A close study of the religious cults and forms of worship current in the Roman Empire during the first four centuries C.E. The course will concentrate on the so-called 'pagan' cults, but their interaction with Jews and the early Christians, as well as the rise of Christianity, will also be considered. Attention will also be paid to the imperial cult ("emperor worship"); the so-called 'mystery religions' and 'oriental religions'; the diversity of local religion across the empire; oracles, private religiosity and intellectual reflection on religion in the ancient Greek and Roman writers.