Imagine No Religion

If, as recent scholarship suggests, ancient Romans did not have an idea of a distinctly “religious” sphere of life, what are we to do with those words in our sources that are generally translated as “religion,” namely the Latin religio and the Greek thrēskeia? Adequately answering this question demands a back-to-basics lexical approach that carefully re-examines usages of these words in their ancient contexts. The rich fruits of such labor are on full display in Barton and Boyarin’s Imagine No Religion, which pushes well beyond the simple observation that “Romans had no religion.” Through in-depth studies of religio, thrēskeia, and related concepts, Barton and Boyarin shed new light on the fascinating transformations of these words in the shadow of Roman imperial power. One need not agree with all of its provocative conclusions in order to recognize that Imagine No Religion is now the definitive starting point for the reevaluation of these crucial terms.---—Brent Nongbri, Macquarie University

“A timely contribution to a growing and important conversation about the inadequacy of our common category ‘religion’ for the understanding of many practices, attitudes, emotions, and beliefs—especially of peoples in other times and contexts.”---—Wayne A. Meeks, Yale University

From Plautus to Tertullian, Herodotus to Josephus, "Imagine No Religion" illuminates cultural complexities otherwise obscured by our modern-day categories...Imagine No Religion is unreservedly recommended for community, seminary, college, and university library Religion/Spirituality collections.---—Julie Summers, Midwest Book Review

Imagine No Religion is an excellent attempt to approach translational issues with fresh eyes... this book presents a fresh methodological challenge to students of the ancient world and especially to scholars interested in the "religion" of the ancient Mediterranean.---Reading Religion