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Book Review - Religion and Society: Rituals, Resources and Identity in the Ancient Graeco-Roman World: The BOMOS-Conferences 2002-2005

Category: Book Reviews Author: Aikaterini-Illiana Rassia | Comment | GetCited Entry | Google Scholar Entry

Rasmussen, H., Rasmussen, S., Religion and Society: Rituals, Resources and Identity in the Ancient Graeco-Roman World : The BOMOS-Conferences 2002-2005, (Analecta Romana Instituti Danici Supplementum XL). Rome: Edizioni Quasar (2008). ISBN-13: 978-8871403717; 296 p. : ill., maps ; 30 cm.

Since its inauguration in 2001, the BOMOS network has embarked on a weighty project of conferences and publications exploring specific topics via interdisciplinary approaches in the field of ancient Graeco-Roman religions. The present volume under review brings together papers delivered at three conferences, organized by the BOMOS network between the years (2002-2005). Preceded by the editors’ excellent and succinct preface, the twenty-eight articles are presented in three thematic parts [i. Ritual and Cult, ii. Resources and Manpower, iii. Religion and Identity], which correspond to the three conferences respectively.

It would go beyond the scope of this review to offer a detailed synopsis of all the 28 papers collected in these three sections. On a general (and distinctly positive) note, this reviewer would like to emphasise that, for the main part, the contributions in question are concerned either with ancient evidence or with the material evidence from recent and older excavations concerning the ritual practices of Greco-Roman religion. The chapters that follow are arranged on broad thematic bases.

The first part, ‘Ritual and Cult’ is comprised of ten articles, representing the content of the conference ‘Ritual and Graeco-Roman Religions’, held at the University of Southern Denmark (17-20th April 2002). Firstly, Sørensen’s paper on ‘A Theory of Ritual’ (pp.13-22) surveys major ritual theories of the last century, concerning the concept of ‘sacrifice’ in ancient Graeco-Roman religion.

His main focus is on the Paris School, as it is evident by his emphasis on Vernant’s approach who points out the communicative function of animal sacrifice that separates men and gods and chaos from civilization (pp.18-19). It would be preferable, however, if he had mentioned also the other scholarly strand (e.g. Walter Burkert, Karl Meuli) foo¹ that situated the origin of the ritual form in Pre-Historic hunting rituals and the paradox of the rite of ‘sacrifice’ inside the ancient Greek culture that still needs re-evaluation.

It also tests the ‘animal sacrifice’ by comparing the adyton of Apollo’s temple in Delphi with the hearth of Vesta in Rome (pp.19-21). One of his very interesting remarks is that ‘Ritual pretends to operate at the turning point from which the future may be shaped.’ (p.21).

There are many strengths in the first part of the volume. For instance, Maehle’s paper on ‘Female Cult in the Struggle of the Orders’ (pp.61-70) takes as its theoretical model that women did participate in public life in matters of religion in ancient Rome, but their participation was conditioned by certain principles: (i) internal self-government (i.e. the exclusion of males from a number of rituals attests for women’s internal autonomy in religious practices), (ii) women were often called upon to perform rituals in crises periods for the state, (iii) The female cults were not identical with the male ideology and the so-called plebeian revolution enabled more freedom for upper-class women. The last two prerequisites are defined in relation to the goodwill of the males in power. To be more specific, women’s right to leave the household and serve in rituals was determined by their sexuality, namely, whether they were virgins, wives or mothers, and to what extent they had respective legal and religious rights. Interestingly, Maehle’s argumentative approach in this paper explicitly conceptualizes his theoretical approach: By looking into the women’s rights concerning ritual practices, he alludes that rituals should not be considered as a monolithic class. Instead, by distinguishing men and women in ritual performances, there is a high probability to engender their religious activities within a particular historical context (e.g. third-century Rome).

