Introduction
In the territories conquered by Rome, Roman domination brought with it an in-depth modification of the local communities' political, social and religious structures. Transformations in the new provinces' societies impacted on all spheres of life whether urban or rural, public or private, ebbing and flowing as local, regional and imperial histories merged. This long transformation process which, in the words of geographer Strabo[1], lead the provincials to « feel Roman »
was once analysed in terms of assimilation/resistance. According to prejudices and backgrounds, research outcomes have made much of the clues pointing to a rupture with the pre-Roman past and the adoption of Roman practice, or built up the evidence for steadfastness and continuity with the days of independence. These days, the dialogue between local traditions and Roman culture, in so far as it can be defined as unified, is explored in a more productive manner and new concepts have helped envisage the multifaceted aspects of the process. Among these concepts, that of Romanization, sometime relegated in favour of hybridisation and Creolization, remains today the most relevant. It most clearly defines – rather than a process of adoption by the defeated people of an (at best hypothetical) model imposed by the victors – the complex synthesis between local and Roman elements in its full diachronic dimension. In the religious field like in others, this issue is at the heart of most recent research as evinced notably by the case of Roman Gaul.
These territories – conquered between 118 BC for Gallia Narbonensis[2] (or Narbonensian Gaul) and 52 BC for Gallia Comata[3], – experienced an administrative reorganisation deployed at both regional and local level. This administrative reorganisation gradually brought in civic structures drawn from Greco-Roman frameworks within which a civic religion[4] represents a major federative element. The place of sanctuaries in the restructuring of territories and power hubs after the conquest offers at first an insight into the modalities of the religious transition. The study of the religious pantheons and their new hierarchies, the theonyms[5], documented by a wealth of epigraphic evidence, help apprehend the diversity of local situations. These new cults weave together inputs from central power and from the provincials towards the creation of a new civic religion.
