ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

neighbors: "[d]espite its undeniable cultural affinities with Italic peoples, Rome had itsown religion, a public cult that had meaning and validity only within Rome's frontiers." 9He does admit the Latin community cults such as Jupiter Latiarius as exceptions to thisisolated Roman religion, and he acknowledges that the public cult of Rome was open todivine additions. Nonetheless, de Cazanove asserts that the Romans "made use of thegods of others only and exactly to the extent that it made them its own."This viewbegs for further explanation. How are we to define Rome's frontiers; is it thepomerium,the ager Romanus, or perhaps the land held by the farthest Latin colony? For whatperiod does this picture of Roman religion apply? Does it imply a static state cult, evenas it admits foreign gods? Unfortunately, de Cazanove's article is a very brief thoughtpiecewhich merely begins this dialogue; consultation with other studies of Romanreligion in the Republic shows a very different picture.It is first important to note that Rome and the Romans led a polytheistic and verycomplex ritual life, as seen in the writings of Varro, Plutarch, and Augustine. Woolfremarks that these authors wrote about religion in order to define identity, imposediscipline on Roman citizens, and to justify traditional religion in terms of philosophicdiscourse." In respect to the imperial period, Woolf describes what he calls polisreligionas the elite way of categorizing Roman religion. 100Two main features assumedabout/»o//5-religion are that the religion is homologous with social and political aspects97 de Cazanove (2000), p. 71.98 Ibid, de Cazanove further nuances his bold assertion about a Roman state cult by contrasting it with theproselytism and 'missionary spirit' (implying, of course, Christianity). He over simplifies the nature ofRoman religion by saying it was a civic religion that concerned only Roman citizens, so that Romanizationthrough control of cults can only be discussed of any area after it had received citizenship, i.e. in themunicipia or colonies.99 Woolf(1997),pp.39-40.100 Ibid. pp. 43-44.