Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CULTUS (Public Cults in Private Hands: the Appropriation of cult sites from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2019-07-01 do 2021-06-30
CULTUS explores the phenomenon of ʻsemi-publicʼ cult situated in private properties, and the ways in which private male and female members of the elite and (in their wake) emperors appropriated traditional cults, and established new ones on their private estates between the 2nd c. BC and the 2nd c. AD. It looks at the cult installations featured in town houses (domus) and extra-urban villas, as documented in primary sources. They were hosted in spaces inside and outside the domestic buildings. In some cases the cult was older than the house, for it was established before the piece of land (then still public) was included in private property. The inclusion of older sacred buildings and cults on private property started between the 3rd and the 2nd c. BC, became popular in the 1st c. BC, when it also caused concern and annoyance, and continued during the imperial period. In other cases, the cult was established during the construction of the house or at some point during its use. CULTUS offers a critical assessment of the nature of these cults and the whole spectrum of the cultic initiatives that a private individual could carry out on private premises, including the scope and the audience of the religious activities, and their management. More importantly, the possibility that some of these sacred buildings, despite being on private grounds, remained public or were made accessible to the public is central to CULTUS’ inquiry. This is an ignored aspect of Roman religion that is essential for our understanding of the role of religion in Roman elite competition, identity creation, and state ideology. It also involves the much-debated dichotomy between public and private at the legal, spatial, social, and religious level.
Conceptually, CULTUS draws on traditional and recent approaches, yet considers them critically, and exploits their mutually supporting and reinforcing aspects. They include the ʻspatial turnʼ, that explores the spatial dimension of social life; an understanding of ʻpublicʼ and ʻprivateʼ spaces as ever-fluid concepts; the application of the topographical approach “mapping social history” set out by Barbara Borg; a link with the concept of ʻLived Ancient Religionʼ (J. Rüpke), and with gender studies, for women’s roles in religious cults were more significant than has been traditionally acknowledged.
Conceptually, CULTUS draws on traditional and recent approaches, yet considers them critically, and exploits their mutually supporting and reinforcing aspects. They include the ʻspatial turnʼ, that explores the spatial dimension of social life; an understanding of ʻpublicʼ and ʻprivateʼ spaces as ever-fluid concepts; the application of the topographical approach “mapping social history” set out by Barbara Borg; a link with the concept of ʻLived Ancient Religionʼ (J. Rüpke), and with gender studies, for women’s roles in religious cults were more significant than has been traditionally acknowledged.
CULTUS’ action is organised in two parts. The first includes fieldwork in Italy, archival research, and desk-based analysis at the University of Exeter, and collection of data from the case-study area that includes the Alban Hills region, SE of Rome. Originally inhabited by the Latins, this area became fashionable with the Romans after their conquest, and a place for leisure retreats of new ruling classes including the emperors between the 2nd c. BC and the 2nd c. AD. The cultic landscape of this area, its history and special relation with Rome (the myth-historical links with the Trojan origins of Rome) offer considerable scope for exploring the phenomena investigated. The newly discovered Sanctuary of the Bona Dea at the 13th mile of the Via Appia - the one in front of which P. Clodius was murdered - is the most significant example. Fieldworks (2017-2019) undertaken at Villa Santa Caterina, Castel Gandolfo, as part of the ongoing project Contextualising the Past in the Alban Hills (Fig.1) proved the sacral nature of the remains, and recommend that this sacred place was created long before (3rd c. BC) the 1st c. BC, when the literary sources tell us that it was included within a private estate. CULTUS, in addition, considers the possibility that the cult site continued to work as a ʻpublicʼ temple both after the privatisation in the late Republican period and the inclusion of the estate within the imperial treasury. Interesting is also the Villa of Secciano. I localised it through unpublished archival documents, and I shed new light on whether the villa incorporated the Caput aquae Ferentinae, the source of a small river within a grove sacred to the deity Ferentina, where the Latins used to hold their assemblies. The second part uses the data from the case studies and relates them to the wider context. Comparative examples include cult sites in Rome, its surroundings, and other regions in Italy.
An answer to research questions that had not solved in previous research has been searched throughout the project. CULTUS’ achievements include:
- From a legal perspective ʻpublicʼ and ʻprivateʼ were clear and defined concepts in antiquity. But the ancient categorisation does not parallel the modern categories of ʻpublicʼ and ʻprivateʼ.
