Religious networks and the spread of ideas
In this series we focused on religious networks in the Greek and Roman worlds and how they served to create a common identity across the Mediterranean, both at the local scale of the city-state as well as at the regional and inter-regional levels. These networks often lay at the base of further trade and political relations, and besides religious norms they were particularly crucial to the transmission of knowledge and innovation. Who were the actors in these networks? What can we identify as nodes or ties? How did the flow of information spread from one node to the next? Were ‘weak ties’ or ‘strong ties’ the most effective? In these sessions we considered these issues with regard to the political impact of pan-Hellenic sanctuaries (e.g. Olympia and Delphi), the mobility which sanctuaries generated (processions, pilgrimages), the role of theoroi (civic delegates) and athletes as network specialists, and their role in developing the larger oikoumene in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, and the political federations which were typically based on religious ties.
Seminar instructor: Dr. C.G. Williamson
Image: The temple and altar of Hekate at Lagina, near Stratonikeia
Seminar instructor: Dr. C.G. Williamson
Image: The temple and altar of Hekate at Lagina, near Stratonikeia