John Scheid
Religion, Institutions and Society in Ancient Rome
" By opposing sectarian discourse with the universal weapons of history, philology and anthropology - in short, the whole arsenal of science and reason - the history of past religions puts us in a position to deflate modern myths, those of others, but also our own. It allows us to spot the projection of nationalist, religious or racist fantasies into the imaginary past of "origins", and to disarm the outrageous interpretations that can be made of sacred texts. Within nations inherited from the 19th century, ancient history can help to deconstruct the representation that nation-states sometimes make of their past, by showing that despite their apparent proximity, their "ancestors" are as far removed from today's society as the inhabitants of the antipodes. It allows us to challenge the "Greek miracle", the "Roman genius", the "Germanic superiority", or even the Hegelian dialectic according to which religions and history tend towards Christian monotheism. "
Scheid J., Religion, institutions et société de la Rome antique, Paris, Collège de France/Fayard, coll. " Leçons inaugurales du Collège de France ",no. 166, 2003, 61 p.; digital edition: Collège de France, 2013, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.cdf.3003.
