Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean

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A scholar examines a passage from the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest extant copy of the gospels, c. 330 - 360

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Digital Workbook for HIS4936 @ University of South Florida

Instructor: David J. Thomas, thePortus.com

Textbooks:

Beard, Mary, John North, and S. R. F. Price. Religions of Rome. Vol. 1, A History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Beard, Mary, John North, and S. R. F. Price. Religions of Rome. Vol. 2, A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998

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Worshippers in distant Britain honored a goddess carried there from Egypt, while in Egypt she was never worshipped at all. In a Jewish temple, someone dedicated an altar to God… and his lover. Castrated priests parade the streets of Rome while Roman citizens lament the invasion of foreign cults, yet, they were never so popular as in Rome. In Alexandria Egypt, a rabbi explained Jewish theology to Romans using Greek philosophy. Christians, Jews, and Muslims debated one another using the same symbols and terms.

Full of contradictions and paradoxes, ancient religious practice has frustrated the attempts of scholars to classify it for generations. Myths were important, but they were only a small slice of the rich spectrum of ancient religious life. We will explore how scholars have attempted to approach a wide variety of themes as well as how you can pursue your own research. This class consists of weekly readings and short assignments and a research project composed of several milestones culminating in a final research paper on a topic of your choosing. You may have a certain amount of leeway on your paper in terms of chronology or geography, as long as you relate it to what we discuss in class.

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