Pollution and Religion in Ancient Rome
- Author: Jack J. Lennon, University College London
- Date Published: November 2020
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108958318
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Pollution could come from any number of sources in the Roman world. Bodily functions, sexual activity, bloodshed, death - any of these could cause disaster if brought into contact with religion. Its presence could invalidate sacrifices, taint religious officials, and threaten to bring down the anger of the gods upon the city. Orators could use pollution as a means of denigrating opponents and obstructing religious procedures, and writers could emphasise the 'otherness' of barbarians by drawing attention to their different ideas about what was or was not 'dirty'. Yet despite all this, religious pollution remained a vague concept within the Latin language, and what constituted pollution could change depending on the context in which it appeared. Calling upon a range of research disciplines, this book highlights the significant role that pollution played across Roman religion, and the role it played in the construction of religious identity.
Read more- Discusses a largely unexplored aspect of Roman religion
- Incorporates up-to-date works from other relevant disciplines, including anthropology, Greek religion and biblical studies
- Accessible key primary source materials, which are provided in translation
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'A sweeping religious and historical study.' History Today
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×Product details
- Date Published: November 2020
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108958318
- length: 239 pages
- dimensions: 230 x 160 x 15 mm
- weight: 0.36kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Defining pollution
2. Birth, sex and bodily margins
3. Blood
4. Death and remembrance
5. Pollution and rhetoric
Conclusion.
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