Religion & Classical Warfare: The Roman Republic

“[T]he work presents a very careful edition, in hard cover, with a good number of illustrations that help to better understanding of the contents addressed, as well as a list of abbreviations (very pertinent, given the unusualness of many of the sources consulted) and a complete index, always useful, of names and terms… the result of the volume is overall remarkable, so it can be assumed that the book will become a necessary reference for successive studies on the military and religion in the republican period.” -ARYS

Religion was integral to the conduct of war in the ancient world and the Romans were certainly no exception. No campaign was undertaken, no battle risked, without first making sacrifice to propitiate the appropriate gods (such as Mars, god of War) or consulting oracles and omens to divine their plans. Yet the link between war and religion is an area that has been regularly overlooked by modern scholars examining the conflicts of these times. This volume addresses that omission by drawing together the work of experts from across the globe. The chapters have been carefully structured by the editors so that this wide array of scholarship combines to give a coherent, comprehensive study of the role of religion in the wars of the Roman Republic.

Aspects considered in depth will include: declarations of war; evocatio and taking gods away from enemies; dedications and ceremonies; the cult of the legionary eagle; the role of women in Republican warfare; omens and divination; live burials of people in times of military crisis; and the rituals of the Roman triumph.