Religion and Power in the Cities of the Roman Empire, lecture 2/4 in the series Roman Religion Through an Urban Lens.

Jörg Rüpke 
(Max-Weber-Kolleg, Universität Erfurt). 

The second lecture focuses on the role of religion in Roman cities in Italy and the West. It is mapping the different form of religious practices and the permanent and temporary spaces created by such practices as well as religious institutions and architecture. The role of religion and its employment by different groups of actors for the integration, coherence and administration of cities are discussed, but also the use and development of religion for competition, stabilizing differences and transgressing local identities. It is argued that the concepts of governance, place-making, and flows can help to describe the entanglement of political power and religious action.