sacred Landscape of Western Hispania in the Roman Period Marc Mayer Olivé. 4. Rock Sanctuaries and Roman Epigraphy Alejandro G. Sinner and Victor Revilla Calvo. 5. Religious Practices and Rural Cult Sites in Hispania Citerior Jonathan Edmondson. 6. Roman Colonies and Local Cults María Pérez Ruiz. 7. Private Beliefs, Domestic Religion, and Identity in Hispania Part II. Strategies, Mechanisms, and Practice: Collective Identities and Private Agency Greg Woolf. 8. Religion and Identity on a Microcontinent Marta Campo Díaz. 9. Coinage and the Religious Beliefs of the Peoples of Hispania Ana Mayorgas. 10. Rome’s Memory and Ritual in Hispania Víctor Revilla Calvo. 11. Roman Past and Local Identities Francisco Marco Simón. 12. The Imperial Cult and Consensus Rituals in Hispania Matthew M. McCarty and Kimberly Edher. 13. Localizing ‘Oriental Cults’ in Roman Iberia Bibliography Index of Sources Epigraphic Sources Index of Names