In Paganism in the Roman Empire, Ramsay
MacMullen reminds us that a visitor to even a modest temple in the Roman empire experienced a
profusion of sensory delights, beginning with the brightly – we
might say garishly – painted temple itself: statues, offerings,
presents, signs and inscriptions left by worshipers to thank the god
and proclaim his or her deeds and exploits; dancers, singers, orators and
tour guides (official and unofficial).
The visitor entering the sacred
precinct would also encounter a list of rules giving “notice of
what was expected”:
[Y]ou were to present yourself suitably clothed, uncontaminated by recent childbirth, by sexual intercourse with woman or dog, by sight or touch of a corpse, or by consuming pork or garlic or milk; you were to offer specified animals in sacrifice to specified deities, or not animals but wine only, or incense only; and at particular shrines you were to respect local conditions, not lighting a fire near the walls, nor poaching sacred fish or cutting trees in the sacred grove. Directions might be given on the whole range of daily service . . .. And the text might be very long – 190 lines, at the shrine of Demeter and Kore in Andania – or very short. At Athens, “by oracle from Hygieia and Asclepius: the celestial serpent of the gods [directs the setting up of?] these statues, where should be offered sacrifices unmixed with wine, on the 5th and 10th of the month at noon. Send a good taste to the good gods!”
Dog? Yikes!
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