In the same section, Anders Holm Rasmussen’s paper on ‘Priest and Ritual in Ancient Greek Cult’ (pp.72-80), aims to highlight some structures concerning the relationship between priest and cult in the ancient Greek religion, like (i) the administration of the polis [i.e. the priests must be looked upon as civic magistrates], (ii) the division of labour between the priest and hieropoioi, the latter elected by lot by the Athenians (Aristotle, Ath. Pol. 54.6-7). Several priestly ranks had specific liturgical tasks (p.75). More significantly, on the basis of epigraphic evidence between different regions (e.g. Asia Minor, eastern Aegean islands), we can attest contracts that inform us about the priest’s receipt of payment for his ritual performance (p.78). His analysis demonstrates that despite that most of the priesthoods were hereditary, it was also possible to buy and sell priesthoods.

An illuminating journey to several oracles (e.g. Delphi, Dodona, Lebadea, Didyma and Claros) is presented by Veit Rosenberger in his paper ‘Gifts and Oracles: Aspects Of Religious Communication’ (pp.91-105), who provides a valuable discussion foo² of the pilgrims who were willing to travel to an oracular shrine at a remote area in contrast to their own city. An interesting observation is that geographically speaking ‘none of the famous oracular shrines were situated on an island’ (p.105).

The second part of the present volume, ‘Resources and Manpower’ consists of six papers. The first paper seeks to find the answer concerning the financial support of the manpower that was used for the construction of Greek temples (Forsén). The following two chapters discuss the financial aspects concerning the sale of priesthoods in Hellenistic (Rasmussen) and Roman periods (Buraselis). In particular, Rasmussen’s paper on ‘Priests and Liturgies’ (pp.134-137) provides us with a nuanced approach that acknowledges the mutual existence of costs (e.g. the priests were financially responsible for the procurement of the victim) and possible benefits on behalf of the priests (e.g. private grants).

In the paper entitled ‘Resources for Manpower: Magistrates’ Dedications to Aphrodite’ (pp.139-150), Wallensten’s goal is to offer a fresh review of the collection of 62 inscriptions distributed in the Mediterranean, as a case-study concerning the vital role of the cult of Aphrodite in the civic administration of the Greek poleis. More importantly, the individualistic trend arisen in the Hellenistic period can be traced via the increase and diversity of epithets (e.g. Aphrodite Pontia and Euploia) which corresponds to the implied protection in a specific group of people (e.g. seafarers).

The third part of this volume, outcome of a conference held at the Danish Institute in Rome (17 ^th – 21 ^st January 2005), is an important contribution to our understanding of the interplay between the construction of identity and religious practice in the ancient world. As in the previous two parts, the articles, here, are full of stimulating insights that I believe will inspire further research on the topic. During a period, where religious beliefs across the Western world, and especially Europe, have been undergoing radical changes, the concept and definition of ‘identity’ has naturally attracted the interest of ancient historians.

To be more specific, Price’s article on ‘Memory and Ancient Greece’ (pp.167-178) , provides a valuable discussion of the contexts in which social memories are constructed in the passage of time (e.g. votive objects, sacred places, mythological variations and local traditions preserved in textual narratives). Price has achieved a quite breakthrough in his methodological approach in that he contextualizes and juxtaposes the notion of ‘memory’ with its counterpart ‘forgetting’, a dynamic concept. Price charts a new course of investigation of the construction of social memories within the sequence of time, by looking at examples, ranging from the restoration of Athenian democracy in 403 B.C. up until the conflicts between Christians and pagans during the 4 ^th century A.D. On the whole, Price’s paper is useful for stressing what can be gained from examining diverse historical paradigms so as to test our questions concerning the modes in which collective memory was shaped.

Another thought-provoking study is Krasilnikoff’s paper on ‘Pan, Attica and Religious Innovation’ (pp.189-199), which is concerned with the development and relevance of the Attic Pan cult in the 4 ^th century B.C. Following Osborne’s argument of Pan’s association with a non-civic landscape, the author unfolds evidence (e.g. a large number of votive dedications or inscriptions) to testify the mutual dependence of both farmers and elite to secure Pan’s divine protection for guaranteeing the productivity of their lands in the marginal Attica.

