Cults of Rhodes-town; Cults of the Polis: A Religious History of Hellenistic Rhodes

AbstractThis chapter pulls together the detailed evidence from Chapters 4 to 5 and sets out a religious history of Rhodes after the synoecism. It breaks the period under question down into four major phases, demonstrating the impact of major political and environmental factors on the religious life of the island. Within this framework, it considers the evidence for the cults of Rhodes-town, the capital city and political and economic hub of the Rhodian state, and chronicles their developments over time, and against the backdrop of the local pantheons considered in the previous chapter. This diachronic approach allows the religious life of Rhodes to be seen in its historical context, and further highlights the tensions between traditionalism and innovation that characterize much Greek religion.