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1 results

  • 17c - Public religion

  • from 17 - Late polytheism
  • Edited by Alan Bowman, Brasenose College, Oxford, Averil Cameron, Keble College, Oxford, Peter Garnsey, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Ancient History
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    08 September 2005, pp 553-572

  • Summary

    The Severan dynasty's attitude to religion was well exemplified by Caracalla. It was in the nature of things that an emperor's personal piety could not remain a private matter. The significance even of well-known gods varied widely from place to place. Roma, the emperor, the Capitoline Triad and the 'Twelve Gods' were revered throughout the empire, but in a way that varied according to the degree of their assimilation to local tradition, and of the natives zeal for Rome. Tripolitania and Trier illustrate well the variety of the regional perspective. The historic centre of Lepcis Magna was the old forum, whose shrines offer a first orientation in Tripolitanian religion. Earthquakes, nomad invasions and failure to effect repairs were probably more significant than Christianity as causes of the ruin that overcame many temples in the coastal cities, Sabratha, Oea and Lepcis Magna, during the latter part of the century.