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8 - The Imperial Cult and the Sacred Bonds of RomanOverseas Commerce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2020

By
Taco Terpstra
Edited by
Pascal Arnaud  and
Simon Keay
Pascal Arnaud
Affiliation:
Université Lumière Lyon II
Simon Keay
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
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Summary

The emergence of the Imperial cult and its role inprovincial diplomacy have been much studied by Romanscholarship. In general, the balance is tipped infavour of studies of public practice, althoughprivate practice has certainly also been on thescholarly agenda. However, the role of emperorworship in overseas commerce has received preciouslittle attention. The evidence is admittedly thin (Ilay no claim to being comprehensive in my treatmenthere). Moreover, absent above all are documentarydata, the type of source material that would havebeen most useful and that scholars of more recenttime periods have access to, for instance in theform of private business letters. Nonetheless, whathas survived is in my view intriguing and worthdiscussing jointly, an endeavour that to myknowledge has never been attempted.

Type
Chapter
Information
Roman Port Societies
The Evidence of Inscriptions
 , pp. 178 - 197
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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