Eleusis in the Roman Empire: Monumentalization of the Sanctuary and the Cult of Eleusinian Mysteries in Antonine Period

• Grant number: 15/16650-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): September 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Historical Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cristina Nicolau Kormikiari
• Grantee: Felipe Perissato
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/17061-0 - Eleusis and the material expression of the Eleusinian myth in the II century A.D., BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The Eleusinian Mysteries are one of the most prestigious panhellenic cults in the Ancient World. After the roman conquest of Greece, the benefits and privileges to the cult initiations were also spread to the citizens of all Roman Mediterranean. So, being inspiration to the intellectual elite and even to emperors like Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, the cult at Eleusis became fundamental to the reorganization of the greek society and identity of the greeks during the Roman Imperial Period.Therefore, this research aims to analyze the built space of the Eleusinian Sanctuary as well as the inscriptions related to itself during the Antonine Period (between the principalities of Hadrian to Marcus Aurelius / Commodus, Second Century A.D.), seeking to understand the socio-cultural impact of the roman presence to the Eleusinian Mysteries and to the society reorganized around its sanctuary.