RELIGION & CLASSICAL WARFARE: The Roman Empire

1-230530

Religion was integral to the conduct of war in the ancient world and the Romans were certainly no exception. No campaign was undertaken and no battle risked without first making sacrifice to propitiate the appropriate gods or consult oracles and omens to divine their plans. Yet the link between war and religion is an area that has been regularly overlooked by modern scholars examining the conflicts of these times. This volume draws together the work of scholars and experts to present a coherent, comprehensive study of the role of religion in the wars of the Roman Empire.

Aspects considered in depth include: the Imperial cults and legionary loyalty; the army and religious/regional disputes; Trajan and religion; Constantine and Christianity; omens and portents; funerary cults and practices; the cult of Mithras; the Imperial sacramentum; religion & Imperial military medicine.