A prosopography of Athenian cult personnel during the Principate. Preliminary considerations

Priesthoods being among the most evident signs of the presence of a cult in the polis, the study of Greek civic priesthoods may provide a key to a deeper insight into the cultic landscape of a polis. In this regard Athens offers a very promising case study, given the richness of the epigraphic evidence on religious matters. The present paper offers an overview of an ongoing project for a prosopography of Athenian priests and priestesses from Augustus up to the 3rd c. AD (ca. AD 267). It analyses this research's main characteristics as well as its future developments in order to provide preliminary data on the nature and main features of Athenian cultic personnel during the Roman imperial period. Within this framework, the present article focuses on the priesthood of the emperors, which offers ground for analysis and further discussion on particular aspects of the Athenian priesthoods under the Empire.