The Cult of the Matronae in the Roman Rhineland: An Historical Evaluation of the Archaeological Evidence

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[LyricFox]

Title: The Cult of the Matronae in the Roman Rhineland: An Historical Evaluation of the Archaeological Evidence Author(s): Alex G. Garman Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press Publication Date: 2008 ISBN: 0773452249 ISBN-13: 9780773452244 Current Price and More Info from Amazon

From the Bryn Mawr Classic Review:
A classicist visiting the German Rhineland has ample opportunity to inspect Roman remains, from the limes Germanicus (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to popular sites such as Xanten or Trier. If he goes to any of the many excellent local museums such as the Rheinisches LandesMuseum in Bonn or the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Köln (Cologne) and investigates the sections devoted to religion, he will find all of the usual suspects, from Jupiter to Isis. However, he will likely also see inscriptions and altars dedicated to a cult of three women known as the matronae or "matrons." When depicted, they are seated, relatively young, holding cornucopiae or plants or fruits, and two of them often have large bonnets that look at first glance like enormous beehive hairstyles. The visitor should not be surprised, however, if he has never heard of them, since they have left not so much as a trace in the literary record, despite over a thousand inscriptions and altars dedicated to them at several sites in northern Italy and particularly the Rhineland. Evidence for this cult in the Roman province of Germania inferior (the lower Rhine, including Nordrhein-Westfalen) has been collected and analyzed in this short and interesting book by Alex Garman.

Read the full review at the Bryn Mawr Classic Review web site.

Additional Description:
Examines the cult of the Matronae as it occurred in the Roman Rhineland and explains the symbolism and inscriptions found on the altars. This work reviews scholarship on the subject, investigates ideas of Romanization and concepts of bias and cultural exchange.

Special Notes:
none

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Discussion and reviews of this book are welcome in this thread. If you've read the book, please tell us what you think of it and why.

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