Cicero and Roman Religion: Eight Studies

162 Pages·2020·2.769 MB·English

by  Claudia Beltrao da Rosa (editor), Federico Santangelo (editor)

Cicero and Roman Religion
Thisbookgatherseightpapersdevoted Thevolumefocusesontherelationship
tospecificaspectsofCicero’sengage- betweenlaw,religion,andreligious
mentwithRomanreligion,andseeks authorityinCicero;theinterplay
tomakeawidercontributiontothe betweendivineimages,ritualcontexts, Eight Studies
understandingofCicero’sworkas andtheconceptualizationofthe
historicalevidence.Byengagingwith divine;Cicero’sconstructionofa
religionasafundamentalfactorof GreekdeityforaRomanaudience;the
socialcohesionandpoliticalstability, roleofreligiouselementsinthe
bothinhistheoreticalworksandhis shapingofaRomanpoliticalidentity;
Edited by Claudia Beltrão da Rosa and Federico Santangelo
speeches,Ciceroshapedawide-rang- thetensionbetween‘naturallaw’and
ingandambitiousdiscoursearound Romanpietas;theproblemofdivine
themesandimagesthatwerefirmly andhumanforesight;therelationship
locatedinfirst-centuryBCERome.His betweentheoreticalviewsofthegods
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contributionalsoprovedveryinfluen- andlateRepublicanpubliccult;and o
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tialinthecenturiestocome. thereception,use,andreadaptationof i
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ISBN978-3-515-12643-4 www.steiner-verlag.de 72 Classics Potsdamer
Altertumswissenschaftliche
Beiträge
Franz Steiner Verlag Franz Steiner Verlag
9 783515 126434
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Potsdamer Altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge
Herausgegebenvon
Pedro Barceló (Potsdam), Peter Riemer (Saarbrücken),
Jörg Rüpke (Erfurt) undJohn Scheid (Paris)
Band72
Cicero and Roman Religion
Eight Studies
Edited by
Claudia Beltrão da Rosa and Federico Santangelo
Franz Steiner Verlag
ResearchtowardsthisvolumewasenabledbyaNewtonAdvancedFellowship
grantedbytheBritishAcademy.
BibliografischeInformationderDeutschenNationalbibliothek:
DieDeutscheNationalbibliothekverzeichnetdiesePublikationinderDeutschen
Nationalbibliografie;detailliertebibliografischeDatensindimInternetüber
<http://dnb.d-nb.de>abrufbar.
DiesesWerkeinschließlichallerseinerTeileisturheberrechtlichgeschützt.
JedeVerwertungaußerhalbderengenGrenzendesUrheberrechtsgesetzes
istunzulässigundstrafbar.
©FranzSteinerVerlag,Stuttgart2020
LayoutundHerstellungdurchdenVerlag
Druck:DruckereiSteinmeierGmbH&Co.KG,Deiningen
Gedrucktaufsäurefreiem,alterungsbeständigemPapier.
PrintedinGermany.
ISBN978-3-515-12643-4(Print)
ISBN978-3-515-12644-1(E-Book)
Contents
Acknowledgements 7
ClaudiaBeltrãodaRosa(UNIRIO)/FedericoSantangelo
(NewcastleUniversity)
Introduction 9
ValentinaArena(UniversityCollegeLondon)
Cicero,theAugures,andtheCommonwealthinDeLegibus 23
ClaudiaBeltrãodaRosa(UNIRIO)
TheGodandtheConsulinCicero’sThirdCatilinarian 45
PatriciaHorvat(UNIRIO)/AlexandreCarneiroC Lima
(UniversidadeFederalFluminense)
TheOntophaniesofDianainSegesta(Cicero,Verrines2 4 72–82) 59
MaríaEmiliaCairo(UniversidadNacionaldeLaPlata)
AReadingofCicero’sDeHaruspicumResponso SomeReflections
onRomanIdentity 73
MariaEichler(UNIRIO)
EpicureanpietasandPoliticalActioninLucretiusandCicero 87
FedericoSantangelo(NewcastleUniversity)
CiceroonDivineandHumanForesight 105
GregWoolf(InstituteofClassicalStudies,London)
ForeignGodsintheAgeofCicero 117
6 Contents
KatherineA East(NewcastleUniversity)
EditingCiceronianReligionintheEnlightenment 135
GeneralIndex 147
IndexLocorum 151
Acknowledgements
ThepaperscollectedinthisvolumestemfromaconferencethatwasheldinRiode
JaneiroinJuly2017,withintheframeworkofaNewtonAdvancedFellowshipfunded
bytheBritishAcademy WearegratefultotheAcademyforitsgeneroussupportofa
three-yearresearchcollaborationbetweenNewcastleUniversityandtheUniversidade
FederaldoEstadodoRiodeJaneiro(UNIRIO),whichhadasitsmainbriefastudy
oftheplaceofstatuesofgodsandgoddessesinCicero’swork,againstthewiderback-
dropoftheproblemofdivinerepresentationintheRomanworld Weshouldliketo
thanktheEscoladaMagistraturadoEstadodoRiodeJaneiro(EMERJ)forgenerous-
lyagreeingtohosttheconference,andBrendanGogarty,JorwanGama,andAssunção
Medeirosfortheirinvaluablesupportintherunningoftheevent Weareverygrateful
toLaurenEmslieforhercriticalreadingofthemanuscript
ThiscollaborativeexplorationofCiceroandRomanreligion–encompassingboth
theplaceofreligiouspracticeanddiscourseinCicero’sworkandtheroleofCiceroas
asourceforourunderstandingofRomanreligion–wasthefirstofthreeinternational
eventsheldundertheauspicesoftheFellowship Othereditedbooks,stemmingfrom
twomoreinternationalconferencesonstatuesinRomanreligionandondivineimag-
esintheRomanworld,willfollowinduecourse WeshouldliketothanktheEdito-
rialBoardofthePotsdamerAltertumswissenschaftlicheBeiträgeseriesatSteinerVerlag
foracceptingthisvolumeintheseriesandforofferingvaluablefeedbackbothonthe
framingoftheprojectanditsexecution
ClaudiaBeltrãodaRosa/FedericoSantangelo

