Bryn Mawr College

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Browsing Bryn Mawr College by Subject "Agriculture -- Italy -- Rome"

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    An archaic agrarian cult centre in the Roman Forum
    (2015-07-28) Barton, Tabatha
    In this paper, I discuss the emerging building program in the Roman forum during the 6th century BCE. This program came with the rise of urbanization and was part of a greater religious culture in archaic Latium. In particular I argue that the monuments in this program represent an archaic cult centre focused on the propitiation of agrarian gods, emphasizing the importance of agriculture to the people of archaic Rome. To make that argument, I present the archaeological and literary evidence followed by a discussion. I will begin with an overview of the material and dating from the Roman forum and then compare this evidence to material from other Latial sites, Lavinium and Satricum. I next present the literary and archaeological evidence for each monument. Then I discuss the monuments as a whole and their role in the topography of festivals. Lastly, I discuss the gods associated with these monuments. I conclude by connecting this cult centre to the rising urbanization and economy of archaic Rome, emphasizing the importance of agriculture.