The Religion of Ancient Rome Book PDF, ePub eBook

Join our eBook service for unlimited books & audiobooks. Get a free 7 day subscription! ↓↓↓↓↓


Book Descriptions:
            The conditions of our knowledge of the native religion of early Rome may perhaps be best illustrated by a parallel from Roman archæology. The visitor to the Roman Forum at the present day, if he wishes to reconstruct in imagination the Forum of the early Republic, must not merely ‘think away’ many strata of later buildings, but, we are told, must picture to himself a totally different orientation of the whole: the upper layer of remains, which he sees before him, is for his purpose in most cases not merely useless, but positively misleading. In the same way, if we wish to form a picture of the genuine Roman religion, we cannot find it immediately in classical literature; we must banish from our minds all that is due to the contact with the East and Egypt, and even with the other races of Italy, and we must imagine, so to speak, a totally different mental orientation before the great influx of Greek literature and Greek thought, which gave an entirely new turn to Roman ideas in general, and in particular revolutionised religion by the introduction of anthropomorphic notions and sensuous representations. But in this difficult search we are not left without indications to guide us. In the writings of the savants of the late Republic and of the Empire, and in the Augustan poets, biassed though they are in their interpretations by Greek tendencies, there is embodied a great wealth of ancient custom and ritual, which becomes significant when we have once got the clue to its meaning. More direct evidence is afforded by a large body of inscriptions and monuments, and above all by the surviving Calendars of the Roman festival year, which give us the true outline of the ceremonial observances of the early religion.
            It is not within the scope of this sketch to enter, except by way of occasional illustration, into the process of interpretation by which the patient work of scholars has disentangled the form and spirit of the native religion from the mass of foreign accretions. I intend rather to assume the process, and deal, as far as it is possible in so controversial a subject, with results upon which authorities are generally agreed. Neither will any attempt be made to follow the development which the early religion underwent in later periods, when foreign elements were added and foreign ideas altered and remoulded the old tradition. We must confine ourselves to a single epoch, in which the native Roman spirit worked out unaided the ideas inherited from half-civilised ancestors, and formed that body of belief and ritual, which was always, at least officially, the kernel of Roman religion, and constituted what the Romans themselves—staunch believers in their own traditional history—loved to describe as the ‘Religion of Numa.’ We must discover, as far as we can, how far its inherited notions ran parallel with those of other primitive religions, but more especially we must try to note what is characteristically Roman alike in custom and ritual and in the motives and spirit which prompted them…

The Religion of Ancient Rome by Cyril Bailey

From reader reviews:

Robin Martz:

Book is written, printed, or illustrated for everything. You can realize everything you want by a reserve. Book has a different type. To be sure that book is important factor to bring us around the world. Close to that you can your reading expertise was fluently. A e-book The Religion of Ancient Rome will make you to possibly be smarter. You can feel a lot more confidence if you can know about every little thing. But some of you think which open or reading a new book make you bored. It is far from make you fun. Why they are often thought like that? Have you searching for best book or ideal book with you?

Betty Brown:

Here thing why this particular The Religion of Ancient Rome are different and dependable to be yours. First of all reading through a book is good however it depends in the content than it which is the content is as scrumptious as food or not. The Religion of Ancient Rome giving you information deeper including different ways, you can find any guide out there but there is no book that similar with The Religion of Ancient Rome. It gives you thrill reading through journey, its open up your own personal eyes about the thing this happened in the world which is perhaps can be happened around you. It is possible to bring everywhere like in park, café, or even in your method home by train. For anyone who is having difficulties in bringing the published book maybe the form of The Religion of Ancient Rome in e-book can be your alternative.

Marion Driskell:

The guide untitled The Religion of Ancient Rome is the reserve that recommended to you to study. You can see the quality of the book content that will be shown to a person. The language that writer use to explained their way of doing something is easily to understand. The article author was did a lot of study when write the book, to ensure the information that they share for you is absolutely accurate. You also can get the e-book of The Religion of Ancient Rome from the publisher to make you more enjoy free time.

Harrison Johnson:

This The Religion of Ancient Rome is brand new way for you who has intense curiosity to look for some information mainly because it relief your hunger of information. Getting deeper you on it getting knowledge more you know or perhaps you who still having tiny amount of digest in reading this The Religion of Ancient Rome can be the light food for yourself because the information inside this kind of book is easy to get through anyone. These books produce itself in the form and that is reachable by anyone, sure I mean in the e-book form. People who think that in book form make them feel drowsy even dizzy this e-book is the answer. So there is absolutely no in reading a e-book especially this one. You can find what you are looking for. It should be here for an individual. So , don't miss the idea! Just read this e-book style for your better life and knowledge.