| Sumario: | This article reviews Stefano G. Caneva’s book on the use and significance of multi-component religious titles and epithets among Hellenistic rulers, focusing on their role in expressing the relationship between political power and the divine. Caneva develops new analytical tools and terminology, distinguishing between “epithets” linked to cultic rituals and “titles” as formal designations, and introduces concepts such as “religious status” and “the religious persona of a ruler” to better understand ruler cults. The book examines patterns in royal nomenclature, including the use of the epithet Theos, notably prominent among the Ptolemies and Seleucids, highlighting its symbolic function in asserting god-like authority rather than literal deification. Caneva’s methodology, which integrates literary and numismatic evidence, offers fresh perspectives on the socio-religious dimensions of Hellenistic ruler cults and proposes frameworks applicable to other historical periods featuring similar phenomena.
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