Religions of Rome: Volume 2, a Sourcebook

This book (volume 2 of a 2 volume work) is an excellent selection of passages writen by Romans and their contemporaries about Romans and their religions. Each translation is preceded by a short description of the context of the passage, and references. Included are paragraphs from books, quotes from lost works, inscriptions from monuments, publicly posted legal announements, and grafitti. It was a breath of fresh air for me, since the contemporary source material in this subject is so sparse that most books on ancient religion are a doubtful parade of their authors' opinions. And although the passages from ancient writers are laden with their opinions, with the help of the editors of 'Religions of Rome, vol II' it's obvious and once exposed, revealing.

Religions of Rome, volumes I & II by Doctors Beard, North and Price is an invaluable work that is a necessity for any student of Classical Civilization, as the Oxford Classical Dictionary and H.H. Scullard's Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic. Throughout my years of study in the university, I have come to rely upon the work as a base for any research that I would embark upon. In this vein, I have to state that the exhaustive Chicago footnotes and bibliography are of extreme help when one needs to seek further primary and secondary source materials. In terms of the book's writing, I declaim with confidence that this is one of the few works to be written by committee and is better off for its. The text reviews subject matter in detail while remaining concise with subject matter placed into collection via topic related to epoch. Again, this work is the basis of any Classicist library and shall serve one diligently thought out one's life.