Strategies of Communication in the Shrines of Pompeii

The Roman city was a landscape of shrines. Located in houses, bars, streets, workshops, and markets, they represented religious practice in every sphere of life. These private shrines were more than just objects of ritual, however. They were part of the web of social interactions among the inhabitants of the city.;In a city like Pompeii, where a significant number of the shrines have been preserved, the similarities among the shrines in form, composition, and iconography are particularly evident; however, no two are exactly alike. This simple point is the cornerstone of my assertion that patrons of shrines used their shrines to present themselves and their ideas to the community at large; shrines were tools in the negotiation of social relationships. Indeed, the existence of multiple shrines in one property indicates that individual shrines could have specific meanings and audiences.;Patrons communicated through their shrines by employing strategies of intentional visibility and customization. Patrons of shrines purposefully manipulated the locations of their shrines in order to increase the shrines' visibility to a wide range of viewers. In addition to controlling access to their shrines, patrons customized the shrines' appearance, imagery, and location within a property in order to communicate messages about themselves and their interests.;The strategies employed to increase the visibility of the shrines and shape their communication were in turn shaped by the type of space in which the shrines were located. Different types of space facilitated different types of social interactions: the type of space circumscribed the potential range of persons who came into contact with the shrine. Furthermore, shrines' connections to the broader community reveal how the intentions of shrine patrons in using their shrines for communication differed throughout the city. Shrines in defined neighborhoods were, in a sense, customized to the specific character of each neighborhood as manifested in part by traffic circulation patterns and amounts of street traffic.;Through the statements about personal identity and religious and social values that they communicated, shrines provide a unique window into the mindset of individuals and social groups in a world of conspicuous large-scale, public religious rituals.