Maurizio Bettini is Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Siena, where he is Director of the Center for the Anthropology of the Ancient World. He is author of more than twenty scholarly books and five novels, including winners of the Prix Bristol des Lumières and the Premio Letterario Mondello.

• ContentsIntroduction: The Gods in Exile1. Sacrificing the Nativity Scene and Bombing the Mosque2. Festivity Figurines: Animals, Shepherds, Three Kings3. End of the Year Figurines: Sigilla, Sigillaria, and Compitalia4. A Life Through Figurines: The Lararium5. Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me6. Translating the Gods, Translating God7. Grammatical Paradoxes: The Name of God8. The Interpretatio of the Gods9. Polytheism, Curiosity, and Knowledge10. What If Monotheisms Were Just Polytheisms in Disguise?11. Tolerance vs. Interpretatio12. Polytheism as Language13. Giving Citizenship to the Gods14. The Long Shadow of Words15. The Twilight of Writing, the Sunset of ScriptureAppendix A. Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in the Ancient WorldAppendix B. The Ups and Downs of Paganus NotesBibliography

"Posits that polytheism, and Roman polytheism in particular, can help societies navigate political, social, and religious diversity."

Maurizio Bettini is Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Siena, where he is Director of the Center for the Anthropology of the Ancient World. He is author of more than twenty scholarly books and five novels, including winners of the Prix Bristol des Lumières and the Premio Letterario Mondello.

• ContentsIntroduction: The Gods in Exile1. Sacrificing the Nativity Scene and Bombing the Mosque2. Festivity Figurines: Animals, Shepherds, Three Kings3. End of the Year Figurines: Sigilla, Sigillaria, and Compitalia4. A Life Through Figurines: The Lararium5. Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me6. Translating the Gods, Translating God7. Grammatical Paradoxes: The Name of God8. The Interpretatio of the Gods9. Polytheism, Curiosity, and Knowledge10. What If Monotheisms Were Just Polytheisms in Disguise?11. Tolerance vs. Interpretatio12. Polytheism as Language13. Giving Citizenship to the Gods14. The Long Shadow of Words15. The Twilight of Writing, the Sunset of ScriptureAppendix A. Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in the Ancient WorldAppendix B. The Ups and Downs of Paganus NotesBibliography

"Posits that polytheism, and Roman polytheism in particular, can help societies navigate political, social, and religious diversity."

Maurizio Bettini is Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Siena, where he is Director of the Center for the Anthropology of the Ancient World. He is author of more than twenty scholarly books and five novels, including winners of the Prix Bristol des Lumières and the Premio Letterario Mondello.

• ContentsIntroduction: The Gods in Exile1. Sacrificing the Nativity Scene and Bombing the Mosque2. Festivity Figurines: Animals, Shepherds, Three Kings3. End of the Year Figurines: Sigilla, Sigillaria, and Compitalia4. A Life Through Figurines: The Lararium5. Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me6. Translating the Gods, Translating God7. Grammatical Paradoxes: The Name of God8. The Interpretatio of the Gods9. Polytheism, Curiosity, and Knowledge10. What If Monotheisms Were Just Polytheisms in Disguise?11. Tolerance vs. Interpretatio12. Polytheism as Language13. Giving Citizenship to the Gods14. The Long Shadow of Words15. The Twilight of Writing, the Sunset of ScriptureAppendix A. Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in the Ancient WorldAppendix B. The Ups and Downs of Paganus NotesBibliography

"Posits that polytheism, and Roman polytheism in particular, can help societies navigate political, social, and religious diversity."