Blood and Smoke: New Perspectives on Religion in Ancient Rome

Do You Want to Understand How Religion Shaped Life in Ancient Rome?

From everyday rituals to the grand ceremonies of the Empire, Roman religion was anything but simple. It was colorful, loud, and full of scents, animals, gods, and people. Religion permeated all aspects of Roman society—from private prayers at home to public rituals in temples and city streets. Children learned to pray and sacrifice from an early age, and each stage of life was marked by religious rites.

This course offers you the opportunity to deepen your understanding of Roman religion, from the beginning of the Republic to the fall of the Empire (c. 509 BCE – 476 CE).

In the course, you will:

Explore ancient texts, inscriptions, coins, buildings, and sculptures (all texts are provided in translation, with the option to read in Greek and Latin)

Analyze modern scholarship on Roman religion

Apply anthropological, cognitive, and psychological perpectives to understand belief and ritual

By combining ancient sources with contemporary theoretical perspectives, you will gain tools to understand religion as lived experience—not just as ideas, but as actions, emotions, and social structures.

The course can be taken as a stand-alone module or as part of elective studies within a Master's degree.