Sacred Britannia

The Gods & Rituals of Roman Britain

£19.95
£19.95
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A timely and up-to-date account of religion in Roman Britain

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Two thousand years ago the Romans sought to absorb into their Empire what they regarded as a remote almost mythical island on the very edge of the known world Britain The expeditions of Julius Caesar and the Claudian invasion of AD 43 and the continuing Roman presence up to the 5th century AD brought fundamental and lasting changes to the island Not least among these was the introduction of a new pantheon of Classical deities and religious systems along with a clutch of exotic Eastern cults including Christianity But what of Britannia and her own homegrown deities What cults and cosmologies did the Romans encounter and how did they react to them Under Roman rule the old gods and their adherents were challenged adopted adapted absorbed and reconfiguredbrbrIn Britain no inscriptions predate the Roman period apart from brief coinlegends and the divine imagery that adorned temples in the Roman world was largely lacking But with the Romans religion becomes much more visible In this fresh and innovative new account Miranda AldhouseGreen balances literary archaeological and iconographic evidence and scrutinizes their shortcomings to illuminate the complexity of religion and belief in Roman Britain and the twoway traffic of cultural exchange and interplay between imported and indigenous cultsbrbrDespite the remoteness of this period on the cusp between prehistory and history many of the forces tensions ideologies and issues of identity at work are still relevant today as iSacred Britanniai skilfully reveals
Extent: 256 pp
Format: Paperback
Illustrations: 125
Publication date: 2023-07-06
Size: 23.4 x 15.3 cm
ISBN: 9780500252222

Press Reviews

A treasure-house of learning and a pleasure to read
History Today

Lively and engaging as ever, Miranda Aldhouse-Green provides a completely fresh picture of the variety of religious life in Roman Britain … this welcome book has a strong contemporary resonance in its challenging insights about cultural identity and religious diversity
Rowan Williams

Rarely has a book about the ancient world felt as relevant to our present times
Current Archaeology

A very good overview of religion in the province of Britain
Archaeological Journal

About the Authors

Miranda Aldhouse-Green is Professor Emeritus at Cardiff University. She is the author of The Celtic Myths, Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Exploring the World of the Druids and, with Stephen Aldhouse-Green, The Quest for the Shaman.

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