Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
6
Introduction
lishedbyClementeCardinaliin1835.2Tispublicationfellintothehands
ofTeodorMommsenandbecametheimpulseforwritinghisfamous
treatiseDecollegiisetsodaliciisRomanorum.3
Mommsen,twenty-fiveyearsoldatthetime,certainlydidnoten-
visagethatthenewlypublishedtreatisewoulddominatestudiesonRo-
mancollegesforatleastahundredyearstocome.However,itwasdue
tohimthatthestill-ongoingdiscussiononthecharacterandfunctions
oftheseorganisationsforaverylongtimefocusedalmostexclusivelyon
thelegalstandingofthecollegesandtheirrelationswiththestate.Itwas
alsoMommsen)sCcontribution)thatreligiousassociationswereabsent
fromthisdiscussionforoveracentury.Mommsen)ssuggestivevisionof
colleges,which-liketheirmedievalequivalents-usedcultasacover
thatenabledthemtoexistandtopursuetheactualgoalsofitsmembers,
stronglyappealedto19th-centuryhumanists,wholookedtotheancient
worldforanswerstoquestionsaboutthechangestheywerewitnessing
andparticipatingin.TecrisisoftraditionalChristianreligionwasnot
withoutaninfluenceoncontemporaneoushistoriography.Mommsen,
sonofaLutheranministerandanapostateatthesametime,havingana-
lysedtheCstatute)oftheLanuviancultoresDianaeetAntinoi,concluded
thattheCtrue)purposeofsuchassociationswastoensuredecentburial
fortheirmembers.Inthisway,theGermanscholarequatedtheconcepts
ofcollegiafuneraticiaandcollegiadeorum.Mommsen)sinterpretationof
thetwelfhverseoftheinscriptionfromLanuvium(partlyincorrect,asit
turnedoutlater)Cburied)studiesonculticcollegesfordecades.Although
suchstudiesdidappearinworksonthephenomenonofcorporationsin
theAntiquity,theydidsoonlyonthelevelofreflectionsaboutthetypolo-
gyofRomanprivateassociations(seechapterI).Unlikeinthecaseofpro-
fessionalcolleges,therewereveryfewattemptstogivemeaningtoterms
suchasCreligiouscolleges)orCculticassociations)
.Tereligiousaspectof
thefunctioningoftheseorganisationswassothoroughlyeliminatedfrom
thescholarlydiscoursebyMommsen)scollegiafuneraticiathateveninthe
early21stcenturymanyhistoriansweresurprisedbytheassertionthat
2Forthecircumstancesofthediscoveryandpublicationoftheinscriptionfrom
LanuviumseePerry2006,20-22.
3Mommsen1843.