Religion, Superstition, and Philosophy in Ancient Rome

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of Religions that focuses on the role of the supernatural in ancient Latin literature. Religion lies at the heart of the earliest recorded texts in Western civilization and plays a central role in human authors’ efforts to conceptualize reality and understand the universe. The Iliad begins with a description of what modern readers correctly identify as a scientific event (a plague), but Homer attributes it to divine intervention, or rather, vengeance. His poetic description of its effects is grimly accurate, even if his understanding of its cause would be considered superstitious by later authors, such as devotees of the Hippocratic tradition. This Special Issue aims to draw on the expertise of scholars and researchers who explore the many ways in which ancient authors employed religion to grapple with the harsh realities of life.

Such applications often (but not always) involve philosophical scrutiny or insight and are motivated by the theological doctrines of certain sects, for example, the ever-present influence of and cosmological order attributed to the divine logos (for Stoics), the assertion that immortal beings’ blessedness is incompatible with any concern for human affairs (for Epicureans), and the suspension of this belief altogether (for Skeptics). While contributions inspired by these philosophical connections are welcome, the scope of this Special Issue is broader; it may include less philosophically inclined analyses and anything from divine interference in Plautus’ Amphitryo (on the early side of the literary spectrum) to Apuleius’ exploration of magic and the eerily supernatural in Metamorphosis (on the spectrum’s later side), and anything in between. Contributions that focus on later authors from Late Antiquity, such as the Church Fathers or other writers, are also welcome.

This Special Issue aims to shed light on a complex but intriguing topic: How do ancient authors working in various genres at different time periods engage with religious tradition? Despite varying levels of sophistication and cynicism across eras, supernatural influence is seemingly omnipresent. This raises important questions: Are gods and belief in them merely a literary motif or a metonymical go-to for overeducated Roman poets and historiographers? Is it possible that, within each age, there lurks a deeply rooted desire for something supernatural that cannot be ignored, even by the non-believer? How seriously should one take Cato’s advice on lustration rituals in On Agriculture? Why did Cicero, a skeptic, dedicate three whole books to examining the nature of the gods and two books to the topic of divination?  What exactly is the meaning of Vergil’s expectation of the birth of a Roman savior in Eclogue 4, Horace’s mythological escapism in Epode 16, or Ovid’s fascination with Medea’s magic?

These are questions whose answers are not forthcoming, but exploration under the leadership of leading scholars will be significant nonetheless. The question of religion itself is, of course, timeless and therefore always relevant; the contributions to this Special Issue will enrich our understanding of equally timeless works of literature and lend a more complete understanding of their meaning.

Dr. Sergio Yona
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• gods
• religion
• superstition
• Latin literature
• philosophy
• poetry
• prose
• Roman