Archaeology Research

Worshipping the Roman Emperor: Space, Place, and Meaning

Dr Alex A. Antoniou, University of Glasgow

Wednesday 18th March 2026, 16.00-17.30

355 Lecture Theater, James Watt South Building, Engineering Way, G12 8QQ

 

 

The core contention of this paper is that festivals, sacrifices, and celebrations devoted to the divine Roman emperor, his divine family, and his divine predecessors mattered to the communities that engaged with these unique forms of religious expression. Opposing embedded scholarly paradigms governing our understanding of the phenomenon of emperor worship – that these institutions were nothing more than mere manifestations of political loyalty – this paper seeks reassert the importance of these religious practices for a range of different communities in the Italian peninsula in the construction of their communal, local, and global identities. To that end, this paper considers the relationship between the space(s) constructed or marked out for emperor worship in the Italian peninsula and the processes of identity (re)construction on a communal level. In so doing, this paper will think about the ‘publicness’ of worship, and the extent to which religious practices could define or distinguish communal identities.

 

Each session is followed by an informal social gathering at Curlers Rest on Byres Road from 17.30 onwards.

All are welcome.

 

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First published: 16 March 2026