ebooks Magazines and the Making of America: Modernization; Community; and Print Culture; 1741–1860 (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology) by Heather A. Haveman in History

Description

A Place at the Altar illuminates a previously underappreciated dimension of religion in ancient Rome: the role of priestesses in civic cult. Demonstrating that priestesses had a central place in public rituals and institutions; Meghan DiLuzio emphasizes the complex; gender-inclusive nature of Roman priesthood. In ancient Rome; priestly service was a cooperative endeavor; requiring men and women; husbands and wives; and elite Romans and slaves to work together to manage the community's relationship with its gods.Like their male colleagues; priestesses offered sacrifices on behalf of the Roman people; and prayed for the community’s well-being. As they carried out their ritual obligations; they were assisted by female cult personnel; many of them slave women. DiLuzio explores the central role of the Vestal Virgins and shows that they occupied just one type of priestly office open to women. Some priestesses; including the flaminica Dialis; the regina sacrorum; and the wives of the curial priests; served as part of priestly couples. Others; such as the priestesses of Ceres and Fortuna Muliebris; were largely autonomous.A Place at the Altar offers a fresh understanding of how the women of ancient Rome played a leading role in public cult.