- The appropriation of a sacred building by a private individual, and the incorporation into his estate was an illicit act under Roman law. In principle, instead, the establishment of sacred buildings on private estates was allowed. The possibility that the incorporated or the newly established sacred buildings worked as public temples was possible, though the private landowner did not become the legal owner or possessor of the sacred building. By reassessing the notion of “res sacra” (“sacred thing”, including a place or object consecrated to the gods), and recognising that a res sacra is neither public nor private, CULTUS put into the equation the concept of “sacred space” as a “spatial” conceptual category on its own. It was only the consecration that made a building or an object sacred, no matter whether it was standing in a private or a public piece of land.
- Following the changes occurred in Roman society and politics after the Second Punic War, laws facilitated the process of consecrating temples. This marked the beginning of two known phenomena: a) influential private individuals became increasingly interested in consecrating temples and attaching their name to civic temples and sanctuaries; b) domus and villae began to host several gods, in addition to the Lares and domestic gods. Beyond the state of the art, CULTUS claims that funding sacra publica on private properties became an alternative form of munificence and benefaction of the local political elite to the community. It was, by all means, an act of euergetism (so far a term that scholarship applies only to the phenomenon of elite gift-giving to cities or to groups of people within them). And it had the transactional character that scholarship stresses when speaking of euergetism, for these benefactions were made in exchange for publicly awarded honours.
- What CULTUS argues is that emperors’ cultic actions in their villa were inspired by and followed models successfully exploited by private individuals.
CULTUS’ results have been disseminated in international research seminars and conferences; 4 peer-reviewed articles have been submitted and will be published soon. A monograph is in preparation and will be submitted by summer 2022
An answer to research questions that had not solved in previous research has been searched throughout the project. CULTUS’ achievements include:
- From a legal perspective ʻpublicʼ and ʻprivateʼ were clear and defined concepts in antiquity. But the ancient categorisation does not parallel the modern categories of ʻpublicʼ and ʻprivateʼ.
- The appropriation of a sacred building by a private individual, and the incorporation into his estate was an illicit act under Roman law. In principle, instead, the establishment of sacred buildings on private estates was allowed. The possibility that the incorporated or the newly established sacred buildings worked as public temples was possible, though the private landowner did not become the legal owner or possessor of the sacred building. By reassessing the notion of “res sacra” (“sacred thing”, including a place or object consecrated to the gods), and recognising that a res sacra is neither public nor private, CULTUS put into the equation the concept of “sacred space” as a “spatial” conceptual category on its own. It was only the consecration that made a building or an object sacred, no matter whether it was standing in a private or a public piece of land.
- Following the changes occurred in Roman society and politics after the Second Punic War, laws facilitated the process of consecrating temples. This marked the beginning of two known phenomena: a) influential private individuals became increasingly interested in consecrating temples and attaching their name to civic temples and sanctuaries; b) domus and villae began to host several gods, in addition to the Lares and domestic gods. Beyond the state of the art, CULTUS claims that funding sacra publica on private properties became an alternative form of munificence and benefaction of the local political elite to the community. It was, by all means, an act of euergetism (so far a term that scholarship applies only to the phenomenon of elite gift-giving to cities or to groups of people within them). And it had the transactional character that scholarship stresses when speaking of euergetism, for these benefactions were made in exchange for publicly awarded honours.
- What CULTUS argues is that emperors’ cultic actions in their villa were inspired by and followed models successfully exploited by private individuals.
CULTUS’ results have been disseminated in international research seminars and conferences; 4 peer-reviewed articles have been submitted and will be published soon. A monograph is in preparation and will be submitted by summer 2022
CULTUS has a theoretical and practical impact to society. While Roman religion is well suited to the study of the dynamics, and function of religion in competitive environments, CULTUS’ examination of the nature and evolution of ancient religions’ interactions with politics and society contributes to the current debates on these topics. CULTUS’ educational and economic benefits (e.g. through promoting tourism) link to CULTUS’ use of heritage sites. The discovery of the Sanctuary of the Bona Dea, and the results of CULTUS offer the possibility that this site could be made periodically accessible to the public