L
O U IS
M ATT H EWS
S W E ET
O WO H P
FI CATION OF CH TIA TY
ROMA N EMP E R
R
TH E VE RI
RS
I
RIS
NI
D IV I N ATION A ND PROP H E CY—A S TU DY
I N C OMP A RATI V E RE LI G ION
A CRITI CA L H I S TORY OF TH E TH E O RY
O F EV OL U TION
A SYS TE M OF C H R I S TI A N TH E OLO GY
R
I CHA D
R
G
.
B
ADG
E R, P
U B LIS H E R
,
B
O TON
S
E M PER O R
ROMA N
W
LOUI S
O R S H IP
MATTHEW S §W EET
ess r i th Bible T h
A t h r f Th Bir t h
P r of
o
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o
o
“
“
e
Th e S tud y
f
o
ii
es s
is i e
.
.
it
Tra n n g S ch o o l of N ew Yo rk C y;
”
a n d Infa n cy of J
u
Ch rist,
”
th e E ngl h B bl , etc
ers
e ac
e
n
PH D
,
B
.
O STO N
R I C HA R D G
.
BA D G E R
TH E G O RH A M P RE S S
C OPYRIGHT
M ade
,
1 9 1 9, BY
RICHARD G BAD GER
.
in t h e Unit e d St at es o f Ame rica
Th e Go rh am
Pr s
es
Bo st o n, U
‘
,
.
S
.
A
.
TO
ME M ORY
THE
OF
M Y FATH ER
A
M OS
N EW
L E W IS
S W E E T,
Y ORK UNIVERSI TY CLA SS OF
,
M D
.
1866
W HO
E
W HE N THI
L FT U S
IN W HICH
HE
W AS
H AD
D EEP
S
LY
S
JU T
W O RK
S
INTE RE TED
E
B GU N
e ll h fell as leep !
L ik s me pr d ri er wid en in g t ward th se a;
d grand ly sil e n tly
C almly
d d eep
W i i d etern ity
“
H ow w
e
e
ou
o
an
v
o
,
an
,
e
o ne
e
,
”
.
.
Reliqu o s
d e dimus
“
St u lt e
e n im
d eo s
a c c ep imu s,
C aes are s
”
.
v e re b o r ,
— Val erius M aximu s
.
ip s e qu u m fa c iam , D e o s
“
”
N er o i n Oct avi a
A ct u z 450
.
.
.
.
FO REW O RD
H E fo ll o w in g p age s cont a in , in sub stance ,
a d isse rtati on p r e s en t e d to t h e authorities
o f New Yo rk U niversi t y in p a rti a l fulfilment o f
the re quire m ents for th e D octora te in Philosop hy
Th e wo rk n ow app e a rs in p rint a n d i s sub m it
te d to t h e j udgm ent o f the public with the ap
p roval o f the U nive rsi t y The rese a rc h whi c h
ha s g o n e to the m aking o f the b ook wa s carrie d
o n and m uc h o f the a ctu al writing done in th e
L atin S emina r Ro om at U nive rsity Heig h ts
I wish to put on re co rd my sens e o f p rivilege in
h aving a cces s to thi s nobl e s anct ua ry o f le arning
a n d the inco m p arable cla ssi cal libra r y whic h it
conta ins e sp e cially a s this h a s involve d m an y
h ours o f fellowship with the p re si ding genius o f
the pla ce P ro fesso r E rne st G S ihle r Ph D h im
self an emb odi m ent o f the be st tra ditions o f m o d
e rn sc h olarship
My work h a s b een d one c o n
a m o r e a nd it i s with the deepe st s atis fa ction that
I now connect it wit h t h e U niversi t y th e Se m ina r
Roo m an d D r S ihler
.
.
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,
,
,
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,
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.
,
C ON T EN T S
C HAPTER
INT RO D UCTI O N
I
THE RUL ER CUL T
.
I
.
2
.
3
4
5
.
.
.
II
.
.
2
.
.
.
UL
G
AL
EX
-
CULT IN
P ERI O D
A ND E R
TH E
TH E
IN
E
R E EC E
RE E K -
G AT
RE
ES
D YN A ST
IE S
.
S
UL ER CULT
THE R
O
THE R M AN S
TH E
V ERSA
Y
DE
CA
A MY
2
.
.
.
U NI
M A C EDONIAN
THE
-
AM
ONG
LIT OF D IFI ATIO N I N PAGA NI M
IFI TION ND THOLO GY
ROM A N G NI U
D IFI A TION NA TI TO
3
THE RUL ER CUL T AN D J UL I U S CZESA R
C A AND
DI I
D I IN A N
T
T Y OF C A
D I IN HONO OF C A D U IN G H L IF
3
T IM
A A D
4 C
JU LI A N C U LT
5 T
6 T
W O HI P OF ROMA
THE RU L ER CUL T IN THE REI G N OF A U G U S
I
IV
U ITY
N
PTOL MI
G
3
A IAT I C
4 G
B EG INNIN G S OF
.
II I
B LONI A
I
C HINA
IN
A BY
IN PE R S A
IN
IN JAPA
IN EGYP T
ER
THE R
REEK
I
L
EA R Y ANTI !
IN
-
E
C
E
C
S
TH E
VE
E
S
-
.
2
.
} ES
.
HE
.
R
TH E
E
V
V
V
C ES
RS
E
.
R
R
E S
E S
R
R
O
IS
E
E
V
.
E S
.
HE
.
HE
R
s
IV U s
RS
-
.
I
2
TU S
L IF E T IM E WO RS HI P O F
-
.
.
TH E
W
C U LT
TH E
EM P ERO Rs
A T H E A UGU S
O HI P OF A UGU T U ND
RS
S
S
TA N
CONT ENT S
IO
PA GE
UL
CULT UN D ER
U G U STU S
ER
THE R
OF A
U
TH E
TH E M A
2
E P ER R
C
.
LT OF
NIFOLDN
O C U LT
M
.
TH E
T
AND P
A UGU S I
ESS
S UCC ESS ORS
THE
-
E RV
A S I V E NE S S
OF
TH E
-
UL ER CULT
THE R
-
AS A
P OL ITI CAL
IN STRU
M ENT
LI G I O U O I G I N
I NFL U N C I N C ON OLID ATI N G TH E EM P I E
THE RUL ER CUL T AN D THE P O S ITI O N OF
THE EM P ERO R
I D IFI CA TION A ND
M IND OF
EM P O
RU L
C U LT A SY M P TOM O F D C AD N C
T
a T he T
f Sy ophan y
i
f B ad M e n
b T he G l ifi
THE RUL ER CUL T AN D P OLYT HEI S M
I T
S LF C ONT ADI C TION OF POLY TH I M
POLYTH I M E NTIA LLY EL M NTA Y A N D I
AD ! UAT
O WO HI P TH E F INAL PHA E OF PA GA N
3 EM P
M
a The Supersession f the O l ym pians
b T he A bsorption f M ithra and A po ll o
4 P O LY T H I M AND PAN T H I M
I
2
.
.
RE
L
T
I
c
o
Po I
ITS
ITS
E
E
R
S
R
S
-
.
2
.
TH E
E
HE
R
E
E
c
c
E
R
E
.
c at o n o
or
.
ER
As
al n t o
.
TH E
-
.
2
HE
R
-
E
E S
.
ER
E
SSE
R
E
N
E
E
.
E S
RS
R-
S
IS
o
.
o
.
E S
E S
.
X THE RUL
CULT
TI AN M OVEM ENT
.
AN D THE
ER
R
J U D EO C H I S
Z
-
I
AND EM P O WO HI P
J
C I TIANITY A ND EM O WO HI P
a T he T e hin g f C hrist and the I m perial Cu l t
the B oo k f A ts
b C hur h a n d Em pire
C hur h and Empire in N ero s Rei gn and
f P erse ution
After the B e g innin
d The C auses f P erse ution
e C on l usion— C hrist and C sar
B I BL I O G RA P HY
.
2
.
TH E
Ew s
ER
HR S
PE R
ac
.
c
In
’
g
o
.
IND EX
o
c
.
.
RS
R
-
o
c
.
RS
R-
c
o
c
c
a
e
c
I NT RO D U C T I O N
HE Ro m an Im p eri a l C ult b egan wit h the
fi rst C ws a r a n d continue d until t h e fi n a l
ove rthrow o f p ag a nis m in the Empi r e A n e x
h au st ive stu dy o f the C ult in all its ra m i fi cations
would p ra cti call y involve a surve y o f Ro m an his
to ry during the imp e ri al ep och a n d would tr a n s
cend all re a sonable limits A b ald an a lyt ic a l r e
vi ew m e rely o f the data which h ave p a sse d unde r
m y own eye in th e cours e o f t h i s investig a tio n
w ould b re ak b oun ds A rigid a n d so m ewh at p ain
ful p rocess o f elimin a ti on h as there fo re been e x
e rc is e d b ot h in th e u se a nd pres entation o f t h e
available dat a in t h i s fi eld P a rti cu larl y in t h e
m a tter o f t h e l ocal o rigins and spre a d through out
t h e empi re o f the rule r cult I h ave b ee n co m
l
e
l
e
d
to
u
rn
a
de
a
f
ea
r
to
m
an
y
alluring
sug
t
p
ge sti ons Th e re a re in t h is region m any u rgent
p roblems awa iting s oluti on wh i c h I h a v e n ot
vent u re d even to broa ch T h ey c a n b e solve d
only by th e exa m inati on an d analysis o f hun d reds
o f a dditional ins criptions an d hi stori c re ference s
— an un d e rtaking w h ich w a its up on occ a si on A
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
-
.
,
.
.
l l
In t r o d uc t io n
12
and app rop ri ate opp ortunity for a m ore a de
quate and exhaustive presentation o f t h e them e
m ay at some futu re time O ffe r itself M e anwhile
what is he rein conta ine d m ay b e counted a s vit al
prolegomena to a gre at a nd still la rgely unworke d
fi eld o f inve st igation
fit
.
.
A rs
longa vita brevis est
,
.
quite su ffi cient ta sk which I h ave a c t u ally
set fo r myself i s two fold F i rst to exhibit t h e
grounds up on whi ch m y convi cti on rests that the
Roman sy s te m o f imp eri al d e ifi c at io n ha s a
bro a der context in ant iquity and strike s its roots
m ore deeply into th e p ast than h a s o ften been
re alize d even by t ho s e m ost convers ant Wit h t h e
facts
Second to exhibit t h e fa ct and t o unfold the
signi fi cance o f the fa ct that the imp e ri al cult to a
surpri sing extent di spla ce d and sup e rs e ded not
only th e here dit a ry and tra d itional gods o f the
Romans but als o absorb ed and subordinate d the
imp o rted cults b oth Gre ek and O riental whi ch
were sup e rimp ose d up on the native wo rship
ha stene d the decay and overthro w o f the entir e
syncretic aggrega t ion and gra duall y gathe re d to
itself t h e whole force o f the e m pi re b e coming in
the end the one cha ra cte ristic and univers al ex
p r ession o f ancient p aganis m
Th e
,
-
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
A p e cts
I6
s
o
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
Ro m a n
f
-
and Romans A dim and far away refl ection o f
the movement in it s fi rst phas e s m ay be a fforde d
by the gre at Babyloni an Ep i c in which the he ro
Gilgamesh be comes a s ol a r dei ty with a cc o m r
p anying wo rship A nothe r semi mythi cal he ro
Etana is also elevated to godho od T h at this
elevation o f her o es t o divine hono rs is s o m ething
o f an innovation is indi cated by the fa ct that
hero deitie s do not enter the celestial sphere o c
c u p ie d by othe r god s but a re kep t in the nether
W orld
I t wa s a ve ry general custom also to grant
divine hono rs a fte r de ath to p rominent p e rsons
whose ca ree rs ma de a deep imp ression up on the
m inds o f p os te rity M oreover ( and t h e fa ct ls o f
vital imp o rtan ce to thi s study ) well known h ist o r
ical p ersonages whos e reigns we can date and
pla ce we re the re cipients o f d ivine honors not only
a fte r de ath but during thei r li fe time s T hi s is
dem onstrable in seve ral instances
Both Gude a p a t e s i O f Sh ir pu r l a ab out 3 0 0 0
B C and E n t e m e n a o f L aga sh about the s ame
date were dei fi ed re ce iving offerings and appe a r
ing in tablets with the d ete rminative fo r deity con
n e c t e d with thei r na m es
T h e latte r s sta tue wa s
s e t up in the temple E g is s h vig a l at Babylon
-
.
,
-
,
-
,
.
.
,
-
1
.
,
,
‘
.
-
-
.
.
t
,
'
,
,
,
’
.
-
-
.
1
C
o n sult J astro w :
pp
.
470 f
.
Re l ig i o n
o
f A ssy r i a
a nd
Ba by l o n ia
(N Y
.
.
,
Th e Ru le r C ul t in
A n t iq u it y
E a r ly
-
17
The p roo f h as b een p ointed out to me in a date
list o f A beshu ( 2 0 4 9 2 0 2 1 B C ) the eighth king
o f the F irst Dyna sty in which appe ars the state
“
m ent :
Th e Ye a r in which h e ( A be shu ) de c
orate d the stat u e o f E nt e m e n a fo r h i s godhea d
The s am e king e re cte d hi s own statu e in the same
temple
Gimil Sin ( 2 50 0 B C ) w a s dei fi ed in hi s own
li fe time and h ad a temple o f his own at L aga sh
“
Dungi o f U r ( 2 0 0 0 B C ) wa s dei fi e d
Sh a r
gani Sh a rri Semiti c king o f A gade write s his
n ame commonly though not always with the di
vine dete rmina tive and N a ram Sin h a s hi s n a m e
3
T hes e instances a re su fli
seldo m without it
c ie n t ly numerous to ind icate that the custom o f
dei fying rule rs b oth b e fo re and a fte r de ath wa s
quite com m on
2
-
,
,
”
.
.
.
-
.
.
,
-
.
,
,
,
,
-
,
”
.
.
P rof R W Rogers of Drew Theo l ogi c a l S em inary to
who m I m also indebted for the tr nsl ations whi h appear i n
the text F or the antiquity of the usto m onsu l t J strow C i v
2
By
.
.
.
,
,
a
a
c
c
.
c
:
a
c
il iz a t io n o f A ssy r ia a nd B a by l o n i a p 3 3 6
8
Dr Ro g ers The sa e c o m petent authori ty says : D e ifi c a
’
tio
as at that ti m e evidently be g un even durin g the kin g s
l ife ti m e
S o , al so , J a strow , R e l ig i o n o f A s sy r i a a n d B a by
“
l o n i a p 56 1
rof J a strow s ays :
e m ay expe c t to c o m e
”
a c ross a god Ha mm ur a bi so m e day Dr Ro g ers tel ls m e ( 1 9 1 8 )
’
that this Kin g s na m e a c tually a ppears c oupl ed with the g ods in
’
oath for m ul a s J a st r o w s referen c es on this subj ec t should b e
“
”
n the fa m ous L a m ent of Tabi u t u l E nli , 2 d
c arefu ly noted
“
tab let, o c c urs this ine : The g ori c a tion of the kin g m ade
”
l ike unto that of a g o d ( Jastrow : C iv i l iz a t i o n o f A s sy r i a a nd
’
The c ontext shows that the ki g s ho m age
B a by l o n i a p
nw
m
.
.
,
.
.
-
.
.
,
P
.
W
.
.
l
.
.
I
l
.
l fi
was an esse n tial e l e m ent of re l i g iou s duty
,
-
-
I
n
.
.
l
18
"
A s p e ct s
o
f
Ro m a n
2
Emp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
IN PE RS I A
.
H ow ancient t h e i de a o f a royal divinit y among
the P ers ians wa s we h ave no wa y o f knowing
I t t h oroughly p e rme a tes the Zoroa strian do cu
m ents and m ust the re fore b e a s ancient a s they
The Z oro a st ri an instance i s o f p a rti cula r value
b ecause it is re ally alien to the system a s suc h
an d reve als mo re cl e a rly t h a n elsewhe re t h e rul
ing ide a s which p ro duce d it The Z o ro astri an
system o f co smogony b egins wit h A hu ra M a z d a
the cre ato r and ends with S a oshyant the r e
T h roug h out this entire cycl e
s tore r o f all things
o f co smi c h istory there i s a n unb roken successio n
o f le a de rs and rule rs p o ssessing one element in
common the s o called divine glory
T his ele
“
ment co rresp onds e xc e pt is e xc ipie nd is to the di
vine blo o d o r icho r in t h e veins o f the Egypti an
Kings A b ri e f résu m é o f the fa cts will s erve to
b ring to light the essenti al p rinciples involved
4
I n Ya st XIX sixte en se ctions a re d evote d to the
p ra is e o f this h e avenly and kingly glo r y whic h is
trans m itte d throug h the line o f I rani an Kings
b ot h legendary and histo ri cal to S a o shyant I n
'
5
thi s Ya st the glo ry is sp oken o f a s a quality
“
6
that cannot b e s eized
Els ewhe re it i s s aid
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
”
-
,
.
,
,
”
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
”
.
‘Z a m
pp
Y a st — see S B E , V 2 3 ,
2 86
ls
XIX 55 e t pa ss i m
°
b a Y a st ,
L — cf Z amy a d 51 , 56, e t c
y ad
A
n
.
.
X II
.
.
.
seq
.
.
.
.
.
Th e Ru l e r C u l t in E a r ly A n t iquit y
19
-
t h at t h i s glo ry took re fuge in t h e s e a during t h e
reigns o f fo reign dynasties and wi cke d kings
Thi s m e an s that the divine quality an d dignity
belong exclusively to the legitimate line o f I ranian
7
8
Kings
The D ink a r d d eals with the de scent o f
the he avenl y gl o ry from king to king Th e royal
gene a lo g y i s a p a rt o f the system I t ha s be en
well s aid t ha t this p a ssa ge would se rve a s a S ho rt
history o f the I rani an m ona rchy T h e p erson o f
the legiti m ate rule r is s acros anct b ecause o f an
uni que divine substance imp a rting a co rresp ond
ing divine qu ality whic h puts him on a level wit h
the fi rst m an with the A m e sh a Sp e n t a s with Za ra
t h u st r a himself an d with S a o s h yant the resto re r
all o f who m with his royal ance stors a re mani
fest a t io n s an d emb o diments o f A hu ra M a zda
Two tendencies o f thought m oving towa rds a
com m on cente r m eet in t h is conception which a s
I h ave s a id i s re ally alien to t h e spirit o f M a z
d a ism n a m el y a n exces sive i de ali z ati on o f roy
alty and a ten d ency to m aterializ e t h e d ivine
9
glo ry
T h i s d e ifi c at io n o f t h e P e rsi an rulers p e rsists
t h roug h all later h istory I n a p ass age o f ZE sch y
.
.
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.
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,
,
,
,
,
,
i
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,
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,
,
,
,
,
.
.
S e e Bu n d a h is
Bk
I , Ch
.
VI
H erodot
us
.
XXI
I
:3 2,
.
he says of the P ersians
3 3 ; XXXIV z4
.
ex p resses the s p i rit of Mazdais m
i it ? ” épb c do xée w 3 1 1
'
’
é vo y w d v r o bs deaf/ s K a r dn ep o i Ek k nve s
( t:
.
0 15K
w he n
d vdpwn o cpé e d s
'
A sp e c t s
20
o
Ro ma n E m p e r o r
f
-
W o rs h ip
lus A to ss a the daughter o f Cyrus is a dd resse d
a s consort and mothe r o f the go d o f the P e rsi an s
11
states that D a rius wa s a d
D io d o ru s Sicu lu s
dresse d a s a go d by the E g yp ti ans a dding quit e
'
k éwv
inco rre ctly
M o mm
ut wo v 63V an d v wv B
sen p oints out th at uni formly the titl e o f t h e tri
“
lingu al ins cription s at N ak s i Rustam i s T h e
M a zda servant Go d A rtaxerxes King o f Kings O f
12
the A ri an s o f d ivine de scent
while we h ave
13
a p alace inscription o f the Emp e ror A lexander
Severus ( 2 2 2 2 3 5 A D ) E 6 w i O o fi Ak gd vdpo v
Thi s b rings us through the G r a e c o A siati c blend
ing to the Rom an Im p e ri al hou s e well on towa rd
the end o f it s hi story A Roman emp e ror dei fi e d
in Pe rsi a and in Persian styl e p resents a striking
example o f historic c o ntinuity N or i s thi s b y
any me ans the end o f the sto ry a s we shall se e
14
later
1°
,
,
.
,
r
7
,
,
aa t
-
.
,
”
,
,
i
’
-
1
7rt
N
a
e
e
.
-
,
.
.
.
3
IN C H I NA
.
S o far a s C hin a is conce rned I nee d simply call
attenti on to the fa ct that in a dditi on to the regular
p ro cess whereb y de ce a sed ancesto rs a re rai se d t o
'
P ersae v 57 0 6 n w é pd H p b 0 9 Be a mj np €¢
.
,
“2
14
e o c r
M do aa o vo s debs Apr a gdpns Bd o ck é vs B
.
.
C
B
.
I
.
G
.
,
elow p
,
G e sc h
44 8 3
.
.
.
1 1 5.
60
’
'
a o IAé w v
The
,
.
18
e
'
e tzv r e t
’
(C I G
M o mm Rom
.
60
1
’
.
A
r s a c id e
A htes
c
title
B K ap
.
w
.
as
XIV
K
n
‘
r
A pcd v65v i n vévo vs 0456 1:
ne rly identic al
a
,
vr
pp
.
4 1 4, 4 20
.
.
Se e
Th e Ru l e r C u l t in
E a r ly
-
A n t iquit y
21
the p osition o f deiti es a ce rti fi e d group o f in
stance s occur s om e o f them ve ry ancient in which
conspicuous individuals were elevate d to a sp eci al
place am ong the deiti es F or example Eu Hi
2
noted
a
s
a
gre
at
civili
ze
r
wa
s
B
C
2
(
95
elevate d to god ho od Nung Shen and How C h i
founder o f the C how dynasty were both elevated
15
T hey
to the p osition o f go ds o f agri culture
were b oth kings who h a d done much fo r thi s
b ranch o f appli e d s cience Th e living empero r
du ring the enti re imperi al ep och h a s b een an o b
e
c
t
C
o
f
wo
rship
throughout
hina
the
mo
st
uni
j
16
vers al o f all the gods o f C hin a
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
-
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
4
IN
.
JA P A N
Shintoi sm which i s usu ally considere d the one
p eculi a rly indigenous and chara cteri stic religiou s
d evelopment o f Jap an involve s the d e ifi cat io n o r
qu asi d e ifi c at io n o f the Empero r This d e ifi c a t io n
i s t h e core o f t h e system which i s for that re a son
“
17
fre quently calle d Mika doism
The Jap anese
h ave als o a well develop e d ancesto r wo rs h ip
whi ch some scholars look up on a s an exoti c fro m
18
C hina
,
,
-
.
”
.
-
-
.
oss : O ig i n l Re l ig io n o f C h i n a p 54
D e root : T h e Re l ig i o n o f t h e C h i n es e p p
p 12
H is t o r y o f Re l ig i o n s ( N Y
G iffi s : R l ig i n f J a p n N Y
8 9 5 pp 45f
Moore : H ist o ry o f Re l ig i o ns p 1 1 0
Se e R
G
r
a
r
1
,
.
17
.
,
e
o
o
.
a
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
.
1
,
.
.
.
6 5f ;
Moore
A sp e cts
22
o
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
Ro m a n
f
5
E G YP T
IN
.
