Project description
An innovative approach to the Colli Albani’s sacred environment
The identification of the famous sacrarium of Bona Dea at the ʽVilla of Clodiusʼ, Castel Gandolfo, and the re-evaluation of the villas of Secciano and La Torretta delivered insightful knowledge of the Colli Albani’s sacred environment. The EU-funded CULTUS project explores the role of religion in Roman elite competition, identity creation and state ideology from the viewpoint of actual practice, agency and integration into daily activities and a more mundane physical environment. The project focuses on the much-neglected semi-public cult sites situated in private properties by identifying the patrons of these initiatives and the reasons for their actions from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century AD.
Objective
.Drawing on exciting new discoveries in the Colli Albani area, the CULTUS project offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore the role of religion in Roman élite competition, identity creation, and state ideology, from the perspective of actual practice, agency, and integration into daily activities and more mundane physical surroundings. The identification of the famous sacrarium of Bona Dea at the ʽVilla of Clodiusʼ, Castel Gandolfo, and a re-assessment of the villas of Secciano and La Torretta, have closed important gaps in our knowledge of the Colli Albani’s sacred landscape, and have paved the way for the successful application of an innovative approach that moves away from still-prevailing paradigms of normative and static concepts of religion, and binary oppositions such as public/private or official/popular. Focussing on the much-neglected semi-public cult sites situated in private properties, the study aims to identify the patrons of these initiatives (male and female private individuals; emperors), and the reasons for their actions (self-promotion and socio-political ‘cultural capital’) over four centuries of extensive change in Roman political and social history (2nd c. BC to 2nd c. AD).
The project comprises five work packages: Comprehensive data collection (WP1) and analysis (WP2) of three main case study sites and several comparative sites; the interpretation and contextualisation of these findings in a wider set of historical questions (WP3); training and outreach activities (WP4 and 5). Key concepts to be developed further are: (a) the ‘mapping of social history’ that proposes to study human action and interaction from the perspective of their spacial interconnectedness; (b) ‘lived ancient religion’ that emphasises individuals as religious agents instead of institutions, cities or ethnic groups; and (c) gender studies, that explore how women used their engagement with (semi ) public cults for self-promotion.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology gender studies
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences sociology ideologies
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion religions
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.