A Place at the Altar: Priestesses in Republican Rome by Meghan J. DiLuzio (Princeton University Press, 2016) Hardcover

Meghan J. DiLuzio. A Place at the Altar: Priestesses in Republican Rome. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016. Hardcover edition. 281 pages.  Condition: New Description from the publisher: A Place at the Altar illuminates a previously underappreciated dimension of religion in ancient Rome: the role of priestesses in civic cult. Demonstrating that priestesses had a central place in public rituals and institutions, Meghan DiLuzio emphasizes the complex, gender-inclusive nature of Roman priesthood. In ancient Rome, priestly service was a cooperative endeavor, requiring men and women, husbands and wives, and elite Romans and slaves to work together to manage the community’s relationship with its gods. Like their male colleagues, priestesses offered sacrifices on behalf of the Roman people, and prayed for the community’s well-being. As they carried out their ritual obligations, they were assisted by female cult personnel, many of them slave women. DiLuzio explores the central r