Introduction
ClaudiaBeltrãodaRosa/FedericoSantangelo
WedonotknowexactlywhentheLatinwordreligiofirstcametodesignate‘religious
observance,practice’;atanyrate,itsearliestknownusetoconveythisspecificmeaning
is in Cicero 1 The first known occurrence of superstitio is also in Cicero 2 These facts
alone might contribute to attractive, if facile, arguments in favour of granting him a
prominent place in accounts of Roman religion in any age, not just the Republican
period Thereare,however,otherweightierandmorepersuasiveconsiderations Cice-
roiscentraltomostofwhatweknowaboutthepolitical,social,andintellectualde-
velopmentsofthefirstcenturyBCE Eventhosewhoholdthequalityofhiswritings
inlowregardagreethatheprovidesawidebodyofimportantmaterial,whetheron
Realienoronproblemsofphilosophicalinterpretationandapproach Healsoreflects,
oftenincreativeandtendentiousways,onthedevelopmentofRomanreligion,and
onacomplexbodyoftheologicalandritualtraditions Theverynatureandscopeof
Cicero’sworkmakesitauniquetestingground:thenumberofdifferentliterarygenres
thatitencompassesalsoentailsawholerangeofapproachesandproblems,anddif-
ferentattitudestothereligiousexperience–thewayinwhichaproblemisexplored
intheepistolarygenreismarkedlydifferentfromhowitisconsideredinhisspeeches
orphilosophicalworks Thetensionbetweentheneedtodiscusseachworkinitsown
literaryandintellectualcontext,andtheambitiontopursueandachieveadegreeof
comparability,aretwoofthemostattractivechallengesthathisoeuvrepresents
Thereisafurtheroverarchingproblem,whichalsopresentsitsowndistinctiveset
ofopportunities PreciselybecauseCicero’sworkisintegraltoanyhistoricalapproach
tothelateRomanRepublic,eachgenerationproducesitsownconstructionsof,and
codificationsonhowbesttoreadandinterpret,thisauthor Thepluralisasdiachronic
asitissynchronic:therearecompetinginterpretationsofCicerowithinanygenera-
tionofreaders ThestudyofCiceronianreceptionsisevenmoreacutelycentraltothe
1 Cic Inv.2 66 SeeOLD8
2 Cic Clu.194 SeeOLDs.u.