-
The extreme antiquity o f t h e custo m o f ap o t h e o
sizing king s a s well a s its p ersistence to late r t imes
fi nds yet another illustration in the history o f
E gypt A t avery e a rly p erio d be fo re the e a rliest
pyrami d texts there wa s b rought ab out p rob ably
through the influence o f the p ri ests o f Heliop olis
a synthesis o f primitive s ola r p antheism with the
d e ifi cat io n O f the state in t h e p e rs on o f the d e
19
This take s us b a ck to at le ast
c e as e d ru le r
2 7 50 B C
T h e king a s cends to the realm o f
the sun god ; late r b ecome s hi s a s s ist a nt and se c
r e t a r y then hi s s on and fi nally become s i denti fi e d
with him He is fre quently sp oken o f a s go d
“
2
e g
h e i s called a gre a t god
A t the time when the fourth dyna sty wa s su c
c e e d e d by the fi ft h
w hich wa s an usu rping and
,
.
,
,
,
.
.
-
,
,
.
”
.
.
.
,
°
.
,
enouf : H i bb ert L e c tu res 8 7 9 ( Lo n don
pp l 6 1 f cf
B re sted : D e v e l o p m e n t
f Re l ig io n a n d T h o g h t in A n c i e n t
pp
12 1f
E pt (N Y
gyThe fol lowin text B re sted R A E
(
g
) g ives the te c hni c a l
p hraseo l ogy of d e ifi c at io n ( Vol I S c
S nefru : K i ng o f
U pp e r a n d L o w e r E g y p t ; fa v o i t e o f t h e t w o g o d d es s e s ; L o r d
o f T u t h ; G o l d e n H o r u s ; S nefru
S nefru G r e a t G o d W h o is
G i v e n S a t isfa c t io n S t b i l ity L ife H e a l t h
l l J o y Fo r e v e r
Ci
S ec s
7 6 2 3 6 2 64 s m e volu m e in whi c h expressions equa l ly
stro n g o cc u r F or the ori g i n of the titl e S o n o f Re c onsult
Rawlinson : E g y p t vii pp 6
For the details of a pp l ie d
84
d e ifi c a t io n see E r m an : L ife in A n c i e n t Eg yp t pp 56 60 7 3
7 7 50 3 A l m ost al l details fou n d l ater in c ludin g the m arri g e of
brothers and sisters g b a c k t o the ear l iest days The roya l
tit l e So n of the S n is found a m o n g the I n c as of P er u
R
1
,
a
,
o
.
,
.
,
.
.
,
u
.
.
a
.
,
.
,
.
.
e
“
.
r
r
.
a
,
.
1
,
a
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
”
a
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
0,
.
.
,
.
,
“
o
u
,
a
,
,
,
.
”
.
,
C HA PTE R I I
T HE
R
U L ER C U L T I N
-
MA C ED O N I A N
THE
-
G RE E
K
P E RIOD
I
A L EXA ND E R
.
G REA T
THE
HE theory th at the King o f E gypt wa s th e
son o f the sun go d in the literal sen s e w a s
in full op erati on when A lexander the Gre at e n
t e r e d Egypt a s its conque ror ; for he went at once
t o the dis t ant O a sis o f A mon
at Siwa in the
L yb ian desert and was there fo rm ally p roclaime d
—
R
e
S on o f
o r A mon hence legitimate rule r o f
Egypt T h e sto ry o f A lexande r s ap otheo sis wa s
incorp ora ted int o the Romance o f A lexander
called Ps eudo C all ist h e n e s which wa s translate d
int o L atin ne a r th e end o f the thi rd centu ry A D
o r at the b eginning o f the fourth by A lexande r
-
,
,
,
,
,
’
.
,
-
,
.
.
,
,
Po l e m iu s
.
T here
i s another line o f continuity he re al s o
,
onsu l t
.
a t u r e ( Eng
a
t
L
i
T
R
o
m
n
e
r
f
S e c 3 9 9 ; cf al so Maspero : C o mm e n t A l e x a n d r e , e t c , E c o l e d e
Miller : D id o t E d A r
H a u t e s E t u d e s A n n u a i r e , 1 8 97 ; C
:
a
r
i
c
A
l
x
2
l
e
x
a
n
d
e
i
lutar
h
ru
m
A
r a n s u b S c r ipt o r e s Re
;
,
5 55 ;
D io g L aert , V 1
”2
C
.
T eufi el
:
H is t o ry
o
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
W
.
.
P
.
R u le r C u l t in
-
the
M
a c e d o nia n- G r e e k
P e r io d
25
I n the W e st c a r p apyrus ( 2 3 50 B C ) the i de a o f
.
s o nship o f the Pha ra oh to the sun deity take s
the form o f a folk tale and so mewhat convention
app e a rs in scu lpture on several
a l iz e d in form
buildings notably at Luxo r and D e r e l Ba h r i I t
is to b e note d that even at this e arly date the
divine king the ory involves a combination o f the
p olitical motive with the religious Kingship a c
co rding to t his system is a divine instituti on
23
t h e king a divine b eing
W e h ave next briefly to trace the continui t y o f
the E gypti an divinely b egotten king the o ry
through la te r hi sto ry I t ha s one e a rly aberrant
development in the ca s e o f H e ph azst io n the
frien d o f A lexande r who a cco rding to Dio do
24
rus
wa s dei fi e d in ob edience to a sp eci fi c c o m
man d o f the O ra cle o f A m 0 n
the
,
,
-
,
-
f
,
.
,
,
.
-
.
,
,
,
,
.
2
.
T H E PT O L E M I E S
I n the ca se o f the PIo l e m ie s ( 3 3 0 3 0 B C )
-
.
the M a cedonian and Egypti an tra ditions a re thor
oughly blended and d e ifi c at io n m a rks the enti re
histo ry T h e only Ptolema ic kings fo r whos e
.
See b e l ow p a g e 6 n 0 8 F or the W e st c a r p apyrus see
E r man : L ife in A n c i e n t E g yp t pp 3 7 3 f
XVII 5 W e shal l note other c ases where the shado w
of divine r oya l ty fal l in g u p on a kin g s rel ative or favorite
see m s to p ossess the p ower to c reate divinit y
23
1,
,
.
1
.
,
24
.
11
,
.
.
.
’
,
,
.
26
A sp e cts
d e ifi c at io n
o
we
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
R o ma n
-
h ave no do cumentary o r epigrap h ic
evidence a r e the mino r individu als ab out who m
we kn ow p ra ctically nothing
25
o f the yea r 3 1 2 3 1 1 B C Ptole m y
I n a text
“
I ( Sote r 3 2 3 2 8 3 B C ) i s rep e a te dl y called S on
o f the Sun in old Egyptian style A n inscription
o f the C ycla d es m akes the claim that thes e island
ers fi rst gave Ptole my I divine honors
The
Rho di ans ( B C 3 0 6 ) a dvance d the s ame clai m
T h e y fi rst calle d h i m S oter an d establishe d S h rine s
26
and s acri fi ces in his h on o r
I n the next re ign, th at o f Ptole m y I I ( Ph il a d e l
2
2
i
fi
i
s
8
the
p
ro
ce
s
s
o
f
e
c
t
o
atta
in
u
d
a
n
s
h
4
3
7)
p
27
unexampled elab orati on
I t shoul d b e s t udie d
wit h so m e care a s it throws light up on eve ryt hing
th at follows
O n the M ende s Stele Ptole m y i s designate d
The lord o f t h e land the lo rd o f p owe r M e ri
a m on u ser k a ra the s on o f Re b egotten o f h is
b o dy who love s hi m the lo rd o f d i a de m s Pt o
-
.
-
.
-
.
”
.
.
.
.
.
.
-
.
.
,
,
-
-
-
,
,
,
ms
,
,
Se e
Se e
,
‘
M ah afl :
pp
1 80
y G r e e k L ife a nd T h o ug h t,
f : H s t o ry o f Eg ypt u nd e r t h e P t o l e ma
m
d e ifi c a t io n
G
We
-
.
1 92 .
i c D y na s ty
i
pp 4 3 44 A uthorities are so ew hat at varia nc e as to
whether this
w a s reek or O rienta l
sha ll hav e
good reason t o c onc l ude that it was both
The idea of Re v illo u t ( revu e Egy p t o l o g iqu e I 1 8 80 ) that
g e nu i n e d e ifi c at io n b ega n w ith the se c ond P tol e m y is un te n a b le
for the sim pl e reaso n that it had a l ready b ee n in operatio n
for c e n turies I t was ( s ica t su p r a ) greatly el aborated in this
‘
reign F or the m eaning of Soter see M a h a fl y : E mp ir e of
3°
.
,
Maha fy
.
.
.
27
,
.
“
.
t h e P t o l e m ie s,
p
.
62
D3,
f
c
.
p
.
”
1 2 5.
,
R
u l e r C u l t in t h e
-
M
a
e
o
n
a c d ni
Gr e e k P e r io d
27
the ever living
O n th e s a m e stone Pt o
l e my s fa m ou s wi fe th e fi rst wo m an o f a nti quity
s o fa r a s I am aware to atta in such h onors i s
“
sp oke n o f a s the divine A r sin o é Ph il a d e lph o s
F o r th e s ake o f its b e aring up on the late r history
O f d e ifi c a t io n the method o f d e ifi c a t io n foll owe d in
the ca s e o f Ptole m y and A r sin o é S houl d b e ca re
fully note d
O n coin s Sh e wa s dei fi ed with he r h usb and
t h e two pi cture d together a s gods and d e signate d
l e my ,
.
,
’
,
,
,
,
”
.
06 61 d dek cpé t
.
.
She wa s m ad e o flicially o vw a io s wit h t h e a ccept
“
e d gre at go ds through o ut E gyp t
A fter death she wa s granted a K a vnpé po s
She wa s couple d on a b a si s o f equali t y with Ptah
a s in the exp ression ( from a demotic stele ) S e c
28
r e t a r y o f P tah and A r sin o é Ph il a d e lp h o s
V otive inscriptions and temples ( called A rsi
n aeia ) were de dicate d to her in m any pl a ces
She wa s m ade the tutel a r y goddes s o f the N ome
a dj acent to L ake M oeris I have dwelt at length
up on thi s instance chiefly for th e re as on that the
op e rati on o f th e ma chine r y o f d e ifi c at io n is s o
complete and typi cal at thi s e arly date A rsin o é
di e d in 2 7 0 B C Th e bestowm ent O f divine hon
ors including a p erm anent p rie stho o d wa s al
”
.
t
.
,
”
.
.
.
.
.
.
,
38
See Kra ll :
S tu d ie n,
11,
p
.
48
.
A sp e c t s
28
o
R o m a n E mp e r o r
f
-
W o rs h ip
re a dy a fi nishe d a rt le aving little ro o m or ne e d
fo r sub sequent elab o rati on
T h e dyna s ti c histo ry o f the Pto l emies o ffers
a numbe r o f fa ct s full o f inte re st and sugge stion
from the p o int o f V i e w o f this di s cussion :
Th e form ation almo st at once o f a divin e
dyna s t y e a ch Succe ssive memb er o f whi ch h as a
A n ins cription
bir t h r ig h t p art icip ati on in deity
29
o f Ptolemy I I I
re a ds thu s : The Gre at King
Ptolemy S on o f King Ptolemy and Que en A r sin o é
Brother Gods ; C hildren o f King P tolemy and
Queen Be renice S avi our Gods ; the des cende d o n
h is father s side fro m He ra cles s on o f Zeu s o n
hi s mothe r s side from Di onysu s s o n O f Zeus
etc
T h e as sumption immediately up on a cce ssion
to p owe r o f a throne n ame si gni fi cant o f dei t y
coronation and d e ifi cat io n thus b e coming c o in ci
dent A n inte resting and instru ctive si de light i s
thr o wn up on the p racti ce among the Ptolemie s
3
by this list o f throne name s
N ot the lea st sug
e
i
item
is
the
evident
fa
ct
th
at
the
implie
d
s
t
e
v
g
claim o f deity b e come s stronge r a s the list goe s
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
’
,
,
’
”
,
,
.
,
-
,
,
-
.
-
.
.
oec k in his note on C I G 2 6 2 0 ( g i v en
be l ow ) hol ds that these kin g s were not dei fi ed durin g their li fe
ti m es but m ore or less pro m ptly after de th I n this j ud g m ent
I c a n not c on c ur The eviden c e is al l in favor of the st te m ent
in the text
This 1 8 1: transliterated by F L G ifli t h is pub l ished by
Mahaffy : E g y p t u nd e t h e P t o l e ma i c D y n a sty pp 2 55 2 56
”
C
.
I
0
.
G
.
,
51 2 7
.
B
.
,
a
,
.
.
.
a
.
3°
1
.
r
i
r
,
.
,
.
R u l e r C u l t in t h e
-
M a c e d o nia n G r e e k
P e r io d
-
29
on The m ost frequently u se d and most sig n ifi
cant o f the fo rm al titles o f these rulers male and
female are Eb py ér ns Ew fip
I n this conne cti on attention should b e called to
32
the De cre e o f C anopu s
T hi s inscription o f
Ptolemy I I I which i s d ate d from the te m ple o f
the Bene fa ct o r go ds in C a nopus sp e aks o f Pt o l
emy s on o f Ptolemy and A r s in o é t en daeh aé
a nd Berenice his siste r and wi fe a s Bene fa cto r
gods
Th e de cree ( w h ich I merely summa riz e ) in
cre a ses p r e é x ist ing honors s o as to include the
enti re dyna sty unde r the thre e title s given ab ove
“
I t wa s al s o vote d to p erform eve rla sting hon
to Queen Be renice the de ce as e d daughte r
o rs
o f Ptolemy and his wi fe
T hi s p rinces s w a s
grante d te m ple s fe a sts h ym ns o ffe rings etc in
grea t p ro fusion
W e have als o to note the fre quent b estowal o f
sp eci al divine n ame s up on individual m embers o f
by
t h e dyna sty : e g Ptolemy V ( 2 0 5 1 8 1 B C
decre e wa s call ed de s
and
E x pw m s
h e and hi s wi fe C le op atra I were entitle d G
ém qbave ts and the latte r appe a rs on coin s a s I sis
.
,
e
,
r
,
,
.
,
,
i
e
,
,
,
”
.
.
”
,
.
,
,
,
.
.
.
.
-
,
.
u
o
.
a
eo ;
,
,
.
The ter m st a nd i n the p hrase G b d fi k p
fi rst ap
pl ied to P tol emy II and A rsino e i mp lies a doubl e kinship in
linea g e and al so in ru l er ship
S e M a h a fi y : E mp i e o f t h e P t o l e m ies
pp 2 2 6f and
B rugs c h : E g y p t a nd t h e P h a r a o h s p 1 0 6
'
81
e
e t
s
oi
,
32
,
e
.
r
,
,
.
.
.
.
3
A sp e c t s
0
o
Ptole my IX
Ro m a n
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
P
X
and
tole
m
y
I
I
I
)
(
0
1
e
a
ch
re
ceive
d
the
title
N
d
8
s
(
5
33 34
F rom the inscriptions it is cle a r
A wvo o s
th at existing organi zati ons o f p ri ests an d wo r
S h ip e r s were utiliz e d fo r the advancement o f t h e
ruler cu lt T hi s tendency i s evident als o a m ong
“5
the Ro m an s fi
T h e m a rriage o f the royal brother s and sisters
O f thi s line
one o f t h e m aj o r scandals o f all his
tory was b a s ed up on the a s sumption o f deity and
wa s intended to keep the bloo d of the royal gods
36
pure
W e fi n d here a m ani festat i on o f the tendency
s o strong among the Rom ans to link the reigning
dyn a s t y with the O lympian deities e ither by g e n e a
37
logical de s cent o r simply by co m m on for m ula s
The dra m atic fact emerge s from thi s histo ry
t h at the l ast membe r o f this proud dyn asty wa s
C ws a r io n Julius C ae s a r s s on by C le op atra ( 4 7
C I G
6
This in sc riptio n fro m t h isl and of Cyp rus
whi h is attributed by Boe k to P tol e my IX ( E p y é n II )
thou g h there is a bare possibility that it be l ongs to P to l e my III
14 6- 1 1 7
BC
,
-
e
’
u
,
-
-
.
‘
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
’
,
.
.
.
2
20
e
.
’
c
c
:
reads thus
‘
wa
s te s n tu
7
ve
r
s
is spoken of as
ap x t e p e oo vm
O n e K a l l ip o s
' ”
‘
'
6 W n ep i A co vva o v mi l 06 0 93 E é ep y é a r s r e xvcr cbv,
e tc
r
fis
’
.
.
For the onne tion of M A ntony with Dionysus see P lu
tar h A n tony
This referen e gives us a de fi nite line
4
of tenden y fro m the P tol e m ies to the Ro m ans
34
c
c
c
:
c
.
.
2
c
.
c
.
o p re Hirsc h p 8 3 5 n 9
Maspero : o p cit p 9
R e c ur to p 2 8 note 2 9 and c o m pare the fol l owin g in sc ip
tio‘n to the third P tol e my found in‘ a G reek te m pl e at Ra m
l
eh
'
35
C m
a
.
.
3°
.
.
37
.
,
.
.
1
,
.
.
.
r
,
,
H tu G e o fs afie h cpo is A l i
etc
.
x cu
A ir E vk
o
bi w t
r o ils
Bu mo vs ,
3
“
2
A sp e c t s
o
f
Ro m a n
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
Two
things a re cle a r from thi s F irst th at
s ome time between the formati on o f the original
Homeri c text and the p res ent one the b elie f in
the transition o f m ortals into the comp any an d
feli city o f the go ds ha s fou nd Op en exp ress ion
Second the conception o f the hero who is s o
to s ay a sup e rm an e as ily lend s itself to the ide a
o f ap othe o si s T h e fundamental fa ct is that m e n
do not ne ed to be m agni fie d ve ry gre atly to bring
them o ver the rathe r va gue line whi ch sep a rates
them from gods W e must agree with the j udg
41
ment o f D r Si h le r th at god s a nd men are essen
“
t ially the s ame
ap art fro m immortality a nd an
irrevocable title to happ iness
The s ame s chola r
42
p oints out th at the favo r o f gods extende d to
hero e s fo r the i r cha ra cte r and deed s is the begin
ning o f he ro wo rship T his latter cult a n e m
t ir e ly sp ontane ous and p opular movement wa s
very widely disseminated and combined in va rious
ways with the w or ship o f the go ds T hi s far
rea ching cult ca rrie s us alre a dy a long way toward
d e ifi c at io n b e cause histo rically it so o ften involve d
the j unct ion o f gods and m en in common lines o f
descent
V o l IV pp 4 9f A s lepius
k St t
f F rnell C l t f G
,
.
‘
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
”
.
-
.
,
,
.
,
.
c
:
a
u
re e
o
s
a e s,
c
who is neither g o d nor hero in Ho m er ( 11 ii 7 2 9
is So n
n d the D io sc u r o i who attai n
of A pol lo i n P ausani s ( ii
g odhood between the I li d and O dyssey cf 11 iii 2 3 6 ; 0 d
xi : 3 ; see W s n e : D e H e r o m a p u d G r a e c s C u l t P t 2
0 p c it p 6 8
p 74
c it
.
.
.
,
.
a
a s
r
41
.
,
.
,
.
.
.
.
,
,
a
a
00
.
,
u
.
.
o
.
,
u,
.
.
,
R u l e r C u lt in t h e
-
M aee d
o nia n-
G r e e k P e r io d
33
O ne le a ding motive for the e stablishment an d
sp re a d o f the hero cult wa s the cla im on the p a rt
o f tr ib es famili e s and le ading individu als to di
43
vine descent
M ore ove r it is cle a r that gods an d hero e s not
—
in fre quently change d pla ces the hero rising to
godhea d an d receiving worship and the god b e
44
ing dep resse d t o the hero l evel
A s a m atte r o f
fa ct any essenti al distinction b etwe en go ds an d
h e roes is done aw ay in th e fact alre ady state d
that at le a st H e ra cles and the D io scu r o i were
b oth he roe s and god s ; and that m any he ro e s a t
a very e arly date ha d temple s and all th e p a ra
45
e
n
li
h
r
a
a
o
f
worship
I
t
i
s
undoubtedly
true
p
th at the faint and wandering line o f dema rkation
b etween gods and m en on the one h and m a de
e asy t h e p roc es s o f d e ifi c at io n by removing o r
m ini m i z ing any shock whi ch m ight be felt in a p
plying divine categories to b eings othe rw is e o b
A ording to D ol l in g er su h c l ai m s w ere u rge d eve n o n
-
,
,
.
,
'
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
“
cc
c
eha l f of the founders of trade guilds and i n dustria l c or p o
r ations
H
S ec 67
J
“
b
-
.
.
M id
.
Se c
.
,
68
.
The g ods and heroes were so m eti m es ho n ored i n c o nj u nc
tion ; e g Herm es n d Herac l es C I G I n s Mar A e g 0 9
H er m es and Minyas C I G S e p t 3 2 1 8
S o m eti m es
pparently heroes
have
been
c onstru c ted
fro
m
'
di v ine epithets v i K p i fro m A pol lo S e e F arne ll : o p
c it
IV p 1 3 5 ; occ asional l y gods and heroes have been c o n
fused ibid p 5 F or c onne c tion be t w een hero worship and
an c estor worship see below p 4 6 note 6 7 F or the u n i v ersa l i t y
of hero worship see R a m s y : C i t i e s nd B is / p ics o f P / ryg ia
I p 3 8 4 ; for Heroes as Ki n g s ; H arrison : P o l e g o m e na t o S t u d y
iv
C f P l ut C l e o m xxxix
o f G r e e k R e l i g io n p
,
.
.
45
.
.
a
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
.
,
1
1,
.
,
,
.
a
,
z
,
,
.
.
.
,
.
ve o s,
a
,
.
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
1
1.
-
-
,
,
.
,
a
-
,
,
.
a
ro
r
z
r
.
,
.
x
.
.
.
.
,
.
,
A sp
34
vio u sly
e cts
o
h u m an
f
Ro m a n
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
O n the othe r hand it tende d to
,
.
p roduce skep ti cism a s to the sp eci fi c chara cte r o f
the gods such a s we fi n d in Euhemeru s and L ucre
tius
T w o items b e fore we take up Philip o f M a ce
don and A lexander the Great again deserve
sp e cial mention T h e first is t h e instance m en
46
whe re a Sp a rtan king ma de
t io n e d by Herod otus
the ch a rge that the p rince wh o wa s nominally hi s
son wa s a ctu ally the son o f the hero A st r ab ak o s
who h a d b ecome embodi ed and taken t h e form
o f the royal husb and This I take to b e a distinct
echo o f the Egyptian t h e ory o r dogma which a s
c r ib e s a divine genesis to the Pha ra ohs through
an a ctu al e m b odiment o f the sun god The sec
ond instance is that o f Titu s Quintus Flam i n i nus
o
r
z
o
1
se
c
M
a
cedonian
a
W
to
(
97
whom the C halcidi ans dedi cate d temple s and a l
ta r s m a de o fferings and s ang p ze a n s I n thes e
dedications and a ccla m ations Flamininus was
na m e d in comp any with Zeus A p ollo He ra cles
Roma and F i de s Rom ae He wa s called in what
“
i s cle arly an e cho o f the Egypti an habit : S avio r
Ti t u s ( Ew fip etc )
W e a re to note aga in the combina tion o f a
living dei fi e d Roman dignitary wit h the O lympi an
.
,
,
‘
.
,
,
.
-
.
-
,
.
,
.
,
,
”
,
.
,
‘
7
P l utarc h
:
F l a m ini nu s
,
c
.
,
,
.
r
,
XV I
.
R u l e r C u l t in t h e
-
M
a c e d o nic
m G r e e le P e r io d
35
-
deities He re also we have one o f t h e e a rliest
app e a rances o f the Roma cult the exp re ssi on o f
a tendency which continue d and incre a se d in late r
times to p ersonify and deify th e Rom an state I t
is not to b e fo rgotten o r unde r estimate d that
the s e were li fetim e honor s be stowe d up on men
w h o were not a ctu ally o f the blood royal but who
p osses se d and exe rcised in ce rta in lo cal j u r is d ic
ti ons d e f ac t o p owers o f royal t y The se C hal
c id ia n s more over were following an example a l
re a dy two centuri es old fo r the Sp artan gene ral
Lys ande r h a d re ceive d almost i denti cal hono rs
48
at the Helle sp ont in 4 0 5 B C
M o re di rectly
in line with the histori cal movement is the ca s e
49
o f\Ph ilip o f M a cedon
A cco rding to P aus ani a s
Philip built a temple a t O lymp i a in which image s
o f h is dynasty were kept Thi s wa s in 3 3 8 B C
A n d strikingly enough the king wa s mur d ere d at
th e very time when clothe d in the digni t y o f mem
b e r sh ip amon g the O lympi ans he wa s p res ented
to the p e ople a s a go d T his is imp ortant be cau se
it establishe s the fa ct that A lexande r ha d an here d
it a r y claim t o divini t y established and widely a c
knowledged within the lim its o f hi s father s do
m ains b e fore he allowe d himself to b e a cclaime d
a s the s on o f A mon Re in Egyp t
.
,
.
-
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
’
,
.
,
P lu tar h
c
-
1
ysander c
T
o —see S ih l er
:
L
.
,
,
18
.
.
A
.
,
p
.
1 24 .
.
A sp e c ts
36
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
W e h ave thus alre ady discove re d seve ral line s
o f communication through which from p ri m itive
time s to the Rom an era the ancient tra dition o f
dei fi ed men might e a sily h ave been h ande d down
.
4
G REE K A S I A TI C DY NA STI E S
-
.
The Se l e u md m a nd A t t il id as
G r ae c o A si a tic
dyna stie s o f A ntio ch and P e rgamos m ay b e dis
m isse d with a s entence The histo ry is quite p aral
lel with th at o f the Ptolemies S eleucu s I ( 3 1 2
2 8 1 B C ) receive d divine h onors a t l e ast b
2
1
8
y
51
BC
A ntiochu s I ( 2 8 1 2 6 1 B C ) w a s calle d
Z w fip and A ntio chu s I I ( 2 6 1 2 4 6 ) wa s calle d
0sé s
Dei ficati on in s eve ral in sta nces i f n ot
always wa s a cco m pli shed in the li fe time o f the
”
k ing
F or Ro m a n Em peror W orshi p i n A si a Mi n or see b e l ow p
50
-
,
,
.
.
r
‘
.
.
.
-
.
.
.
-
r
,
.
,
-
,
.
-
.
,
,
See Hirs c h p 8 3 4 n 4 for referen c es
I n c onne c tio n w ith A tta l us and E u m enes we have a group
of ins c riptions ( C I G Nos 3 0 6 7 3 0 70 ) whic h sho w that
who
c ertain m e m bers of the A sso c iation of a c tors of T c s
had c har g e of publi c ga m es in g enera l were spe c i fi c a l ly a p
p ointed priests of the rulin g dynasty and rec eived honors a s
su c h No 3 0 6 8 gives a good idea of su c h ins c riptions I t r e
fers to the presentation of a c rown in the theatre to o n e w ho
‘
'
has be c o m e d y w fié n mi i p é B h éw E iu
e tc
No 3 0 70 is sti ll m ore spec i fi c as to the divine status of the king
A ttalus P hi l adelphu s is a g o n othete and priest 0 0 E mé v
é pw
t
O thers of the sa m e genera l tenor m i g ht b e c ited
fro m l ater ti m es
.
.
.
,
.
-
.
.
.
.
,
o
,
,
.
.
.
vo
r
s
c
e
vs
ao t
s
z
t vo v
,
.
.
.
60
r a o v.
.
’
t
vo
C H A PTE R I I I
BE G
I NN I N G S
OF T H E R
U L ER C U L T
A
-
MO N G
THE
O MA NS
R
1
.
T H E U N IV E RSA L ITY OF
PA GA N I S M
D E I F I C A TIO N
IN
HE e arly development and w idesp re a d p rev
alence o f the g r e at ma n cu lt to de signate
it by a te rm su ffi ciently b ro a d to cover all the fa cts
a re not withou t immedi ate b e aring up on the ques
—
o
ti n now b e fore u s the b eginning o f this cu lt
a mong the Romans
I t i s not m erely t hat we a re able to tra ce a nu m
b er o f interla cing line s o f hi sto ri cal transmission
from age to age and from l and to land a s indi
c a t e d at the cl o s e o f the l ast s e ction— in this wa y
conne cting the Rom an custo m with the outside
world a n d with e arlie r ti m es T hese inte r con
n e ct io n s are imp ortant enough but not so imp or
tant a s a ce rtain general fact or p rinciple whi c h
w e m ay discover even where no direct conne ction
can b e detect ed T ha t principle is thi s : W h at
eve r m ay be the re a son fo r it a m atte r to b e dis
-
,
,
.
,
.
.
!
,
-
8
3
A sp e ct s
o
Ro ma n
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
cuss ed late r p olytheists exhibit everywhere a
sp ontaneous tendency to include gre a t and p owe r
ful human p e rsonalit ies among the obj ects o f the i r
worship T hi s conclusion is inevitable from the
facts I t is imp os sible to supp ose that this mo de
o f worship starte d from a s ingle centre and sp re a d
to the b o un dar ies o f the world I t has sp rung up
sp ontaneously eve rywhere on p aga n s oil be cause
it is u niv e r s a lly in d ig e n o u s t o t h a t s o il
,
.
.
.
,
.
2
D E I FI C ATIO N
.
AND
MYTH O L O GY
T his
conclus ion is o f the utmost imp o rtance not
me rely b ecause o f the light it throws up on the
or igin o f the rule r cu lt among the Roman s sig
n ifi c a nt a s it is in that re sp ect
but also becaus e
it really involves the whole science o f C omp arative
Mythol o g y
T h e fi rst tho rough going systematize r o f tradi
t io n al mythology a ccording to a de fi nite theo ry
rigo rously applie d wa s Euhemeru s o f M ess ana in
Si cil y ( ci r 3 OO B C ) T his daring innovato r held
that the gods were merely dei fi e d men and that the
mythological na rrative s we re transmuted hi s tory
Euheme rus h a s ha d comp aratively few follow
ers among the s cienti fi c mythologists o f mo dern
times Grote who explains mythol o g y by re fe r
“
ence to the unb ounded tenden cy o f the Ho m eri c
-
,
,
.
-
.
.
.
.
.
,
A sp e c t s
0
4
o
f
R o m a n E mp e r o r
-
W o r s h ip
everywhere d e ifi c at io n undoubte dly pl ays an im
p ort ant p a rt and must b e taken into consideration
in any a de qu ate the ory a s to their o rigin The
entire b ody o f data presente d in thi s discussion
m ay b e urged in supp ort o f thi s p a rt icula r con
tenti on but the following group o f item s other
wise s ome w hat miscellane ous and unrelated i s
p a rticularly p e rt inent T h e N u s air iy e h o f N ort h
ern Syria a sub division o f the Shiite s h ave dei fi e d
A l i the cousin and s on in l aw o f M ohammed an d
othe r h eretical M o slems h ave done the s ame with
55
M oham m e d himself
I t is a p articu larly inte r
esting fa ct that A l i i s i denti fi e d with one o r
anothe r o f the he avenly b odie s consti t uting a re c
o g n iz ab l e fusion o f naturi sm and d e ifi c at io n
I
am convince d that thi s h a s happ ened O ftene r th an
we have be en wont t o think A ccording to t h e
same authority the D ru ses d ei fy Hakim I bn A lla h
while the n ative s around Mt C a rm el dei fy
o f all p ers ons Elij ah the stern monotheisti c
5“
p rophet o f I sra el Elij ah is the go d Kh u d d r
Hopkin s s ays O f th e Jains o f I ndi a :
Thei r
only re al god s are thei r chi e fs or te achers whose
T he y
i dols a re wor shipe d in the temples
57
have g iven up Go d to worship m an
.
,
,
,
.
-
,
,
-
,
-
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
,
‘
.
.
”
.
pp
C
.
56
57
urtiss :
10 3 ,
i
i
P r m it
iv e
S e m i t ic Re l ig i o n T o d a y
-
(N Y ,
.
1 0 4.
Ib d ,
Re l g
.
i i
p
.
95
o ns o
.
f
In d
ia
( Boston
,
p
.
2 9 5,
n
.
2
.
.
Be g in ning s
o
on
o m a ns
h
e
C
R
e
R
r
u
m
A
t
u
l
l
t
f
g
41
-
I n Buddhism Gautama the A gnostic is dei fi ed
“
Buddh ism d e ifi e s the d e nie r
A s F a irb ai rn s ays :
,
,
,
.
o f the divine
A la rge p a rt o f the vast Bu d
d h ist myt hology grows out o f this prim ary d e ifi
cation which turne d Buddhism from a philosophy
59
int o a rel igion I n C h ina
the same fate ove r
took C onfucius whose negative attitude towa rd
the spiritual wo rld is well kn own
T h e comp a ratively mode rn sy stems o f Babism
a nd its mo re re cent sup erses sive form o f Bahais m
in P e rsi a involve d e ifi c at io n a s thei r central and
6
funda m ental principle
The signi fi cance o f the se incidents i s not only
t h at they a re undoubte d case s o f d e ifi c a t io n but
t h at the se d e ifi ca t io n s are a ccomp anie d o r fol
lowe d b y mythologie s more o r le s s extensive O f
whi ch the de i fi e d p e rs on and his dee d s fo rm the
sub stance T h e statement i s there fo re j usti fi e d
th at p aganism even where it consists o f decadent
m onotheism univers ally and sp ontaneousl y p ro
6 1
d uce s d e ifi c at io n
pp 2 43 7 4 f f Mo n ier W i l lia m s
P h i l Ch i t i
R l ig i
B dd h i m ( N Y
L e ture VIII
”
58
.
.
,
.
0
.
,
.
.
58
r s
.
s
u
an
o n,
e
2
,
.
c
.
c
,
-
.
e e the g reatest authority on the su bj ec t ho l ds that
C onfu c ius w s
c t u l ly worshiped in C hina — cf U nderwood
Re l ig i o ns o f E a s t e r n A s i a pp
F or qu li fic ation of this
59 f
view c ons u lt Knox : D e v e l o p m e n t o f Re l ig io n in J a p a n p 1 7 3 ;
pp 2 4 6 f
Martin : L o r e o f C a t h a y ( N Y
Sp e e r z M iss io n s a nd M o d e n H i s t r y V ol 1 pp r 1 9 f
es p 1 3 n 4 W ilson : B h is m a nd It s C l a ims ( N Y
p p“ 3 5f with refere nc es
F or d e ifi c a t i n a m on g A n c ie n t C e l ts c o n su l t Ma c c ull o c h
59
L gg
.
.
,
.
,
,
a
a
a
.
,
1
.
,
a
.
.
,
.
”
.
1,
.
a
.
.
.
o
a
.
,
r
z
.
.
o
,
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
A sp e c t s
42
3
o
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
R o ma n
-
D E I FI C ATIO N N A TIV E
.
RO MA N
TO T H E
GENI U S
W hen there fo re we come to the Romans the
p resumption is th at they als o will show the s ame
tendency t o deify men o f em inence and p ower
62
which is so generally s een els ewhere Hi rschfeld
calls th e worship O f the Roman Emp ero r and the
“
royal house :
E ine durchau s u n ROm is ch e au f
griechisch ori entalischen Boden gewa chsen e
Pflan z e die abe r gleichzeitig mit der neuen M on
a rchi e na ch dem W e sten iib e r t r ag e n dort au fi al
lend ra sch si ch a c clim a t is irt tie fe W iir z e ln g e
schlagen und eigenartige Bliit h e n getrieben h at
I n this j udgment I cannot concur
I t is o f
course s omewhat di ffi cult to say just exactly wh at
63
is and wh at is n ot strictly Rom an since Rom an
,
,
.
-
,
,
”
.
,
.
,
,
din
pp 1 6 f ; Rhys : H i bb e t
L e c ture VI
ondo n
Those who
L e c t u r es
wish to broaden the indu ctio n stil l further wi l l fi nd abundan c e
of m ateria l : E g D e L a S aussaye : S c i e nc e o f Re l ig i n C h
XIV ; Jevons : In t r t o H is t o ry o f Re l ig i o ns p p 2 7 5f ; W Ro b
Sm ith T h e Re l ig i o n o f t h e S e m i t e s pp 4 2 f ; F razer
e t so h
vo c
G o l d e n B o u g h P art I V o l ii C h XIV and index s u b ‘
There is a vast a m ount of data be rin g on the subj e c t of divine
kin g s in this c olossal work but m u c h of the m teri l needs
what Dr F razer says of the L atin
c areful c riti c al siftin g ; e g
kin g s is based upon p assa g es whi c h
both l te n d de
c id d ly se c ondary while the brid g e O f inferen c e by w hi c h he
c
and unsteady Cf
rea c hes antiquity see m s to m e
F owl er : R E R P p 2 0 ] BpreCarious
rter : E n cy Re l ig i o n nd
E th i
V ol I p 4 64 c o l 2
Re l ig i o n
,
o
f A n ci e nt
1886
(3d
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C e l ts ( E
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p 9 starts out with the year 4 6 B C the
l ast year of the pre Julian c a l e n dar as affordi n g a fi rm b asis
“
:
R F,
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.
1
“
.
,
”
,
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,
Be gi nning s
o
f
Ru le r C u l t A m o ng R o m a ns
th e
43
-
tra diti on and culture we re from the start d omi
and the b ack flo w fro m
n at e d by Greek influence
I t is also
A si a through Greece b egan s o e a rly
obvi ous t hat th e d e ifi c at io n o f Roman empe rors
b egan only when there we re emp e rors to dei fy I t
i s also p rob able though by no m e ans dem on
that the w o rship o f living emp ero rs a s
st r at e d
distingui she d from the d i vi or decea se d empe ro rs
dei fi e d b egan in the A siatic p rovinces
N evertheless I venture to d ispute the dictum
that the worship o f the rule r wa s a thoroughl y
u m Rom an growth
introduce d from the Hellen
iz e d O rient and merely domesticate d among the
“
Rom ans
I n t h e fi rst place it would b e di ffi cult
t o explain the rap id development and the ultim ate
m agnitude O f thi s syste m among the Roman s were
there not somet h ing in it inherently congen ial to
Rom an thought and temp e r
W e a re not t o for
get in this conne cti on what will b e brought out in
detail later th a t nowhere in all antiquity di d t h e
-
,
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,
,
,
f
,
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,
,
-
,
,
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,
,
,
for the study of Ro m an reli g ion whil e it was still Ro m an
By c o m m on c onsent the F sti O f the ori g inal c alendar p re
served thro u g h the su cc essive m odi fic tions whi c h have bee n
m ade in it a fford tr u stw orth y k nowled g e of the re l igio n of t h e
early Rom ans ( i bi d p
Fowl er in his g reat work on T h e Re l ig i o s Exp e r i e n c e o f
t h e Ro m n P e p l e g i v es s m l l pl a c e to E m peror W orship ( see
p p 4 3 7 on the g round that in its d e v e l o p e d f r m it belongs
n either to Rom e nor I taly Te c hni c l ly he is c orrec t b u t I
think he underesti m ates its i m portan c e within the p eri o d with
whi c h he de ls ; cf H einen p c it under J C esar and A u
gust u s
.
a
,
a
,
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,
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64
u
a
o
-
a
o
.
a
.
a
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,
o
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.
,
,
,
,
.
a
A sp e c t s
44
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
Ro m a n
-
rule r cult re ach su ch p ower o r att a in so complete
a n o rganiz ation inne r and outer a s among the
Rom ans A ll othe r studie s o f this cult are merely
introductory and auxili a ry to the sup re m e histo ri c
example o f organize d and systemati c d e ifi c at io n
a fforde d by the Roman system I n thi s s ense the
cult is cha ra ct e ristically Roman
I n the s econd place the re i s a su ffi ciency o f
p ositive evidence to sho w tha t the proces s o f de i
fy in g men and o f uniting go ds and men in common
li fe w a s a s ne a rly native a s anything Roman eve r
wa s I a ddu ce fi rst the T roj an cycle the pre s
e n t a t io n o f which
in one way o r another forms
the staple o f Rom an lite ratu re fr o m beginning to
end T h e tra diti onal founde r O f the Roman ra ce
was the s on o f A nchises and V enu s A phro dite
fEn e a s there fo re wa s h ims elf a de m i go d a
divine hu m an being who i s the reputed ancesto r
o f a gre a t Roman family the Iu l ii I t is a fact
the s igni fi cance o f which can hardly b e ove r esti
m ated that Juliu s C ms a r tra ce d his linea ge t o
65
the g o ds
My p oint her e i s that at the time
when the Roman tra diti on wa s amalga m ate d with
-
,
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.
se ction I n eed hard l y u r g e that the Herc ules
c y c le and the hero stories in genera l were p art and p ar c e l
f the Ro m a n l iterary tradition
Herc ules who was prob
ably the fi rst forei g n deity to arrive at Ro m e anted ted by
sever l c enturies the be g innin g s of Ro m an l iterature F or
the tr ns for m tion of [ E ne s nd others into g ods e t c see
O vid : M e t a m Bk XIV 11 5 2 7 7
65
Se e
n ext
.
-
o
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a
a
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a
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,
a
a
a
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1
-
,
1.
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,
Be ginning s
o
f
the
R u le r C u l t A m o ng R o m a ns
45
-
.
the e arly Greek not absolutely p ri m itive times s o
fa r a s the Romans a re concerned but still ve ry
e a rly t h e tendency which exp re sses its elf in d e ifi
cati on w a s alrea dy in a ctive op e ration T h e im
pulse to claim kin ship with the go ds to cro ss in
one dire ct ion or the othe r the line which sep a rates
g o ds and men was in the Roman blo od a s inhe rit
O r s o f the ancient Greek tr a dition
Bu t I think that we a re undoubte dly j usti fi e d in
going much further b a ck towa rd primitive time s
than this I n fa ct I am convince d that the im
p e ri al cult wa s ro ote d in the e arl ie st stratum o f
Ro m an religion and w a s foste re d by seve ral o f
the strongest native tendencie s o f t h e Ro m an
mind I shall try to j usti fy this a sserti o n A mong
t h e e a rliest b eings worshipe d by the Roman s
even in th e p erio d when thei r gods were dimly
de fined nu mina dei fi e d p owe rs functi ons o r a c
tions o f nature and li fe mostly u nname d and
having no m arke d fe ature s O f indivi duality we re
“
66
t h e Di M anes o r d ivi pa r e nt u m o f the L ibri
,
,
,
.
“
,
,
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,
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,
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”
,
hat t h e c u l t of the De ad invo l ved a c tua l d ifi c a t i n is
P liny expresses in a we ll
c a p ab l e of very c urious i l lustrations
known p ss g e ( H N VII 8 8 ) his s c orn ful dislike of the
Manes c ult and i n the c ourse of his re m arks m akes use of this
expression : sensu m in feris dando e t M nis c l n d d m q e
i
i
a
c
i
e
n
d
u
i
i
m
t
i
a
m
h
o
m
o
ss
d
e
s
t
I n a very di fferent
e
q
f
spirit but with the s m e underlying idea of what the p rac ti c e
involves C ic ero approac hes the subj e c t of a p roposed m em oria l
to his be l oved d u g hter Tu l li a He s ys to A tti c us ( ad A t
tic u m XII
F nu m ( a word si g nifyin g te m pl e de
sign ed for the worship of a god ) fi e r i vo l o n eque h o c m i h i
06
T
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o
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eu
u
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
f
A sp e c t s
46
O
-
the dei fi e d ancesto rs o f the family
the Genius p atri s familia s which in e arly times
h a s b een descr ibe d a s m asculini t y ra ise d to go d
he ad in the s ame sens e a s the deitie s o f the house
hold ; th e L a r c o m p it al is ( a fterward L ar famili
a ris ) o r Genius o f the commo n land o f the c o m
68
munity
He re within the cult itse lf co m ing down
from the e arli est times i s the entire ma chine ry o f
d e ifi c a t io n whi ch Op erate s in the ca s e o f the em
i
Every
regula
rly
consti
ute
d
fam
l
y
con
e
r
o
r
t
s
p
siste d o f divine and human m embe rs and the line
o f demarkati on b etwe en the group s wa s cro sse d at
de ath M o re than that the i de ali z ati on a s an
Obj ect o f worship o f the cre ative principle inhe rent
in th e p ate r famili a s i denti fi e d by the te rm
Po n t ifi cu m ,
67
,
,
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,
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,
-
erui potest S e p u l c i sim ilit u d in e m e ffu g e e non t a m propter
poe n am l egis st u d e o qua m u t q u a m m axi m e a d se q u a r
H e wishes so to p l a c e this ‘s n c tu ry n d so t buil d it th t
so l o n g as Ro m e end u res il l u d quasi c n s e c r a t u m re m anere
Ib i d
XII : 9 His whol e idea is that Tullia is a
living and g lori fi ed bein g as he pl ainly states in a fr g m e n t
of his l ost C n s l at i : Te o m niu m o p t im m d c t iss im m q e
a pp
b an t ib u s dis imm o t a l ib s ip sis i n c oru m c e t u l c a t am
ad p ini n e m o m niu m m t li m c o n s e c b o
( S e e F ow l er
R E R P p
A n idea f t h extent of the Manes c ult is
given by the nu mber of ins c riptions devoted to it see
p
33
S e e T e ffe l— H is t Ro m L it E n g t
se c 7 3
O n e of t hese
l aws reads thus : S p a r e nt e m puer v e b it ast ol le p l o r a s
sit puer divis p a e nt m sa c er esto W a ssn e r hol ds and O ff ers
c onvin c in g eviden c e for his t hesis that hero worshi p is a de
iv t iv e
f an c estor worship —see D e H e o m A p d G a e c o s
C l t u esp pp 4 2 4 3
The sa m e s c hol ar works out the c o n
j un“c tion of hero worship with that of the gods
S e e F owl er : R E R P
su b
cf
Marqu ardt : R m
Staats iii p 99 ; O vid : F asti v 4 5 ; P liny : H N II
r
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A sp e c t s
8
4
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
Ro m a n
-
the imp e r at o r e s d ivi betw e en the Genius o f
the p ate r famili a s and the worship e d Genius
o f the emp eror ; between the co mm unity L a re s
a nd wha t Bo iss ie u calls the L a re su p r ém e de la
72
is to o striking to b e me rely a ccidental
p atri e
I t is not to b e fo rgo t ten eithe r th at the b egi nnings
o f the imp eri al cult under A u g us t us a re sig nifi
c an t ly conne cte d with an a t tempte d revival o f t h e
ancient religion which brought into renewe d p rom
73
in e n ce the wo rship o f the M anes and Genii
I nto this reviva l the D ivi p a r e n t u m o f the Juli an
h ous e including the D ivus Iu liu s and the Geniu s
o f the living rep resentative O f that hous e fi t te d
only to o well I t requi re d but a slight a ddition
to the ancient ri tu al and no vi olation o f It S p ro
“
A s A u st s ays the elevation b oth o f
vi sions
Julius and A ugu stu s alike wa s due to the g l o rifi ca
“
ti on o f the Juli an house o f the p a st
Die Gotte s
,
-
”
.
-
-
.
f
.
,
.
.
This fa ct is strikin g ly exhibited in the ins c ription C I L
V o l VI 4 3 9 onw rds The fi rst g roup 4 3 9 4 55 is dedi c a
tions to the i m perial L ares The next g roup c l o sely asso c i ted
with the form er in pl c e and ti m e belon g s to A u g ustus as
Fi l ius Di v i I l ii The l atter c l ev erly dov e tail ed his f m ily
and him se l f into the rev ived worship of the an c ient g od s
F or the e l asti c ity of the c onc eption of the L ares see D u r u y
64
Duruy holds that the wor
H i s t o f Ro m e E n g t r IV p
ship of the D i s w s wholly Ro m n ibid S O lso J B
C arter : A n c e s t o r W o s h ip in E n c R l i g i n a n d E t h ics V o l
I pp 4 6 4 6 6 S e e A t ( u t s up a ) II
The W Ol Sh p of the L res e t c was very p ersistent The
C odex Theodosianus
forbids
any
one
any
Of
“
rank to worship even in se c ret : Ia e m ig n e m ero g e n ium
p enates
O
dore
‘
S e below p 7 8
72
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a
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-
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a
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“
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a
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73
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Be g in ning s
o
the
f
R u l e r C u l t A m o ng R o ma ns
49
-
he rrlichkeit der V orfahren u m st r alt e auch den
75
O the r a spe cts o f the devel
S ohn und Enkel
o pm e n t have ro ots in the rem ote p a st
A ust c ite s
a n inscripti on whi ch h e date s 2 3 8 B C which
sp e aks o f the Geniu s o f t h e Roman People and
als o a shield with an inscription whi ch on the fa ce
“
o f it i s ancient :
Geni o urbi s Roma e sive m a s
76
sive femin a
A ust holds that thi s cult centre d
in the Ge nius o f the Ro man p e ople wa s very little
“
late r als ve rwandte G Ot t e r de s H ause s
There i s anothe r l ine o f histo ri c conne ction b e
tween ancient and m ode rn Rome no t quite s o sig
n ifi c an t but yet intensely intere sting which we m a y
tra ce out
The go d Quirinus wa s wo rshipe d on the h ill
w h ich continued to b e a r his name from the e a rlie st
p e ri o d of the city state a s i s evidence d by the
name fo rm and by hi s app e a rance in the calenda r
o f Num a from whi ch even the e arli est Gre ek im
o
r
t
i
n
a
t
o
s
a
re
absent
The
exa
ct
connotati
on
o
f
p
Qui rinu s whethe r o ak dei ty o r wh at n ot i s u n c e r
”
ta in and o f minor imp ortance
W hat is germ ane
to m y purp o se h oweve r i s a rather striking an d
—
suggestive s eri e s o f fa cts the fi rst b eing the an
”
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”
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,
75
M on A n cy r
.
7°
0p
.
c it
ghgpc
77
,
p
t e r ist ic
a
a
.
s
Fowler
d e ifi c a t io n
.
1
.
,
2
37
.
,
9
.
1 5- 2 8
as
the sex of the deities w as
n po l ytheis m i n t h e ear ly
to
U nc e rt a m ty
R ma
of deve l o p ing
.
o
p 4 3 n 60 O v id g ives the story of the
of o u lus as Quiri n us i n M e t a m Bk XIV 7 7 2 82 8
:
0 p c it
R m
.
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,
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1
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.
-
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,
.
A sp e c t s
0
5
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s hip
Ro m a n
-
t iqu it y
o f the wo rship o f Quirinus a s a p art o f the
genuine Roman cu lt
T h e s econd fa ct is t hat in the cours e o f time
Qui rinu s b ecome s identi fi e d with M ars
T h is
blending o r p antheisti c i denti fi cati on is a s usu al
t h e re sult o f a cla sh o f cults one lo cal the othe r
an exotic in this case fro m a wide r fi eld in I taly
and the attempt to s ave the local cult from b eing
obscu red and overthrown I t faile d to wo rk fo r
“
a s F owle r says :
Quirinu s neve r b ecame like
M ars an imp ortant p rop erty o f the Roman p e o
ple but wa s sp ee dily ob scure d and only revive d
by t h e l e g e nd o f l a t e o rig in w h ic h id e n t ifie d h im
I t is this la st italicize d rema rk
w it h R o m u lu s
with which I am p arti cularl y conce rne d The
i denti fi cation o f Romulus with M ars Quirinus i s
not only interesting in itself but sugge sts anot h er
line op ening out o f the p rimitive p a st
A cco rding to Prelle r Romulus and Remu s were
“
th e L a re s o f the old town on the Palatine By
others Romulus is lo oke d up on a s an e p on ym
and t h e Romulu s cycle o f sto rie s a s a grou p o f
78
mt io l o g ica l myt hs
I t matters little which V i e w
one take s a s to the o rig in o f the Romulus sto ry
h e is undeni ably the Roman ra ce h ero pa r e x c e l
l e nc e
The identi fi cation o f Romulus with M a r s
.
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,
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7“
S ee
Dur u y on
,
H is t Ro me,
.
other han d
E ng tr i p
th e
,
.
.
,
.
m ak es Ro mulu s
14 1.
a
l e g e nd a r y h e r o
.
Be g inning s o f t h e Ru l e r C u l t A m o ng R o m a ns
1
5
-
is a striking instance o f the strong tendency am o ng
the Romans to historiciz e their myths T o quote
“
F owle r again :
T h e ra ce he ro and the ra ce go d
79
T h is tendency
have almost a mythi cal i dentity
which i s almo st strong enough to b e called a p re
va iling tra it app e a rs again and again a s a fo rm a
8
tive fa cto r in the d e ifi c a t io n p rocess
A n exam
ple o f thi s lies immediately at hand I n the ye a r
B
C
j
ust
a
fte
r
the
decis
ive
b
attle
o
f
Munda
in
45
Sp a in the Roman S enate ere ct ed a statue t o
Julius C aes a r in the temple o f M a rs Quirinus
“
81
Romulus in s cribe d D e o I nvicto
F ro m M ar s
to C aesa r through Romulus a cu ri ou s but quite
ch a ra cteri sti c blending o f the mythological and
t h e histo ri cal there is a single l o g ical movement
I a dduce further a s p articula rly suggestive evi
dence in t h e s ame line the ca se o f M M a riu s
G r a t id ia nu s ( ci r 8 5 8 4
a cousin o f t h e
82
elde r C icero and a p raeto r O f him S ene ca
“
s ay s :
M M a rio cui vic at im p opulus statua s
o
s
e
a
t
i
u
r
c
u
t
r
a
i
o
s
u
l
c
a
b
a
t
etc
He
re
c
n
u
e
i
v
p
pp
i s an enti rel y spontaneous a ct o f d e ifi c at io n a s
indicate d b y t h e b esto wm ent o f te chnically divine
.
-
-
”
,
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,
°
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,
,
-
”
,
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,
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-
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”
,
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,
,
"
p
R F,
.
.
8°
3 7,
.
n
p
.
3
.
3
below
This e v ent g v e rise to one of the bitterest of a ll the bitter
re m arks of C i c ero—see A d A t t ic m
and cf S ihler :
C of A
p 3 6 8 I t is to be noted that Deus Inv ic t u s is a
title both of Herc ules and Mithra Se e below p 22
D e Ir a III
8 1 cf C ic de O ratore I 3 9
81
Se e
,
-
11
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a
u
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,
.
“
.
.
8”
,
”
,
1
.
,
.
.
,
.
.
.
1
.
2
5
A sp
e cts
o
f
Ro ma n
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
hono rs o n the p a rt o f the p opula ce who p ro claim
and worship t he ir le a der ( in th is ca s e lite rally
an idol ) while h e is still alive I t was an entirely
n ative impulse j ust a s di stinct ively Roman a s any
thing els e t h e Roman p e ople eve r did N O e vi
dence o f A siati c influence is at hand and no sug
gesti on re aches u s that any outsi d e influence w as
n ecess ary A n y p ers on w h o touche d the p opul ar
imagination o r k indle d its em o ti ons wa s likely to
evoke that a dulatory impulse which so re a dil y
p a ssed among p olythei sts into the langu age an d
83
a ctions o f wo rship
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
.
"
.
This tenden cy m ay b e seen even in Lu c retius whose ve n era
tion for E pi c urus s l m ost reli g ion— e g Bk V 8 f ; Dic en
d u m est deus ill e fuit deus inc ly t e M e mm i q u i p rin c eps
V t a e ratio n e m invenit
e tc
83
1
a
“
a
.
,
.
,
.
,
1
,
,
”
,
.
,
C H A PTE R IV
THE R
I
U L ER C U L T
-
CZE SA R
.
AND
L
S
U
I
U
J
CZE SA R
D 1v1
A N D THE
H A V E alre a dy touc h e d up on the relation ship
o f Julius C ze sa r t o the development o f t h e
84
rule r cu lt
D r W iss o w a h olds
th at since
C ze s a r di d not a c t ua lly reign a s emp eror h e di d
not by right b elong in the circle o f the d ivi but
wa s b rought in by the p ersonal a ction and in fl uence
o f A ugustus T h i s is an a ca demi c j ud g m ent whi ch
I consider very ne arly an ab solute inversion o f
the fa cts O n the contr a ry it is quite evident that
C aes a r wa s not only the fi rst o f the d ivi a fte r
Romulu s who belonged to t h e distant an d legen d
a ry p a st but the actual founde r o f the new orde r
in such a way that the ent ire cult rests up on him
the fi rst well known unquesti on ably histo ri c p e r
son up on whom wa s conferred the publi c and o ffi
85
c ial title o f d iv us
I n supp o rt o f this conclusi on
I adduce fi rst the nu me r o u s inscriptions whic h
-
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
-
,
,
.
,
See
Se e
K
above
H
.
.
,
A
p
.
.
,
V ol IV
4 5,
.
,
p
.
71
.
for early use of d iv u s
53
.
A sp e c t s
54
o
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
R o ma n
-
re fer to A ugustus a s the son o f the dei fi ed Julius
T h e e arliest o f these which I am able to date with
certainty belong s to the ye a r I I B C and is dedi
87
c at e d to A u g u s t u s a s t h e s on o f Julius C msa r
I t is important in othe r resp ects inasmuch a s it
shows the growing dyna sti c consci ousness o f the
foll o we rs an d a d m ir e r s o f A ugustus and is given
he re enti re a s typi cal o f thes e countless de dicatory
inscriptions which are s o imp ortant fo r an under
88
standing O f the histo ry o f the ruler cult
M any
others o f the s ame teno r date d b oth be fore and
a fte r the death o f A ugustus m ight b e a dduced I n
othe r wor d s Julius C ae s a r w a s lo oke d up on a s
the fi rst and dete rminative memb e r o f the new
F rom hi m even A ugu stu s take s his title
d ivi
86
.
.
.
.
‘
“
-
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
2
THE
.
D I VI N E
A N C E STRY
CE
OF
SA R
re a son fo r this p rima cy o f C msa r in the
e stablishment o f t h e order o f the imp e r a t o r e s d ivi
Th e
X ( veri fi ed the index list is in orre t ) 4 4 7 9 5
8 5 93
3 82 7 4 6 3 7
5 6 9 6 9 3 6 9 4 6 9 7 7 4 58 8 3 5 ; t
A ust R R p 9 5 ; He m en Klio 9 V ol II p 6 7 ; C I L
I p 5 S I G
ba k to 7
558
3 54 ( this l ast m y g
These represent m any lo a l ities f I taly
C I L XII 4 3 3 3
The ins ription belon g s to Narbo in
8"
0
C
.
I
L
.
,
1.
,
:
,
.
.
0
.
.
1
.
.
.
.
.
.
,
,
0
,
:
.
,
c
,
1
,
al l ia Narbonensi s :
.
G
.
.
,
,
.
1
1 1,
.
Ad
88
Se e b
e l ow p
,
.
75
.
.
.
,
a
.
c
A u usti V ot u
Di i F i l ios A u gu sto
N
ius
.
,
,
0
.
0
1
o
O
m,
N u m in i
g
v
C a e s a r is
)
(
C
g l ib e r is g e n ti q u e ,
u min i E
s u p p l ic a n d u m
oni u i
1
,
n
c
87
.
c
c
.
c
,
,
.
.
.
1
,
6
5
A sp e c t s
o
R o m a n E mp e r o r
f
-
W o rs h ip
th at to a m an who could s ob erly make this cla im
the forms o r title s o f imp e ri al di stin ction coul d
a dd ve ry little
,
.
3
D IV I N E HO N O RS OF CE
LIF ETI M E
.
SA R
D U RI N G H IS
that many p e ople thoug h t
Suetonius a ffi rms
tha t du ring his li fetime C e s a r a ccepte d exce ssive
“
—
h onors
a m p lio r a eti am humano fa s tigi o d e ce r n i
“
s ibi p a ssus est
He sp eci fi es s edem au r e am in
curi a e t p ro tribunali t e n s am e t fe r cu lu m circensi
p omp a templa a ra s simulacra iu x t a de os pul
V in a r flam in e m lu p e r co s app e ll at io n e m mensi s
e suo nom ine ; a c nullos non honore s a d l ibid in e m
T his enu m eration o f hon o rs in
cep it e t de dit
92
e lude s an a ssigne d p ositi on fo r his sta t u e
among
93
the gods b oth in p rocession s and in t h e t emple s
94
M omm sen b a se s his statement
a s to C e s ar s
p e rsonal attitude to hi s own divini t y up on Sue
D I L XXVI
t in very l ar g e and
Cf C I L X
7
beautiful hara cters I t is addressed to M S l i
D e rion
by bene fi t f the g d C s r The ins ription is fro m Nol a
91
,
”
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
”
.
.
’
91
.
.
.
,
c
.
.
.
.
12
,
,
1,
cu
.
.
e
o
O
”
a
a v us :
cu
c
.
and see m s to belon g to the di ctatorship of C sar
S uetonius uses the word si m ul a c ru m whi c h c orres p onds
of c ourse to the G reek ay xu a st tue desi g n ed for worship
Dio
uses the word i ap
whi c h does not n e c essari ly
m e n a st tue intended for worship
A c c ordin g to S uetonius C s r h d a t e ns a or c hariot i n
whi c h a di v ine i m a g e w c rried in public pro c essions He
spe‘
w hic h is a litter for the sam e p urp ose
c i fi es also fe r c l s
p 7 55
S taats
e
.
9“
,
a
,
a
’
c v
a
a
,
tas
a
.
”
,
as
u u
.
e
a
a
a
,
,
.
.
,
9
,
.
.
Th e Ru le r C u l t
an
-
J u li
d
Ce
us
57
s ar
conclusion that C e s a r favo red h is
own d e ifi c at io n ha s b een quest ioned but it se ems
to me the evidence ind icates that he went rathe r
fa r ; A t any rate epigraphi c evidence fo r the dei
fi ca t io n o f C e sa r a t the tim e o f hi s pro consul
95
Hirschfeld main
s hi p in Bithyni a can b e cited
ta ins that the d e ifi c at io n o f proconsuls wa s a cus
P omp ey and A n
t o m a ry and a ccepte d p roce dure
96
tony we re s o honored a s well a s C e s a r
It i s
inte re st ing to note and m ay g o down on the credit
s ide o f C icero s care er that he wa s offe re d honors
like thes e and refuse d them p artly on the ground
that they rightly b elonge d to the gods and the
”
Roman p e ople
H e says :
O b ha e c b e n e fi c ia
quibu s illi o b st u p e s cu n t nullos honores mihi nisi
98
fana eamm a
v e r b o r u m d e ce rn i sino : sta t u a s
h
i
o
r
etc
o
b
e
p
t o niu s
The
.
,
,
-
.
.
.
‘
,
’
,
.
, T
,
,
”
.
,
phesia n i n s c ription ( C I G 2 9 57 ) of the year 4 8 4 7
B C spe ks of C s r in a w y that is stron g ly re m inis c ent of
‘
06
E g y p t and the P to l e m ies as :
6 Ap
i m p ?)
w iip
wb
7 wfip w w v B G
Of like
tenor are C I G 2 3 6 9 2 2 4 g 2 2 5 2 9 57 n d C I A
III 42 8 H irs c hfe l d ( o p cit p 8 3 6 n ote 9 ) re futes the c o n
tention of B oe c k who i s stran g ely relu c tant to believe that
a ny b ody c oul d
a c c ept div ine honors for him self in his ow n
life ti m e that these ins c riptions were not addressed to the liv
in g C sar
I n 2 9 B C C s r was honored as a hero unde r
the titl e of Men or S b zios an A n toli n dei t y t Nik ia
S e e P liny H N VIII
55
S e p a g e 3 4 for c ase of F l m ininus
A t t ic m
A
d
cf A d Quintu m Fr
“
C hariots for statues equival ent to t e n s a e
95
A 11 E
e
a
.
.
-
.
.
a
a
V
7
’
a ir
nt u
.
no
v
.
.
.
.
ee s
xc u
V
6
’
7 01 c
,
,
.
.
.
n
o
1
,
.
,
LO
1
a
a
r
.
a
,
.
.
.
,
1
,
,
-
,
e
.
.
e
.
a
,
96
"
.
.
,
,
1
a
a
a
,
a
,
a
.
e
u
a
.
.
.
3
.
,
a
.
A sp e c t s
8
5
4
R o ma n
f
o
CE
.
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
SA R A s
DIV U S
the de ath o f C e s a r he was p ro m ptl y
voted b oth divine and human hono rs by the Sen
99
ate A c cording to Suetonius he w a s dei fi ed not
me rely by the mouth o f th o se making a fo rm al de
“
cree sed in p ersua sione V olgi
T h e games in
celebrat ion o f his ap otheo s is were m arke d by
“
cele sti al omens
Stella crinita p e r septem con
t in u o s die s fu l s it
which wa s believe d to b e the
1 00
s oul o f C e s a r re ceive d into he aven
1 01
Di o s list
o f p osthumou s divine hono rs b e
stowed up on C e s a r which contains a rather p o r
t e n t o u s number o f items i s very interesting
O ut
o f the t o tal whi ch I h ave numbe re d from one to
eleven a few dese rve sp eci al mention His a cts
were made p e rp etually binding the pla ce an d day
o f h is a s s a ssina ti o n were b oth m ade a c curse d ; hi s
i m age w a s not to b e ca rrie d at the funerals o f his
relative s K aed w p 060 5 n vbs tbs k neé s but wa s to
b e ca rri e d together with a sp ecial im age o f V enus
at ho rse ra ce s ; no o ne taking re fuge in hi s s hrine
which wa s fo rm ally set ap art a s to a god could be
b ani shed o r stripp ed o f go od s 67r p o ft en o n e o r
U pon
,
.
”
-
.
.
,
.
’
,
,
.
,
.
,
’
e
ct
,
,
e
,
06 531!
7
&e
I, L
Se c
.
“1
56V erri Po ué tso v y evo uévwv
.
XXXVIII
For Julia n ga m es
.
1“
7
5 5f
.
Bk
.
f
XL VII
,
1 8,
.
f
c
19
.
.
C
.
I
.
L
,
I, P
2 93
;
f
i
°
Be u r lie r : C
ul te
,
Th e R
r
C u lt
ule
Ju liu s
a nd
C e s ar
59
’
I t is quite evi dent fr o m Di o s p resentation o f
ce remoni al and other O ffi ci al a cts w hich a re
typ i cal o f the whole scheme o f d e ifi c at io n on its
m echanical side th at the process wa s c a rrie d out
in stri ct a ccord with Roman custo m s and with the
delibe rate intenti on o f m aking every item count
T h e contention o f W iss o w a alre a dy allude d to
i s su ffi ciently disp ose d o f by the fa ct that C e sa r
wa s dei fi e d by the only autho rity cap abl e o f do ing
it that i s th e Roman S enate and in the re g ula r
and a ccept e d m o de I t is als o clea r that in the
de dication o f a temple ( 4 5 B C ) and t h e app oint
m ent o f a p rie stho o d to p erfo rm the rites b elong
—
ing to the new cult A ugu stu s followed but did
—
t
lea d th e S enate and the Roman p e ople in
no
th eir a cknowledgment o f the divinity o f the gre at
Gaiu s A ugu stus h o weve r was a devote d a d
h e rent o f the new cu lt
V e ll e iu s Pat e rcu lu s ( A D 3 0 flo r ) in a v e ry
“
1 02
Sa
c h a ra cteristi c p a ss age
s ai d o f A u gustu s :
c r a vit p a r e n t e m suum C a es a r non imp erio s e d r e
lig io n e non app e ll a vit e u m s e d fecit deum
Thi s
l a st clause should b e inte rprete d b y empha si s
“
he not me rely c a ll e d h im but m a d e him god
1 °3
V alerius M ax imu 3
ironi cally a cknowledge s
t h e goo d o ffi ce s o f C e s a r s as s a ssins in p ro cu ring
the
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
a
.
.
.
,
”
.
,
,
”
.
'
’
1 2 6.
2
I VI
.
w rote un der Tib eri u s
.
60
A sp e c t s
o
Ro m a n
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
hi s exaltation I n an a ddre ss to C e s a r in whi c h
he sp eaks o f the divine honors including alta rs
temples pri e sts and ritual which we re b estowe d
“
up on him he s ays fi nally : e ru p it d e in d e e o r um
h
o m in u m numero s u bt r a
i
i
qui
dum
te
m
a
r
c
r
d
a
u
p
he re v o lunt d e o r u m concilio a d ie ce r u n t
I n this
connection a p o et i c touch i s given to the C e sa re a n
1 04
cult by the fa ct wh ich Plutarch re cords
that
A ntony wa s ple a sed to b e app ointe d a priest o f
C e sar
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
”
,
.
,
,
.
.
5
.
J U L IA N
T HE
C U LT
Th e
extent a nd cha ra ct e r o f th e Julian cult
may b e seen from a few s ele cted inscripti ons A
1 05
ma rble inscrip ti on
b elonging to the p re A ugu s
tan age ( ci r 4 3 B C ) now in the museum o f the
V atican at Ro me re a ds :
.
-
.
.
.
,
D ivo Iu l io Iu ssu
P opuli Romani
Statu t um e st L ege
Ru fr e n a
n to ny
A
33
,
The words are
.
'
K a l o a p t x a p t gO p e vo s i ép e vs
w orth
re'c ording :
a n e ae ixfin r o v 7rp o r e p o v
A ur as
K a la a po s
.
66
Ci
ero ( 2 d P hil
points the fi n g er of s c orn at A ntony for
his del ay in p layin g the Ol e of Juli n p riest : E t tu in
C s a is m e m ori a d il ig n s ? tu il l u m a m as m ortuu m ? que m is
m j orem honore m c o n c t s er t quam u t haberet p ul v inar
sim ul a c ru m f sti g iu m fl m in m ? E s t erg o fl am en u t I o v i
A ntonius ? Quid i g i t ur
u t M rti
u t Quirino s ic di v o I l io M
c essas ?
I n the sa m e c on n ect io n C ic ero ex p resses his dis
e tc
like“ Of the w hol e p ro c eeding
c
.
a
r
ae
r
e
a
se
a
,
a
,
a
u u
a
.
I
.
L
.
,
IX
.
,
2 62 8
.
,
,
u
,
.
C
,
e
”
1
“
.
,
,
Th e R u l e r C u l t
A nothe r
Ju liu s
a nd
-
Ce
m ost suggestive inscripti on
61
s ar
co m e s
1 06
fE s e rn ia
from
Genio
D e ivi I uli
P arenti s P atri a e
Quem S enatus
1 07
Po pu lu s qu e
Rom anus
in
D e o ru m N u m e r u m
Re t t u l it
1 08
rather sta rtling inscription comes fro m A thens
1 09
which sp e ci fi cally calls C e s a r god
T h e extent o f t h e cult may b e inferre d fr om th e
fact that in a group o f three inscriptions recording
flam e n s o r s a ce rdote s o f C e s a r one i s fro m
11 0
one from
T e rv e n t u m o f Regi o 4 in Ro m e
1 11
Rei l
in N a rb o n e n s ian Gaul and one fro m
11 2
Ru s ic a d e
in N u m id ia
A
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
C
On
.
I
L
I
62 6
the the u se of
.
.
,
,
.
g en
i o in this i n s c ri p tion see b e l o w
,
P rti ul r a t tention shoul d be al led to this word I t
c
a
c
a
p age
s ig
that C sar be l ongs inherently to the c o m p any of the
C f V e l l e iu s P a t e c u l s
g ods to whi c h he is restored at death
post d d it m c e l p t m e t c orpus eius h m n is
h n o ib s nu m en divinis h n
t m
tc
( W ritten under
Tiberius ) The referen c e in p a l r e m e t c is, O f c ourse to
A u g ustus The word N u m n is used ex c tly as i n ordinary
referen c es to the g ods ) A nd see b elow p 00
n ifi e s
e
.
,
o
.
“
r
re
u
u
a
a re
o
o
,
r
.
o ra u
u
”
e
,
u
a
.
“
“
.
C
11"
C
111
C
m
C
.
.
.
.
I
I
I
I
.
.
.
.
A ,
L,
L,
L,
.
.
.
.
,
,
a
e
.
10°
.
,
.
,
.
1
’
‘
6 5 { ma I a i o v Io vMo v K a la a p o s 96 0 0
2 59 8
,
.
IX
XII
VIII
.
3 70
7 98 6
.
,
,
.
.
,
A sp e ct s
62
o
f
R o ma n
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
Taken all in all t h e imp e ri al cu lt is in full
s wing up on the de ath o f Juliu s C e sa r an d the
a ccessi on o f A ugu stus
,
.
'
6
THE
.
W O RS H IP
OF
RO MA
this p oint I am comp elled to go somewh at
a side for the purp o s e o f taking up a very imp or
tant unatta che d thre a d in this development I
re fe r to the Roma cult which is closely unite d with
th e ru le r cu lt and fo rm ed a so rt o f inte rm e d iate
link b e t ween the n e w p e rson alis m and the old
O lympi an syste m o f p ersoni fi e d nature p owe rs
T h e glori fi cati on o f Rome unde r the title o f the
113
godde s s Roma b egan a cco rding to Hir s chfeld
immediately a fte r the entrance o f the Roman s into
A si ati c affairs
A ccording to their own cla im thi s
cult w a s founded by the C ity o f S my rna whos e
“
inhabitants bo a ste d that when C a rthage yet sto o d
11 4
and mighty king s rule d in A si a
they h a d
e re cted the fi rst te m ple to Ro m a Hi rsch fel d
p oints out tha t Rome ha d thu s become the tutelary
g o ddess o f Smyrna
T hi s side development is espe ci all y i m p o rtant
b ecause it exhibits the ela stici t y o f the p olytheistic
cr eed w hich wa s continually exp anding to a dmit
At
,
.
-
-
,
,
-
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
”
,
.
.
-
0p
.
c it”
Ta c itus :
p
.
83 5
.
A n n a l e s,
C H A PTE R V
THE R
I
.
U L ER C U L T I N
I N
T H E RE G
-
L IF E TI M E W O RS H IP
-
OF A
OF T H E
U G U ST U S
E M P E RO RS
E a re now fa irly emb arke d up on the im
p eri al e ra whi ch I h ave divide d into two
secti ons ab out e qually b alance d in imp ortance ;
the era o f A ugustus and that o f the succe sso rs o f
The A ugustan age its elf stands out a s
A ugustus
the p eri o d during which the imperi al c u lt wa s
o rgani ze d established endowe d wit h inst ituti onal
m a chinery and gene rally put on a p ermanent and
self p e r p etu ating b as is
The questi on which o ccupi es fi rst plac e in all
criti cal di s cussions o f the emp e ro r c ult am ong the
Ro m an s i s this : W e re the emp erors wo rs hiped
by the Romans o f I taly during their li fe times o r
only a fter death ? Th at they rece ive d divine hon
o rs in the E a ste rn p rovinces while still alive is
abundantly proved
The othe r p oint whic h is o f the utmost imp or
t ance fo r an understanding o f the relati onship o f
the cult to the history o f Roman religi o n is still
,
,
,
.
,
,
-
.
-
.
,
,
64
Th e Ru l e r C u l t in
-
j
s ub
now
u d ic e
R e ig n
the
o
A ug us t us
f
65
W e m ay a s well take up the m atte r
.
.
T h i s h istori an
11 6
th at he found in the reco rds o f th e Senate
s ays
an entry showing that a certain C e r e alis A n ic iu s
m ove d the e re ct ion o f a temple N e r o ni D iv a on
the ground that N er o h a d a t t a In e d to mo re than
huma n p ower T hi s h o no r though unusu al w a s
re fuse d s olely because the a ct ion wa s thought to
b e ominous o f the emp ero r s de ath
s ays
“
Ta citus deum hono r p rincip i non ante h abe t ur
quam agere inter homine s d e s ie r it
T h e que stion
at once a ri se s whethe r this rul e a s T a citu s s tates
it w a s kept F o rm ally by the S enate p erhap s it
wa s but a ctu ally it wa s n ot T ake fo r exa mple
th e p e an sung to N ero h imself a t R o m e on the
o cca si on o f his triumph A D 6 8 H e w a s calle d
“
O lympi an V i cto r Pyt hi an V icto r A u g ustus Her
“
cules A p ollo etc He wa s als o a cclaime d : O ur
N ation al V i ct or the only one from the beginnin g
“
o f time and A u g u stu s A ugu st us Divine V oi ce
11 7
Blesse d a re the y that he a r the e I
T his r e p r e
s ents and expres ses the fl attery o f an excite d an d
servil e p opulace and the re a re n o t wanting indi
cati o n s t h at the enthusi a sm wa s o ffi cially an d a rti
fi cially sti m ulated but the point i s th at publi c a du
L et us b egin with Ta citus
.
,
.
’
,
,
,
”
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
”
,
,
.
,
”
,
,
”
,
,
A nna l e s,
Dio
,
1 5 : 7 4.
,
A sp
66
e cts
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
Ro ma n
-
lation s o constantly take s the form o f d e ifi c at io n
11 9
flatly a ffi rm s that A ugu stus wa s wo r
W iss o w a
both in t h e
s h ip e d a s god during his li fe time
E a s t and in t h e W est F rom that time on h e
h olds until D io cleti an t h e ru le wa s the d ivu s
rece ive d divi n e hono rs together with the Geniu s o f
the living emp e ror whi ch include d the a do ration
o f the imp eri al statue T his sta t ue cult w a s com
12
b in e d with the wo rship o f the L a res
A s a m a t ter o f fa ct the worship o f the Geniu s
or hyp ostatize d spi rit o r divine a lt e r e g o o f the
emp ero r wa s a ve ry frail b a rrie r indee d against
—
p e rs onal worship it could scarcely b e calle d m ore
than a convention— while the a doration o f the im
p eri al statue b e came a system o f do w n right idol
atry M oreove r the rules whatever the y m a y
h a ve b een were b roken abs olutely in the instance s
1 21
o f C ali gula and D omiti an
1 22
Hirsch feld holds
that A ugu stus in his life
time re ceive d divine hono rs throughout the em
p i re but that the cult wa s not s o systemati c o r well
.
-
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
0
.
,
,
,
-
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
Dio says
5) that T i id a t e s offered vi c ti m s before
'
'
—
h
i
A
the altar of Nero and addressed m as Do m inus
q
and al so s Mithra
0 p c it p 7 2
C I L VI 3 0 7
S er g ius M e g a l e n s is is spoken of as C l
tor L aru m e t Im g in u m A u g usti U nder date 56 A D ( Pynes
C linton ) we h a v e an e n try whi c h identi fi es the A u g ustal es qui
Neroni C C A ugu sto e t A g ipp in a e A u g
e t genio c o l o n ia e
l udos fe c u nt
S
below
pp
94 ff
m
1”
r
”
a
ea 1ro r
s
.
119
.
.
,
.
,
.
.
120
.
.
u
.
,
a
.
.
.
“
.
”
er
1”
r
.
.
ee
.
,
ap
.
c it
,
.
p
.
83 8
.
.
.
Th e R u l e r C u l t in
R e ig n
the
-
o
A u g us t us
f
67
organi ze d in the W est as shown by the s ca ttered
1 24
23
epigraphic remains
maintain s
D Ollin g e r
that until C aligula It wa s under s too d a t Rome that
t h e emp eror by a sp eci al de cre e o f the S enate and
the successor sh ould b e raise d to go d hood a s
d iv u s
T hi s p roces s w a s analogous to the cult o f
125
the M anes
T h e s ame a cute student p oints out
two strik i ng fa cts : ( a ) that divine honors were
p re sse d up on the empe ro rs rathe r than sought by
1 26
them
and ( b ) that the d ivu s be came a new
go d a dde d to the p anthe o n where a s the living
,
1
.
.
.
,
,
,
Heinen ( p 7 5 see bib lio g r phy ) g ives the fo l lowing l ist
of insc riptions as indi c atin g the pr ests alt rs and te m ples of
the l v ng A u g ustus n I t ly :
V 8 3 3 4 4 44 2 IX 556 ;
123
1
.
a
,
a
i
X
1
1
I
“
1 22
,
a
1
,
8 3 7,
XIV
1,
,
630 5 ,
1°
3
2
XI
.
1
,
,
4
,
these
identi fi c tions of d ate 3 8 2
see prob bl e but u n
6 see m s O b v iously in c orre t
belon g s to the a g e of
c ert in ;
Nero but spe ks of an A u g ust n priesthood whi c h by in feren c e
H c arries b a c k to A u g ustus ; 1 9 dep ends u p on a readin g q u es
t io n e d by Mo mm sen ; the re m ainin g referen c es are b eyond ques
tion Throwin g away t hose whic h are doubtfu l we have te n
c onte m poraneous ins c riptions fro m I taly
“
9
3
3 303 ;
a
a
1,
,
,
1
,
1
a
"
18
Of
3 53
73
1 3, 17
m
c ; 11
,
a
a
.
.
p
H J
.
615
M nes— see P W s b v o c n d bo v e pp 4 5 4 7 Dil l
pp 6 5f ) asserts th t the b e
( Ro m n S o c iety e t c N Y
9
l ief in the deity of the em perors was long a fl u c tu tin g n d
hesitatin g c reed The e v iden c e whi c h he O ff ers for this hesi
t n ey c on c erns the attitude of the e m perors toward their own
O n the side of the peopl e there
d ifi c a t i n ( see below pp g4 ti )
was no hesitation at a ll or if there was this attitude w as co n
fi ned to a very few who g ave no si g n of their se c ret feeling
Dil l is at l e st v erb lly c orre c t in s yin g th t Do m iti n w s
the fi rst e mp eror who c l a i m e d the doubl e titl e Do m inus e t
D e s l ( cf p
Nero and Do m itian
H J p 6 3 S e e T a c A nn l e s
as we ll as C ali g u l a m ust be exc e p te d
.
125
a
.
.
a
.
,
u
,
.
.
,
.
.
,
1
a
a
1 1,
.
,
a
1
.
.
,
“
a
a
”
.
a
e
o
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
a
a
a
a
a
“
u
’
.
.
12°
.
.
,
.
1
.
.
a
,
.
a
A sp e cts
68
o
R m a n E mp e r o r
f
o
-
W o rs h ip
—
emp ero r wa s lo oke d up on a s the inca rn ation
m ore strictly
or
the re app ea rance o f some well
127
known deity a s Dionysu s A res Z eus etc
L o oking at the whole body o f evidence it se em s
I t is
c le a r tha t the fa cts are n o t ho m ogeneous
evidently vain to look fo r consi s t ency in a p roce s s
whi ch h as s o m any cross currents o f e m oti on and
1 28
s elf interest
The sp ontane ous and p opul a r c h a ra ct e r o f the
e m p ero r wo rship and s omething o f it s p syc h ol
o g y I think c an b e s een in an instance given by
1 29
Suetonius
Sa ilors and p assengers o f an A lex
andri an ship in t h e b ay o f Puteoli when A ugustu s
“
a rrived there candidati c o r o n at iqu e e t tura lib an
tes fausta o m in a e t eximia s laudes c o n g e s s e r an t
I n t hei r a ddre s s to the emp ero r they s ai d th at
“
p er illu m s e vivere p e r illu m naviga re libertate
atque fo rt u n is p er illu m frui
How e asil y the
l anguage o f fl atte ry p a ss es into that o f a ctual
wo rship an d how re adily the preeminence o f the
emp ero r m e rge s int o that o f th e deity a s a moun
t ain top melts into the blue o f t h e sky !
“
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
-
-
.
-
,
,
.
,
.
,
”
.
,
,
,
”
.
-
c it
0p
p
616
A s an i n teresting side l i g ht
up o n
this
the gods the in c ident
-
te n den cy to l ook for the e mbodim e n t Of
of mA c ts
shou l d be n oted
A s ex m p l es of in c onsisten cy the use of d iv u s in c on n e c
tion w ith Titus in the O ath form ul a ( see below p
and the
c o m bination of G enius a n d d i v u s in the i n sc ri p tio n c ited o n
p 6 n 10 7
.
.
,
.
.
,
.
a
,
,
.
1,
129
.
A ug
.
.
98
.
.
Th e Ru l e r C u l t in
2
W O RS H IP
THE
.
G
R e ig n
the
-
o
f
A U G U ST U S
OF
69
A u g us t u s
A N D THE
AU
U STA N C U L T
The worship o f A ugustu s ( B C 3 1 A D I 4 )
app a rently b ega n at P ergamos whe re the e m
R
cult
wa
s
united
with
the
wo
rshi
o
f
oma
e
r
o
r
p
p
a n d gra fted immedi ately int o the alre a dy e stab
T h e fou ndati on o f
l ish e d cult o f the A t t al id e
the whole system a s a fterward develop e d w a s thus
13 0
la i d in the ye a r 2 9 B C
A ccording to M o m m
13 1
s en
when A u gustus p e rmitte d divine honors to
b e O ffered him by the D iets o f A si a and Bithyni a
there w a s blende d fo r the fi rst tim e the celebra
tion o f th e festival fo r the reigning emp e ro r and
The m a chine ry
t h e imp e ri al system in gene ral
o f the cult wa s very complete and elab orate fro m
the start Th e whole system o f wo rship wa s im
e
i
i
h
r
a
l
z
e
j
ust
as
it
stood
T
Senate
establishe
d
e
d
p
13 2
the A u gu st al ia o r A ugu stan celeb rati ons
T his
instit uti on sp re a d through the empi re wit h gre at
13 3
rap idity
-
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
”
.
.
.
.
.
is to b e re m e mb ered that the tit l e A u gustus w hi c h
had p reviously been c on fi ned to the g ods w s bestowe d up o n
O ctavia n two years before—B C 2 7 M n A cy r 1 8 2 5
ROm isc h e G sc h
B nd V Kap VIII p 3 8
m
M n m e n t u m A ncy a n u m
under date of Oct 1 2 7 3 5
1a°°
“
It
,
a
,
.
1 i’l
e
U mC
.
says
o
.
,
”
a
.
u
18
r
B C
.
.
d ecr e ve r e
.
,
.
,
.
4
.
1
o
.
,
n
.
1
.
5,
1.
.
.
.
.
,
of the year
a p ud F oru m A u g usti
T a c it u s : A nn
“
:
E ffi g i e m
”
,
.
,
,
The historia n
p u l i a p ec unia p atres
23
BC
b c
.
.
A sp e c t s
0
7
o
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
Ro m a n
f
“
I n furthe rance
-
f
the scheme A ugu stales
we re app ointe d a fte r the model o f the M e r cu
r ial e s
So d al e s and cu lto re s who a pp arentl y
we re d rawn from civil li fe to furthe r the cult
were appo inted in va r iou s local iti es
13 5
T h e p rovinci al high p riests
o f A ugu s t u s be
cam e the ep onym s fo r the ye a r and the chie f func
t io n ar ie s o f thei r p rovinces
T hese men b o re th e
expenses o f the annu al festival s and since many
honors and p rivilege s were conne cte d with t h e
p ositi on there wa s ke e n rivalry among di stin
i
e
h
and
amb
itious
men
for
it
hey
we
re
s
d
T
u
g
name d according to the p rovince A si a rch Bit h yn i
13 6
a rch
etc T h e dignity o f these vari ou s p erm a
13 7
nent and temp ora ry p riestly functi o na ries
in
conne cti on with the cult o f A ugus t u s and indi
o
13 4
,
-
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
of A u g ust l es C I L X 97 7 994 0 2 6
A g
0 34
A s early as A D 3 8 4
t li
is found at
0 66
879
Re v e A c h é l D c
A v ic m in B ritain S
The fi rst Hi g h p riest of A u g ustus was said to have b ee n
appointed to a te m pl e on the I sl nd of S al a m is bui l t by A u
III 7 2 8 W e fi nd ins c riptions for
g ustus hi m self see C I A
C sarea or I m peria l te m pl es fro m A u g ustus to A l exander
Sev erus C I L IX 1 556 O Hen 9 6 2 50 8 2 50 9
The Munic ip l priests a pp ear o n the
C I G
3 487
e tc
c oins of thirteen Dori c towns— see M io n n t : D e s cr i p t i o n
iii 6
Mo mm sen : S t a t sr e ch t
C I L XIV p 3 6 7 c o l 2
13 4
1
For
m ention
ar
.
,
.
.
u
13 5
.
ee
.
u
.
.
an
1
-
1
,
a
r
o
,
,
u
us a
e
,
.
1
,
1
,
,
,
s
.
-
a
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
e
.
,
13 °
.
.
.
.
.
,
,
,
r
.
,
,
.
a
.
,
1,
-
.
e
1
,
3
11 ,
1.
.
se c
.
.
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
a
.
,
,
2 58 f
There see m s to be no ab solutely fi xed n om en c l ature for the
priests of A u g ustus I have c om pared a l ar g e n u mber of in
sc ip t i n s and have bee n unable to for m ul te any distin c tions
in the use of fl am e n sac erdos or pontifex The provinc ia l
hi g h priest stood by hi m self The titles A u g ustales c ultores
e tc
see m to have bee n used withou t a ny shar p d istinc tio n
13 7
.
.
.
r
a
o
.
,
,
-
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
A sp e c t s
2
7
o
Ro m a n E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
f
-
Fu l vianu s ,
who is Ponti fex Pe rpetuus D omus
A u g u st ae
and to Lucreti a who is F laminica p er
145
p etu a etc F rom S cardona
we have a dedica
tion
S acerdoti a d A ram A ugu sti
”
,
,
,
.
‘
,
F rom P r e ne ste com es a fragm ent whi ch spe aks o f
“
CI1 Po m p e iu s Rusti cu s a s F lamen C a e a ris A u g us
.
ti
A t N y sa p resumably b elonging to the temple
14 6
o f Roma and A ugustu s in that pla ce
there
is an inscription I p écos Pcbuns au o xp d po s E fi a a o fi
which e stablishes the fact th at the ye a r wa s name d
from the p ri est o f Roma and A ugustu s A n im
147
from A u ct a r iu m in G alli a
p ortant inscription
N a rb o n e n s is furnishe s the re gulations governing
the fe a sts o f A ugustus A nother typ e o f in s c r ip
tion m o st signi fi cant a s indicating th e gene ral
trend p asse s from the comb inatio n o f A ugustus
with othe r gods to the menti on o f A ugustu s
1 48
alone
T h e tendency o f the i m p e ri al cult to
sup ers e d e the O lympi an and to throw the O lde r
”
,
.
,
e
ro
r
e
r
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
III 8
k— C I G 2 943
XII 6 3 8
X 8 8 5 8 9 a 8 8 5 8 8 7 Mer c ury a n d Maia ; b 8 8 8
A u g u st s Mer u ry and Maia ; 8 9 A ugu stus alone
C f al so C I L
XIV 3 6 7 9 where also we fi nd a m
b ination of the g ods w ith A u g ustus the n A u g ustus
The
ond o l u m n of this ins ription o m bi n es A u g ustus w ith others
S
also C I L VIII 6 3 3 9 fro m Nu m idia whi h unites A g
w ith Ju p iter O pti m us Maxi mu s
1“
.
1 4°
1“
.
“8
I
oe
I
I
C
L,
So B c
C
L,
C
L,
.
.
u
.
.
.
.
2
,
n
.
,
10
.
.
0
-
,
.
.
.
,
.
0
-
.
.
c
c
,
.
.
.
.
.
0,
co
.
,
c
ee
.
.
.
,
,
s ec
c
c
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
c
u
.
.
Th e R u l e r C u l t in
R e ig n
the
-
o
f
A u g us t u s
73
deities into the sha dow b egan in the re ign of A u
ustus
g
I h ave m a de n o attempt to fix with exa ct
ne s s the dates o f all thes e A ugu stan in s criptions
to determine in e a ch instance whethe r o r not it
p recedes o r follows his dece a se and fo rm al d e ifi ca
tion I t i s o f no V ital imp ortance a s in s c r 1pt 1o n s
o f all the le ading typ e s b elong in b oth p eri ods
Hi s d e ath m a de little di ffe rence a s his d e ifi ca t io n
was alre a dy p ra cti cally accomplishe d and the p ost
149
m o rtem celeb ration w a s merely fo rmal
Suetonius na ively discloses the general attitu d e
in thi s matte r when he a s crib e s to A ugustus him
s elf the curi ous n otion that his punctili o with r e
g ard to p aying hi s gambling debts would re dound
“
to hi s ultimate glori fi cation : S ed ho c m alo ; b e
n ig n it as eni m me a m e a d c o e l e s t e m glori am effe
15
ret
.
.
,
.
,
.
”
°
.
Dio
gives an a cc o un t of the ho n ors dec reed to
A u gustus i n the year 2 9 B C
A m on g‘ other things ‘it was
de c re ed a
O £5 t v
t 0 2 é yp p fl
{ fu
v w
fi é
fi
The honors in c l uded a
I M
é
e tc
u i
al l pro c essions senators in purple bordered to g as
c rown in
a p erp etua l ly c onsec rated day and p arti c ul rly the fol lo win g
.
,
ov
ov
s
ri o us
re
rr a vr o
’
n a vo
ao
V
az
rr
a
’
.
eo
ro s
at,
’
60 s
s
cu
eo
a t xc u
.
(
.
-
,
,
i
ép é a s
r
é ( i vr bv
‘
xc u
'
m ép
-
I
a
,
r
bv d p i fiuov do o vs (i v d ét
we k no y
'
,
o up e l a ea c
ite m s in this a c c ount are p artic ul ar l y
worthy of note F irst the na m in g of the Julian f m ily ; and
sec ond the en l arg ed l ist of i m perial priests Dio g oes on to say
that the c usto m then established wa s kept up u n til i n his day
h
m
nu
er
of
p
riests
was
bound
l
ess
e
b
t
Divus A u g 7 1 cf ib i d 97
.
.
a
,
.
,
.
1”
.
,
.
.
,
.
A sp e c t s
74
o
f
R o m a n E mp e r o r
-
W o rs h ip
that a limit w a s set t o
Suetonius also s ay s
t h e p osthu m ou s honor s p aid to A ugustu s but it is
not e a s y to se e where the line wa s drawn ina s
much a s the usu al rites were conducte d with great
‘
elab o ration ne c d e fu it vir pra eto rius qui s e e ffi
giem cremati e u nt e m in ca elu m V id iss e j u r a r e t
151
,
,
”
.
D
.
A
.
,
1 00 .
C HA PTE R VI
T HE R
U L ER C U L T U ND E R T H E S U C C E S SO RS
A U G U ST U S
OF
-
I
T H E C U LT
.
A U G U ST I
OF T H E
N reviewing the hi sto ry O f the emp e ro r cult a s
—
a whole from the time o f A ugustu s o n u n
—
d er hi s succe ssors the mo st striking single fe a
tu re i s the develop m ent o f the cult o f the A u g u sti
By t h i s p ro cess which grew out o f the general
O rgani sm o f imperi al d e ifi cat io n a s fe cundate d b y
the d yna sti c i de a th e emp e rors togethe r wit h
m emb ers o f the royal family and even o f the im
p e ri al entou ra ge wer e formed into a Rom an
O lym pu s— that i s an o rgani z ed hi era rchy o f a c
” 2
c e pt e d deitie s
C e rtain stage s in thi s uni qu e
development a re cle a rly dis ce rnible Th e fi rst step
i s disclose d in an inscripti on alre a dy re ferre d to
153
m o re th an once
in whi ch with A u g u stu s h is
I n a oin of S ardis ( see E kh l D N A VI p
-
,
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
1”
,
c
c
e
l led l G l E c k h e l c austi c a ll y
V o c an t r ( v
ist u d fane pro G a e c o r u m g enio qui
O ly m p u m c olonis imp l e v e e
He al so S tron g ly a ffi rm s that
these c oins in honor of the do p ted sons of Tiberius were m ade
w hen
the
youn
g prin c es were stil l a l ive
“
Drusus
says :
and
G
erm ani c us
u
ca
are
.
vea
eo
”
.
a
C
.
I
.
XII
.
,
43 3 3
.
.
,
,
.
.
r
.
r
1
.
,
A sp e c t s
6
7
o
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
R o ma n
f
-
wi fe h is children and his ra ce are combine d
O ther inscription s re fer to L ivia the wi fe o f A u
'
l 54
a nd
gustus unde r the divine title e ta
15 5
Juli a
O the r women o f the i m p eri al hous e were also
156
h o nored a s goddes ses
F a r mo re i m p ortant however than thi s
tend ency to include wives relative s and favorite s
within t h e divine nimbu s o f the emp ero r wa s the
s elf p erp etuating cha ra cte r o f the organiz ation
which h a d b een built up fo r the purp o se o f ad
1 57
v an c in g the inte rests o f the cu lt
C I A III 4 6
C I L
XII 3 6 3 4 49 Fl m i i
I li
A g t
A g t
C I L II
3 8 I li
M tri Ti C
i A g P rin
I n these ins riptions the D el ia n
Cf C I A I I I 3 5 3 6
P riest of A pol lo of C sar A u g ustus Hi g h P riest of A ntonia
A u g usta the priestess of the g oddess A ntoni the p riestess of
V esta Livia d Julia are m entioned I t has b ee n hinted that
t
p
L ivia herself was a l led V esta— see note
Julia the wife of A g ripp is l led A phrodite G t i
at E resos in A sia Minor ( 3
Tiberius and his m other L i ia were worshiped as di ine
m other d son at T ib i p li in P hryg ia ( see R am say H i t
0
} Aw M
p
A
rip
p
ina
was
a
ll
ed
G g A i Mi
g
'
K p ¢ p
at L esbos ; P opp aea S bina w honored at A k
m onia as the g oddess of I mperia l F erti l i ty ( E fi n E fi l )
S
C I G 3 8 58
I n the Narbo ins ri p tion of B C referred to e l sew her e
o urs the expression
Qui se m i i eius im
( see p
perpetuu m l d b l ig v
t
I t is no exa g g eration to say
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
-
.
” 4
.
.
.
,
0
,
.
1 55
.
.
.
.
.
.
20
,
,
1
,
,
ae
u
,
2
,
.
.
.
.
a e sa r s
.
1
,
,
1
,
u
ae
u s ae.
u
.
.
c
.
e
,
u
u s ae
u
a
n cae
a
.
,
a,
,
an
,
.
a
c
2
-
ra
.
e ne e r a
ca
a,
,
su
1
v
an
eo
a
er o
n o r,
s a
.
1ro
o
v
:
s
c
.
a
os
o
.
.
.
’
.
.
s
as
”
ee
a
s
e
ao r
’
tz o a a
.
.
,
157
c
11
:
cc
.
co e n
.
o
O
a
e r un
“
.
,
nu
n
”
that the syste m w as intended to b e p er m anent and as hu m an
institutions go w as perm anent— it l asted n ear l y as l ong as the
E m pire
The s c o p e and e ff e c tiveness of the p ost A u g usta n org a n iz a
tion m ay be seen fro m the fo l lowin g fa c ts in A sia Minor
R m say ( C it i e s a nd B i s h o p r ics o f P h r y g ia ) shows that the
.
,
,
.
-
.
a
Ru le r C u l t U nd e r t h e S u cc e s s o r s
-
o
s
u
u
us
A
t
g
f
77
F o r example in t h e ti m e o f C la udiu s ( 4 1 54
-
,
i
a
d
a
l
e
A
gain
there
a
re
A
u
stale
s
Cl
u
s
u
)
g
the S e vir i whi c h we re originally t h e six highest
p riests o f A ugustus were p e rp e t uate d through suc
159
thu s : Se vir i T ibe r ian i
c e ss ive reigns
C l au d i
16
16 2
16 1
ale s
N e r o n ie n i
Fl avial e s
I n the la st titl e
the dynastic tendency i s in full blo om I t wa s
D o m iti an w h o establishe d a temple to the F lavian
163
family
and it is to this era that the fo rm o f
o ath t o b e taken by a pr e tor le ft in cha rge during
the ab sence o f a d u u m vir which includes the em
r
o
r
among
the
gods
b
elongs
The
o
ath
runs
e
s
p
164 “
t h us
p e r Io ve m e t di vo m A u gu st u m e t d ivo m
A D
.
158
,
.
,
,
,
"
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
p rovi n i a l a n d mun i i p a l orga n izatio n w as p ra ti a ll y m
There were foundations of the i mp eri l ult ertainly
pl
i n m a n y p ro b a b l y i n al l the ities of A i M i
W ho l e
p rovin es united in establishin g foundations and these K é
he l d festiva l s in the p rin ip a l ities A m on g the ities m entioned
in this onne tion are those to who m the E pist l es of the A p
w ere w ritte n ( p it p
U nder C ara al l a a n d C o mm odus
ities o mp eted for the tit l e
w hi h w as b estow ed
u po n those w hi h bui l t a templ e dedi ated so l e l y to a n m
p e or The i mp eria l u l t adopted and adapted the existe n t
r elig ious m inistra n ts su h as h y m d i h l g i
in su h
a way as p ra ti a lly to on fi s ate the existin g te m p l e f d
tio n s A dd to that the a o m panyin g assu m ption of the fu n
tions and di g n ities of the established deities d the taking over
pro ess see m s quite o m pl ete The festi l of Zeus at L aodi
b e a m e the feast of Zeus a n d the E m perors before A D
5
f)
( ib i d pp
c
et e
c
c
,
s a
c
,
c
.
o
w
c
.
oc .
o
c
.
.
c
.
,
c
c
c
c
e
c
.
no
c
c
c
c
o
,
t
eo o
c
o
,
e tc
.
c
,
-
o un
a
c
cc
.
,
c
c
ce a
an
va
.
c
.
“8
no r
c
c
t
c
,
c
c
co
c
a
.
c
.
.
,
Se e
1 5°
C
1”
C
161
C
16”
C
1”
S t
“4
C
I
I
I
I
ue
I
P
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
II 3 55
L IX 64 5
L XI 7 4
L V 34 9
L V 4 3 9 9 X1
Do m V
L II
96 3 a nd
.
W
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
:
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
1
.
1
.
2
.
”
,
.
.
2
,
.
.
.
11
,
4 63 9 ;
.
1
,
4
.
XII,
1 1 59 .
.
1
0
f
A s p e ct s
8
7
C l au d iu m
A u gu st u m
R m a n E mp e r o r
o
o
-
W o rs h ip
d ivo m V e sp asianu m e t d ivu m Titum
i
m
C
a e sa r is D o m it ian i A u g u sti
e
n
u
g
et
et
”
d e o s qu e
p enate s
16 5
I n the a cts o f the A rval brothers
an entry
fo r the yea r 6 9 A D which p rescr ibes the m ode o f
s a cri fi ce on stated o ccasion s ( F eb an d M a rch )
re a ds
.
,
.
.
.
I ovi ( bu ll )
h
ei
fer
(
)
Iu n o n o
Saluti Ro m Po p ( hei fe r )
Divo A ugusto ( bull )
D iv a e A u gu st a e ( hei fer )
Divo C laudi o ( bull )
.
.
O n M a rch fi rst and a gain on the ninth t h e e m
,
,
o ffe re d s a cri fi ce a s this canon call ed fo r and
“
in a dditi on o ffere d a bu ll Genio Ip siu s
Ju st when the te rm A ugu sti wa s fi rst applie d
a s a colle ctive designati on fo r the d ivi t h eir liv
ing successo r relation s and s atellites looked up on
“
16 6
I h ave
a s a fa st closed group o f new deities
been un able to determ ine The ins cription s are s o
nume rous so w idesp re ad and s o ne arly contemp o
r an e o u s th at it b e come s di ffi cult i f not imp ossible
r
e
o
r
p
,
.
,
,
”
-
.
,
,
,
,
year 6 9 A D U nder date A D 1 8 3
the festival of the A rva l B rothers w as hel d in whi c h the O l d
ritu a l w as g o n e throu g h with the addition of sixtee n d iv i
The C ar m en S l i r u m was also addressed to the
l iving e m p erors see W ordsworth F ragm e n ta s u b v o c Mar
qu a r d t : R m S t a a t s iii p p 42 7 4 3 8
161
5
H e n z e n : A c t a A r v a l ia
“
a
.
o
.
.
W isso w a :
.
”
,
''
o
.
,
.
0p
.
,
c it
p
-
.
,
.
,
.
1
7 .
.
.
A sp e c t s
80
o
E mp e r o r W o r s hip
R o ma n
f
-
taken fro m the Te m ple o f
inscription
t h e A u g usti and A phrodite ( who i s igno re d in the
inscription a s she take s se cond pla ce in the title of
the te m ple ) is dedicate d by A ntio chus the S on o f
T l am o o s d esignate d a s dp xi ep évs 511 EeBaa é v t o
His W i fe is d e sig
060 1s Eefi ao r o is min 7 25 wa p ith
A nothe r
n at e d in the s am e w a y a s h igh p riestess
17 1
inscripti o n
fro m the Temple o f the E m p erors
and Zeu s Sa r ap is pe rp etrates the same double
irony up on t h e O lym pi an m e m b e r o f t h e group
a s in the p re ceding instan ce fo r the p ers on d e sig
n a t e d is simply
High priest o f the A ugu sti
Here is un m i stakable ep igraphi c evidence that in
on e lo cality a t le a st the emp e ror cult pushe d int o
the b ack ground and p ra cti cally sup ersede d the
17 2
O lym p i an sy stem
A nother
17 °
,
,
7
,
'
1
r
,
-
r
.
-
.
,
-
.
,
,
-
.
2
.
T HE
M A N I FO LDN E SS A N D PE RVA S IV E N ES S
T H E E M P E RO R C U L T
OF
-
W e h ave now come t o a p oint w h ere it will b e
p ro fitable t o a tte m pt a rap id revi ew an d summa ry
o f results
T h e Ro m an i m p eri al cult ha d b ehin d it th e
fo rce o f a p rimary instinc t and t h e a ccele rate d
.
-
40 9
417
f
c
.
a l so
4 10 4 10 , 4 1 1 , 4 1 2
.
p
Cf
W isso w a :
c it
p
7 2 ; B e u r lie r : L e C u l t e Impe r ia l e ,
The l atter says that a ll the te mpl es at
Kara B au l o are ide n ti fi ed with the e mp eror w orshi p
.
.
17
; St e r r e t
:
p
0p
.
.
.
2 90
.
,
.
.
.
R u l e r C u l t U nd e r t h e S u c c e ss o r s
-
o
s
u
s
t
u
A
u
f g
81
o f ancient and p ersistent custom A
world wide movement recorded in t h e e a rliest doc
and in the latest o f the
u m e n t s o f Babyloni a
Roman Empi re h a s p assed in revi ew b e fo re u s
T h e worship of rulers arose among the Rom ans
p a rtly d e n o v o as a native and sp ontaneou s a cti on
p artly through the op e ration o f countles s c o nv e r g
ing line s o f influence
I n th e e a rly days o f the republi c when O ffi ce s
we re temp orary and fi lle d by t h e choi ce o f an
electorate certain p owe rful indivi du al s we re sin
gle d out fo r hon ors indistingui shable from thos e
while general s and pro con
O ffere d to the gods
s u l s c ame b a ck from the p rovin c es with the p res
T h e movement re a che d a p re
t ige o f d e ifi c at io n
liminary climax in the honors grante d t o the domi
n ant p e rson ali t y o f Juliu s C e s a r who du ring h is
li fe tim e wa s dei fi ed ab ro a d and in I taly and
immedi ately up on hi s dece as e w a s offi ci ally put in
the comp any o f the I mmo rtals I n the reign o f h is
success o r A ugustus an o rganize d cult o f th e
D ivu s Juliu s wa s e stablishe d and almost simul
t an e o u s ly with it a p ri estho o d and worship o f th e
reigning emp ero r wa s put int o op e rati on
Throughout the emp i re p a rti cula rl y in the p rov
in c e s but to a certain extent in I taly itself the
combined worship o f t h e d ivi and t h e living rulers
wa s ca rri e d on un d e r the h igh e st impe ri al an d
local au spi ces
m omentu m
.
-
.
,
.
,
,
-
,
.
,
-
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
A sp e c t s
82
o
R o ma n
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
Dollinge r enable s us to gra sp the w h ole proces s
and to V i su alize b oth its fo rwa rd movement in
the dire ct line o f the A ugu sti and its late ral out
re a ch to include those who we re dei fi ed through
thei r cl o s e a s soc i ation with the emp ero r whe n h e
17 3
state s
th at from the b egi nning to the time o f
D i o cletian there we re fi ft y thre e solemn co n s e c r a
ti ons including tho se o f fi fteen wo m en There
17 4
we re in Ro m e
temple s o f t h e D ivu s Iu liu s ; o f
” 5
176
o f the d ivi
o f the
the Divu s A ugustus ;
” 7
” 8
o f C l e m e n t ia e C a e s ar is ;
Divu s C laudius
of
the D ivus M a rcus A u relius ; o f the D ivu s T r a
j anu s ; o f the D ivu s V e sp asianu s ; o f t h e Divus A n
t o n in u s and F au st m a
Thi s i s certainly an indicati on o f the p owe r an d
influence o f the cult I m ight go on inde fi nitely
su m ma rizing in thi s sam e way t h e multitudinou s
evidences O f the univers ali t y and p e rva siveness o f
the cult I think howeve r that an intensive lo ok
at a limited group o f fa cts will make the situa
tion much clea re r
F o r exa m ple o f fl am e n s an d priests o f Rom a
,
,
-
,
,
.
V
°
,
:
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
p
There are extant c oins of forty eight dei
fi e d roya l p erso n s Duruy : H i s t Ro m E n g t r V o l V p 1 68
K ie p ert and H u e l se n— Fo r m a e U r b is e t c p p 7 4 ti
“
S itu ted on the P alatine : see S uet Tib 47 cf A c t a A r
v a l i a : H e n e n p LV
S e e H e n e n : p p XI a n d XXXI I I where the A u g u sta n
rites are g iven
S u e t o n V es p 9
D ed to Julius C e sar yr 44 See Dio
” 3
0 11
.
c it
.
,
.
616
-
.
17 4
.
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
1
a
.
z
1 7°
.
.
,
.
z
.
,
.
'
1"
.
17 8
.
.
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
.
.
.
R u l e r C u l t U nd e r t h e S u cc e ss o r s
-
o
s
u
u
t
u
s
A
f g
83
and t h e A ugusti ; o f Roma alone ( onc e only ) ;
o r o f Roma
d ivi and A u g u sti the re we re twent y
in T a r r a c o n e n cis alone nine in T a r r a co alone
T he re a r e ext ant inscription s co m memorating
fl am e n s s acerdotes A ugu stales o r members o r
17 9
d inis A u g us t a lis from ninete en localities in I taly
I n P omp eii there a re records o f s even di ffe rent
180
men name d a s A ugustales
T here a re fro m
P omp eii seven ins cripti ons de dicate d t o one m an
who must have repe ate dly a cte d a s imp e ri al
18 1
prie st
i
i
nothe
r
side
l
ght
up
on
the
i
e
n
e
and
A
e
r
s
t
c
s
p
p owe r o f t his cult may b e drawn from the state
ment with which Hi rschfeld close s his mono
18 2 “
gra ph :
The C hri sti an C hurch in no s m all de
gre e b orrowed fo r its councils and p riests th e out
wa rd forms name s and insigni a o f the provincial
Kais e r cult which for three hundre d ye ars ha d
formed th e V isible token o f i m p erial uni t y in the
18 3
E a st and in the W est
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
.
.
-
,
-
”
.
I
X
p
See C
L,
1 1 49
,
L,
C
o ) , 1 0 3 0,
,
9 6 1 , 97 7 , 9 97 , 9 94, 1 0 2 6 (
1 0 3 4, 1 0 6 6
181
H o l c o n iu s R u , C
L,
8 3 0 , 8 3 7 , 8 3 8 , 8 40 , 94 3 , 944,
,
I
.
.
.
.
.
X
.
0p
c it
.
uf s
p
8 62
.
.
.
I
.
age of Ner
.
X
Hirs c h feld s l ast p ara g ra p h is interesting fro m another
p oint of view a l so H e p oints out how the m eanin g a n d sig
n ifi c a n c e died out of the c u l t even whi l e the instit u tio n a l fra m e
work established to c arry it o n sti l l stood intac t
.
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C H A PTE R VI I
THE R
U L ER C U L T
-
I
.
PO L ITI C A L I N STRU ME NT
AS A
IT S PO L IT I C O
-
I IO U S O RI G I N
RE L G
H A T the ru ler cult every wh ere ha d a se m i
p olitical o rigin h a s alre a dy b e co m e evident
Th e very fa ct that the va st m aj ority o f t h ose hi s
t o r ic al ly known to us a s h aving be en dei fi e d were
e ithe r civi l or milita ry le a de rs indi cate s cle a rly
e noug h the p res ence o f a p owerful p olitical motive
in the enti re development
I n P e rsi a at a t ime suffi ciently e arly t o ante
date the Z oro a stri an docu m ents the legitim ate line
o f I rani an kings were lo oke d up on a s o f divine
lineage sole p ossessors and trans m itters o f the
he avenly glo ry I n ancient E g ypt we a re able
to follow from the records the con crete op erati on
T h e crystalliz ation into
o f the p olitical fa cto r
a fi xed dogma o f legitimacy involving the con
temp o ra r y rule r o f a va gu e mythology o f the p ast
w a s unde rtaken t o establish and legiti m atiz e an
irregula r and usu rping dyna sty T h e p riests o f
Hierap oli s were app a rently resp onsible fo r the
-
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
84
Th e Ru le r C u l t
as
-
P o lit ica l Ins t r um e nt
a
85
p olitical revolution whic h they fo stere d and c o m
by
me
ans
o
f
thi
s
new
religiou
s
dog
m
a
I
n
e
e
l
t
d
p
all thi s th e uni on o f religion and state cra ft is e vi
d ent
I n the cas e o f A lexan d e r o f M a cedon the p o
l it ical m otive is still more pla inly disce rnible
A lexander wa s not o f the royal E gyptian line but
an alien conque ro r who could not a cco rding to any
stri ct interp retation o f the establi she d do ctrin e b e
the legitimate ru ler of Egypt N evertheless he
p ossesse d the an c ie n t r ig h t by which all dyna sties
—
were originally establishe d the right o f ir r e sist
ible p owe r U nde r thes e ci rcumstance s the p ri ests
when calle d up on foun d a way t o reconcile thei r
s a cre d do gm a with the exigencie s o f the situ ation
T h e conque ror wa s p ro claime d S on o f Re by
a dopti on whic h o f cou rs e involve d an a ctual
physical ap ot h e o sis F rom a non p oliti cal p oint o f
V i ew this ce re m ony wa s a sycophanti c fa rce but it
would take a v e ry wise m an to tell wh at els e t h e
p riest s could h ave done
I n the ca s e o f th e Rom an rulers the evidence
p oints in t h e s ame dire cti on T h e religi on o f
Rome from the e a rl i est days o f th e C it y stat e wa s
p oliti cal in cha r a cter By t h e ius d ivinu m worship
184
wa s put in t h e h an d s o f st a te o ffi cial s
N ext
P olybius ( His t vi 56 ) l ai m s that reli g ion was invented
.
-
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‘
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1 8"
c
i n order to kee p the un ruly m asses i n order
h S argu m e n t is the Ro m a n state r e h g io n
,
I
,
-
.
.
The
b asis
of
86
A sp e ct s
o
f
Ro ma n
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
came the wo rship o f Rom a the dei fi e d Genius s o
to sp e ak o f the Roman state p re ce d ing o r a cc o m
p anying the d e ifi c at io n o f the empe ro rs a n d a s
ha s o ften been p ointe d out fo rm ing an in t e r m e
d iat e and t ransitional form o f worsh ip b etween
the traditi ona l deitie s an d the na s cent imp e ri al
system M oreove r it i s a signi fi cant fa ct tha t
th e o rgani ze d m ov ement lea ding towa rd imp e ri al
d e ifi c at io n b egan in the p rovinces where the im
p eri al rule wa s m ost p owe rfully felt in bringing
18 5
o rde r out o f p olitical cha o s D Oll ing e r
s ays
that t h e longing fo r a world delivere r l acking its
true obj ect tu rne d to the wo rld conquero r
He
delivered men from the cha os o f civil wa r and
the tyranny o f p ro consuls
No r is it di ffi cult to s ee how religion and c ivi c
interest S hould thus b e intertwined T h e relation
ship s between C hurch and State that i s be t we en
the p eople a s a p olitical entity and the s ame p eople
a s a worshiping b o dy have alw ays b een intimate
di ffi cult to de fi ne in theory and still mo re di ffi cult
to sep a rate in p ra ctice
C ivil a dministrati on be a rs s o dire ctly and so
p o w erfully up on all hu m an intere sts is so fraught
wit h weal o r wo e to all mankind that the wielder
o f p olitical autho rity tends to beco m e one o f the
element al p owers o f the world stan d s ap a rt fro m
,
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H J
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p
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6 14
.
A sp e c t s
88
2
.
o
f
R o ma n E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
IT S IN F L U E N C E
C O N S O L I DA T I N G
IN
T HE
E M PI RE
A ccepting
the fact which needs no furthe r elab
o rati on , that the p ro ces s o f imp eri al d e ifi cat io n
h a d behin d it a p oliti cal motive we should next
consider its use in the fu rtherance o f p o liti cal o r
i
o
n
r
The
empe
ro
ult
the
only
avail
a
n
z
a
t
i
c
as
w
g
able relig ious instru ment fo r p romoting the u n ifi
cation o f the emp ir e
T h e tra diti onal G re co
Roman system p os se sse d no inter raci al organiz a
t i o n comp a rable to the C hri s ti an C hurch by which
a group consciousness t rans cending the o rdin a ry
li m its o f ra ce o r clan could b e formed I t wa s
thus lo cal fragmenta ry and cha oti c The re wa s
no imp eri al quality in it Even where cognate
deitie s were wo rs h ip e d and even a fte r t h e wan
de ring o f the gods b egan and syncretis m to ok pla c e
o n a l a rge scale the re sult wa s confusi on not uni
fi c at io n A n d fo r the most p a rt the deiti es o f the
old system re m a ine d what they always ha d b e en
local and fi xed
I nto thi s ch a o s came the empi re fi rst with a
conquering a rm y b e a ring eve rywhe re t h e stand
a rds and illustrating the name and dignity o f the
empe ror F ollowing the i rresistible thru st o f the
a rmy came admini strative o ffi ci als including
pri ests o f the imp eri al cult A ltar s were set up
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Th e Ru l e r C u lt
-
as
a
P o lit ic a l Ins t r u m e n t
89
M en o f e m inence in their cities towns or even
provinces were s electe d as A ugu stale s or culto re s
o f the n ew worship Elabo rate rite s including
brilli ant fe stal celeb rations with public games and
s olemn s a cri fi ce s were e stablishe d in impo rt ant
cente rs o f p opulation and govern m ent throughout
—
the emp ire all Of which tende d to focu s count
less blending lights O f splendo r up on the p ers on o f
th e emp e ro r T h e inevitable result wa s u n ifi c a
tio n T h e emp e ro r s name wa s carrie d through
out hi s va st dominions an d hi s p ower known and
felt eve rywhere Th e cente r o f thi s syste m i s the
i m p eri al throne a t Ro m e ; its ci rcu m ference th e
ou te rm ost b ounda ri e s o f the empire ; its r a dii
the c ountless m aj o r and mino r o ffi ci al s who we a r
the live ry and p erform the rites o f the dei fi e d
e m p e ro r and in s o doing b in d every communi t y
howeve r remote and almost eve ry indivi dual to
t h e royal p ers on by the t w o fold b ond o f p oliti cal
loyalty and religious devotion I t is not to o much
to s ay t h at the o nly deity e qually well kno w n in
eve ry locality o f the Roman Empi re wa s the em
,
,
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o
r
e
r
p
.
M o m msen
h a s outlined b rilli antly the build
ing up o f thi s va st imp eri al st r uctu re Th e de
ta ils were not le ft to chance o r local enthu si a s m
F a r sighted p oliti cal genius swept the whole e m
18 8
.
-
188
Ro m
.
G e s ch
.
B
a nd
V,
p assim
.
.
A sp e cts
0
9
o
E mp e r o r W o rs hip
Ro ma n
f
-
p i re and selected key p osition s for the e stablish
m ent o f shrines temple s and local wo rship
18 9
A s we have alre ady s een Drusu s establishe d
an altar Rom a e e t Genio A ugusti at L u g d u nu m
R
L
yons
at
the
j
unction
o
f
the
S
aone
and
hone
(
)
rivers ; Here native p ri ests chosen by the unite d
Galli c province s themselves ca rri ed on the im
p eri al rites
A t C oloni a A gripp ina ( mo d e m
C ologne ) the chie f town O f the U bii there wa s a
gre at alta r and in t h e ye ar 9 B C the o flicia t in g
p ri est Se g im u n d u s the s on o f Se g e st e s wa s pr in ce
o f the native royal house
A t the sou rce s o f the
Ne cka r ne a r the m odern Rottweil were the A r e
Fl avie establi shed by T i t us o r D o m iti a n in a set
t l e m e n t ma de by V e sp a si an
M ommsen h a s a
m o s t suggestive note here He s ays ( I condense )
th at in all p rob abili t y the re were other alta rs he re
“
besi de the chi e f o n e named a s i s shown by da s
Z u r ii ckt r e t e n des Ro m a cult s neben de m de r Kai
s er
Here a s els ewhere t h e all absorbing tendency o f
the i m p e ri al cult showed itself I t push e d every
ot h er wo rship into t h e b a ckgroun d and seize d the
whol e empi re in its all inclusive gra sp A t S a r
m ig e t u s a in the m ountains o f weste rn central D a
cia an alta r wa s e stablished fo r that p r o vince
A s a striking instance o f the e x tent o f thi s o rgan
See Dessau I L S v
p 3 NO
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:
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,
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1,
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1,
.
1 12.
Th e R u l e r C u l t
as
-
P o lit ica l Ins t r um e n t
a
1
9
iz at io n
and the quality o f the p ers onnel entering
“
into it we m ay instance Po l e m o n King o f Pontus
and perp etual high pri est o f the emp ero r and the
190
imp e ri al hous e
A lso in Britain the re wer e
central towns for the emp e ro r cult though we do
not kn ow in which O f the three legiona ry camp s
th e governo r o f the province h a d hi s resi den ce
W e do know h oweve r that the s ame c amp wa s
“
the s e at o f t h e provinci al council and the co m
191
mon emperor worship
There i s another a sp e ct o f this whole m atte r o f
imp eri al uni fi cati on which will come up for m ore
deta ile d discu ssi on late r I m ay merely hint at
it he re Politi cal a ction and r e action a re o ften
me a su rably e qual A strong and el abo rat e device
fo r p romoting uni fi cati on wh en it doe s not wor k
b ecom es divisive in p rop o rtion to its o riginal
th ru sting p owe r I n s everal instances the imp e ri al
cult fa ile d o f its purp o se inci dentally p erhap s a s
in C am o l o du nu m in W est Britain where a reb el
lion b roke out under Pau llinu s a fte r the walls o f
the temple to t h e god C laudius ha d b een put up
o r unde r the s ame Se g imu n d u s w h o wa s impe rial
p riest fo r t h e U b11 I n two instances at le ast
the attempt to enfo rce c onformi t y in the worship
o f the empe ro r thru st deeply int o the unit y o f
,
,
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190
m
Mom m sen :
M o mm se n :
.
c it
.
.
c it
.
0p
0p
,
,
p
p
.
.
2 93
1 7 6.
( doe s
n ot
give his a u thori ty )
,
.
A sp e ct s
2
9
o
f
Ro ma n
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
the empi re I re fe r to the Jews a n d t h e C h ri s
tians I n the latte r c ase p a rticula rly t h e confl ict
between P aganism an d C hristi ani t y a ro se in di re ct
conne cti on wit h the wor ship o f the emp e ro r
top ic will be resume d in its prop e r pla ce but its
signi fi cance j ust h ere is not to b e overlo oke d
.
.
,
,
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,
.
C H A PT E R VI I I
T HE R
U L ER C U LT A N D T H E PO SITIO N
-
E
1
M P E RO R
D E I FI C A TI O N A N D T H E MI ND
E M P E RO R
.
OF T H E
OF T H E
H I S system o f ruler worship inevitably h a d
a ve r y imp o rtant influence up on the p osi
tion o f the emp e ro r
U nde r n ormal ci rcum
sta nce s alt ogethe r ap art from any inve stment with
divine dignitie s and honors the imp erial p osition
wa s one o f almost limitle ss p owe r and r e sp o n sibil
it y
I n its elf the a dmini strative burden involve d
wa s su ffi ciently he avy to weigh down any but the
mo st robust intelligence C lo the d howeve r by
thes e p o pula r a do rations with eno rm ously e n
hance d distinct ion th e burden must ha ve b e en lit
tle sho rt o f abs olutely c r u shing W h at human
m ind could stand su ch world wide p ersistent o r
i
n
a
z
a
dulation
I
t
would
se
em
t
h
at
i
f
the
e
m
e
d
?
g
i
e
r
o
r
himsel
f
even
fo
r
a
moment
sincerely
e
l
e
v
b
p
e d wh at the pe ople were taught and undoubte dly
beli eved conce rning him the result must h ave b een
-
.
,
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-
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’
,
93
A sp e c ts
94
o
R m a n E mp e r o r
f
o
-
W o rs h ip
This supp o siti on would seem to b e fully
j usti fi e d by the b iography o f the C e sa rs I t c an
sca rcely b e doubte d that the syste m o f rule r wo r
ship h a d mu ch to do with the p roduction o f t h e
s emi ins a ne o r wholly ins ane m onsters such a s
C ali g ula N e ro and D omitian who bla ckene d t h e
history o f i m p eri al Rome with suc h incre dible fol
li e s and in fa m i es I n this w ay the working out o f
the syste m contribute d s omething to its own ove r
throw O n the other h and it seems cle a r to m e
th at the s ane st membe rs o f t h e royal group we re
thos e whose attitude towa rd their own divinity
wa s to s a y the lea st ambigu ous I should place
in thi s cl as s Tibe riu s T itu s and V esp a si an
I n o rde r to b ring out t hi s p oint let u s c ontra st
Gaius C aligu la and Tibe rius
C aligula b egan h is ca reer wit h the customa ry
192
hom age t o the imag ine s C e saru m
N ot long
a fte r hi s a ccessi on at a publi c b anquet he shout ed :
m a dne ss
.
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9
E 08
i
a VOS
K
SO T O) ,
1.
etg
F rom that ti m e
co e p it
ibi
”
,
”
19 3
Ba a cxévg
“
d ivin am m aj e st at e m
.
asse t e r o
He sy s tematically and d r am at
ic ally pla ce d him sel f alongside the gods playing
successively the p arts o f Neptune Juno ( S ic )
Di ana V enus Hercule s Ba cchus a n d A p ollo
s
19 4
.
,
,
,
uet
I liad
S u et
S
” 3
194
,
,
C al
.
.
.
,
,
C al
.
,
XIV
XXII
.
.
,
,
,
A sp e c t s
6
9
o
f
R
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
o ma n
-
thing fa r mo re signi fi cant than mere e roti c degen
Have we not here the direct influence o f
c ra cy
the Ptolemies and thei r p re dece ss ors the s am e
i de a that the bloo d o f the go d s must b e kept pure
and the same m etho d o f putting the ide a into
e ffe ct ?
I t i s generall y a d mitte d that C aligula wa s m a d
The question is however di d he b elieve that he
as m a d
divine
b
e
caus
e
he
o
r
b
ecome
m
a
d
a
s
w
w
b ecaus e he believe d him self to b e a ctu ally divine ?
The cons ensu s o f fa cts le a ds me to the conclu
si on that the latte r is t ru e H is undoubte dl y ill
b alance d mind w a s actually ove rturne d by the gen
eral a cceptance o f h is d ivim t y
I n striking contra s t with C ali gula stands Ti
Thi s p owe rful m ona rch s attitude to his
b e r iu s
19 8
own divinit y at fi rst thought se ems a mbiguous
H e wa s fe rociously devoted to the cult o f A ugus
—
tus mo r e than ordinarily reticent a s to h is own
There wer e fi ve item s a t le a st in t h e l aw govern
19 9
ing s a cril ege towa rd A ugustu s
s ome o f them
going to absurd lengths whi ch we re rigorously
enfo rced F o r example a man wa s put to de ath
fo r allowing hono rs to b e giv en him on one o f the
A ordin g to Hirs h feld Tiberius while living had n o
te mpl e in the W est and i mperial priests in a few ities only
O the
8
( p it p
f C I L IX 6 5 X 6 8 8 ; IV
other ha n d w have oins of Tib i n w hi h he a l l s hi m se l f
F ilius Di i A u g usti ( see E k h l D N A VI 9 f )
.
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,
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,
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’
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,
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1 98
cc
c
,
,
,
c
o
.
c
.
c
.
,
”
v
199
S
uet Tib
.
.
,
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.
2 :
,
,
c
e
,
“
.
.
58
.
,
c
.
c
e
,
,
.
.
.
,
11
0.
c
,
1
2
.
n
R
u le r -
C u lt
a nd
the
P o s it io n
o
f
the
E mp e r o r
97
days s acre d to A u g ustus T h e inhabitants o f the
ci t y o f C yzicus lost their lib e rties one o f the chi e f
count s against them b eing the ir omi ssion o f honors
2 00
du e to A u g us tus
Divine hono rs wit h out stint
we re O ffere d to T iberius I n the yea r 2 6 A D it
i s s a id that eleven towns p etiti oned fo r the p riv
ilege o f building temple s to the reigning emp e ro r
T h e p rivilege o f bu ilding a temple to Tiberius
hi s m other a n d the S enate togethe r with Roma
wa s grante d to Smyrna and re fuse d in othe r in
stance s
I n connecti on b oth wit h h is compli ance and r e
fu s al Tib eriu s is s a id to h ave offe re d an expl ana
20 1
ti on
A fte r
w hi ch exact ly bring s out my p oint
s aying that a single a ct o f compli ance wit h such a
requ est doe s not demand an ap ology he sa y s :
“
but to b e dei fi ed throughout the p rovinces an d
int rude my own image among the statue s o f the
go d s wh at would it b e but va in p resumption an d
with t h e multiplicati on o f su ch honor s van e sc e t
A ugusti hono r si p r o m is cis a d u l at io n ibu s vu lg a
2 02
that h e do es
tur
H e als o exp res sly state s
not p retend to be anything more than a man He
re fuse d sp e ci al divine honors and on one occasi on
“
D ominus app e ll at u s a qu o d am d e nu nt iavit n e s e
-
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,
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,
2“
A nn
T ac
,
M , IX,
201
T a c A nn ,
T a c A nn ,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Dio
f
c
.
,
.
E ck h e l D
.
N
.
A
.
,
II,
p
.
54 6, 7 ,
an d
V
.
A sp e c t s
8
9
o
f
co n t u m e l ia e
am pl iu s
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
Ro ma n
-
”
aus a no m inar e
Thi s
m o desty Suetonius a scribes to p olic y and say s
“
a t im
a
l
u
p
c
2 03
.
i
se
i
n
c
m
e
x
r
e
ru
p
p
it
”
2 04
.
d o not agre e with this j udgment
The in c o n
s is t e n c ie s o f Tibe rius are app a rent rathe r than
real He undoubtedly b eli eved in t h e institution
o f the d ivi an d was a rigi d supp o rte r o f t h at cult
b oth p ers onally and O ffi ci ally O n t h e ot h e r hand
h e di d not relish divine hono r s fo r himsel f no r
did h e b elieve himself divine H ere again it m a y
b e di ffi cult to s ay whether hi s robust intelligence
in t h us re fusing as sent to the p opular ide a con
ce rning hi m self wa s cause o r e ffe ct but it still r e
m ains true that disbelie f wa s re ally necessa ry to
t h e ma intenance o f sanity
A similar contra st might b e wo rke d out b etween
V esp asia n an d D omiti an V esp a si an honest ol d
s oldi e r that he wa s neve r to ok the a scription o f
deity to hims elf s eriously a s his famou s m o t in
“
a r t i c u l o m o r t is p rove s :
V a e in qu it puto deus
2 05
fio
O n the othe r hand D omitian w a s glo om
ily j e alou s lest any divine honor w h ich he e xpl ic
2 06
2 07
it ly cl aime d m Ig h t b e o m itte d
A nothe r still m o re fa r re a ching result ca m e
I
.
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
”
,
.
.
-
uet
S
Ibid
S
.
,
.
T ib
33
.
2 6, 2 7 .
,
.
uet V esp 2 3
P hilos A pp of T y VII :2 4 A m agistrate is a cc used of
n ot c a ll ing Dom itia n So n of Minerva Cf Stat Silv IV
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
“
,
.
”
.
“7
On
Titus see Dio :
,
.
.
.
,
,
A p e c ts
100
s
o
f
R o m a n E mp e r o r
-
W o r s h ip
well a s alien but I fi n d it di ffi cult to believe in the
religious sinceri t y o f much o f thi s prostration b e
fore the throne o f the emp ero r T h e only con
sideration whi ch could m ake this system even tol
T hen we could
c rable is that it should b e genuine
look up on it a s a s ince re illusion Bu t the ta int o f
‘
sycophancy i s in th e air I can unders tand re a dily
enough th at on its p opula r side w ith the igno rant
p opul aces o f I tali an Grecian and O riental citie s
and villages such a movement might b e b oth sp on
The re ar e othe r a sp e cts
t a n e o u s and genuine
o f it h owever which are not s o e a sy to ha rmonize
with since rity T ake fo r example the wo rds o f
s ome O f the great intelle ctu als sp oken o r written
in dire ct a ddre ss to the living emp ero r s V irgil
2 08
b egin s and ends the fi rst b ook o f the Ge o rgics
by invoking among othe r gods A ugustu s to
wh om he attributes the right to cho os e his own
pla ce amid the celesti al bei ng s enthrone d on high
a s well a s the p owe r to control the sun the
we ather t h e fruitage o f the e a rth and the o p e ra
tions o f the se a He adds to thi s in the s econd
invo cation a statement that the god s h ave but
grudg ingly lent A u gus t u s to th e e arth and th at t h e
loan i s likely to b e recalle d at any time
C om
p are with this Pliny s a ddre ss to Traj a n
G eor g i a I
4 4
f Hor O d
s f
f P re l l er : 0 p
it p 7 7
P a n 74 5
,
.
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
’
.
208
c
.
,
c
1
.
: 2
.
209
.
,
,
.
-
0,
o1
.
,
c
.
.
e
c
.
.
Ru l e r C u l t
-
a nd t h e
P o s it io n
o
f
the
E mp e r o r
10 1
in which he a sse rts that the state could imagine
“
no a dd iti on to its go od fo rtune : ni si u t di C a esa
rem im it e n t u r
I s this me rely oratory o r e x a g
gerated fl attery o r genuine a dorati on ?
Th e climax o f this mode o f a ddre ss is atta i ne d
210
by Lu can
who a ffi rms that when N e ro a scends
to he aven all the gods will yi eld pla ce to him and
allow him to choos e any sphere of divine ac
tion which he p re fers I f by any chance these
utterance s a re allowe d to p a ss what a re we to
2“ “
s ay o f the o ath ma de by
vi r p ra etorius that
he s aw th e form o f A ugustu s a scend into he aven
o r th at o f the Senato r L iviu s Geminus w h o swore
that he s aw D ru sill a the siste r and concubine o f
C aligu la a scend on high and take he r pla ce among
“
212
213
Ball s ays
the go ds ?
C ali g ula s cra zy
p erfo rm ances a s a divinity Obvi ously brought the
whole i de a o f the imp e rial d e ifi c at io n into a de
gre e o f di srepute undermining w h ateve r d igni t y
attac h ed to its fi rst au g ust subj ects
A n d yet the
system la ste d almost t w o hundre d ye a rs a fte r C al
time and p roduce d s ome o f its most ch a ra c
t e r ist ic re sults in the late r p e riod
U ndermining thi s in stituti on wa s evi d entl y a
very slow and di ffi cult process T h is to o I take
”
.
,
.
,
”
,
,
,
’
:
,
”
.
.
.
210
2”
1
45
uet A u g 00
Dio
S atire of Sene c a
.
S
.
.
,
1
.
,
,
p
.
38
.
,
,
As
10 2
p e cts
o
f
R o m a n E mp e r o r
-
W o r s h ip
to b e symptomati c fo r I a m m uch inclined to think
that it could h ave b een unde rmine d m uch m ore
e a sily i f it h a d b een m o re since re A t le ast a
p arti al j usti fi cation for this p ara dox may be found
214
o n the d e ifi c at io n o f
in the L udu s o f Seneca
C laudius taken in its historical context
Taken I rep ea t in its historical conte xt fo r it
cannot b e unde rsto o d otherwise it b ecome s a m ost
suggestive commenta r y on the time and i s abs o
l u t e ly a p r o p o s
A s C aligula intro du ce d t h e ele
m ent o f ment al p athology into the history O f the
imp e rial cult s o C laudius introd u ce d the element
o f fa rce and come dy He wa s the caus e o f m uch
wit go od b a d an d indi fferent in othe rs among
them th e mo rali st Sene ca T h e mo st inte re sting
fe atu re o f the situati on however i s not the mor
dant tre atm ent o f C laudiu s but t h e si de light it
throws up on the Roman attitude toward the gre a t
s anct ities C ertain fa ct s a re to b e noted in conne c
ti on with the Lu du s C lau d ius w a s m urde re d a t the
orde r i f not a ct u all y byi ffi e h and O f A grippina
the mothe r o f Nero C laudius w as im m edi ately
dei fi e d and A gripp ina wa s app ointe d a p rie stess
to attend up on the new divinity s rite s S ene ca s
brothe r m a de a rather b rilliant j est to the e ffect
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
-
,
.
.
-
,
,
,
.
’
’
.
)\5 w m
This w ork see m s to have bo rne the titl e of A
or p mk in ifi c a ti n —the i mp li c ation of whic h a s app lied to
C l audius
is quite Obvious C onsult B al l : The S atire of
S ene c a ( N Y
90 2 ) for a c o m pl ete dis c ussion of the c riti c a l
questions w hi c h c enter arou n d the bo o k
2 “
’
7ro xo
u
o
”
,
“
.
,
”
.
.
,
1
.
o x1 vr
s
As
104
p e cts
o
R o m a n E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
f
-
tem a s the corrosive satire o f this consummate lam
p oon T he re a re s eve ral items in this situation
which should be re called here I n spite o f t h e
ri di culou s p ersonal p ecul ia riti e s o f C laudius which
we re a matte r o f famili a r court j e st In g t h e d e ifi c a
tion went on a ccording to the regula r o rde r I n
spite o f the fa ct that the emp ero r w as ab out
e qually despi s ed and hate d the d e ifi c at io n w a s pe r
forme d a ccording to the established ritu al I n
spite o f the fa ct that the le a ding p erfor m e rs in t h i s
dismal fa rce were known to b e the murde rer s o f
the late empe ro r and the deadli est fo e s o f h is ra ce
it yet p ro ceeded a cco rding to rule
217
Suetonius sa ys
Fu n e r at u s est
o f C laudius
s o ll e m n i princ ipium pomp a e t in n u m e ru m d e o r u m
r e l at u s ; quem hono rem a N erone d e s t it u t um ab oli
tum que r e c e p it m o x p e r V e sp a sia nu m
T his i s
the whole situation in p a r v o W hat a curi ous and
inconsistent fab ri c o f murder and glori fi cati on
a dulati on and detra ction fulsome p ra ise an d b it
te r scorn the whole incident p re sents ! W hat it
emphatically doe s not p resent however i s genuine
feeling and single minded devotion
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
:
.
,
,
,
,
,
-
.
b
O RIFI C A TIO N
T H E GL
.
O F BA D
A longside
M EN
o f this evi dence o f de ca dence must
be pla ced anothe r equ ally m ani fe st T h e system
.
Div
.
C
l audius
,
45
.
Dio
,
60
.
K
Ru le r C ul t
an
-
d t h e P o s it io n
o
f
the
E mp e r o r
10 5
itself le d to the glori fi cation o f evil men A b a d
emp ero r m akes a b a d go d T h e ve ry choice o r
a cceptance o f such men a s N e ro o r Diocletian a s
obj e ct s o f a do ration is its elf a j udgm ent a s it i s
a revelation o f p agani sm A n d i f it b e a sserte d
that thes e men wore the purple and the re fo re the
p eople ha d no cho ice but to worship them t h e s u ffi
ci ent answe r i s S ej anu s the V ile and tre a che rou s
21 8
favo rite o f T ib e riu s A cco rd ing to Di o
Ti
b e r iu s s olely to p revent divine hono rs b eing p a i d
to S ej anus decree d that hence fo rth s a cri fi ce s
should b e o ffe re d to no man and included h is own
p ers on in t h e p rohibit ion in o rde r that his pu r
p os e m ight not b e de fe ated I n spite o f all the
ci rcumstances the p e ople vote d honors on the
de ath o f S ej anus wh o wa s exe cute d by T iberius
“
s ays Di o
not customa ry even
fo r the god s
S ej anus wa s not royal ; he wa s
eve rything he should n ot have b een and yet t h e
o
a
l
u
impuls
e
to
dei
fy
him
wa
s
beyond
imp
eri
al
r
p p
control T h e system a s a whole together with the
s ociety t ha t p ro duce d and foste re d it and ulti
mately the rel igion that molde d the so ciety must
b e held resp onsible fo r the d e ifi c at io n not only O f
S ej anu s but o f Popp a e a S abina her infant d au g h
ter who lived but thre e months o f V e ru s the col
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
”
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
Sej an u s
.
f
c
.
V e l l e iu s
P ater
.
,
for f ul so m e
p raise
of
10 6
A sp e ct s
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
lea g u e o f M arcus A ureliu s o f L ar e nt in a a public
woman so notori ous th at Tertullian exp res ses the
wish th at any one o f a numb e r o f such famou sly
in famous women o f Rome m ight h ave b een c h osen
2 19
fo r such hono rs rathe r than she
Simon M a
220
s
d
s
and
wo
r
t
o
f
all
H
a
drian
s
b
e
auti
ful
a
u
n
g
22 1
unsp e akable m ale favorite A ntinous
I con fess
that I h ave come up on few things in all history
mo re revolting than the widespre a d and elab orate
w o rship wit h p riests temples ritu al an d sa cre d
place s offere d to thi s blot on the h u m a n ra ce
2 22
wh o se ve ry na m e a n d m e m ory a r e a n o ffens e
O nly a deca dent s o ci ety with a dis ea se d and m ori
bund religiousnes s could h ave p ro duce d suc h a
22 3
pheno m enon
I t is evident that a syste m cap a
ble o f su ch monstrous p e r ve rsion s a s t h e s e m en
t io n e d and others like them — fo r m y instance s are
—
b y no m e ans exhaustive wa s b ound to de m orali ze\
,
,
-
,
’
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
‘
m
A p o l o g e t ic a, 1 3
m
l bid
See
M an , ,
C e l su m,
36 38 ; E
.