Parker’s paper ‘Πατρώιοι Θεοί: The Cults Of Sub-Groups and Identity In The Greek World’ (pp.201-214) has succeeded in providing a critical and comparative regional study of the attested cults of πατρῷιοι θεοί from c. 470 to 1 ^st century B.C. The epithet ‘πατρῷος’ or other names for identifying the phratry/-ies of a particular city, according to Parker, is less important comparing with the identification of the precise location of the ancestral altars. As he emphatically and persuasively argues ‘what mattered was the going to ancestral altars, not the precise name of the phatra or phratry inscribed thereupon’ (p.209). This can be explained by the pilgrims’ effort and devotion to come on a periodically basis-every year- to the ancestral altars. This devotion on behalf of the worshippers implies a crucial part of the individual’s conception of his or her own identity. In other words, the cult of male ancestor gods’ played a fundamental role in the formation of the civic identity in every Greek city. This argument will certainly be instrumental in provoking ongoing discussion and further research on the subject.

In the same approximate line of thought, Whitley with his paper ‘Identity and Sacred Topography: The Sanctuaries of Praisos in Eastern Crete’ (pp.235-248) discusses both the literary (e.g. Herodotus’ account on the self-perception of the inhabitants of Praisos) and material evidence for illuminating the concept of ‘ethnicity’ foo³ within the territory of Praisos in Eastern Crete, beginning from the Archaic until the early Hellenistic periods. He argues that we should be cautious when we equate ethnicity with archaeological remnants.

To conclude this section, Forsén’s paper ‘Sacred Topography and Identity in Arcadia’ (pp.249-258) offers a few reflections about the relevance of the conscious selection of the location of sacred space in the south-east Arcadia, and what does this tell us about the formation of a civic identity in particular poleis. The outcome of this investigation is twofold: some sanctuaries (e.g. the four shrines at Asea) do correspond to Polignac’s thesis concerning the emergence of polis-kratos and the gradual construction of collective identities within the boundaries of a particular territory/-ies. However, some other sanctuaries (e.g. Athena Alea) do not correspond to the above theoretical model, on the basis that they are dated before the 8th century B.C. (i.e. emergence of the polis). This paper demonstrates the relevance of contemporary archaeology which delves into the analysis of the identification of pre-existing structures within a particular sacred location and further enables the study of the examined society in general.

Taken as a whole, the papers in this volume cover a large amount of ground in both Greek and Roman religion. The articles do embody an impressive and selective amount of carefully studied texts in relation to the archaeological evidence. A bibliography is appended after the end of each paper. One suggestion would be if all the papers were complemented with illustrations. Only three articles in the volume are illustrated: (i) the article of James Whitley has five black-and-white illustrations and two maps, (ii) the article by Rosenberg has eight maps, and (iii) the article written by Björn Forsén has one map (p.250).

Despite editing suggestions, the overall tone of the contributions is refreshingly open-minded, lucid, and well-researched. Certainly, everyone will gain valuable knowledge from this rich volume, which has been produced to a high standard and most of it makes for an interesting read. Every author has gone to great lengths to ask penetrating questions, and for this reason, all the chapters are suitable for graduate seminars. Undoubtedly, this volume is a tribute to both its editors and contributors who have offered such a rich and fresh reconsideration of various aspects of ancient Greek and Roman religions. I would, therefore, conclude by saying that this carefully edited volume will be an indispensable academic reference, for its content is full of stimulating insights that will challenge and inspire the researchers of the field.

Endnotes

¹ Johnston, S. I. (2004): Religions Of The Ancient World: A Guide, Harvard University Press, Boston, p. 340.

² For a thorough and insightful scholarly approach concerning the Delphic oracle, See: Hugh Bowden (2005): Classical Athens And The Delphic Oracle, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

³ For an influencing theoretical approach concerning the definition of ‘ethnicity within the Greek world’, see Jonathan Hall’s scholarly work: Hellenicity: Between Ethnicity and Culture. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002.