What do you think?
Rate this book
Religions of Rome #1
Religions of Rome, Volume 1: A History
This book offers a radical survey of over a 1000 years of religious life, from the foundation of Rome to its rise to world empire & Xian conversion. It sets religion in its full cultural context, between the primitive hamlet of the 8th century BCE & the cosmopolitan, multicultural society of the 1st centuries of the Xian era. A companion volume, Religions of Rome, Vol 2: A Sourcebook, sets out a wide range of documents, illustrating the religious life in the Roman world.
Acknowledgements
Preface
Conventions & abbreviations
Maps
1 Early Rome
2 Imperial triumph & religious change
3 Religion in the late Republic
4 The place of religion: Rome in the early Empire
5 The boundaries of Roman religion
6 The religions of imperial Rome
7 Roman religion & Roman Empire
8 Roman religion & Christian emperors: 4th & 5th centuries Bibliography
Details of maps & illustrations
Index
Acknowledgements
Preface
Conventions & abbreviations
Maps
1 Early Rome
2 Imperial triumph & religious change
3 Religion in the late Republic
4 The place of religion: Rome in the early Empire
5 The boundaries of Roman religion
6 The religions of imperial Rome
7 Roman religion & Roman Empire
8 Roman religion & Christian emperors: 4th & 5th centuries Bibliography
Details of maps & illustrations
Index
476 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1998
49 people are currently reading
1104 people want to read
About the author
Mary Beard
72 books4,122 followersWinifred Mary Beard (born 1 January 1955) is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and is a fellow of Newnham College. She is the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog "A Don's Life", which appears on The Times as a regular column. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist".
Mary Beard, an only child, was born on 1 January 1955 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader.
Mary Beard attended an all-female direct grant school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was initially to earn money for recreational spending, but she began to find the study of antiquity unexpectedly interesting. But it was not all that interested the young Beard. She had friends in many age groups, and a number of trangressions: "Playing around with other people's husbands when you were 17 was bad news. Yes, I was a very naughty girl."
At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College, Cambridge and sat the then compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD.
From 1979 to 1983 she lectured in Classics at King's College London. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price".[4] In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.[1]
In 2004, Beard became the Professor of Classics at Cambridge.[3] She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".[5]
Mary Beard, an only child, was born on 1 January 1955 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader.
Mary Beard attended an all-female direct grant school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was initially to earn money for recreational spending, but she began to find the study of antiquity unexpectedly interesting. But it was not all that interested the young Beard. She had friends in many age groups, and a number of trangressions: "Playing around with other people's husbands when you were 17 was bad news. Yes, I was a very naughty girl."
At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College, Cambridge and sat the then compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD.
From 1979 to 1983 she lectured in Classics at King's College London. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price".[4] In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.[1]
In 2004, Beard became the Professor of Classics at Cambridge.[3] She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".[5]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 18, 2008
This is really terrific, nuanced introduction to religions of Rome. Although it is probably not ideal for most undergrads, it's great for advanced undergrads and graduate students.
These three amazing specialists collaborate to give an overview of the religions of Rome, from the Republic through Christianization. They address the native, civic religion of the city of Rome, while explaining why a search for the "true Roman Religion" that is "uninfluenced by Greek Religion" and they take seriously the exchange of religious ideas and practices that developed as the Republic became Empire. They discuss the tensions between civic cult and elective practice.
Chapter 5 "The Boundaries of Roman Religion" is a great discussion of the establishment and maintenance of the conceptual boundaries between religio and superstitio - acceptable and unacceptable religious practice. It's one of the finest discussion of Roman religious concepts and the relationship between those ideas and the persecutions of "foreign religions."
This simply is a must-read for scholars & teachers of any religion that was practiced within the Roman borders - including scholars of Ancient Christianity & Judaism.
These three amazing specialists collaborate to give an overview of the religions of Rome, from the Republic through Christianization. They address the native, civic religion of the city of Rome, while explaining why a search for the "true Roman Religion" that is "uninfluenced by Greek Religion" and they take seriously the exchange of religious ideas and practices that developed as the Republic became Empire. They discuss the tensions between civic cult and elective practice.
