Research consisted preliminarily of an updated historical and historico-religious interpretation, achieved by library research first, then by the study of both ancient sources, modern literature, and topographical and archaeological evidence. In addition, constant has been the systematic application of a inter/multidisciplinary approach.
Methodologically, by focusing on the historical development of the religious movements considered, thus in a long-term framework, I have taken great advantage of the “spatial turn” approach, which allowed me to better analyse how ritual movement could “affect” space to create a “new” religious place to be linked to that ritual and to become part of Rome’s sacred landscape.
Moreover, I also investigated how such rituals affected the participants through the emotions they elicited (profiting from the study of emotions in historical research), thus becoming part of both individual and collective, thus more in general of cultural memory (profiting from the study of cultural memory). Regarding the female sphere, this more general approach was also combined with studies on the role and agency of women in the religious (and not only) sphere of ancient Rome (also profiting from gender studies applied to Antiquity).
On the comparative side, the first and most important of the comparanda turned out to be the rite of the Lupercalia as one of the most important rites in the Roman festive calendar and the one celebrated for the longest time. As for the comparison with a rite still celebrated in our times, the procession of the Madonna del Carmine (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) in Rome, in which I participated, proved to be very fruitful in terms of inspiration and material for further reflection.
The project has taken place so far in Paris, at the Centre ANHIMA (two Secondments, supervisor Prof. Francesca Prescendi) and in Rio de Janeiro, at the Universidade Federal do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (Outgoing phase, supervisor Prof. Claudia Beltrão). This allowed me to further broaden the perspectives of my reflections and work. On the one hand, I was able to enrich the comparative dimension of my work by discussing with colleagues who are experts in similar ritual movements, both past and present. These discussions have led to the establishment of an international network that has not only raised the level of my research but has also resulted in the organisation of various initiatives that have often seen me as principal investigator and coordinator.
The return phase is at Sapienza University of Rome under the supervision of Prof. Alessandro Saggioro.
