Roman Priests from Republic to Empire: Values, Expectations, Representations

This book reconstructs the values, expectations and representations of priests and priesthoods in ancient Rome from the republic to the early empire. Challenging preconceived assumptions that Rome’s priests were important primarily because of their political currency, Roman Priests from Republic to Empire proposes a more nuanced reading of our ancient evidence for these significant men and women. Considering priests from Rome’s mythical and legendary past through to the early second century CE, this study demonstrates that the social and moral worth of priests was fundamental to Roman thinking in the late republic and into the early empire. It reasserts the importance of the category of priesthood in ancient Rome, above and beyond other civic or magisterial roles for Romans (for example, those of magistrate or senator), and proves that priests were expected to be of greater moral and social worth than others.

Alex A. Antoniou reveals first that there was a Roman vocabulary of virtues which had a particular resonance for Roman priests, which described both the qualities that priests were expected to maintain and the modus operandi of priests within Roman society. Second, this study demonstrates that priests and priesthoods were fundamental to the ways in which Romans both conceptualised Rome’s legendary and historical past, and negotiated the challenges and successes of their current circumstances. Ultimately, this study proves that perceptions of the moral worth and virtue of Rome’s priests were embedded in Roman socio-ethical discourse.

Alex A. Antoniou, Lecturer in Classics, University of Glasgow

Alex A. Antoniou is a Lecturer in Classics at the University of Glasgow. He holds a DPhil in Ancient History from the University of Oxford, and undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the University of Adelaide, Australia. His work focuses broadly on the cultural and religious history of Rome and the empire from the republic to the early empire.