Blood and Smoke: New Perspectives on Religion in Ancient Rome

Second cycle.

For entry to the course a bachelor's degree is required in one of the following fields: Classical Archaeology and/or Ancient History, Archaeology, Classics, History, or Cultural Heritage Studies.

The course offers an in-depth exploration of the actors, structures, and transformations of religion in ancient Rome, from the founding of the Republic through to the later Roman Empire (c. 509 BCE to 476 CE), with a particular focus on ancient sources, modern scholarship on Roman religion, and contemporary theoretical perspectives on belief, religion, and ritual.

Roman religion was messy and multisensory, full of sights, sounds, smells, and diverse animals, gods, plants, and people. It was well integrated into daily life, from private rituals held by families at home to spectacular public rituals led by magistrates and priests in Roman fora, streets, and temples. Roman children were taught to pray and sacrifice by their parents from an early age and rites of passage punctuated Roman citizens’ lifecycles. Blood and smoke permeated Rome.

This course will involve an examination of relevant literary and documentary sources, contemporary inscriptions and coins, as well as buildings and sculptures. All texts will be in translation (with the option for reading in Greek and Latin). These ancient sources will be used to evaluate modern scholarship on Roman religion. Anthropological, cognitive, and psychological perspectives will also be used to understand belief and rituals in ancient religions.

Having successfully completed this course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

• Give a comprehensive account of the major actors, structures, and transformations in religion in the Roman Republic and Empire;
• Acquire an in-depth knowledge of ancient sources and modern scholarship for the study of Roman religion;
• Gain a keen understanding of contemporary anthropological, cognitive, and psychological theories for understanding belief, religion, and ritual.

Competence and skills

• Demonstrate an advanced ability to construct oral and written arguments by drawing on ancient sources, and to gather, evaluate, and synthesise a variety of scholarship;
• Display the ability to critically engage with and analyse complex theoretical perspectives.

Judgement and approach

• Demonstrate an advanced ability to critically analyse and evaluate a range of ancient textual and material sources, and modern scholarship, for the study of ancient Roman religion;
• Display the ability to summarise and critically evaluate new theoretical perspectives on belief, religion, and ritual.

The teaching for this course consists of a combination of lectures and discussion seminars.

The course is taught in English.

Examination takes place through written and/or oral assignments and active seminar participation. Seminar attendance is compulsory. In the event of student absence from the compulsory seminars, at the end of the course, students will be offered the opportunity for replacement assessment in consultation with the teacher responsible for the course.

If a student who has been failed twice for the same examination element wishes to change examiner before the next examination session, such a request is to be granted unless there are specific reasons to the contrary (Chapter 6 Section 22 HF).

If a student has received a certificate of disability study support from the University of Gothenburg with a recommendation of adapted examination and/or adapted forms of assessment, an examiner may decide, if this is consistent with the course’s intended learning outcomes and provided that no unreasonable resources would be needed, to grant the student adapted examination and/or adapted forms of assessment.

If a course has been discontinued or undergone major changes, the student must be offered at least two examination sessions in addition to ordinary examination sessions. These sessions are to be spread over a period of at least one year but no more than two years after the course has been discontinued/changed. The same applies to placement and internship (VFU) except that this is restricted to only one further examination session.

If a student has been notified that they fulfil the requirements for being a student at Riksidrottsuniversitetet (RIU student), to combine elite sports activities with studies, the examiner is entitled to decide on adaptation of examinations if this is done in accordance with the Local rules regarding RIU students at the University of Gothenburg.

The grading scale includes the grades Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with Distinction (VG).

Teachers on the course are responsible for ensuring that the students’ views are systematically collected through written evaluations at the end of the course and that the results of the evaluations are the basis for the design of the course.

The results of and possible changes to the course will be shared with students who participated in the evaluation and students who are starting the course.