Religions 13: Religious Diversty in the Roman Empire: Gaul and Egypt

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Religions 13 Religious Diversty in the
Roman Empire Gaul and Egypt
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Roman Gaul
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Historical background

• 120 BCE Gallia Transalpina (later Narbonensis
  after capital Narbo Narbonne) first Roman
  province (Provincia Province) outside of Italy
• 58-50 Gallic Wars Julius Caesar conquers rest
  of Gaul until the Rhine
• 22 BCE Gaul divided into Roman provinces
  Aquitania, Belgica (Reims, later Trier),
  Lugdunensis (Lugdunum Lyon)

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• Greg Woolf, Becoming Roman (1998)
• Romanisation. How did
• Roman culture spread over
• the Roman Empire after its
• expansion throughout the Roman Empire?
• Old view process instigated and dominated by
  Romans gt top down view
• New view indigenous population also contributed
  to this process gt bottom up

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• Ergo term Romanisation is biased, as it
  implies imposition from above
• Woolf becoming Roman (individuals
  perspective) slow and gradual process of
  interaction between Roman and indigenous culture
• Gallic religion is an excellent example of this

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Changes after Roman conquest

• Gallia Comitata long-haired Gaul barbarian
  country soon, however, Roman administration was
  placed over Gaul provinces (22 BCE) and
  civitates (nations) with cities (oppida) colonia
  (military colonies)
• Use as Latin as official language
• Villae constructed in countryside
• Acquaducts Pont du Gard

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Opposition between Roman and Gallic (Celtic)
culture

• Can be clearly seen in differences between
  religions
• own Gallic deities (e.g. Epona, Nehalennia) and
  temples
• Own religious customs, e.g. worship of trees and
  animals
• Human sacrifice
• Priestly caste Druids

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• Old view resistance of local population
  against Romans can be perceived in their
  religious practices
• Woolf, however opposition may have existed in
  beginning but then crystallised and Roman culture
  spread over all segments of society. Better to
  ask the question (p. 208) did local identities,
  formed or maintained at least in part by cult, in
  any sense undermine or offer an alternative to
  Roman identity?

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Case of Hercules Magusanus

• Assimilation to Roman culture or adaption to
  indigenous culture? In how an expression of
  Roman-ness?
• Half-full/half-empty discussion, p. 208-9
• A more pragmatic approach is to ask what impact
  Roman imperial institutions and ideas had on the
  religious dimensions of Iron Age culture, and how
  this encounter influenced the ways in which
  Gallo-Romans came to approach the divine and to
  make sense of their world in relation to it

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La Tène culture

• Only knowledge through archaeology local
  variation within a shared tradition(p. 210)
• Rites after which people were killed and left in
  bogs
• Temples deliniations of space (ditches, walls,
  banks)
• Gods represented in anthropomorphic form, but
  also in form of animals, hybrids, trees, other
  symbols (sun wheel, human head)
• We dont know anything about religious cults and
  practices, and Caesar does not help further when
  he says that the Gauls are worshipping Mercury,
  Apollo, Mars and others, he is just looking from
  a Roman perspective and does not take local
  variety into account. Also Roman accounts focus
  on strangeaspects human sacrifice, but almost
  nothing on animal sacrifice etc.

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What did the Romans do?

• Like in Rome (see previous class) Romans were in
  principle accomodating to other cults and
  practices, but on Roman terms and conditions
• E.g. interpretatio Romana the assertion of some
  form of equivalence between a foreign deity and a
  Roman one(p. 214). See example of Caesar
• Romans thought of themselves as bringers of
  civilization to the barbarians, but did not,
  and could not (see discussion of belief),
  enforce a theology or doctrine. On the other
  hand, there were some general ideas about proper
  ritual conduct (pietas-religio) as opposed to
  ritual behaviour that did not meet that standard
  (superstitio)
• Examples of rituals not in Roman way animal
  statues however, depended on level of Roman-ness
  whether these elements were tolerated
• Human sacrifice always forbidden
• But when these minimal standards were met, both
  sides were easily integrated

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Two examples of the creation of Gallo-Roman
religion

• 1. Arverni (Auvergne) local aristocrats ask for
  a statue of Mercury made by Greek sculptor
  Zenodorus (first half first century CE) (though
  governor may also have played a part in this
  case)
• 2. cult centre of Tres Galliae (12 BCE) in Lyon
  gtemperor cult priests recruited from civitates
  (very prestigious)

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• In both cases, we see the local elite and Roman
  government working together to establish a new
  amalgam of religion
• Old interpretation elite just giving in to
  economic benefits of Roman government. But this
  is only partly true. Personal gain may have
  played a role, but this does not mean that the
  local elite were betraying their gods. Religion
  was simply transforming!

