The burning and confiscation of books as a paradigm of religious censorship in Ancient Rome
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/Eviternare.vi8.9368Keywords:
censorship, magic-religious books, Rome, magicAbstract
Este estudio tiene como propósito examinar el fenómeno de la censura religiosa en la Antigua Roma, atendiendo a los principales episodios que precipitaron la quema y destrucción de libros de contenido mágico-religioso. Tras una breve contextualización, se analiza la censura desplegada por las autoridades romanas en época republicana, haciendo hincapié en los sucesos acaecidos en los años 213 a. C. y 186 a. C. En ambos casos, la destrucción y cremación pública de escritos responde a unos intereses centrados en el mantenimiento del orden tradicional y la cohesión del culto. A continuación se estudia el ejercicio de la censura religiosa en época imperial, desde Augusto hasta Septimio Severo. Las persecuciones y actos de censura que se sucedieron a lo largo de este periodo sirvieron, por un lado, como mecanismo defensivo para proteger al emperador de posibles conjuras, y, por otro, como instrumento político para eliminar a posibles adversarios. Así llegaremos finalmente al a conclusión de que la censura religiosa fue un fenómeno excepcional en la Antigua Roma y sujeto a circunstancias puntuales.
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