What is a religion? What triggered the spontaneous development of
distinct religions throughout the ancient world? How do religions
evoke the ultimate realities they claim to address? Such questions
are as evergreen as belief itself. The Hellenistic and Roman worlds
were a fertile seedbed of the monotheistic faiths that dominate
today's western image of religion, as well as many global
conflicts. In this concise and elegant overview, Jorg Rupke
addresses the similarities and differences of religions in
antiquity, tracing their sometimes complex lineage into modern
systems of belief. Greek and Roman religion is discussed not in
isolation, but in the broader context of western Asia and Egypt.
The author also addresses developments relating to early Islam on
the south-eastern margins of the Byzantine Empire. Examining such
topics as the functions of priests and religious functionaries;
religious individualism; the relationship between religion and
political identity; the acceptance of the pagan Julian calendar by
Christians; and contrasting ancient and modern understandings of
divination, Rupke shows that study of pre-modern culture enables us
more daringly to explore the contemporary religious world.
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