Glancing references to domestic cult in literature give us some of the most intimate glimpses of a Roman religious practice that encompassed men and women, children and slaves. Tibullus’ young girl bringing an offering of a honeycomb (1.10.23–4), Juvenal's joy at returning home to his images gleaming with wax, freshly garlanded by the slaves (Sat. 12.84–90), Cato's stern instruction for the farm housekeeper to hang a garland of flowers for the lares of the household on the Kalends, Ides and Nones of every month (Agr. 143), all convey a vivid image of the daily life of a household that is often missing from our literary texts. These glimpses have been enlarged by archaeological study ever since the first excavations in the region of Vesuvius revealed well-preserved domestic cult spaces, some still with statuettes (where these were not snatched up by fleeing residents) or remains of offerings such as nuts and pinecones. The Vesuvian villas and cities are thoroughly explored by B. in Sacraria. Ambienti e piccoli edifici per il culto domestico in area vesuviana (2008), which examines the physical location of cult spaces within houses, textual evidence, terminology, typologies of altars, categories of ritual objects such as statues and lamps, the identity of dedicants, and provides a richly illustrated catalogue of 36 sites as well as detailed comparisons with other regions including Gaul, Hispania and Tunisia.

By the same author, Sacra privata nell'Italia centrale (2017) now provides a welcome balance, since it examines in meticulous detail evidence from a wide region of central Italy, dating from the second century bc to the fifth century ad. The exploration of later imperial and late antique material, some relating to the cult of Mithras, is particularly valuable in this regard, expanding considerably on information drawn from the Vesuvian cities and countryside.

The archaeological study of Roman religion has overwhelmingly focused on the public, rather than the private sphere, perhaps naturally since an embarrassment of riches in the form of public temples, votive deposits and statuary provides ample material for examination. The material remains of domestic cult, by contrast, are smaller, more ephemeral and more ambiguous – when, for example, should a fine jug be considered a household or a cultic object? Therefore, these monographs specifically dedicated to the archaeology of domestic cult practices and its interpretation in the light of other evidence are particularly welcome.

While the heart of the 2017 book is an impressively-presented 72-page catalogue of sites in Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, Molise, Tuscany and Umbria, providing floor plans, colour images, site overviews and details of the archaeological material that relates to domestic cult, the scope of the volume is in fact far wider than the title might imply. Throughout, comparisons are drawn with examples from many other regions, and the first three chapters analyse key issues for our overall understanding of domestic cult practices. While in traditional historiography domestic worship has been associated particularly with the lares, genius and the household hearth, the evidence presented in this study relates more frequently to the familiar divinities of the Roman pantheon, together with popular foreign deities such as Mithras (particularly in the later period), worshipped within and invoked as protectors of the domestic sphere. Altars were placed particularly in open spaces or in parts of the house relating to self-representation and display, with the exception of inscriptions and objects relating to the cult of Dionysius-Liber in association with wine-making areas. This contrasts with the exceptional preservation in the Vesuvian cities of painted wall-niches associated with the worship of the lares, located in service areas of the house, a phenomenon discussed in Sacraria (2008) and in previous works (notably P. Foss, ‘Watchful Lares: Roman Household Organization and the Rituals of Cooking and Dining’, in R. Laurence and A. Wallace-Hadrill [edd.], Domestic Space in the Roman World: Pompeii and Beyond [1997], pp. 196–218).

Chapter 1 of Sacra privata nell'Italia centrale gives a detailed review of past studies of domestic cult, beginning with A. De Marchi in the late nineteenth century, and traces the impact on the field of major discoveries at Delos and the Vesuvian cities, as well as outlining broader studies of Roman religious practices. Chapter 2 explores the nature of Roman domestic cults, on the basis of evidence from literature, archaeology and legal texts, dealing with terminology, the character of divinities such as the lares, penates and genius, and its hereditary and family or household nature. Specific occasions and festivals associated with domestic worship, such as marriage, Lemuria and Parentalia, are also examined. Chapter 3 moves on to the material remains associated with cult practices that are discoverable by archaeology. These encompass rooms, altars, braziers and incense burners, wall-paintings and mosaics, miniature altars termed arulae, and of course statues and statuettes. Avoiding a dry categorisation, B. explores how and why these items were used.

Chapters 4 to 11 examine the archaeological material from the 47 central Italian sites catalogued, which are cross-referenced in the text, with frequent references to comparable finds in many other regions in and beyond Italy. Attention is given to different forms of cult rooms (some certain, identified by altar bases, others labelled ‘probable/uncertain’), external temples or sacella, and altars and altar bases, including the few surviving examples of niches in this region. Sculpture understandably receives the largest single section (30 pages) and is examined from many facets: whether cult statues can be distinguished from the decorative, images of ancestors, groups of statuettes which seem to constitute a ‘set’ of the domestic shrine (sometimes including lares figurines), altar reliefs and sculptures possibly associated with the imperial cult. A relatively short but important section deals with archaeological remains of other cult objects such as incense burners, jugs and other vessels. The difficulties of distinguishing functional purposes from cultic use of similar or identical objects are acknowledged. B. also explores the texts of dedicatory inscriptions to Jupiter, Hercules, Diana, Mithras, the lares and genius, and to family members, and a short chapter examines in detail six examples of votive deposits.

The final four chapters return to a more interpretative overview, critically surveying chronological change, town versus country, the cults of different divinities and outstanding research questions. The strength of the volume is its thematic presentation and interpretative examination of material, which draws connections between archaeological finds and textual and epigraphic sources and between different regions. Both this text and B.'s earlier publication are of importance not just to the study of Roman central Italy, but to the study of Roman religion at its broadest.