Description
Discover a unique exploration of ancient Roman spirituality with 'The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden.' This insightful book delves into the fascinating world of the lares, the enchanting little gods that danced within the lives of everyday Romans. Unlike traditional deities, the lares were embraced by common people, celebrated at neighborhood shrines and household altars. With no formal mythology and grassroots worship led by the average citizen, including slaves and freedmen, this libro paints a vivid picture of communal devotion and local identity.
Harriet Flower, a distinguished scholar, offers a fresh perspective on the lares in this comprehensive study, revealing their true nature as benevolent protectors of place, household, and safe travels. This richly illustrated publication not only scrutinizes their rituals and cult sites but also unravels the meaning behind the snakes represented alongside the lares in art and literature, shining a light on their role in garden symbolism.
Explore the vibrant Compitalia festival, a midwinter celebration dedicated to the lares, and uncover its political implications in the years leading up to the transformation of Rome. This profound study offers a deep understanding of the everyday religious experiences of ordinary Romans and their connection to the divine.
Shipping for 'The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden' is free, with delivery expected in up to 6 weeks. Please note that orders cannot be canceled once placed. Condition: BRAND NEW, ISBN: 9780691175003, Format: Trade binding, Year: 2017, Publisher: Princeton University Press.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691175003
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2017
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
The most pervasive gods in ancient Rome had no traditional mythology attached to them, nor was their worship organized by elites. Throughout the Roman world, neighborhood street corners, farm boundaries, and household hearths featured small shrines to the beloved lares, a pair of cheerful little dancing gods. These shrines were maintained primarily by ordinary Romans, and often by slaves and freedmen, to whom the lares cult provided a unique public leadership role. In this comprehensive and richly illustrated book, the first to focus on the lares, Harriet Flower offers a strikingly original account of these gods and a new way of understanding the lived experience of everyday Roman religion. Weaving together a wide range of evidence, Flower sets forth a new interpretation of the much-disputed nature of the lares. She makes the case that they are not spirits of the dead, as many have argued, but rather benevolent protectors--gods of place, especially the household and the neighborhood, and of travel. She examines the rituals honoring the lares, their cult sites, and their iconography, as well as the meaning of the snakes often depicted alongside lares in paintings of gardens.
She also looks at Compitalia, a popular midwinter neighborhood festival in honor of the lares, and describes how its politics played a key role in Rome's increasing violence in the 60s and 50s BC, as well as in the efforts of Augustus to reach out to ordinary people living in the city's local neighborhoods. A reconsideration of seemingly humble gods that were central to the religious world of the Romans, this is also the first major account of the full range of la
Harriet Flower, a distinguished scholar, offers a fresh perspective on the lares in this comprehensive study, revealing their true nature as benevolent protectors of place, household, and safe travels. This richly illustrated publication not only scrutinizes their rituals and cult sites but also unravels the meaning behind the snakes represented alongside the lares in art and literature, shining a light on their role in garden symbolism.
Explore the vibrant Compitalia festival, a midwinter celebration dedicated to the lares, and uncover its political implications in the years leading up to the transformation of Rome. This profound study offers a deep understanding of the everyday religious experiences of ordinary Romans and their connection to the divine.
Shipping for 'The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden' is free, with delivery expected in up to 6 weeks. Please note that orders cannot be canceled once placed. Condition: BRAND NEW, ISBN: 9780691175003, Format: Trade binding, Year: 2017, Publisher: Princeton University Press.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691175003
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2017
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
The most pervasive gods in ancient Rome had no traditional mythology attached to them, nor was their worship organized by elites. Throughout the Roman world, neighborhood street corners, farm boundaries, and household hearths featured small shrines to the beloved lares, a pair of cheerful little dancing gods. These shrines were maintained primarily by ordinary Romans, and often by slaves and freedmen, to whom the lares cult provided a unique public leadership role. In this comprehensive and richly illustrated book, the first to focus on the lares, Harriet Flower offers a strikingly original account of these gods and a new way of understanding the lived experience of everyday Roman religion. Weaving together a wide range of evidence, Flower sets forth a new interpretation of the much-disputed nature of the lares. She makes the case that they are not spirits of the dead, as many have argued, but rather benevolent protectors--gods of place, especially the household and the neighborhood, and of travel. She examines the rituals honoring the lares, their cult sites, and their iconography, as well as the meaning of the snakes often depicted alongside lares in paintings of gardens.
She also looks at Compitalia, a popular midwinter neighborhood festival in honor of the lares, and describes how its politics played a key role in Rome's increasing violence in the 60s and 50s BC, as well as in the efforts of Augustus to reach out to ordinary people living in the city's local neighborhoods. A reconsideration of seemingly humble gods that were central to the religious world of the Romans, this is also the first major account of the full range of la