The dissertation project deals with the private and individual religiosity and religious practice of people in the Roman Empire. The local focus is on the western provinces, as far as this is possible due to the source situation, and will be further concretised in the course of the work process. When dealing with the content of the topic, the different prevailing religious movements and groupings (for example: Roman state religion, mystery cults, imperial cult, early Christianity) will be considered and compared. The transition from polytheistic to monotheistic beliefs is also of great interest. At the centre of the study is the individual person of Roman antiquity with his personal ideas of religiosity and divinity and his way of cult practice as well as his motivation for religious action and life.

In addition to the usual written and archaeological sources on the religious history of the Roman imperial period, which will be re-read and interpreted in the light of the research question, the so-called curse tablets will be used as the central source corpus for the dissertation topic. These texts are direct addresses and demands by private individuals to deities that are not to be found in this form in the other existing sources and show the relationship that prevailed between man and deity. These sources also provide examples of the abilities attributed to the gods and what was expected of them.