Religion was integral to the conduct of war in the ancient world and the Romans were certainly no exception. No campaign was undertaken, no battle risked, without first making sacrifice to propitiate the appropriate gods (such as Mars, god of War) or consulting oracles and omens to divine their plans. Yet the link between war and religion is an area that has been regularly overlooked by modern scholars examining the conflicts of these times. This volume addresses that omission by drawing together the work of experts from across the globe. The chapters have been carefully structured by the editors so that this wide array of scholarship combines to give a coherent, comprehensive study of the role of religion in the wars of the Roman Empire. Aspects considered in depth include: the Imperial cults and legionary loyalty; the army and religious/regional disputes; Trajan and religion; Constantine and Christianity; omens and portents; funerary cults and practices; the cult of Mithras; the Imperial sacramentum; religion & Imperial military medicine.
Chapter 1. Introduction: New Perspectives on Religion and Warfare in the Roman Empire
Chapter 2. The Roman Military Oath: the Sacramentum Militiae
Chapter 3. The Gods on Campaign in the Roman Empire
Chapter 4. Heros invictus and pacator orbis: Hercules as a War God for Roman Emperors
Chapter 5. Roman Military Medicine: The Nexus of Religion and Techne
Chapter 6. The Soldier and Death. Funerary Practices of Soldiers under the Principate
Chapter 8. The Cult of Mithras and the Roman Imperial Army
Chapter 9. Constantine and Christianity in the Roman Imperial Army