Merchant mothers and romanized religion: A study on the Matronae and Nehalennia altars at the Roman frontier of Germania Inferior

Evidence of the Matronae can be found all over Europe, with various different names and interpretations, like the Matres, the Iunones and the Matrae. The amount of written sources pertaining to the religious manifestations of the Nehalennia and Matronae altars of Germania Inferior is quite limited and encompasses a massive number of altars. Hundreds of these altars have often been found in older, often non-archaeological contexts and have the potential to reveal a lot of information concerning activities and people, but because of their original contexts, such as dredging projects, have not all lived up to that potential. Due to this combination of factors, there are not as many works written on the topic of the Nehalennia- and Matronae altars. With my research I want to use academic knowledge from recent years and modern views regarding religion at the Roman frontier to further investigate these altars as they deserve to be. Within my research I will be discussing both the Matronae...Show moreEvidence of the Matronae can be found all over Europe, with various different names and interpretations, like the Matres, the Iunones and the Matrae. The amount of written sources pertaining to the religious manifestations of the Nehalennia and Matronae altars of Germania Inferior is quite limited and encompasses a massive number of altars. Hundreds of these altars have often been found in older, often non-archaeological contexts and have the potential to reveal a lot of information concerning activities and people, but because of their original contexts, such as dredging projects, have not all lived up to that potential. Due to this combination of factors, there are not as many works written on the topic of the Nehalennia- and Matronae altars. With my research I want to use academic knowledge from recent years and modern views regarding religion at the Roman frontier to further investigate these altars as they deserve to be. Within my research I will be discussing both the Matronae and Nehalennia altars as they are so deeply intertwined that one must first understand the Matronae in order to be able to look at Nehalennia. However, the main focus of my research will ultimately be the Nehalennia altars, because the culture surrounding these altars is even less certain than that of the general Matronae.Show less

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Merchant mothers and romanized religion: A study on the Matronae and Nehalennia altars at the Roman frontier of Germania Inferior