Athens and Rome: Introducing New Gods

Polytheistic religions are per se most dynamic religious systems, since in their understanding different divinities, diverse ritual practices, or mutually contradictory beliefs can co-exist without causing serious theological problems; the polytheistic conception of religion even allows, however under certain circumstances, new gods to be introduced and become an integral part of an already existing system. The preconditions for a successful introduction of a new, sometimes even foreign deity are indeed manifold. New ethnic elements, private piety, state-controlled initiative, oracles, or natural catastrophes can become the initiatory parameter for introducing new gods. Such new »comers« have always an impact on the system they are entering in: they can eliminate or condemn older deities to insignificance, create through their sanctuaries a new sacred topography, or become a big attraction for the members of a specific social stratum.

Aim of the 8th International Spring School at the Department for Religious Studies of the University of Erfurt was not so much the plain description of the phenomenon as such (e.g. the step by step reconstruction of the arrival of Asklepios at Athens or Rome), but moreover the understanding of the religious, social, and political mechanisms that »allowed« a new deity to arrive and settle down in an alien context. The main focus was on Athens (e.g. Asklepios, Bendis, Pan, etc.) and Rome (Castores, Aesculapius, Isis, etc.), since for these two cities the rich relevant literary, epigraphic, and archaeological material enables a profound analysis of the phenomenon of introducing new gods in a specific, well-defined local context. However, we intended to throw also some comparative light on cases that are definitely not locally bounded, like the cult of the so called Egyptian deities, the appearance of Mithras, or the state-controlled introduction of deified human beings (Hellenistic kings, local benefactors, Roman emperors) into the local panthea.

Joannis Mylonopoulos and Jörg Rüpke