Ce mémoire s’articule autour de trois sections distinctes : dans la première, nous examinons la figure divine de Liber Pater et la perception de cette divinité dans l’Italie romaine. Liber ne cesse de surprendre les chercheurs entre autres grâce à son association avec Dionysos, c’est pourquoi il est nécessaire de s’attarder à une question simple, mais cruciale : qui est Liber Pater? Nous soulignons à travers cette section que Liber est une divinité agraire reconnue au sein du panthéon de Rome et recevant ainsi un culte public à travers les Liberalia et la triade qu’il forme avec Cérès et Libera. La pérennité de Liber sur la libertas y est aussi remise en jeu : plutôt que de concevoir une liberté politique, il faut s’attarder à une liberté physique et mentale. Dans la deuxième section, nous établissons une connexion sur le territoire italien entre Liber et Dionysos-Bacchus grâce au processus d’acculturation qui s’est concrétisé avec l’arrivée de Dionysos en Grande-Grèce au VIIIe et VIIe siècle av. J.-C. Nous explorons par la suite, à travers la tutelle de Liber et Bacchus sur le vin ainsi que la répression des Bacchanales, les formes hétérogènes qu’ont pu prendre les rituels et les cultes dédiés à ces divinités. Finalement, notre dernière section se penche sur le culte de Liber en Italie au Haut-Empire. Pour y parvenir, nous utilisons le cadre méthodologique de la lived ancient religion qui s’intéresse au spectre des stratégies religieuses pouvant être mises en place pour communiquer avec Liber, que ce soit à travers le don, la prière, le geste, le sacrifice, etc. Ce modèle d’analyse nous donne l’opportunité de nous intéresser au culte vécu de Liber, nous rapprochant ainsi de l’expérience religieuse des individus. Nous démontrons, grâce à un corpus épigraphique comportant plusieurs types d’inscriptions, que de nombreuses stratégies de communication étaient utilisées, notamment les rituels du votum, de la dedicatio, et de la consecratio à travers le don d’objets tels des autels et des statues. En groupe, ces stratégies se complexifient puisque le phénomène associatif produit une diversification cultuelle significative : plusieurs associations romaines, toutes différentes les unes des autre dans leurs pratiques et leur composition, honoraient Liber et ses bienfaits. / This dissertation is structured in three distinct sections: in the first one, we examine the divine figure of Liber Pater and the perception of this divinity in Roman Italy. Liber never ceases to surprise scholars, mostly because of his association with Dionysus, so it is necessary to address a simple but crucial question: who is Liber Pater? We emphasize in this section that Liber is an agrarian deity recognized within the pantheon of Rome and thus receives a public cult through the Liberalia and the triad that he forms with Ceres and Libera. The tutelage of Liber on libertas is also questioned: rather than understanding it in terms of political freedom, we must rather focus on a physical and mental freedom. In the second section, we establish a connection on the Italian territory between Liber and Dionysus-Bacchus thanks to the process of acculturation that took place with the arrival of Dionysus in Magna Graecia in the 8th and 7th century BC. We then explore, through the tutelage of Liber and Bacchus over wine as well as the repression of the Bacchanalia, the heterogeneous forms that the rituals and cults dedicated to these deities may have taken. Finally, our last section dives into the cult of Liber in Italy in the Early Empire. To do so, we use the methodological framework of lived ancient religion, which focuses on the spectrum of religious strategies that can be put in place to communicate with Liber, be it through donation, prayer, gesture, sacrifice, etc. This model of analysis gives us the opportunity to focus on the lived worship of Liber, therefore bringing us closer to the religious experience of individuals. We demonstrate, through an epigraphic corpus comprising several types of inscriptions, that numerous communication strategies were used, notably the rituals of votum, dedicatio, and consecratio through the donation of objects such as altars and statues. In groups, these strategies become more complex since the associative phenomenon produces a significant cult diversification: several Roman associations, all different from one other in their practices and composition, honored Liber and his benefits.

L’étude du culte impérial romain au IVe siècle est généralement reléguée au second plan dans les recherches portant sur le sujet, souvent mis dans la même situation de déclin avec les cultes traditionnels. Or, à la lumière des sources d’époque et des travaux de certains historiens, comme Louis Bréhier, le culte impérial semble avoir vraisemblablement survécu à ce pronostique de disparition. Plus intéressant encore, le culte impérial apparait s’être transformé et adapté à la nouvelle réalité qu’offrait un Empire romain se christianisant et dont le pouvoir de l’empereur se sacralisait. Le travail présenté dans ce mémoire met en parallèle les métamorphoses que connait le culte impérial avec le renforcement du pouvoir impérial au cours du IVe siècle, tout en comparant l’évolution de la perception qu’avaient les chrétiens de cette institution fondamentalement traditionnelle. Comme mentionné ci-dessus, l’étude se base sur un corpus de sources contemporaines, allant d’homélies chrétiennes à des sources épigraphiques, en passant par les panégyriques, qui viendront corroborer l’information relevée chez plusieurs historiens s’étant penchés sur le sujet. Globalement, cette recherche démontre que le culte impérial a réussi à se départir des connotations religieuses jugées problématiques par les chrétiens tout en continuant de fonctionner et d’occuper une place centrale dans la vie des romains. Ceci, conjointement à un pouvoir impérial s’exprimant de manière absolue, va amorcer la métamorphose du culte impérial en un « culte monarchique », exaltant encore plus le pouvoir de l’empereur pour les siècles à venir. / The study of the Roman imperial cult in the 4th century has often been relegated to the background in research relating to this subject. The imperial cult has even often been relegated to the same fate than the rest of the Roman traditional cults. However, in the light of period sources and the work of certain historians, such as Louis Bréhier, the imperial cult seems to have survived this prognosis of disappearance. More interesting still, the imperial cult appears to have transformed and adapted to the new reality offered by a Christianizing Roman Empire while the power of the emperor was becoming more sacred. The work presented in this thesis parallels the metamorphosis experienced by the imperial cult with the strengthening of imperial power during the fourth century, while comparing the evolution of the perception that Christians had of this fundamentally traditional institution. As mentioned above, the study is based on a body of contemporary sources, ranging from Christian homilies to epigraphic sources which will corroborate the information found in the work of several historians who have studied the topic. Overall, this research demonstrates that the imperial cult succeeded in shedding religious connotations that Christians considered problematic while continuing to function and occupy a central place in the life of the Romans. This, together with an imperial power expressed in absolute terms, initiated the metamorphosis of the imperial cult into a "monarchical cult", exalting even more the emperor's power for centuries to come.

This study searches for the origin and history of the concept of individual accountability and the reason for its absence in the African Traditional Religion framework. This search begins in the Axial Age (800-200 BCE), and discusses ancient Israel's Axial Age and its Axial Hebrew prophets' response models. The study tracks the introduction of Axial ideals to South Africa, via Christianity since 1826, and examines the Xhosa prophets' response models to their Axial context. The Social Christians attempts to impart Axial ideals during the period of segregation and the Tuskegeean response model are also examined. The similarities between ancient Israel and South Africa as revealed by Biblical archaeology, underlie this study's call for the utilisation of the power of religions such as Christianity, and of South Africa's religious elite, to rapidly alter current maladaptive beliefs within the African Traditional religious framework that impedes Africans' ability to adopt individual accountability. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeolgy)

This study searches for the origin and history of the concept of individual accountability and the reason for its absence in the African Traditional Religion framework. This search begins in the Axial Age (800-200 BCE), and discusses ancient Israel's Axial Age and its Axial Hebrew prophets' response models. The study tracks the introduction of Axial ideals to South Africa, via Christianity since 1826, and examines the Xhosa prophets' response models to their Axial context. The Social Christians attempts to impart Axial ideals during the period of segregation and the Tuskegeean response model are also examined. The similarities between ancient Israel and South Africa as revealed by Biblical archaeology, underlie this study's call for the utilisation of the power of religions such as Christianity, and of South Africa's religious elite, to rapidly alter current maladaptive beliefs within the African Traditional religious framework that impedes Africans' ability to adopt individual accountability. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeolgy)