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Jack Lennon
Research Student, Faculty of Arts
Contact
- workArchaeology and Classics Building
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
UK - work0115 951 4800
- fax0115 951 4811
- abxjl1@nottingham.ac.uk
Research Summary
My thesis aims to examine some of the most prominent forms of religious pollution that existed in Roman culture by the beginning of the Principate. The subject of pollution in the Roman world has… read more
Current Research
My thesis aims to examine some of the most prominent forms of religious pollution that existed in Roman culture by the beginning of the Principate. The subject of pollution in the Roman world has received surprisingly little attention in recent years, and therefore some fundamental questions need to be addressed. This requires the question of what exactly constituted 'pollution' to be considered. As well as examining recurring words and phraseswhich indicate a fear of contamination, or the need for expiatory sacrifice, I am drawing particular attention to the pollutive nature and qualities of blood and death in various religious contexts. In particular I have called upon anthropological theory regarding impurity in other cultures to help create a more clearly defined understanding of key factors of religion, such as sacred space, time and people, to help interpret how the Romans viewed aspects of their society and religion.