Reconstructing Religious Ritual in Italy
Summary
Scholars have confronted the dearth of knowledge about practices beyond Latium and have questioned and revised their views on the spread of Roman religious practices throughout Italy as a result of Roman conquest. This chapter focuses on physical evidence for religious ritual in Italy, which is invaluable for reconstructing the ritual environment. It will touch on evidence from visual representations; votives; the phenomenon of large, multifunctional sanctuaries in Italy; the importance of natural settings; and, finally, theaters. As will become apparent, archaeological remains reveal rituals as diverse, multi-sensory experiences, with sounds, smells and sights that were not necessarily part of daily life.