RAC/TRAC Session 30: Inclusion and Exclusion: Ritual Practice in the Roman World and Beyond

Conference Sessions and Abstracts - Friday 12 April 2024

30. Inclusion and exclusion

Alessandra Esposito – King’s Digital Lab
Jason Lundock – Full Sail University
Kaja Stemberger Flegar – PJP d.o.o. Arheološko podjetje
David Walsh – Newcastle University

This session is interested in looking at ritual practices attested in and around the border regions of the Roman Empire meant as lived experiences of individuals and groups characterised by inclusive and exclusive behaviours. Particular attention will be paid to studies involving the limes, both as an area of physical space where ritual behaviour was practised and as a social phenomenon within which peoples were grouped and their identities constructed.

It welcomes theoretical approaches that highlight the experience of ‘others’ within the same ritual spaces, seen either as different/antagonist or as aspirational of representing cultural affiliations through the materiality of ritual practices. The aim is to collect innovative perspectives which would allow us to appreciate a greater degree of variation between codified centralised ritual practices and glocalised ones.

For this purpose, we welcome papers based on, but not limited to, network analysis (particularly through the consideration of the ‘web of associations’), gender and queer theory, and inter-disciplinary culture studies applied to ritual behaviours and practices.

Session schedule 

Abstracts 

 How sub-elite people created inclusive and diverse cults in the Roman frontier regions
Ralph Häussler – University of Winchester

For some, ancient religions merely serve to achieve social cohesion. But in the globalising Roman Empire – notably along the empire’s limites – the ‘cosmopolitan’ inhabitants of diverse status and origin created an unprecedented range of religious practices. 10,000 votive inscriptions in Latin alone allow us to establish biographies of many social agents who shaped and transformed local practices. Belonging to professional, military and/or ethnic networks, the individual’s diverse experiences motivated her/him to add new rituals, deities, offerings, etc., thus triggering change in the long run. Inclusivity made such innovations possible, with sub-elites providing new incentives. Many did not use epigraphy, but archaeological remains (animal bones, iconography, figurines, votive offerings, etc.) allow us to identify some of their ritual activities. The aim therefore is to examine case studies from different frontier regions that allow us to identify the activities of individuals of various origin, gender and status, and to explore the level of inclusivity in any given cult place. Comparative case studies from other modern-day polytheistic religions will be used to are-think the possibilities of how different social/ethnic, male/female groups shape the religious activities. We also need to go beyond glocalisation to understand the real complexities of cult activities along Rome’s frontiers. 

 Aqua Hispaniae: The cult of water in Roman Iberia 
Víctor García-Martínez – University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Ever since the first known sources – were they literary, archaeological, or epigraphical – the Iberian Peninsula, and more specifically its inhabitants, have always denoted bodies of water such as rivers, springs, or lakes, with a special kind of power reserved to religious affairs. Different rituals and cultic practices took place around these aquatic locales, and throughout Antiquity the indigenous inhabitants of the Peninsula had to adapt their practices to exogenous forces such as the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and finally, the Romans. Even if Iberia was one of the first regions to be conquered by Rome, an abundance of local rites and cults survived throughout the centuries due to its strong local identity. It is my intention to analyse some of the religious activity surrounding bodies of water in Roman Hispania, observing its characteristics and its adaptation from its indigenous form to the imperial language and coding, as well as indicating how they would fit into the Roman framework. 

