ENGLISH

The Matter of the Gods: Religion and the Roman Empire

By Clifford Ando

Book information

Publisher
University of California Press
Year
2008
ISBN
9780520933651
DOI
10.1525/9780520933651
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
699 kB (715359 bytes)
Series
Transformation of the Classical Heritage; 44
Pages
270\266
Library
degruyter.com
Time added
2023-08-21 16:58:20

Description

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.

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