{"product_id":"the-dancing-lares-and-the-harriet-i-flower-9780691175003","title":"The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe most pervasive gods in ancient Rome had no traditional mythology attached to them, nor was their worship organized by elites. Throughout the Roman world, neighborhood street corners, farm boundaries, and household hearths featured small shrines to the beloved \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e, a pair of cheerful little dancing gods. These shrines were maintained primarily by ordinary Romans, and often by slaves and freedmen, for whom the \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e cult provided a unique public leadership role. In this comprehensive and richly illustrated book, the first to focus on the \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e, Harriet Flower offers a strikingly original account of these gods and a new way of understanding the lived experience of everyday Roman religion. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWeaving together a wide range of evidence, Flower sets forth a new interpretation of the much-disputed nature of the \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e. She makes the case that they are not spirits of the dead, as many have argued, but rather benevolent protectors--gods of place, especially the household and the neighborhood, and of travel. She examines the rituals honoring the \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e, their cult sites, and their iconography, as well as the meaning of the snakes often depicted alongside \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e in paintings of gardens. She also looks at Compitalia, a popular midwinter neighborhood festival in honor of the \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e, and describes how its politics played a key role in Rome's increasing violence in the 60s and 50s BC, as well as in the efforts of Augustus to reach out to ordinary people living in the city's local neighborhoods. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA reconsideration of seemingly humble gods that were central to the religious world of the Romans, this is also the first major account of the full range of \u003ci\u003elares\u003c\/i\u003e worship in the homes, neighborhoods, and temples of ancient Rome.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Harriet I. Flower\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691175004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691175003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/26\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 440\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.10h x 7.30w x 1.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2018","brand":"Harriet I. Flower","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43981105135871,"sku":"9780691175003","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_75e047e7-5df0-46f8-9364-242b3dbd9243.jpg?v=1683253683","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-dancing-lares-and-the-harriet-i-flower-9780691175003","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}