[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
This book follows in the footsteps of recent anthropological studies on ancient polytheisms, providing a clearer picture of the specific character of each culture. Through the notion of “petits dieux”, based on Roman poetry and theological discourse, the contributions seek to understand the ways in which divine powers are hierarchised and configured.[1] This exploratory concept brings together the research of the two editors, namely functional divinities and indigitamenta, studied by Francesca Prescendi in her seminars at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, and divine configurations, analysed by Françoise Van Haeperen as part of the FNRS project: “Roman Gods’ Networks”.
A precise definition is given in the first line of the book, showing the concrete implications for the research: “Par ‘petites divinités’, nous désignons toutes les puissances auxquelles une culture reconnaît des pouvoirs limités ou une position inférieure dans une configuration divine donnée.” This definition anchors the book in a comparative approach to polytheism in different ancient cultures (Roman, Italic, and Greek). The aim of the book is therefore to explore the potential of the notion of “lesser gods” to clarify the ways in which the divine is organised in specific contexts of enunciation.
The first part of the book is divided into articles dealing with the question of the “lesser gods” from a Roman perspective.
The book begins with a series of articles confirming the relevance of the notion and clarifying its contours. These contributions focus on lists of divinities and the definition of what are commonly referred to as “functional divinities”. They highlight the hierarchies and relationships within these configurations, particularly between the “major gods”, with their wider sphere of action, and the “minor gods”, who clarify the action.
In a paper that summarises some of his work on the subject, John Scheid reflects on the hierarchical structure of the Roman pantheon and the place occupied by the minor deities. Above all, he shows that these “lesser gods” were not a bygone group, merely cited by antiquarians, but that they were part of the everyday practice of polytheism throughout the Imperial period, as demonstrated by the care taken with certain lists of divinities.
Francesca Prescendi offers a stimulating summary of her research into the “lesser gods”. After pointing out that divine powers are essentially active forces and are therefore all functional, she focuses on the indigitamenta. Discussing their nature, function, and misuse by both antiquarians and Christian authors, she shows that indigitamenta were “lieux de mémoire” for formulas, collections of lists of invocations inscribed by pontiffs and classified by festival.
Based on a list transmitted by Gellius, Françoise Van Haeperen focuses on divinities whose onomastic sequence defines them as “minor”. These divine powers are mentioned by a theonym followed by another theonym in the genitive. They therefore appear to be subordinate to the “major” divinity mentioned in the genitive. The author shows that this list is probably the result of the same comprecatio (common invocation), and makes a convincing argument that these deities may have been invoked together during the December ceremonies linked to the opening of the granaries (Consualia, Saturnalia, or Opalia).
Francesco Massa takes up the classification of divinities established by Tertullian and Arnobius to observe the place given to the “lesser gods” in their respective works. He shows that these Christian authors, unlike Augustine, did not use this concept. Instead, they constructed their own hierarchies of these divine powers, thought of as demons, in order to give a systematic reading of polytheism. The lists they drew up served to define the forms of idolatry and to fuel a polemical discourse.
Finally, Micol Perfigli looks at these “lesser gods” outside of ritual, to consider how they fit into the construction of a Roman mythology. In particular, she follows the divine genealogy elaborated by Virgil around King Latinus and shows how his ancestors and the host of “lesser gods” who populate Latium help to define Latin otherness, in the face of the Trojans, and Latium’s partial integration into Rome.
A second series of articles focuses on the spatial anchorage of the “lesser gods” scattered around the world, observing them first in a natural and bucolic setting, then in places of work through their participation in labour activities.
Stéphanie Wyler investigates the minores dei that populate “sacro-idyllic landscapes”, and in particular the case of priapic herms. She convincingly highlights their role in structuring the sacred space within the image. Through a process of comparison, a complementary relationship emerges between the “major mode” representation of the sanctuary’s main divinity and the herms – the “minor mode” – that reinforce the arrangement.
