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The impact of Rome on cult places and religion in Italy - 21 May 2010 |
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 ROME, 21 May 2010
The impact of Rome on cult places and religion in Italy
New approaches to change and continuity
Workshop organized at the seat of the
Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome
The role of religious rituals and cult places in the processes set in
motion by the Roman expansion in Italy is currently gathering much
academic interest. Whereas the political and military effects of the
Roman conquest have been well-studied, the religious aspects and
effects have long remained in the shadow. Current research in different
academic traditions as diverse as landscape archaeology, art history,
and ancient institutional history may, however, shed new light on the
issue. This conference aims to bring scholars together to develop new
perspectives on the impact of Roman expansion on cult places and
religion in Republican Italy.
Major changes are witnessed in cult places and religious practices in
Republican Italy. Most notable are the grand-scale monumentalisation of
many cult places and the appearance of new religious models. Yet,
disagreement exists as to what extent these developments can be linked
to ‘Roman influence’, and how we should imagine the practical
mechanisms of cultural communication involved. For example, recent
insights show that the traditional image of Roman colonies as
key-factors in the spread of Roman religious ideas cannot be correct.
Yet, there are indications of substantial Roman impact on Italic
religious structures in other fields, such as the incorporation of
Italic sanctuaries in Roman administrative structures. This also raises
questions regarding the Roman period phases of Italic sanctuaries. In
particular, how should we interpret ‘archaeological continuity’, as
indicative of the persistence of ancient cult practices, or rather as
the result of new communities with new cult practices? At the same
time, in several Italic communities processes of cultural or even
ethnic resistance against Roman dominion are documented, and also here
cult places often play important roles.
In order to understand the meaning of changes in material culture and
religious practices, it has become increasingly clear that the social
and political context in which cult places and religious practices were
embedded are of paramount importance. The conference therefore
explicitly aims to explore this wider social and political context by
focusing on the (changing) relationship between community and cult
place in various ways, including institutional and spatial aspects.
Major issues to be discussed are:
* The relationship between community and cult place in a spatial sense,
shedding light on the groups of people which built and visited the
sanctuaries over time.
* The institutional embedding or incorporation of cult places, indicating the communities involved.
* The changes in ritual and architecture which are witnessed during the
Republican period, and their possible relationship to Roman expansion,
and especially the modes of cultural contact in this process.
Organizers: Gert-Jan Burgers, Massimo Osanna, Tesse Stek
Working languages: English and Italian
Programme: invitation_21 maggio
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