Roman Religion in the Danubian Provinces: Space Sacralisation and Religious Communication during the Principate (1st-3rd century AD)

The Danubian provinces represent a unique area where pre-Roman cultures are interconnected within Roman administrative, economic, and cultural units. This book presents the material evidence of Roman religion in the region through a new methodology, focusing on macro-, meso-, and micro-spaces. It argues that Roman religion was shaped by macro-spaces, extra-provincial routes, commercial networks, and small group religions. It also presents a comprehensive list of sacralised spaces and divinities in the region.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 02 March 2022
Publisher: Oxbow Books

The Danubian provinces, a vast and historically rich region within the Roman Empire, hold a significant legacy of Roman material evidence. While the concept of the Danubian provinces is a modern creation dating back to the 18th century, it represents a unique area where pre-Roman cultures (Celtic, Illyrian, Hellenistic, and Thracian) were intertwined with the new administrative, economic, and cultural structures of Roman cities, provinces, and extra-provincial networks. This book presents the material evidence of Roman religion in the Danubian provinces through a novel and innovative methodology, focusing not only on the traditional urban and provincial units of the Roman Empire but also on a new space taxonomy. Roman religion and its sacralized places are explored in the macro-, meso-, and micro-spaces of a dynamic empire that shaped Roman religion during the 1st-3rd centuries AD and led to numerous religious glocalizations and appropriations in various regions, including Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia Superior, Pannonia Inferior, Moesia Superior, Moesia Inferior, and Dacia. By combining the methodological approaches of Roman provincial archaeology and religious studies, this work aims to foster a dialogue between disciplines that are rarely used together in central-east Europe and beyond. The material evidence of Roman religion is interpreted as a dynamic agent in religious communication, shaped by macro-spaces, extra-provincial routes, commercial networks, and the formation and constant dynamics of small group religions interconnected within this region through human and material mobilities. Additionally, the book provides a comprehensive list of sacralized spaces and divinities in the Danubian provinces, which has not been previously available.

Dimension: 240 x 170 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789257830