Aim of this paper is to present the archaeological and literary remains of the Magna Mater Cult in the late antique city of Rome and sketch an image of the religious city-scape at that time. Having the concept of Urban Religion in mind, I will focus on the question of how the pagan cult was appropriated and did develop against the backdrop of the competing Christian religion as well as the prohibition of pagan cults in the late 4th century. How – under the challenging circumstances – did the religious agents (priests,adherents etc.) claim or somehow defend urban space assigned to Magna Mater? Did they in consequence of this situation change or adjust their way of religious communication, e.g. are there any innovations of religious practices or did they give up space or practices to the benefit of other deities?
As analytical tool I will use the term “citification”, coined by our colleague E. Urciuoli, to single out religious phenomena related to city and its characteristics, and more generally to determine the status of the cult in relation to the city, the city´s history and its Organisation of urban space. This will lead to a final question to what degree was the cult citified?
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