In the Provinces: Enthusiastic and Diverse

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: ROME AND THE CHALLENGE OF EMPIRE
4. The Religion of Empire
(ii) The Divine Augustus
(b) In the Provinces: Enthusiastic and Diverse

The altar in Lyons, referred to above, is not the only one in the north-western empire in this period. The altar found at Cologne is dated to before AD 9. But let us begin, not in the west, but in the east.189 And we begin with what might have seemed the most unlikely place to host a new pagan cult: the Jewish homeland, Palestine...