Defining Ancient Religion

Any effort to define religion in the ancient Mediterranean world is constrained from the very outset by the absence of a single-word equivalent in the ancient languages. The English word “religion” does not convey the same meaning as the Latin word from which it is derived. Religio is “a supernatural feeling of constraint, usually having the force of a prohibition or impediment” or “a positive obligation or rule.” This latter sense is reflected in the importance attached to required ritual among the Romans, who generally associated it with active worship according to the rules. Christian authors were ambivalent about the suitability of the word to their own beliefs and practices. In the third century, the Christian apologist Lactantius continued to use the word religio to describe the tie between god and man. But Augustine later found the word problematic because it could also refer to an obligation owed to another human or to a god or gods. Hence, Augustine wrote, using the term religio “does not secure against ambiguity when used in discussing the worship paid to God”; and so it was possible to employ this term only by abolishing one meaning of the word, namely, the observance of duties in human relationships.