<p>J. Scheid has dedicated both, his thèse de IIIe cycle (1975) and his doctorat d'Etat to the exploitation of epigraphic and archaeological evidence on public priesthood and official religion in Imperial Rome, namely to the Arval brethren, whose considerable political and religious relevance had so far been ignored: He has shed light on the social background that their priests were recruited from and has supervised the excavation and examination of the sanctuary that the fraternity administered and used. John Scheid has based his subsequent studies on the Arval brethren's annual protocols, so as to reconstruct and interprete the rituals that the fraternity had established. From these he has derived a model, that he has proven to be applicable to all public religious acts in the antique city of Rome. In identifying these acts as essential parts of public life, he has established them as valid sources for analysing the institutions of the Roman Empire in its entity.</p><p>His research p
