Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge Paperback Library)

La 4eme de couverture indique : "In his study of the Greek cults of the Roman emperor in Asia minor, Simon Price attempts to discover why the Roman Emperor was treated like a god. He contends that ever since the emergence of Christianity within the Roman Empire the problem has been misinterpreted; a Christianizing distinction between religion and politics has led to the cult being considered simply as a form of political honours. Drawing on anthropology as well as numismatics and archaeology, literary sources and inscriptions, Dr Price offers a fundamentally different perspective. He examines how the Greek cults of the Roman Emperor located the Emperor with their subjection to the external power of Rome. The book falls into two major parts. The first analyses the historical, social and cultural contexts of the Imperial cult, showing that the cult was deeply rooted in the Greek cities. The second focusses on the evocations of the rituals of temples, images and sacrifices. It casts light on the architechural development of Greek Cities, on cult statues in the ancient world and on the vitality and flexibility of the Greek religious system. In his concluding chapter the author draws out some of the general implications of the book; comparative material from Africa and Cambodia help our understanding of the relationship between religious ritual and political power. This book, which assumes no knowledge of Latin or Greek, will appeal to students and teachers of ancient history and archaeology. It will also attract anthropologists, historians and others interested in the interpretation of rituals and in the history of early Christianity." In this book, Price sets out to ask what the relationship was between the cult of the emperors was and the state and he explores this topic quite well. The book provides a tremendous amount of material to digest, so this review will be brief. The book basically explores the religious context of the Hellenistic world, the rise of the cult of the Goddess Roma, and the relationship of this to the cult of the emperors. Price carefully examines current assumptions and how they may mislead us when looking at the Romans. Personally I found the chapters on architecture and religious imagery quite fascinating. This is a book that no serious student of the classical world should be without. Contents......Page 8 List of text figures......Page 9 List of plates......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Abbreviations......Page 13 Maps......Page 18 1. Introduction......Page 28 2. Hellenistic cities and their rulers......Page 50 3. Greeks and Rome......Page 80 4. Distribution and culture......Page 105 5. Festivals and cities......Page 128 6. Architecture......Page 160 7. Images......Page 197 8. Sacrifices......Page 238 9. Rituals, politics and power......Page 265 A catalogue of imperial temples and shrines in Asia Minor......Page 280 Bibliography......Page 306 Indexes......Page 314 Contents 8 List of maps 9 List of text figures 9 List of plates 10 Preface 12 Abbreviations 13 Maps 18 1. Introduction 28 2. Hellenistic cities and their rulers 50 3. Greeks and Rome 80 4. Distribution and culture 105 5. Festivals and cities 128 6. Architecture 160 7. Images 197 8. Sacrifices 238 9. Rituals, politics and power 265 A catalogue of imperial temples and shrines in Asia Minor 280 Bibliography 306 Indexes 314 0521259037,052131268X The cults of Roman emperor performed by the Greek cities of Asia Minor during the first three centuries A.D., which form the subject of this book, confound our expectations about the relationship between religion, politics and power.