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• Also incorrect to assume that the Roman
  government influenced this religious
  transformation gt happened among the local elite
• Only in some cases did Roman government take
  action, e.g. case of Druids, human sacrifice, and
  some un-Roman cultic practices (see quote Pliny)
• But most cult was neither imposed nor banned by
  Rome and so reform from above is implausible as a
  general explanation (p. 222)

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• Romans did provide models, however
• Cult of Three Gauls at Lyon (12 BCE)
• Associations of Roman citizens
• Public cults in coloniae, e.g. in altar in
  Narbo/Narbonne (12 CE) laws should be same as
  those of Diana on Aventine

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• In beginning these changes not always systematic,
  later magistrates determined religious calendar
  cult of deity linked to Roman deity, new
  temples/images etc.
• Besides these visible and great transformations,
  smaller transformations took place, e.g.
  disappearance of animal sacrifice, new rituals,
  such as burial rites

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Conclusion

• Elites instigation of many of these processes
  does not mean that the masses were unaffected by
  it The inevitable conclusion is that Roman
  religion had an attraction for Gauls that was
  also based on the primary function of religion,
  to make sense of the world and of human
  experience of it (p. 229)
• So Gauls did not passively take over Roman
  religion, result of complex interactions gt
  syncretism dynamic combination of elements drawn
  from two religious systems

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Roman Egypt
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Changes from Greek to Roman period

• 31 BCE battle of Actium Octavian wins from Mark
  Anthony and Cleopatra VII
• 30 BCE Egypt Roman province
• Octavian/Augustus installs a prefect of
  equestrian rank for Egypt to guard the grain
  shipments to Rome gt special status of Egypt
  within Roman Empire
• 284 Diocletian gt Egypt becomes more and more
  like any other province in Late Antiquity

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• Like in case of Gaul we need to start with
  religion before Roman arrival and then see what
  impact it had on Egyptian religion and to what
  extent the encounter with Roman culture
  influenced how the Egyptians approached the
  divine

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What is Ancient Egyptian religion?

• Enormous diversity of approaches, ideas, uses
  and images that developed over time (ca. 3100 BCE
  450 CE!) and depended on place gt was there ever
  such a thing as Ancient Egyptian religion?

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Basic characteristics

1. embedded polytheistic (inclusive)
2. no holy Book or dogmas, though writing of holy
   texts played a more important role in Egyptian
   temples
3. multiplicity of approaches (Frankfort)
   variations are only attempts to comprehend the
   divine
4. Nature religion
5. Priestly caste at the same time, temples were
   centres of learning
6. Larger distance with gods (cf. interconnectedness)
   

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Changes in Religion in Graeco-Roman Period

• Hellenism interpretatio Graeca, Greek names of
  gods (Isis becomes Aphrodite)
• New gods Serapis, combination of Osiris and Apis
  in Hellenistic context
• Universal and unique gods (e.g. Isis)
• Gods in connection with fate (Tyche)
  personifications
• Animal worship, e.g. of the Apis bull (Memphis)
• Emperor cult

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Interpretationes graecae

• Zeus Amon-Re
• Aphrodite Hathor
• Apollo Horus/Montu
• Artemis Bastet
• Athena Neith
• Demeter Isis
• Dionysus Osiris
• Helios Re
• Hera Isis/Mut

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Sarapis
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Roman Serapeum
J.S. McKenzie, S. Gibson A.T. Reyes,
Reconstructing the Serapeum in Alexandria from
the archaeological evidence, JRS 94 (2004) 73-121
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Serapeum, Alexandria, axonometric reconstruction
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Religious transformation from Ptolemaic to Roman
Egypt

• - Romans basically left stratification of society
  (Hellenized elite, special status for Greek
  cities, e.g. Alexandria) intact, but only added a
  layer at the highest level of command other
  changes mainly in army (settlement of veterans,
  foreign army units etc.)
• Needs to be seen in the context of longer-lasting
  transformations going on since the start of the
  Graeco-Roman period gt much more continuity, e.g.
  worship of animals, Serapis, and abstractions
  simply continued and syncretism already existed
  (Egyptian-Greek)
• Even most significant change (emperor cult)
  partly continued Ptolemaic ruler cult
• Thus religious transformation much less profound
  than in e.g. Gaul

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Augustus as Pharaoh, temple of Mandulis at
Kalabsha
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• Within these continuities, some slight changes
  took place
• Most significant is emperor cult besides
  continuities, we also see temples for emperor
  cult arising in some cities (e.g. Alexandria)
• Imperial control of priests and temples priests
  appointments need to be approved by Roman
  official, wealth of temples restricted
• Some new cults introduced, e.g. that of Heron
  (Thracian rider god) and Bes becomes extremely
  popular
• These are, however no more than other elements to
  the syncretistic mix!

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Conclusion

• Religious transformation in Roman Egypt much less
  profound than in Gaul
• Religion in Roman Egypt must be seen as a
  continuity of changes already set in in Ptolemaic
  period, which resulted in an Egyptian-Greek
  syncretism, Roman elements were just an addition
  to this
• Traditional cults and practices in temples
  largely continued unaltered in Egyptian temples,
  cf. Gaul where changes were much more
  far-reaching
• In Egypt gods remained worshipped under their old
  names, were only interpreted in Greek context
  in Gaul we see doubling of names (Hercules
  Magusanus etc.) and also worship under Latin
  names (e.g. Mercury, at Arverni)
• in both cases measures were made against
  priestly establishment (Druids, Egyptian
  priests), though the latter were never abolished
  and these measures had much less of an impact in
  Egypt