 Religion, Magic and Power on Hadrian’s Wall
Stuart McKie – The Open University

This paper explores power dynamics in Roman Britain, particularly along Hadrian’s Wall, within the context of religion. Drawing from posthumanist theories, specifically “New Materialism,” it considers the role of non-human elements in shaping agency. It emphasises that religion is not solely a product of human intention but also stems from embodied interactions with the material world. The paper acknowledges that while these theories elevate non-human entities, they might overlook the inherent inequalities of ancient society. To address this, the paper centres its analysis on the concept of power, defined as the ability of one entity to influence the agency of another. It seeks to understand how people respond to power exertion, cope with life’s unfairness, and uncover the mechanisms behind creating and sustaining such disparities. Religion serves as a lens to answer these questions, as it can either reinforce the status of powerful individuals or empower the marginalised, depending on the context. Using Hadrian’s Wall as a case study, the paper examines individual religious experiences and connects them to broader imperial power networks. It argues that non-human elements, like priestly regalia and sacrificial animals, played a crucial role in wielding power, similar to how tools and clothing were instrumental in subjugating enslaved individuals. In sum, this research aims to provide a nuanced perspective on power dynamics in Roman Britain, bridging the gap between human and non-human agency. 

 Living on a prayer: Stone altars in the north east of Britannia 
Maxime Ratcliffe – Durham University

Stone altars are some of the most distinctive evidence of ritual practice in the Roman Empire and provide potential insights into the identities of dedicators at that time. This paper would focus on stone altars discovered along the northern frontier of Roman Britain, especially in forts/towns clustered on the Dere Street and Stanegate roads. The ‘military’ community was originally believed to be a closed off one which distanced itself from the inhabitants of Britannia. However, recent discoveries have shown a broader spectrum of occupants within this community, including women and children as seen through discoveries such as at Vindolanda. The analysis would centre around the deities chosen, the materials used to create the altars and the identities of the dedicators as well as where they were discovered. This could be in the forts themselves or in the vicus communities, showing a blurring of the lines between inclusion and exclusion of practitioners, allowing an analysis of the communities in these regions through religious practices. 

 Ritual as a means of bridging cultural differences: Romans in Hellenistic Athens 
Margarita Sardak – Universität zu Köln

The Greek polis of Athens was not located in the area of the Roman Limes. Originally an actual ally of Rome and later increasingly an integrative part of the Roman Empire, it remained officially a civitas libera et foederata, accordingly the borders of Attica were de jure borders of the Roman state. This paper will present results of a comprehensive study of the changes in Athenian religious life since the emergence of Roman influence in the region. It will be shown how, from the 2nd century BC onwards, the oldest and most important cults and rituals of the polis as well as newly founded sanctuaries and festivals were instrumentalised to familiarise the Athenians with the Roman people, to express the loyalty and gratitude of the Athenian people towards Rome and, finally, in the period of the late Republic and the rise of imperial power, to establish, maintain, intensify or improve diplomatic relations between the polis and the Roman elite. Particular attention will be paid to Attic rituals in which Romans directly participated and which fulfilled the task of bridging the gap between the two cultures, creating a common background for counterparts, and making them to a certain extent “Athenians”. 

 Keeping the ritual alive? Christian reappropriation of pagan temple sites in the cities of the late antique Levant (4th-6th century)    
Jacopo Dolci – University of Nottingham

The fourth century was a crucial moment for the Roman Empire as Christianity progressively took hold. The Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel) was particularly affected by this religious transition due to the presence of Jerusalem and the places of Jesus Christ’s life. Its cities continued to prosper throughout Late Antiquity, however, undergoing major urban transformations, among which the progressive closure, abandonment, and dismantlement of pagan temples and the erection of several churches. Some pagan sanctuaries were reappropriated by the Christian rule for constructing churches between the fourth and the sixth centuries (e.g. Caesarea, Gerasa, Scythopolis). The phenomenon, present everywhere throughout the Roman Empire although never particularly widespread, in the Levant is usually characterised by a considerable variety in its application. This paper analyses the phenomenon from a topographical and archaeological point of view. It aims to speculate on the motivations behind the Christian reappropriation of formerly pagan areas, evaluating whether it was driven by ideological or practical reasons, and exploring differences and common factors in the process. It will thus shed light on the religious life of the Levant by correlating the ideology-vs-practicality debate with the topics of civic aesthetics and preservation of urban monumentality.

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