Phrygia in the second and third centuries CE offers more vivid evidence for what has been termed “lived ancient religion” than any other region in the ancient world. The evidence from Phrygia is neither literary nor issued by cities or their powerful inhabitants but rather comes from farmers and herders who left behind numerous stone memorials of themselves and dedications to their gods, praying for the welfare of their families, crops, and cattle. In Religion in Roman Phrygia: From Polytheism to Christianity, Robert Parker opens a rare window into the world of those Sir Ronald Syme called “the voiceless earth-coloured rustics” who have been “conveniently forgotten.” The period in which Phrygian paganism flourished so visibly was also the period in which Christianity was introduced by the apostle Paul and took root. Parker presents a rich body of evidence and uses it to explore one of history’s great stories and enigmas: how and why the new religion overtook its predecessor, with the Christian God meeting needs previously satisfied by Zeus and the other gods.
By:
Robert Parker
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 499g
ISBN: 9780520395480
ISBN 10: 0520395484
Pages: 266
Publication Date: 28 November 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Contents List of Illustrations Preface Introduction 1. Contexts of religious life 2. Priesthoods, finance, authority 3. Phrygian polytheism I: The gods 4. Phrygian polytheism II: Differentiated powers? 5. Heavenly and imperial gods 6. Consecrations and confessions at the sanctuary of Apollo Lairbenos 7. Phrygian gods and death 8. Christianity and paganism in Phrygia 9. Retrospect 10. The masked ball: Interpretatio and its effects 11. Envoi Appendix A. Myths and traditions of city origins Appendix B. ‘Honoured by/consecrated to Hekate’ and related texts Appendix C. τὸν θεόν σοι, μὴ ἀδικήσῃς Appendix D. Paganism and Montanism Appendix E. The prose inscription for Epitynchanos and family Appendix F. Iconography and ‘recovering the indigenous’ Bibliography Index
Robert Parker is Wykeham Professor Emeritus of Ancient History at Oxford University. He is author of five monographs on Greek religion, most recently Greek Gods Abroad. His book Polytheism and Society at Athens won the Criticos Prize for 2005.
