Divination in the Ancient World: Religious Options and the Individual - Paperback

by Veit Rosenberger (Editor)

The search for knowledge of the future and for divine help is found in all ancient Mediterranean cultures. The key question of this book is: What are the interdependences between divination and processes of individualization or de-individualization in the ancient world? Individualization is understood as a process of change on the societal level. In contrast, individuation is a development on the personal level. Discussions about the definition of these terms are continuing. Divination may always have some effects on processes of individuation and individualization. Divination may be a means - and this list does not claim to be exhaustive - of legitimising decisions, to decide competition or to achieve distinctiveness. This book covers aspects from archaic Greece to the High Empire. Not all articles argue along the same lines: nothing highlights better the lively debate and the many open questions in the field of ancient divination.

Author Biography

Veit Rosenberger, geb. 1963. Studium der Alten Geschichte, Klassischen Philologie und Klassischen Archaologie in Heidelberg, Augsburg, Koln und Oxford. Promotion 1992 (Heidelberg), Habilitation 1997 (Augsburg). Lehrtatigkeit an der Universitat Augsburg und an der Emory University (Atlanta). Seit 2006 Professor fur Alte Geschichte an der Universitat Erfurt. Forschungsschwerpunkte: Triumphe und Siegesfeiern in der Antike, Sterben und Tod in der Antike, antike Chroniken, Religionsgeschichte, Antikenrezeption.