Divine Names and Bilingualism in Rome: Religious Dynamics in Multilingual Spaces

Ancient inscriptions commemorate and perpetuate ritual interaction by fixing different forms of communication between divine recipients and human agents using specific names appropriate to the occasion and intentions. The testimonies of bilingual divine names in Rome bear witness to social strategies for invoking and representing single gods or divine configurations. As a multilingual space, Rome offers a wide range of instances where uses or needs model the divine naming process. Bilingual scenarios constitute challenging cases because the context urges human agents to elaborate valid onomastic alternatives according to their cultural understanding and repertoire. In cultic communication, divine onomastic sequences articulate various facets of a given puissance that is ritually activated. Accordingly, the use of Greek and/or Latin constitutes a pragmatic resource and stimulates divine conceptualisation in both multicultural and “multicultual” settings.