Interpretatio
This chapter discusses the pervasive practice in the ancient world of identifying the gods of other peoples with one’s own (so –called interpretatio) so that for instance Roman writers spoke of the Greek god Zeus by the Roman name Juppiter. It asks who made these identifications, on what basis they were made, and what implicit assumptions underly them. I argue that assumptions may well have varied, but one important possibility was the belief that the gods of all peoples were indeed the same under different names. This did not mean that the differences between forms of cult in different countries, hallowed by tradition, should be abolished; it did however mean that adherents to the various ancient polytheisms did not feel hostile to one another on religious grounds.