J. A. North

A magisterial, definitive survey of the subject. Beard, along with her co-authors John North and Simon Price, move chronologically through Roman religion from its beginnings shrouded in mythology, through Republican Rome and the empire, to the early Christianization of the empire. One thing I like about this book is that the authors discuss not only the evidence, but also bad theories they think should be discarded. The second volume is a source book containing many of the documents discussed in the history. I read this for a reading course in Greco-Roman religion.… (altro)

Somebody with my background has no business reviewing Religions of Rome; I even question my right to read it. On the other hand, no other review exists here, so I'll make a stab at it. I had expected to find religious content and rites through the centuries. That is not this book. Volume 2, the sourcebook, may come closer to what I was after, and I'll read that (with volume 1 nearby), but not tonight or tomorrow.
The book Beard, North, and Price wrote instead is a survey of religion's influence on Rome and the Romans from the beginning through the end of the 5th century A.D. Roman political power was always inextricably linked with Roman religious power; the same men wielded both. As the political system changed, the religious system changed although the outward rites stayed the same.
To give a sample of the book's flavor is nearly impossible, but it follows, for instance, the changes in what is religio and what is superstitio through the ages. Christianity was superstitio, that is not following the practices of the state (the other meaning would be excessive devotion to the gods). They also consider the meaning of "magic," which was forbidden as being dangerous to the emperor and his family (by that time) or as seeking to cast a love spell or maybe to raise the dead.
The presentation is clear. In this case "telling what you're going to tell them" at the beginning of each chapter is very helpful. The writing is clear but demands concentration. This is not a volume for a casual dilettante; for a determined dilettante it is just the thing!… (altro)