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The Religion of Numa
Excerpt from The Religion of Numa: And Other Essays on the Religion of Ancient Rome
The careful student of the history of the Romans cannot doubt the psychological reality of their religion, no matter what his personal metaphysics may be. It is the author's hope that these essays may have a human interest because he has tried to emphasise this reality and to present the Romans as men of like passions to ourselves, in spite of all differences of time and race.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The careful student of the history of the Romans cannot doubt the psychological reality of their religion, no matter what his personal metaphysics may be. It is the author's hope that these essays may have a human interest because he has tried to emphasise this reality and to present the Romans as men of like passions to ourselves, in spite of all differences of time and race.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresHistory
203 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 22, 2021
Carter shares the standard view that the Romans were great lawyers but mediocre philosophers and bad theologians. He devotes some space to a discussion of Varro’s attempts to fashion a kind of synthesis of Roman religion with aspects of popular Stoicism. This sounds right to me (think of the film Gladiator, when Russell Crowe exemplifies many Stoic virtues, and also prays reverently to the little wooden figurines representing his ancestors). But by Varro’s time Roman religion was effectively dead.
Carter says Etruscan religion left surprisingly little influence on the Romans. I suspect this absence of influence may be more apparent than real, because although we know little enough now about Etruscan religion, in Carter’s day the subject was wrapped in even darker mystery. Certainly the Etruscans seem to have been very keen on the pseudo-science of haruspicy, which was enthusiastically embraced by the Romans. Trying to understand the mysteries of the universe by poking around in a sacrificial liver seems one of the more pointless and foolish activities humans have engaged in. We may never really understand how and why this strange practice originated. It is one of many curious aspects of Roman religion, and this study, though a bit short and inevitably dated, nevertheless has many interesting things to say on a fascinating subject.
Carter says Etruscan religion left surprisingly little influence on the Romans. I suspect this absence of influence may be more apparent than real, because although we know little enough now about Etruscan religion, in Carter’s day the subject was wrapped in even darker mystery. Certainly the Etruscans seem to have been very keen on the pseudo-science of haruspicy, which was enthusiastically embraced by the Romans. Trying to understand the mysteries of the universe by poking around in a sacrificial liver seems one of the more pointless and foolish activities humans have engaged in. We may never really understand how and why this strange practice originated. It is one of many curious aspects of Roman religion, and this study, though a bit short and inevitably dated, nevertheless has many interesting things to say on a fascinating subject.
January 3, 2020
Insightful and entertaining, this book is an exception among historical tales. The author was clearly passionate about the religious beliefs in Ancient Rome and manages to infuse this knowledge and excitement in the reader.
September 20, 2019
Pre-Christian religions in Rome
The historic and sometimes hard to visualise types of deity adored by the citizens of Rome was extremely interesting and eye opening.
The historic and sometimes hard to visualise types of deity adored by the citizens of Rome was extremely interesting and eye opening.
May 15, 2023
an old and now partially obsolete book but still great for the road it paved, and still dismantles the myth that Roman religion is synonymous with or truly synchretic with the Greek oriental gods.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews