La religion des autres. Regard cicéronien sur les cultes de Sicile

Abstract

In the Verrines, Cicero uses a representation of Sicilian religion to denounce Verres. The aim of this article is to analyse the issues at stake in this religious ‘ethnography’: we begin by clarifying the role attributed to the religious motif in the argumentative edifice of the Verrines, before focusing on the De signis to study the cartography of holy places, and then the references to Sicilian religious objects and practices. The piety of the Sicilians appears to be a key element in the argument, reinforcing the motif of Verres’ impiety while at the same time instilling a sense of closeness with the Roman audience.