For over a thousand years, the practice of animal sacrifice held a central place in ancient Graeco-Roman culture as a means of both demonstrating piety to the gods and structuring social relationships. As Christianity took root in Rome in the third century CE, the cultural role of this practice changed dramatically. In Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 BCE-395 CE), J. B. Rives explores the shifting socio-economic, political, and cultural significance of animal sacrifice in crucial period of change.
