Origins and Development of the Concept of “Religio” from Plautus to Cicero
( Pp. 189-198)
More about authors
Tsyganov Roman V.
applicant, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Vladimdir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs
Vladimdir, Russian Federation
Vladimdir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs
Vladimdir, Russian Federation
Abstract:
This article is devoted to a systematic study of the genesis and semantic evolution of the Latin term “religio” – from the first extant textual evidence of its use in the works of Titus Maccius Plautus to the development of a comprehensive philosophical understanding of the concept in the works of Marcus Tullius Cicero. The paper consistently analyzes lexemes and derivatives of “religio” found in Plautus, Terence, Catullus, and Lucius Actius, systematizes competing etymological theories presented in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and by late antique authors, and traces the connection between the concept’s semantic shifts and the sociocultural and political transformations of late Republican Rome. Particular attention is given to the term’s rich connotations: from everyday caution and moral doubt to expressions of religious fear, piety, and sacred duty. The methodological basis of the work is historicism combined with linguistic and philosophical and sociocultural approaches. The analysis shows that the Latin term “religio” in the pre-Ciceronian period denoted a multifaceted socio-psychological phenomenon, rooted in everyday moral and ritual practice, which over the course of nearly 300 years only gradually acquired the characteristics of a properly philosophical concept.
How to Cite:
Tsyganov, R.V. (2026). Origins and development of the concept of “Religio” from Plautus to Cicero. Sociopolitical Sciences, 16(3), 189–198. DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2026-16-3-189-198. EDN: TYAQLC
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Shokhin V.K. Philosophy of religion and its historical forms: (Antiquity – the end of the 18th century). Moscow: Alfa-M, 2010. 784 p. ISBN: 978-5-98281-239-1. EDN: QVQQQJ.
Shtaerman E.M. The social foundations of the religion of Ancient Rome. E.S. Golubtsova (ed.). Moscow: Nauka, 1987. 318 p.
Shtyrkov S.A. Religion or the Bonds of piety. St. Petersburg: European University at Saint Petersburg Press, 2021. 172 p. ISBN 978-5-94380-327-7. EDN: JYJQJQ.
Augustinus Hipponensis. De civitate dei. In: Patrologiae Cursus Completus. J.-P. Migne (ed.). Parisiis, 1845. Vol. 41. Col. 14–804. (Series “Latina”)
Cicero and Roman religion. Eight studies. C. Beltrão da Rosa, F. Santangelo (eds.). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2020. 154 p. ISBN: 978-3-515-12643-4.
Cicero M.T. De inventione. In: Opera Omnia. Lipsiae: B.G. Teubner, 1850. Vol. II. 466 p.
Cole S. Cicero and the rise of deification at Rome. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 208 p. ISBN: 978-1-107-03250-7.
Goar R.J. Cicero and the state religion. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1972. 143 p. ISBN: 10. 9025605842.
Guillaumont F. Philosophe et Augure: Recherches sur la théorie cicéronienne de la divination. Bruxelles: Éditions Latomus, 1984. 214 p. ISBN-13: 978-2-87031-124-0.
Macrobius A.T. Saturnalia. R.A. Kaster (ed.). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011. Vol. 1. 387 p. ISBN 978-0-674-99649-6 (LCL 510).
Rawson E. Intellectual life in the Late Roman Republic. London: Duckworth, 1985. 355 p. ISBN: 0715619683.
Ribbeck O. Scaenicae Romanorum poesis fragmenta. Vol. 1. Lipsiae: B.G. Teubner, 1897. 741 p.
Keywords:
religio, religare, relegere, religio, Plautus, Terence, Catullus, Lucius Accius, Cicero, etymology, religare, relegere, piety, superstition, Roman religion, history of concepts.
