Sol: Image and Meaning of the Sun in Roman Art and Religion, Volume I

Steven E. Hijmans

ISBN 10: 9004406697 / ISBN 13: 9789004406698

Published by Brill, NL, 2024

About this Item

With this analysis of Sol images, Steven E. Hijmans paints a new picture of the solar cult in ancient Rome. The paucity of literary evidence led Hijmans to prioritize visual sources, and he opens this study with a thorough discussion of the theoretical and methodological issues involved. Emphasizing the danger of facile equivalencies between visual and verbal meanings, his primary focus is Roman praxis, manifest in, for instance, the strict patterning of Sol imagery. These patterns encode core concepts that Sol imagery evoked when deployed, and in those concepts we recognize the bedrock of Rome's understandings of the sun and his cult. Case studies illustrate these concepts in action and the final chapter analyzes the historical context in which previous, now discredited views on Sol could arise.This is part I of a two-part set.

Seller Inventory # LU-9789004406698

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sol: Image and Meaning of the Sun in Roman Art and Religion, Volume I
• Publisher: Brill, NL
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004406697
• ISBN 13: 9789004406698
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.5W x 4.8H x 23.5D centimeters 15.5 centimeters width by 4.8 centimeters height by 23.5 centimeters depth
• Weight: 1668 grams

About this title

Synopsis

With this analysis of Sol images, Steven E. Hijmans paints a new picture of the solar cult in ancient Rome. The paucity of literary evidence led Hijmans to prioritize visual sources, and he opens this study with a thorough discussion of the theoretical and methodological issues involved. Emphasizing the danger of facile equivalencies between visual and verbal meanings, his primary focus is Roman praxis, manifest in, for instance, the strict patterning of Sol imagery. These patterns encode core concepts that Sol imagery evoked when deployed, and in those concepts we recognize the bedrock of Rome’s understandings of the sun and his cult. Case studies illustrate these concepts in action and the final chapter analyzes the historical context in which previous, now discredited views on Sol could arise.

This is part I of a two-part set.

About the Author

Dr. Steven E. Hijmans, Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Alberta in Canada, studied Classics and Archaeology at Groningen University. He has published numerous articles on Sol, other aspects of Roman religion, and visual meanings.