This volume seeks to enhance inter-disciplinary dialogue between classicists and scholars in New Testament studies, religion and Christianity on the question of the imperial cult. It is derived from a series of seminars, where a keynote paper by K. Galinsky of the University of Texas at Austin was followed by a number of responses and longer presentations on various religious topics, all related in different ways to the keynote paper. The various contributions maintain a style close to the original papers, with an informal and at times chatty tone. There is a strong impression that the seminars were held in a positive atmosphere, where suggestions made by the keynote speaker were welcomed and embraced by the participants. The volume opens with Galinsky's ‘The Cult of the Roman Emperor: Uniter and Divider?’ Here, Galinsky points to the need for inter-disciplinary collaboration between classicists and New Testament scholars and suggests a number of topics where cooperation between the two fields is an obvious way to gain new insights. He challenges what is presented as a number of oversimplified assumptions which dominated scholars' previous approach to the worship of the Roman emperor and reminds his readers, by citing Beard, North and Price, that there is no such thing as ‘the imperial cult’. A general theme in the keynote address is the sensible caution against oversimplifying the complexity and diversity of religion in general and emperor worship in particular as demonstrated most clearly in the straightforward suggestion that we are to refer to the imperial cult in the plural (p. 3). Galinsky points out that worship of the emperor was not a centrally steered phenomenon and accepts the general consensus in modern scholarship that sees worship of the emperor as a largely local initiative permitted by Augustus. He calls it misplaced to talk about an ‘imperial theology’ or a ‘Gospel of Caesar’. The interpretation of Cassius Dio's Agrippa–Maecenas dialogue, however, as a later source for how Augustus organised the cult seems to contradict the idea of local initiative and does not consider whether Dio was indeed describing how the imperial cult was organised in the age of Augustus, or reflects a normative description of what the author considered to be the most ideal form of ruler worship. Another ill-founded claim by Galinsky is the notion that no one considered the emperor to be one of the gods. Based on the writing of Greek intellectuals from the second century and G. Bowersock's analysis of them, he assumes that ‘none would ever consider an imperial theos as one of the gods’ (p. 16). This generalising and presupposing statement stands in contrast to the plea for a cautious approach to worship and religious practice in general, which is the very foundation on which not only the keynote paper but the entire book seem to rest.

Galinsky notes that emperor worship was not the only nor the most important cult in the civic community and warns readers not to see ‘… the imperial cult as if it were the overwhelming, let alone only, cult or religious phenomenon in town whose presence early Christianity had to negotiate’ (p. 6). It is difficult to disagree with him that the Roman Empire was polytheistic or that the worship of the Olympic gods was prioritised over the imperial cult, but references to scholars who argue differently would have been helpful.

The keynote is followed by a number of shorter responses. In Part 1, ‘Methodological and Theoretical Issues’, Friesen devotes his focus to the audience and the diversity of responses. Hanges focusses on colonisation, reminding readers that cultural interaction went both ways and affected the coloniser as well as the colonised. Brodd considers the challenges of moving from religion to Roman religion and to the even more specific imperial cult worship. In an interesting discussion, Orlin addresses the question of place and utopia, describing how Roman religion was originally what he refers to as a locative religion closely tied to the idea of space, but also how the Romans in the first century c.e. were familiar with the concept of utopian religion and that this development had already begun in the last centuries of the Republic. This, Orlin observes, was significant for the development of both the imperial cult and Christianity.

In Part 2, ‘The Imperial Cult at Specific Sites’, Speath addresses the keynote article by examining emperor worship in Corinth, where the emperor was worshipped on both a provincial and a civic level. Speath provides numerous examples of emperor worship, showing the importance of the cult in Corinth, and concludes that the reason for the prominence of emperor worship in the city was at least twofold. As a provincial capital Corinth was obliged to represent the official Rome in Achaia, while the civic cult should be seen rather as an attempt to strengthen the connection between the emperor and the city. In the following chapter, Evans addresses the question of imperial cult in Athens, claiming that imperial cult was a largely Hellenistic phenomenon to which emperor worship was added. Schowalter addresses how the worship of Trajan and the cult to Zeus Philius in Pergamum changed the religious landscape both within the city and in the region, and repeats the caution against seeing emperor worship as a single cult. In a stimulating chapter McLearn focusses on the imperial cult in Galilee demonstrating that worship of the emperor, in the reign of Herod, co-existed with the traditional religious practice in the temple at Jerusalem but also that the cult to the emperor was of minimal concern to the population of Galilee, who felt a stronger affiliation to the temple at Jerusalem.

Part 3, ‘Christian and Jewish Engagement’, opens with Carter's analysis of the complexity and diversity of the early Christian response to the power of Rome and the imperial cult. Jensen focusses on the imperial cult and Christian iconography, and White focusses in a stimulating chapter on how the Jewish communities were integrated both culturally and administratively in the Greek and Roman cities. Using epigraphic material concerning Jews with careers in local politics, White shows how members of the Jewish part of the civic population were involved in civic life. He also suggests that members of the Christian communities may have taken part in public administration. The fourth and final part, ‘Prospects and Responses’, opens with a chapter by Galinsky, drawing some conclusions on the dialogues. There then follow two additional responses, by Snyder and Evans.

The book offers a good insight into the study of imperial cult and the diversity in how the cult was perceived by those involved. That the seminars were constructive and rewarding for those involved is evident, but the vitality of the discussion around the table does not quite come across in the final versions which seem to represent the original papers. This is a pity as it would have given the book an extra dimension.