Though most of his evidence must be lifted from specific contexts and individual deities, Lipka (Latin, U. of Patras, Greece) is concerned with the overall concept of god, deus, within the city of Rome from the early Republic to the era of Constantine, that is, about 500 BC to 350 AD. He investigates and contextualizes it as an essential constituent of Roman religion, but mentions other religious aspects only in passing. His topics include constituent concepts such as personnel and iconography, conceptualizations such as deification and dissolution, the secular games of 17 BC as a test case, and concepts relating to society such as the elite and women. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)