Helpful Gods, Preaching Stoics, and Gossip from the Crossroads: Urban Religion in Horace's Satires and Epistles
Scholars generally hold that urban religion plays only a subordinate role in Horace's Satires and Letters. This article revises this verdict: it is precisely the many casual comments contained in both works which make clear how profoundly everyday religion is integrated into both works and into...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Mohr Siebeck
[2020]
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In: |
Religion in the Roman empire
Year: 2020, Volume: 6, Issue: 3, Pages: 310-336 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Horatius Flaccus, Quintus 65 BC-8 BC, Epistulae
/ Horatius Flaccus, Quintus 65 BC-8 BC, Saturae
/ Vatican Palace
/ City
/ Crossing
/ Popular piety
/ Saturnalia
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RelBib Classification: | AF Geography of religion AG Religious life; material religion BE Greco-Roman religions |
Further subjects: | B
individual religion
B Tiberisland B religious market B compitum B street preacher B Saturnalia |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | Scholars generally hold that urban religion plays only a subordinate role in Horace's Satires and Letters. This article revises this verdict: it is precisely the many casual comments contained in both works which make clear how profoundly everyday religion is integrated into both works and into the topography of the city Rome as Horace portrays it. The small shrines (compita) on street corners in urban districts serve as ideal focal points for the conversation (sermo) typical of the genre and for personal religious engagement. As the paths of city dwellers of the most varied classes and ranks cross here, the compita can be characterised as ideal 'ports of transshipment' for urban gossip and are closely connected to the colourful street life surrounding the Saturnalia. This typically satiric mixture is analysed using Satire 2.3 as a prime example. |
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ISSN: | 2199-4471 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion in the Roman empire
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1628/rre-2020-0020 |