Religion & Classical Warfare: The Roman Republic

Essays exploring the role religion played in ancient Roman warfare, including destroying enemies' gods, wartime ceremonies, and live burials. Religion was integral to the conduct of war in the ancient world and the Romans were certainly no exception. No campaign was undertaken, no battle risked, without first making sacrifice to propitiate the appropriate gods (such as Mars, god of War) or consulting 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 addresses that omission by drawing together the work of experts from across the globe. The chapters have been carefully structured by the editors so that this wide array of scholarship combines to give a coherent, comprehensive study of the role of religion in the wars of the Roman Republic. Aspects considered in depth will include: declarations of war; evocatio and taking gods away from enemies; dedications and ceremonies; the cult of the legionary eagle; the role of women in Republican warfare; omens and divination; live burials of people in times of military crisis; and the rituals of the Roman triumph. AUTHORS: Dr Matthew Dillon is Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia. His previous works include The Ancient Greeks in their own Words (2002). Dr Christopher Matthew teaches at Australian Catholic University, New South Wales, Australia. He wrote A Storm of Spears (2012), made a new translation of Aelian's Tactics (2012) and co-edited Beyond the Gates of Fire (2013) (all published by Pen & Sword). 30 b/w illustrations