Chapter 5 "The Boundaries of Roman Religion" is a great discussion of the establishment and maintenance of the conceptual boundaries between religio and superstitio - acceptable and unacceptable religious practice. It's one of the finest discussion of Roman religious concepts and the relationship between those ideas and the persecutions of "foreign religions."
This simply is a must-read for scholars & teachers of any religion that was practiced within the Roman borders - including scholars of Ancient Christianity & Judaism.
November 13, 2011
A thorough, scholarly work. From early republic to Christianity, the authors trace out the history of Roman religion. An excellent job of maintaining the complexity and the Roman-ness of Roman religion and of resisting the urge to make unfounded statements based on theories of how all religions develop. Almost all of my preconceptions of Roman religion (many based on short summaries of Roman religion) were refuted.
My only problem with the work was that the authors take a lot of knowledge for granted. They do not go through the Roman gods and tell who they were, nor do they describe the worship of Lares or define what a genius was. A good work but most suitable for graduate students. Look elsewhere for an introduction.
My only problem with the work was that the authors take a lot of knowledge for granted. They do not go through the Roman gods and tell who they were, nor do they describe the worship of Lares or define what a genius was. A good work but most suitable for graduate students. Look elsewhere for an introduction.
November 1, 2024
Mi opinión más personal, buen libro, interesante como fuente de documentación, eso sí, no volvería a leerlo, los dioses no ne han hecho la vida más fácil.
November 6, 2018
Wonderful, thorough and full of interest.
This is a book not to be undertaken lightly. If you have a slight interest in the subject, primarily paganism and the birth and rise of Christianity, then this may be too scholarly for you; but if you want to know everything there is to know, and to read some thoughtful discussion on the evidence that remains and possible interpretations, then this is the best possible place to start.
I wish I’d read it before I fuddled my way through Livy (the festival of the hair, the onion, and the sprat is helpfully given context here, for example) but I’m glad I got to it before Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.
This is a book not to be undertaken lightly. If you have a slight interest in the subject, primarily paganism and the birth and rise of Christianity, then this may be too scholarly for you; but if you want to know everything there is to know, and to read some thoughtful discussion on the evidence that remains and possible interpretations, then this is the best possible place to start.
I wish I’d read it before I fuddled my way through Livy (the festival of the hair, the onion, and the sprat is helpfully given context here, for example) but I’m glad I got to it before Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.
Read
September 19, 2022A very comprehensive history of Roman religions. Lots of info; unfortunately, it's a little dry. I was unable to complete the book at this time -- too many distractions. I read enough to recommend it to serious students of the subject. Note: this is not a light read, will require your full attention,
June 2, 2025
For nearly three decades, this book has stood as an authoritative source of information on Roman religion. It provides a comprehensive understanding of concepts such as religio, superstitio, prestige, and Rome, laying strong foundations for a cohesive and comprehensible portrayal of the Romans’ understanding of the divine.
August 30, 2017
Very thorough, as I would expect. Very carefully planned and organised in a logical way. A glossary of some of the Latin terms would have been useful at times. I had never heard of the Arval Brothers. Sounded like a department store!
May 31, 2018
This was my text at university for postgraduate studies in the religions of ancient Greece and Rome. Mary Beard is a respected scholar of ancient Rome and this text certainly lives up to that standard. I actually read this one cover to cover!
January 24, 2025
It’s a weighty tome, but this has been an excellent and nuanced resource charting the religious developments of Rome, the Republic and the Empire. Fascinating and definitely worth the time.
As an aside, there’s some illuminating illustrations of Christian distinction contained in here, too.
As an aside, there’s some illuminating illustrations of Christian distinction contained in here, too.
November 10, 2019
I wish it would tell more information on the roman religion than of christianity...
August 30, 2020
Interesting, but a little dry!
July 4, 2023
Majestic!
March 14, 2025
A very good summary of the current state of knowledge about religious life in Rome, with interesting interpretations of the sources. The only drawback – a lot of repetition.
April 28, 2025
Useful source for religious Roman imagery neatly sorted chronologically.
April 14, 2015
This is a fascinating and detailed work, exhaustively referenced but perhaps a little dry. The author writes clearly and is very careful to delineate the limits to what can be stated and to qualify the sources used. However, the style lacks perhaps a certain wit – there is very little banter in this book.