In contrast, Émilie Borron’s article focuses on gods without images, seeking to clarify the nature of fauns. She shows that for the Romans, at least before the Augustan period, fauns were thought of as “êtres de parole”, who appeared in the form of a bodiless voice uttering unsolicited oracles. The individuation of Faunus, a singularized faun, would only appear later, and would gradually detach itself from the frame of reference of the crowd of fauns without images.
In the urban context, and more specifically in the economic world, divine images and places of worship primarily reflect a human (socio-economic) hierarchy. This is the point made by Aude Durand in her study of the gods of the tradesmen at Pompeii. She notes that the deities called upon in the specific context of economic activities act in complementary ways, depending on their field of action.
Federica Gatto arrives at the same conclusion by studying the deities associated with the mining district of Alburnus Maior. She shows that the gods honoured were those involved in mining, and that their spheres of action complemented each other in protecting people and places and ensuring that each stage of the work process ran smoothly.
The second part of the volume consists of contributions that open up the notion of “lesser gods” to comparison with other ancient cultures, in particular pre-Roman Italy and the Greek world.
A series of three articles examine the issues surrounding divine hierarchies in the Italic context.
Massimiliano Di Fazio opens the investigation into the “lesser gods” in Italic religions by looking at the organisation of the divine and the hierarchies that may have governed the creation of a pantheon. He shows how difficult it is to construct a method for studying a religion without a text, notably through the question of the status of certain images, sometimes interpreted as divinities, sometimes as heroes or even as divinized ancestors.
Emmanuel Dupraz follows Venus in three linguistic areas (Messapian, Oscan and Latin) and shows that, at the outset, the goddess was not a simple Latin interpretation of Aphrodite. His research shows that the Oscan and Messapian Venus, like the Latin Venus, belonged to the sphere of the “lesser gods” associated with Jupiter, acting as propitiation, guaranteeing a good relationship between men and the gods. He thus adds a nuance to the work of Robert Schilling by refuting the idea that the cult of Venus in Oscan and Messapian lands was simply the adoption of a Latin cult.
Jean-Claude Lacam focuses on the “lesser gods” present in the Iguvine Tablets. In so doing, he reconstructs the divine hierarchies that allow us to consider divine powers as “small” compared with “great” divinities. But these hierarchies also vary from a contextual point of view, depending on the rites, revealing the complementary nature of the Gubbio pantheon.
A final series of articles tackles the issue in a Greek-speaking context, highlighting the fact that the notion, which is based on a Roman frame of reference, is not convincingly applicable to the study of Greek divine configurations.
Corinne Bonnet and Alaya Palamidis compare the notion with the database of the ERC project “Mapping Ancient Polytheisms”, which lists divine onomastic sequences in epigraphic and numismatic sources from the Greek and Semitic worlds between 1000 BC and 400 AD. They seek to determine whether factors such as the number of attestations, the length of the onomastic sequences or the place in a divine list can be used to give a definition of the “lesser gods”. The results show that there are no criteria that point to the existence of “lesser gods”, and that the hierarchical elements that can sometimes be recognised only make sense in a specific context.
In the same vein, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge’s investigation of the daimōn shows that confining it to a category such as “lesser gods”, as in the work of Friedrich Welcker and Hermann Usener, limits its understanding. She thus demonstrates that the daimōn is above all a theos in action, or even a “divine agent” sent by a theos to accomplish his will.
Through the study of several divine configurations, Gabriella Pironti shows that the divine hierarchy seems to be no more than macroscopic data, since in the specific context of worship, a functional and contextual logic takes precedence. In short, it shows that the “lesser gods” are essential in the articulation of the divine sequence, and that as such their precise function does not imply restricted power.
Doralice Fabiano examines the special status of nymphs, who are placed on a continuum between mortal and immortal, depending on the context in which they are expressed. In particular, she argues that their mortality does not make them inferior deities, but serves rather as a temporal and functional marker, corollary to their spatial dimension. In short, it is a power rooted in space and time.
Finally, Nicole Belayche examines the agency of divine powers specific to a field of action, based on Anatolian inscriptions. By following divine forms such as angeloi or paredroi, she shows that in the context of worship, even if one divinity may be put forward, the rite helps to honor the entire divine collectivity invoked.
The exploratory concept of “lesser gods” therefore appears to be a stimulating way of questioning divine hierarchies within ancient polytheisms. The contributors played the game of seizing the concept, reflecting on its relevance to their field of study and drawing conclusions about the combinations of polytheism. What emerged was that the concept had little relevance to the Greek world, where hierarchies were fluid and left more room for contextual configurations. In the Roman and Italic worlds, the papers suggest that the “lesser gods” and the inherent hierarchies make sense when we look at literary sources, particularly authors who attempt to explain polytheism. However, in documents of praxis, such as epigraphy and images, it is above all the functional complementarity of the divine powers that is highlighted. Consequently, while the notion of “lesser gods” may be difficult to apply outside a precise methodological framework, such as that of this book, it does force us to confront the essential frameworks of ancient polytheisms, such as the networking of divine powers, the hierarchy of these configurations and their functional articulation. It also allows us to question the categories of the divine constructed by both the ancients and the moderns. Finally, this notion, which lies somewhere between emic and etic, offers an original angle of study for understanding, questioning, and clarifying the mechanisms of ancient polytheisms.
Authors and Titles
- « Petits dieux », une catégorie opérationnelle pour l’étude des configurations divines antiques ? (Francesca Prescendi, Françoise Van Haeperen)
- Les structures hiérarchiques du panthéon romain et la théologie (John Scheid)
- Divinités fonctionnelles et indigitamenta : à la recherche des petites divinités et de leurs assemblages (Francesca Prescendi)
- Divinité d’un dieu. Les dieux romains qualifiés par un autre théonyme au génitif (Lua Saturni) : réflexions autour de la liste citée par Aulu-Gelle 13, 23 (Françoise Van Haeperen)
- Umbrae, daemonia et nomina inania : classifications et fonctions des « petites divinités » chez Tertullien et Arnobe (Francesco Massa)
- Piccole storie di piccoli dèi (Micol Perfigli)
- Interque cunctos ultimum deos numen? Réflexions sur la mise en image des statues divines dans les « paysages sacro-idylliques » (Stéphanie Wyler)
- Faunus omnino quid sit nescio (Cic. Nat. III, 15) : enquête sur la nature des faunes latins (Émilie Borron)
- Les dieux au travail : un reflet des hiérarchies socio-économiques des gens de métier (Aude Durand)
- Hiérarchisées ou complémentaires ? Les puissances divines honorées dans le district minier d’Alburnus Maior (Federica Gatto)
- Antenati, dei, eroi. Pantheon « fluidi » nell’Italia preromana (Massimiliano Di Fazio)
- Vénus messapienne, Vénus osque, Vénus campanienne : deux propositions (Emmanuel Dupraz)
- Puissances de l’infime : les « petits » dieux de Gubbio (IIIe-IIe siècles avant notre ère) (Jean-Claude Lacam)
- Les dieux des petits riens. Réflexions comparatives sur les hiérarchies divines dans les mondes grecs et sémitiques (Corinne Bonnet, Alaya Palamidis)
- Des « petits dieux » en Grèce ? Réflexions préliminaires sur le daimōn (Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge)
- Hiérarchies divines en pays grec : stratégies plurielles et variations contextuelles (Gabriella Pironti)
- Entre mortels et immortels : espaces et temps des nymphes (Doralice Fabiano)
- « Petites » (?) divinités, réseaux divins et agentivité des puissances dans l’épigraphie religieuse de l’Anatolie romaine (Nicole Belayche)
Notes
[1] There are many possible translations for “petits dieux”, such as “small gods” or “little gods”, but I’ve chosen to translate it as “lesser gods”, which better emphasizes the notion of hierarchy.