BRELICH, ANGELO (1913–1977), was an Italian historian of religions. After completing his academic studies in Hungary under Károly Kerényi and Andreas Alföldi, Brelich became the assistant to the chair of history of religions at the University of Rome, a chair then held by Raffaele Pettazzoni, whom he succeeded as professor ordinarius in 1958. His first publication, Aspetti della morte nelle iscrizioni sepolcrali nell'Impero romano (Aspects of Death in the Sepulchral Inscriptions of the Roman Empire; 1937), was based upon a thorough exploration of the Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum and anticipated Brelich's future interest in methodological reflection. There followed in 1949 Die geheime Schutzgottheit von Rom (The Secret Protecting Deity of Rome) and Vesta, which show the strong influence of his teacher Kerényi and bear witness to Brelich's own search for scientific originality. In these two books, which were conceived as a unit, Brelich distinguishes between "analytical research...