The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (Dover Books on History, Political and Social Science) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

FROM LATE ANTIQUITY on, pious critics and irrelevant admirers of the institutions of Greece and Rome have claimed that the religions of antiquity were, in essence, civic religions, crafted by founders of cities, and tailored by magistrates for political expediency and social control. As Coulanges shows, the city was actually the creation of religion, for its ends.

The popular view of classical religion as a tool of social control, as Coulanges hints, is more or less modern man catching a glimpse of himself in the looking-glass of his reflections (St. Augustine, on the other hand, frequently insinuated the mercenary nature of Roman paganism, but could hardly have known better given the misinformed historians from whom he himself drew). Forcefully apolitical, Coulanges refrains open commentary on contemporary statecraft, but noticeably inserts references to Rousseau, and the French Revolution, from time to time. When he takes time to refute the assumption that classical religion was simply an instrument of control, I cannot help but think of the Cult of the Supreme Being, that most cynical of worships, established for the use of the Revolutionary state.

Coulanges' study constantly emphasizes the cultic origins of organic social organization. As he demonstrates, political bodies assumed even by later Greeks and Romans to be basically secular were religious in origin, often joining several families in a united worship. The stern forms of ancient patriarchy, too, were born of religious prerogative. The Ancient City is indeed a lesson in the total nature of primitive religiosity in the earliest days of the West. Coulanges does not deny the role of human nature in the organization of the body politic or of social norms, but he attributes to religion the almost exculsive authorship of the specific institutions and forms. To be sure, in this age where abstract Liberal ideology is the basis for Western regimes, immutable human nature tends to be ignored rather than emphasized. Nonetheless, to those, including myself, who long for the integrity of the ancient city, Coulanges reminds us that listening to nature (though necessary) is not enough. Religious community is still more essential.

On the subject of modern religion, Coulanges does Christians the favor of refuting the slander that their religion is responsible for undermining the aristocratic ethic of Antiquity. As he shows, centuries before the birth of Christ, even centuries before the birth of Socrates, the revolt of the masses (who were originally characterized by being without a cult) against the sacral aristocracy was under way. Whether natural and inevitable or the result of preventable folly, the envy of the poor and the pity of the aristocrats~ the levelling passions in man~ were present long before Jesus Christ blessed the meek.

I write this review of the Ancient City by Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges for those who approach the topic of ancient religion without prior in-depth study. Is this book worth reading as an introduction to the topic of ancient pre-Christian Mediterranean religion? It dates, after all, from the nineteenth century.

Because this book is based on a close reading of ancient sources, this nineteenth century account of the ancient pre-Christian religions of the Mediterranean remains accurate in many details. Because the author had a compelling insight that remains true -- namely, that ancient religion was an intimate part of all aspects of life in the ancient world from the family hearth to public assemblies as well as a crucial factor in ancient law and institutions -- and because the author's literary style is clear and compelling, the book remains well worth reading as a comprehensive introduction to ancient religion. With this single book as one's guide (and I do not advocate resting content with this book), one will be able to read and better understand such classics as Homer, Greek tragedy, Plato's Socrates, Caesar, Vergil, Livy, not to mention the New Testament, which was, of course, composed in a world run by "pagans" (a derogatory term, by the way, applied by Christians to their religious opponents). In what sense is the Ancient City outdated? Because its insights were arrestingly new at the time, they are overstated. The author's comparative approach -- while fascinating and frequently convincing -- ignores difference and nuance. The work relies primarily on literary evidence. Our sources are far richer than one would know from Fustel de Coulanges, especially our archaeological and epigraphical sources. The author also ignores chronology with too much confidence. Many of his conclusions and assumptions rest, in a strict analysis, on rather thin evidence. Nevertheless, even with such caveats in mind, the work still paints a vivid and brilliant portrait of the role of ancient religion in all aspects of ancient life. After reading Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges' Ancient City, one's knowledge of ancient religion will be much more comprehensive and sensitive than it was before reading his work. And, should one care to refine one's knowledge after reading the Ancient City, multiple modern surveys exist to provide further instruction.