Reviews for Religion of Thirty Great Thinkers

The average rating for Religion of Thirty Great Thinkers based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-20 00:00:00 Stan Burt Overall, an excellent book which I would recommend to most students and scholars of classical Rome. As with all academic works, and as is the standard for Prof. Rüpke, the work is well researched and very, very well referenced. If one were to disregard the actual content of the work, the quality of the research presented and the references given would merit a more-than-positive review. However, the content is certainly of the top-most quality, and again, definitely more than simply worth reading. I cannot, though, go without noting what prevents the fifth star on this from me. This work, for all the quality of the material presented, contains significant amounts of theory (as opposed to demonstrated fact). Rüpke, appropriately, very well supports the theories he proposes, but I make particular note of this because, in my opinion, proper reading of this work requires a critical and discerning eye, differentiating what is the author's theories from what is actually and factually known. For this reason, my recommendation is to "most students and scholars" rather than all. Overall, for anyone wishing to further their understanding of the religious corpus of Classical Rome, for anyone wishing to stay abreast of current beliefs on the same, and for anyone wishing to further develop their own beliefs on the same, I recommend this book. I do not recommend it as a primary introductory work, however, nevertheless, its quality certainly merits its inclusion on the bookshelf of anyone wishing to truly grasp the topic.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-10-30 00:00:00 May Freeman A thoroughly researched and insightful look into the religion(s) of the Romans, a must-read for cultores deorum and those who truly wish to understand the religious mindset of the ancient Romans, in particular in the social aspects of religious behavior (as opposed to doctrines of belief or sacred stories or such - which is especially important if one considers Roman religion to be about orthopraxy as opposed to orthodoxy).