The Economy of Roman Religion

Nick Ray was Assistant Director of the Oxford Roman Economy Project from 2014-2018 and is now with the Maritime Endangered Archaeology (MarEA) project. His research focuses on consumption practices in the Roman world, particularly relating to durable commodities, North African funerary archaeology, and post-conflict/contested heritage. He is co-editor of Burials, Migration and Identity in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond (2019), which contains several co-authored articles. He also co-edited De Africa Romaque: Merging cultures across North Africa (2016) and has published on consumer behaviour at Pompeii and fieldwork in Libya and Morocco.Angela Trentacoste is the Gerda Henkel Stiftung Scholar at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include environmental archaeology, bioarchaeology, ancient farming, mobility, and the economic role of religious activity. Recent publications on Roman themes include contributions to Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal (2020), Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2021), and Roman Animals in Ritual and Funerary Contexts (2021).Andrew Wilson, Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, University of Oxford. His research interests include the economy of the Roman empire, ancient technology, ancient water supply and usage, Roman North Africa, and archaeological field survey. Recent publications include: The Economy of Pompeii (ed. with Miko Flohr, Oxford, 2017); Trade, Commerce, and the State in the Roman world (ed. with Alan Bowman, Oxford, 2018); Recycling and Reuse in the Roman Economy (ed. with Chloë Duckworth, Oxford, 2020), and Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman World (ed. with Jerome Mairat and Chris Howgego, Oxford, 2022).

In many ways the economic activity of Roman religious sites was remarkably like that of those of the Christian church. Discounting the advent of doctrinal orthodoxy and greater control from the centre, there appear to be almost no ways of spending or acquiring money in the medieval church which were not known or practiced in the Roman period. As the authors say, this subject will benefit from a great deal of additional attention, and at some point a book of great interest to the general reader will undoubtedly emerge. Given the quality and approachability of their scholarship, these contributors have undoubtedly provided some of the essential building blocks for such a work.

• 1: Andrew Wilson: Introduction: Religion and the Roman economy 2: Jörg Rüpke: What did Religion Cost in Ancient Rome? 3: Charlotte Potts: Investing in Religion: Religion and the Economy in pre-Roman Central Italy 4: Javier Domingo: Cost Differences in Temple Building between Rome and the Provinces 5: David Wigg-Wolf: Moneychangers in the Temple? Coins and Religion in the Roman World 6: Marietta Horster: Cult Economy in the Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire 7: Marie-Pierre Chaufray: Impact of the Roman Conquest on Temple Economies in Egypt: A Case Study of the Temple of Soknopaios in Dime 8: Michael MacKinnon: Animals in Roman Religion: The Economics behind the Rituals 9: Tony King: Sacred flocks and herds? The Implications of Animal Sacrifice at Rural and Suburban Romano-Celtic Shrines 10: Marta Garcia Morcillo: Sacred Gifts, Profane Uses? The Limits of Donations in the Roman Religious Sphere 11: Koen Verboven: Guilds and Gods: Religious Profiles of Occupational collegia and the Problem of the dendrophori 12: Greg Woolf: Current and Future Directions of the Study of Roman Religion and Economy