The world of Roman religion is fascinating, of course, and the transition to Christianity epochal and tragic, leading as it did to the eclipse of so much of classical thinking in the West. It can perhaps be said that Roman sculpture has never been surpassed, even today, and the Enlightenment has been described by no less than Gay as the rebirth of classical paganism.
However, things are not as simple as the above would make them sound. The very term paganism, Beard argues, only acquired meaning with the ascendance of Christianity as its rival, the Mithraic and Isiac cults not standing in obstinate contradistinction in the same way. Previously there was a welter of separate cults, some of which were regarded by the Roman state as “orthodox” and of strategic importance, so to speak. Sacrifice to these gods was considered a matter of national security, as they sponsored the state and took its side in wars. Gods could be bribed to change sides with a commitment to later worship, but Rome had its native deities and these must be propitiated. Interestingly, such commitments were held to be contractual – no less but also not more than a pound of flesh, or a temple or a festival.
Roman persecution of Christianity was by no means as systematic in the two centuries prior to Constantine’s conversion, nor Christian persecution of everyone else as rapidly normalised in the two succeeding centuries, as is sometimes portrayed. The state did not really intervene in Christian orthodoxy until the Council of Nikaea. Roman expectations regarding pagan practice also varied according to social class, period and place, evolving as the state itself grew and altered. In addition to this, it is sometimes hard to ascertain from available sources what the practice really was, especially during the early Republic and beforehand. Roman paganism is widely viewed as concerned with observance above belief and as accommodating and syncretic rather than exclusive, collecting and blending the gods of its subject peoples, but this also is too simple.
An interesting aspect of which I was not aware is the sheer antiquity of Roman apotheosis. It was not the Caesars who inaugurated the practice of deifying dead rulers but a much earlier phase of Roman civilisation. Romulus, co-founder, had since long been deified as Quirinus, perhaps ever prior to the Republic itself. The founding myth of Aeneas, linking Rome to Troy, was also new to me. Next up will be the Aenid!
All in all this is a work of impressive erudition, academic and dense, with a few interesting surprises and very many details. I would recommend it as follow-up reading for those with serious interest rather than as light pop-history, which it is quite manifestly not meant to be.
The world of Roman religion is fascinating, of course, and the transition to Christianity epochal and tragic, leading as it did to the eclipse of so much of classical thinking in the West. It can perhaps be said that Roman sculpture has never been surpassed, even today, and the Enlightenment has been described by no less than Gay as the rebirth of classical paganism.
However, things are not as simple as the above would make them sound. The very term paganism, Beard argues, only acquired meaning with the ascendance of Christianity as its rival, the Mithraic and Isiac cults not standing in obstinate contradistinction in the same way. Previously there was a welter of separate cults, some of which were regarded by the Roman state as “orthodox” and of strategic importance, so to speak. Sacrifice to these gods was considered a matter of national security, as they sponsored the state and took its side in wars. Gods could be bribed to change sides with a commitment to later worship, but Rome had its native deities and these must be propitiated. Interestingly, such commitments were held to be contractual – no less but also not more than a pound of flesh, or a temple or a festival.
Roman persecution of Christianity was by no means as systematic in the two centuries prior to Constantine’s conversion, nor Christian persecution of everyone else as rapidly normalised in the two succeeding centuries, as is sometimes portrayed. The state did not really intervene in Christian orthodoxy until the Council of Nikaea. Roman expectations regarding pagan practice also varied according to social class, period and place, evolving as the state itself grew and altered. In addition to this, it is sometimes hard to ascertain from available sources what the practice really was, especially during the early Republic and beforehand. Roman paganism is widely viewed as concerned with observance above belief and as accommodating and syncretic rather than exclusive, collecting and blending the gods of its subject peoples, but this also is too simple.
An interesting aspect of which I was not aware is the sheer antiquity of Roman apotheosis. It was not the Caesars who inaugurated the practice of deifying dead rulers but a much earlier phase of Roman civilisation. Romulus, co-founder, had since long been deified as Quirinus, perhaps ever prior to the Republic itself. The founding myth of Aeneas, linking Rome to Troy, was also new to me. Next up will be the Aenid!
All in all this is a work of impressive erudition, academic and dense, with a few interesting surprises and very many details. I would recommend it as follow-up reading for those with serious interest rather than as light pop-history, which it is quite manifestly not meant to be.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews