Several excellent accounts of ancient religion have appeared recently. On the Greek side, see especially S. Price 1999 and Mikalson 2005, but older handbooks such as Bremmer 1994, Bruit Zaidmann and Schmitt Pantel 1992, and Burkert 1985 remain useful; Parker 1996 and 2005 are invaluable on Athens. For Roman religion, volume 1 of Beard, North, and Price 1998 is outstanding; for briefer accounts, see Scheid 2003 and Warrior 2006; Feeney 1998 is a suggestive essay; Liebeschuetz 1979 is still worth reading. Useful essay collections include Easterling and Muir 1985, Buxton 2000, Bispham and Smith 2000, and Ando 2003. Roman religion is better served by source books: the collection of material, both texts and artifacts, in volume 2 of Beard, North, and Price 1998 is excellent; see also Klauck 2000 and Warrior 2002. For basic themes, see: on priests, Beard and North 1990; on temples, Alcock and Osborne 1994, Orlin 1997, and Spawforth 2006; on concepts of divinity, A. Lloyd 1997, Lefkowitz 2003, and Athanassiadi and Frede 1999; on the vexed question of religion and politics, including ruler-cult, Bowden 2005, Chaniotis 2003, S. Price 1984, D. Potter 1994, and Gradel 2002. For religious diversity, see Parker 1989 (contrasting Athens and Sparta), Sourvinou-Inwood 1978, Mellor 1992, and Turcan 1996; regional histories (e. g. Mitchell 1993) should be consulted, and there are case studies on the Roman period, such as Henig 1984, Rives 1995, and Schowalter and Friesen 2005. On “mystery” cults, see Burkert 1987, Takacs 1995, and M. Clauss 2000. For the end of paganism, see Chuvin 1990. On methodological questions, see J. Z. Smith 1990 and Humphreys 2004. Finally, the studies of Lane Fox 1986 and Hopkins 1999 provide riveting accounts of religion in practice that no student or scholar should ignore.
World History
