The Gods of Ancient Rome: Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times [Paperback]

Robert Turcan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415929741 | ISBN-13: 978-0415929745 | Publication Date: March 23, 2001 | Edition: 1

This book is a vivid account of what their gods meant to the Romans from archaic times to late antiquity, and an exploration of the rites and rituals connected with them. After an extensive introduction into the nature of classical religion, this book is divided into three main parts: religions of the family and land; religions of the city; and religions of the empire. The book ends with the rise and impact of Christianity. Its urbane style and lightly worn scholarship will appeal to students as well as non-academic readers with a serious interest in the classical world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The style adopted by Turcan is accessible and readable. His work covers an immense amount of ground in a very small space. At times his abundance of examples is breathtaking. The reader is given a very real sense of the profusion of rites and rituals that accompanied everyday life in private and in public in the Roman world."
-Alex Nice, University of the Witwatersrand

About the Author

Robert Turcan is Professor of Roman History at the Sorbonne. He has published widely on Roman antiquity, mainly on aspects of religion. His books include Cults of the Roman Empire (1996) and Mithras et le Mithriacisme (1991).

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (March 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415929741
• ISBN-13: 978-0415929745
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A short but surprisingly detailed view of Roman Polytheism, February 19, 2005

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gods of Ancient Rome: Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times (Paperback)

The Roman Pagans were a deeply religious people. Turcan's book shows us a great deal about how they worshipped and what rituals they observed. And this book gives even a secular reader a chance to make some sense of it.

Unlike the monotheist god, Roman Goddesses and Gods are perfections of actual attributes. Romans hailed the Gods and Goddesses casually. But their rituals were often serious and complex, for they had to instill a sense of the importance of a vow to be worthy of a particular Goddess or God. And Turcan's book shows us some of these rituals in detail.

As Turcan mentions, when the Romans stopped worshipping the Gods and Goddesses, the Roman Empire quickly fell apart. I think the Christian religion that replaced the Pantheon with a nailed corpse gave Romans little reason to defend their Empire. The new religion was too nihilistic and atheistic. Turcan does not appear to agree with me about this, but he does cite Zosimus who did hold Constantine's failure to celebrate the Secular Games in 314 AD to be responsible for the ruin of the Empire. Turcan also explains that by celebrating the Secular Games, the Romans were in effect "taking out a new 'lease' with the gods."

This is a scholarly and interesting work. I recommend it to Pagans and non-Pagans alike.

5.0 out of 5 stars Personable and Efficient, January 5, 2012

By 

sccarroll - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Gods of Ancient Rome: Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times (Hardcover)

Amaranth Books did an excellent job of keeping in contact with me, and responded to my order quicker than anyone I have ever bought from. The book arrived exactly as it was described and they even included a personalized message thanking me for ordering. I originally chose to order this book from Amaranth on a whim, but now I will always look to see if they have my book before I look anywhere else.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Average Reader, August 25, 2003

By 

W. Szabo Verzoc (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gods of Ancient Rome: Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times (Paperback)

I recently used this book as part of a Summer-session university course on the Archaeology of Religion. Although it contains a healthy amount of information about little known facts concerning Roman religion, it is not for the average reader. Originally written in French, the translation is somewhat poor and confusing.

The majority of the class was at a loss due to the complexity of the book. Even my somewhat rudimentary knowledge of Roman religion was barely adequate to follow the writings. The book lacks adequate chapter breaks resulting in the reader being forced to read the entirety in order not to lose his place.

It says a lot when the professor privately told me that it was a poor choice for a textbook.