Matter Of The Gods

What did the Romans know about their gods? Why did they perform the rituals of their religion, and what motivated them to change those rituals? This book proposes simple answers: in contrast to ancient Christians, who had faith, Romans had knowledge, and their knowledge was empirical in orientation. "A work of innovative spirit and great learning, stylishly argued throughout, and beautifully written."—Sabine MacCormack, author of The Shadows of Poetry: Virgil in the Mind of Augustine "Ando's intellectually daring work breaks through the traditional perceptions of Roman religion under the Empire."—Guy Stroumsa, author of Barbarian Philosophy: The Religious Revolution of Early Christianity What did the Romans know about their gods? Why did they perform the rituals of their religion, and what motivated them to change those rituals? To these questions Clifford Ando proposes simple answers: in contrast to ancient Christians, who had faith, Romans had knowledge, and their knowledge was empirical in orientation. In other words, the Romans acquired knowledge of the gods through observation of the world, and their rituals were maintained or modified in light of what they learned. After a preface and opening chapters that lay out this argument about knowledge and place it in context, "The Matter of the Gods" pursues a variety of themes essential to the study of religion in history.