Introduction

Knust, Jennifer Wright; Várhelyi, Zsuzsanna

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738960.003.0000

Cited by 36 publications

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“… 14 ‘Arguably, then, it is the Christians who bequeathed to future generations the metonymic equivalence of sacrifice and violence’, Knust and Várhelyi 2011: 17. Elsner 2012 emphasizes the heavy influence of early Christian writers on modern theorizations of sacrifice. …”

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Roman Sacrifice, Inside and Out

Schultz

2016

J. Rom. Stud.

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The 'insider-outsider problem' has had little impact on the study of religion in preChristian Rome. Classicists generally assume that the modern idea of sacrice as the ritual killing of an animal applies to the Roman context. This study argues, however, that the apparent continuity is illusory in some important ways and that we have lost sight of some ne distinctions that the Romans made among the rituals they performed. Sacricium included vegetal and inedible offerings, and it was not the only Roman ritual that had living victims. Roman sacricium is both less and more than the typical etic notion of sacrice.Keywords: sacrice; Rome; emic; etic; pollucere; mactare I Those working in the social sciences have, for some time, been wrestling with the 'insider-outsider problem': how can one person genuinely understand the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of another? Insiders can report their own subjective experience, but very often this diverges from the assessments of those observing from the outside, from what is perceived as a more objective position. The problem was cleverly illustrated in a classic article that is standard reading for introductory anthropology and religious studies courses but that is generally unfamiliar to classicists, entitled 'Body rituals of the Nacirema' by the anthropologist Horace Miner. The article offers a brief account of the daily habits of this North American tribe whose members place a great deal of emphasis on maintaining and improving the body, for example:The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful inuences of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls. 1 * I owe many thanks to C. P. Mann, B. Nongbri, and J. N. Dillon for their thoughtful, challenging responses to earlier drafts of this article, and to audiences at Trinity College, Baylor University, and Bryn Mawr College for comments on an oral version of it. J. B. Rives provided valuable consultation on specic points and V. C. Moses generously shared her work-in-progress on the osteoarchaeological evidence from S. Omobono. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments, suggestions and objections that have greatly improved this piece. I have tried to respond to them all. The errors and aws that remain are all my own.

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“… 15 Burkert 1983: 3; Girard 1977: 1. Concise surveys of the major modern theories of sacrifice in the ancient world can be found in Knust and Várhelyi 2011: 4–18, Lincoln 2012, and Graf 2012. A wider range of scholarly approaches is presented by McClymond 2008: 1–24. …”

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Roman Sacrifice, Inside and Out

Schultz

2016

J. Rom. Stud.

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“… 3 In addition to the works on Roman sacrifice cited above, there are a number of fine books and volumes of collected essays on ancient religion generally which discuss the meanings and symbolism of sacrifice. Among these are: Naiden 2013; Faraone and Naiden 2012; Knust and Várhelyi 2011; Petropoulou 2008; Georgoudi et al 2005; Hägg and Alroth 2005; Detienne and Vernant 1998; Beard and North 1990; Grottanelli and Parise 1988; Rudhardt and Reverdin 1981; and Burkert 1972.…”

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Hammers, Axes, Bulls, and Blood: Some Practical Aspects of Roman Animal Sacrifice

Aldrete

2014

J. Rom. Stud.

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Animal sacrifice was a central component of ancient Roman religion, but scholars have tended to focus on the symbolic aspects of these rituals, while glossing over the practical challenges involved in killing large, potentially unruly creatures, such as bulls. The traditional explanation is that the animal was struck on the head with a hammer or an axe to stun it, then had its throat cut. Precisely how axes, hammers, and knives were employed remains unexplained. This article draws upon ancient sculpture, comparative historical sources, and animal physiology to argue that the standard interpretation is incomplete, and, in its place, offers a detailed analysis of exactly how the killing and bleeding of bovines was accomplished and the distinct purposes of hammers and axes within these rituals.

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Food, Virtue, and the Shaping of Early Christianity

Robinson

2020

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Introduction

Cited by 36 publications

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Roman Sacrifice, Inside and Out

Roman Sacrifice, Inside and Out

Hammers, Axes, Bulls, and Blood: Some Practical Aspects of Roman Animal Sacrifice

Food, Virtue, and the Shaping of Early Christianity

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