I A po l
.
adv
Just
.
iii
.
-
.
the n agoras Supp l 3 0 ; O rig
useb ius H E I V 8 ; Tert adv M a n
29
.
; A
,
.
.
.
.
,
,
.
.
,
I myse l f w orke d throu g h the l ist f fl m
or p riests
of A nti n ous and fou n d the fo ll owi n g asto n ishing nu m b er
é
A
w
A
II
i
l
i
C I G
8
é
p
9
,
a
O
,
e ns
,
.
.
.
,
2 0
.
111
,
1 12 1,
1 122,
12 1
,
1 1 20 ,
11
.
1 1,
.
2 3,
42 ,
1 9,
i o v cn o s
a ca vce l s L
vs
1,
.
.
.
.
2
,
.
0,
nt
o us
c
c
’
vr
l 3 s p eak s of H a d ria n as
6
7 p riest of A m
4
3
w hat P l i ny says ab o u t ear l ier o n se ratio n s
1 1 2 8,
Cf
l
l
l
l
l
.
i
o o v.
a
go d
.
.
,
In
P ane g
.
,
C HA PTE R IX
THE
1
THE
.
R
U L ER C U LT
S EL F
AND
-
-
PO L YT H E I S M
C O NTRA D I C TIO N
OF
PO L YT H EIS M
OL YT H E IS M
ha s two fundamental we ak
nesse s which contribute d concurrentl yto the
est ablishment and rapid a dvance o f the E m p e ror
cult I n t h e fi rst pla ce it i s e ss ent ially contra
d ict o ry in that it distributes among many divine
qualiti es and fun ctions w h ich logi cally b elong to
one only The concept o f deity i s itself fu n d a
mentally unitary W hen the Babylon ians fo r!
ample —to take one Instance where hundreds a re
“
22 4
—
ava ilable calle d Be l L o rd o f all b eing
they implicitly denied the existence o f an y othe r to
w h o m such a title can p rop erly b e applie d W he n
there fo re t h e p oly theists do a ctually apply that
title to a multitude o f deiti es an element o f con
fusion is at once intro duce d which i s never wholly
extrude d
.
,
,
.
\
,
.
,
”
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
Tit l es of S n efru p 2 2
of F airba n ks : G ree k Re l igio n
Cf
.
,
.
,
,
n
pp
.
10 8
1 5,
.
and the j udi c ious re m arks
Th e R u l e r C u l t
-
an
d P o ly t h e is m
P olyt h eism
10 9
is always driven by a ga d fly O f u h
re st se eking and neve r fi nding an ultimate cente r
and p ole a round which thought and li fe m ay
ste adfa stl y and ha rmoniou sly revolve The mono
—
h
a
thei st
the p olytheist neve r Hi s
s thi s cente r
thought i s ch a oti c be caus e the world a s he con
c e iv e s it is directed by a plurali t y o f wills which
do not O ffe r any secure gu arantee o f cosmi c h a r
m ony His li fe i s distracte d because o f the d iffi
culty of fi nding any go d or group o f gods a dequate
to hi s c h anging nee ds or re al ize d with su ffi cient
cle a rness o f de fi niti on to me et any o f hi s deep er
longings
T h e p olyt heist in other wo rds is always on the
—
s e a rch fo r the ultim ate a fi nal s e cure re sting
—
pla ce o f faith and c o n fi d e n ce which do e s not b e
long to the system
T h e p olythe ist the re fo re is essentia lly migra
tory and hi s system o f thought and worship is in
c onstant flux
He sele cts s ome deities to the neg
lect o f others He ab andons one and takes up
225
anothe r T er t ulli an
make s p owe rful ap olo
geti c u se o f this h abit o f selection and shifting o f
allegi ance which a s h e s ays if the gods we re re al
b eings would involve a truly imp ious degre e o f
i rreverence I t i s inevitable as all history p roves
-
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
.
.
-
,
,
.
2”
A
p o l ogeti
c
,
,
a
,
13.
.
As
1 10
2
p e cts
o
f
PO L Y T H E I S M
.
R o ma n
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
E S S E NTIA L L Y E L E ME NTA RY A N D
I NA D E Q UA TE
A long
with this tendency i s anothe r e qu ally
p owerful to outgro w the god s one h a s at any
given stage o f li fe Tiele s ay s that the develop
m ent o f religi on is a pha se o f deep ening self con
sc io u sn e s s
T h e gods o f t h e traditi onal Gr e co
Roman p antheon we re outgrown in man y wa y s by
I
t hei r worship e rs in the a ge o f the e m pir e
shall t a ke j ust one pha se o f ch ange a s p art icu
l a rly germane a t this p oint
The t ra dition al gods
we re e s senti ally personi fi e d nature p owers
In
th e cours e o f time esp e ci ally in the p e rio d o f t h e
C ity state certai n a dditi onal so cia l an d e co n o m i c
functions we re a scribe d to these simple and rathe r
22 6
dimly conceive d deiti e s
but they s till
essentially nature p owe rs They were g
op en air o f the outer wo rl d ; related t o t h e sk y
the fo rest s the mountains the fi elds the b iology
o f the s e a son s wa r an d the ot h e r co m mon huma n
exp erience s o f h uman li fe fro m birth to de ath
Such we re th e t r a d it io na l gods o f t h e Rom an p eo
ple and s o fa r a s th e native religiou s genius o f
the p e ople ha d expre ssion su ch we re t h ei r gods to
the latest p erio d o f their his t ory T h e imp orta
m
O
the ear l y gods of Ro m e see F ow l er R F p p 3 4f
R E R P pp
V ol I
8f
47 f ; M yth l g y
f ll R
p art I II
,
,
.
-
.
.
.
,
.
-
.
,
-
,
,
-
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
.
:
n
.
.
.
.
.
,
.
11
,
1
o o
o
a
.
.
,
a c es,
.
.
.
A sp
1 12
e ct s
o
f
Ro ma n
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
and well enough and nee ds no r e telling here A
concurrence o f c ontributing influences internal and
external b rought ab out that downfall— mo st o f
all its inhe rent ina de qua cy togethe r with the im
p act O f a new an d in fi nitely b etter system W hat
on e must do ho w eve r i s to V isualiz e thi s p ro ce s s
o f disintegration and r e integration in terms o f
the emp e ro r cult I t must not be fo rgotten t h at
th e imp eri al cu lt wa s the chara cte ri sti c and e s
s e n t ial p ro du ct o f religion in the era in whi ch it
a ro se T h e internal movement o f contemp o ra r y
p aganism i s to b e understoo d only through a s t u dy
o f t h i s development whi ch is its organi c s el f man
-
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
-
.
.
-
,
ife st at io n
a
.
THE
.
S
U P ERSE S S IO N
OF T H E
O L Y M PI A NS
graphi c p resentati on o f t h e p oint I h ave in
m ind i s to b e found in the gre at P aris cameo which
rep resent s Tiberius an d h is family a s a group o f
go ds T ibe rius app e ars a s Jupite r his m oth e r
L ivi a a s C e re s while a round him a re Germanicus
A ntoni a Ga ius C aligula and A gripp ina
A ugus
tus i s rising to heaven on a winge d ho rs e ; fEn e as
i s handing h i m a globe rep resenting the world
Drusu s sweep s through he aven be aring a shield
which me an s I supp os e the Roman t riumph
and at the celesti al summit o f the glori fi e d group
A
,
‘
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
-
,
,
Th e R u l e r C u l t
-
P o ly t h e is m
a nd
1 13
sits the D ivus Julius we a ring the crow n whic h
h e decline d on e a rth I n o rder to unde rstand thi s
signi fi cant group one o r two items must b e kept in
m ind I n the p ro ces s o f d e ifi c at io n a s we h ave
alrea dy notice d t h e va ri ous recip ients o f divine
h ono r s are fre quently given the names o f va rious
well known deities such a s M ars Dionysus Jupi
ter and othe rs T o take an example from a late r
time whi ch i s t ypi cal all the way the wo r ship o f
Ha dri an wa s connecte d with the contemp ora ry
p an Hellenic revival o f which he wa s the p atron
There wa s a temple foundation to H adri an at
He wa s
A t hens with games and priestly service
“
known a s the N ew Z eu s p an H e ll e n io s and wa s
“
2 27
calle d the founding living god
I n the light
o f thi s turn t o the came o O f the e arlier fi gures
o f mythology only a little cup i d guiding lt h e
winge d ho rs e on which A u gustu s a s cend s to
he aven and Nemesi s in the b a ck ground app e a r
in p r o p r ia p e r s o n a The O lym p i an deiti es a s p e r
s onal b eings have simply ce ase d to be They h ave
be come abstra ct ions and in evap orating into t h e
function s which they rep resent th ey h ave b e
,
.
,
,
.
,
-
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
-
.
.
,
-
”
.
,
.
,
,
-
,
,
,
.
.
Mo mm sen
p
this u l t note the fo ll owing ins ri p tio n s
m"
or the
Se e
: Ro m
G e sc h , B V ,
F
2 44
of
c
c
:
C
G , 3 8 3 2 , 58 52
A ,
1 0 , 1 6, 2 1 , 3 4 a
C
c
c
,
”
G od
,
3 8 , 2 53 , 4 8 6, 51 9, 52 8 , in w h
“
vies
53 4, 6 8 1 , 1 0 2 3 , 1 1 2 8, 1 3 0 6
Cf C I L ,
, 7 3 , 3 53
te n t
.
.
I
I
.
.
.
.
.
Traj a n
of the
c a ll ed
.
.
.
.
XIV
.
.
.
ex
in whi h Hadrian is al led so n
i ch h e is
.
III
.
.
.
.
“
1 14
A sp
e cts
o
R o ma n
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
t h ei r insigni a o f o ffi ce t o thei r living
a ctive histo rical royal succe s s or s Thei r rob es
a re empty thei r throne s unoc cu pie d thei r scepte r s
ab andoned their cro w ns do ffe d and la id as ide to
b e taken up wo rn used and wielde d by t h e m e m
b e rs o f th e royal hous e I t is evi dent t h at i f a n y
re al fa ith in the O lympi an s remained thi s c a me o
picture would b e a frightful bla sphem y O n t h e
othe r hand i f a s Euhemerus an d the C hristian
2 28
m ainta ined the O lym p ian gods were
fathe rs
o riginally men glo ri fi e d int o deitie s an d then evap
o rate d into ab stra ctions a s s ome o f the m un d oubt
e d ly we re
then the b alance would simply b e r e
dresse d by inverting the p roce s s an d investing
th em with p e rsonality by conne cting them w ith
ru lers w h o whethe r they were divine o r not were
cert a inly re al p ers onal and a ctive A t any rate
thi s sup e rsess ion o f the older gods b y these new
deities w a s th e cha ra cteristi c la st pha se o f a ncient
p agani sm Ph il o st r at u s s ay s that the statues o f
Tiberius we re lo oked up on a s b eing m ore s a cre d
an d inviola te than those o f Zeus in O lym p i a s o
th at it w a s an imp iety to strike a slave c arrying
a dra chma stampe d with the imp eri al image Thi s
i s echoe d and interp rete d b y T e rtullian w h o says
h
e
a
t
e
d
u
q
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
.
,
m
T e r t u l l ia n :
Re l ig io n e ,
a nd
m
A po l
A ording to L t t i ( D f l
the g oddess F lor was a dei fi ed Ro m n prosti
.
10
cc
.
ac a n
a
tute
so e of the rites c o nn e c ted
s ee m to j ustify the o p in io n
.
w ith
her
us
e
a
a so
w orshi p w o ul d
As
1 16
p e cts
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
osis i s avoide d by the medi ate a ddres s o f wors h ip
to the royal daimon o r g e nius A s we have seen
the p r a c t ic a l r e s u l t of thi s conventional device
am ong the Rom ans w a s the full and unquali fi ed
23 3
S O it w a s als o among
d e ifi c at io n o f the ruler
the P ersi ans M ore over Dill s opinion cannot b e
supp o rted by an app e al to the Z end A ve sta The
fa cts a re these : U ndoubtedly Z o ro astrianis m o r
M a zdai sm b egan a s a monotheisti c movement o r
p erhap s I ought to say more stri ctly an anti p oly
the istic and unifying trend but for m an y centuries
it faile d t o conque r or a ssimilate the p olytheism
which it attempte d to displa ce
I n fa ct Z arathu stra himself wa s dei fi ed D a r
23 4 “
m e s t e t e r s ays emphatically :
A ll th e fe ature s in
Z arathustra p oint to a g o d
A s we h ave alrea dy
se en the Pe rsian king s were a ssimilate d to t h e
divine statu s o f Za rathustra himsel f through their
common p oss essi on with him o f the h va r e n O or
divine glory which i s by no means a mere h alo o r
au reole surrounding the king but a s u bs t a nt ia l
d ivin e e l e m e n t at once phys ical and transcendental
which is derived ulti m ately from A hura M a zda
but s econda rily by a miracle from Z a rathustra
himself A n d h ere t h ere i s discove rable a defi nite
.
.
’
.
,
.
.
,
,
-
,
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
.
F e l ix says
a lm s ed ) t hat it
qu m re g is
w s t t i s per I v i g n i m p ie
For the p l a c e of Zarathustra i n Mazdais m see S B E
V o l IV I n t Se c 40
283
M in u c iu s
“
a
u
u
o
s
e
( Oc t
u
.
,
e
XXIX
rare
,
5, H
’
.
”
a
.
,
.
,
.
,
.
.
.
.
.
,
Th e Ru l e r C u l t
-
a nd
P o ly t h e is m
1 17
line o f histori c connecti on b etwee n these i de as o f
ancient I ran and the Roman syste m o f d e ifi c at io n
A mong the go d s co m mon t o the I n do I rani an
p eoples b e fore thei r sep aration wa s M itra who
wa s frequentl y invoked together wit h V a runa an d
23 5
als o le ss frequentl y with I ndra
M itra is evi
d e n t ly the su n god a s h e is i denti fi e d a s the lig h t
o f V aru n a the sky go d
I n t h e A ve sta M itr a app e a rs a s M it h r a T h e
i denti fi cati on is evident b oth from the name and
the i denti cal a ttribute s W hile these attributes a re
m uch more clea rly de fi ne d in the A vesta they a re
evi dently the s ame The conventi onal title o f thi s
23 6
deity i s lo rd o f wide p asture s
M ithra i s the almost exclusive subj ect o f Yast
23 7
X
one o f the longest in t he A vesta and i s a d
23 8
dresse d in the M ih ir N yay is
T h e p osition o f
M ithra in l ate r M a zdaism and hi s i dentity wit h
M itra in the V edi c system a s well a s hi s relation
s h ip to A hura M a z da in the A vesti c syste m indi
cate cl e a rly th at he is a su rvivor o f a ncient p ol y
theism w h o re fus ed to b e ab s orb e d in t h e unifying
movement
I n the course o f t 1me all these surviving gods
.
-
,
,
.
-
,
-
,
.
.
,
.
.
”
.
,
,
.
.
,
2“
su b
.
23 °
2”
Hymn s of the
qnu
A t h arv a
u
V e n id a d : Fa r g ar d ,
M ih ir Y a st
.
3 53 1 3 55
III
,
Ved a
,
Cf
.
S
.
B E
.
.
,
vo l
.
42 ,
As
1 18
p
e cts
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
we re brought m ore o r less co m pletely under
23 9
but Mithra re m aine d go d b y
A hur a M a z da
deputy until the end o f t h e chapte r O f h i m
“
I cre
A hura M a z da i s rep resente d a s s aying :
ate d him a s wo rthy o f s a cri fi ce a s w orth y o f
24 °
p raye r a s myself
24 1
h e is sp oken o f a s the g ua rdian o f
A gain
“
truth and avenge r o f lies aw ful o verp owering
worthy O f s a cri fi ce and p rayer not to be d eceive d
anywhere in the whole m aterial W orl d and a s
“
24 2
the strong heavenly god
This i s m ani fe stl y
sync reti sm with the se a m s not V ery smoothly
i rone d out Mith ra is alien to M a z daism but i s
a rti fi cially include d in it
T h e im p ortance o f M ithra for my purp os e lies
in his relationship to t h e imp e ri al syste m at Rome
The d e ifi cat io n o f Za rat h ustra and h i s repute d
success ors on the throne o f I ran i s imme di ately
and insep a rably connecte d with th e s ep arate wor
ship o f Mithra the sun god a s the revelation an d
emb odiment o f the remote and dimly conceive d
The king s wer e related to A hura
A hura M a z da
M a zda in much the s ame fa shion a s M ithra him
s elf and we re s o t o s ay congeners o f the sun
go d sha ring with him the n ature and glory o f
,
,
.
,
”
.
,
,
,
,
,
'
”
.
,
.
.
.
-
,
,
.
,
,
,
23 9
8 B E,
240
Y a s t,
,
2“
Ib d , I 5
Ib d ,
.
.
i
i
.
.
.
vo l IV I n t
.
XI
XXXIII
.
,
1.
.
.
.
,
pp
.
LIX
ff
.
As
1 20
p e cts
o
R o ma n
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
o f the system excep t that it s ee m s fi rst to h ave
spre ad among the lowly until the perio d o f the
A ntonines p rob ably b e caus e the movement re ally
did not get under way until the incorp oration o f
C app a doci a P ontus and C o mm a g e n e where its
centers were a p roce s s whi ch wa s not co m plete d
until t h e reign o f V esp a si an
I n the course o f time it swept the empi re and
le ft behind it abundant m onumental and ep igraphic
testimony to its sp re a d and p ower I t la sted in
out o f the way pla ce s until the fi fth cen t ury
T h e most striking fa ct in thi s whole ro m anti c
history however is y et to b e told ; n amely that
t h is world movement swe eping in from every di
re cti on up on Rom e the most comp rehensive and
p owerful revival o f p aganism in all its pha se s
kn own t o h isto ry which wa s thought by m any to
thre aten the very li fe o f C hristi anity itself wa s
in the final outcome hitched to the cha ri ot s o f the
C e s a rs and m a de the the oreti cal j usti fi cation o f
empe ro r wo rship T h e blend ing o f M ithrais m
with the impe ri al cult p rob ably b egan in a tent a
tive and secret way under T ib erius and found
op en exp ression in the reigns o f C al igula an d
N ero b oth o f whom we re m a de s ola r d eitie s in
th e E a st
O n the othe r h and the underground p rep ara
ti on for the fi n al union o f these two system s b egan
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
-
-
-
.
,
,
,
-
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
Th e Ru l e r C u l t
an
-
d P o ly t h e is m
12 1
long be fore this I n the ye a r 4 0 B C o ccurred
“
the famous dinne r o f the twelve gods at which
a ccordin g to the lamp oone r o f the o ccasion Im
z4 4
T his
p i a dum Ph o e b i C a esar mendaci a lud it
was p erhap s not a seri ous pre sentation o f him
self in the cha racter o f A pollo by A ugustus but
late r developments S how that it remained in his
thought I n the ye a r 2 8 B C A u g ustus initiated
a revival o f the A pollo cult by the dedication o f
a new and magni fi cent temple to A p ollo on the
P alatine and in the lib rary ha rd by he set up a
statue O f hims elf a dorne d with the attributes o f
24 5
T his movement towa rd the id e n t ifi ca
A p ollo
tion O f himself with the A p olline and sun worship
culmin ate d in the Ludi S a e cu l a r e s o f the ye a r 1 7
BC
I n the course o f thi s ceremony the ca rm en
o f Ho ra ce wr itten a t the d ictation o f A ugu stus
wa s sung by a chorus o f b oys and girls fa cing the
great temple o f A p ollo in quo solis e rat sup ra
24 6
T o the sun thus rep resente d
fastigi a cu r r u s
the line s b eginning A hn e S ol cu rru nitido diem
24 7
we re a ddressed and a little later A ugus
que
.
.
.
”
,
,
”
.
,
,
.
.
.
-
,
,
.
-
.
.
,
,
”
.
,
”
,
LXX
uet
: A g
“
The S c holiu m of S ervius ( ad Bu c o l IV : 0 ) says : T u n s
ia m r e g na t A p o ll o ulti m u m s e c ulu m
quod S ibyl l a
s t n d it
S oli s esse m e m a v it t tan g it A g st m c i si m ul a c ru m fa c tu m
est c u m A p l l in is c u nc t is in sig n ib u s A u g ustus bore the titl e
S n of A pol lo — cf G a d t h
s n : A g s t s u nd S e i n e Z e i t
I p 4 6 II p 5 n 8 ; 6 n 9 58 0 Hora c e : O des III : XIV
P
ropertius
III
:2 8
“
244
S
u
.
.
2
.
,
.
a
,
or
o
u
e
u
”
.
.
24 "
,
,
1
.
,
2
,
u
.
o
,
e
”
o
“
u
1
,
r
,
1
,
,
au
,
,
.
C a r m e n S a c cu l a r e, 9, 50
e
.
u
u
u
.
A sp e cts
122
o
R o ma n
f
E mp e r o r W o rs h ip
-
himself is b rought forward in a skill ful a llu
—
si on t o the Juli an family the neve r fo rgotten
“
F owle r
C la r us A n c h isa e V e n e r is qu e S anguis
“
well says that the listeners fo rget the C apitoline
go ds a s t he y note the allusion to V enus and the
24 8
wo rl d wide p re stig e o f A ugustu s
I n t his way the wo rship o f A p ollo Helio s wa s
sub o rdinate d to the emp e ror cult and in due ti m e
the allie d M ithra sun worship su ffere d the s ame
? 49
fate
I n a Well known p a ss age o f Di o alre a dy
quoted T ir id at e s i s rep resente d a s gre eting N ero
a s M ith ra while this emp eror an d h is succe s so rs
are rep re sente d a s we aring an imp eri al crown wit h
da rting sun rays The Emp eror Gall ienu s is s ai d
t o h ave gone ab out clothe d in a co m plete s et o f
25 0
T h e late r
vest m ents symb olizing th e sun go d
“
emp e ro rs to ok th e sola r titles D o m inus e t D eu s
N at u s whi c h m akes them m ani fest ations or de
scent s o f t h e sun deity Thi s g o d come s d own
from he ave n to e a rth in the p e rs o n O f t h e e m
e
r
o
r
I
t
i
s
quite
p
ossible
tha
t
the
m
yste
riou
s
p
F o r t u n a wo rship which als o m erge s into t h e
“
emp ero r cult ( the p hra s e F o r t una Populi R0
“
m ani b e co m e s F o rtu na A u gu st I fro m V e s
tu s
,
.
”
”
-
.
-
-
,
‘
,
-
.
-
.
”
”
-
.
.
”
2“
R E R P
.
.
.
,
p
.
44 6
.
is to be re m e mbered that A pol lo and Mithra
ready been c o mbined a m ong the G reeks—see F ar n e ll
IV 2 8 n 6 ; 3 8 n a
T r e b e l l iu s P o ll io : G a l
24’°
It
,
,
1
.
1
.
.
260
.
,
h ad
o
p
.
al
cit
,
.
As
1 24
4
p
e cts
o
f
PO L YTH E I S M
.
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
PA NT H E I SM
AND
P olytheism
i s always roote d in p antheism
—
N a t u r ism that is the imme dia te worship o f nat
ural obj ect s and p owe rs conce ive d individually
p ers oni fi ed and d e ifi e d— always carries with it a s
an implicit and o ften unconsci ous p remis e the di
vinity o f th e wo rld a s a whole Philosophic o r
self cons cious p antheism which is fo r the few who
are cap able o f de aling with ab stra ctions o r gen
e r a liz at io n s
always ha s underground connect i on
with p olyt h eism — the p opular a spe ct o f the s ame
25 5
wo rld V i ew
.
,
,
,
,
.
-
,
,
,
.
the pa n thei sm of the whole polytheisti c s ste m c onsult
H arrison : T h m i s p a s s i m p arti c u l arly C h X
The data pre
s ented in t h is som ewhat c onfusin g boo k are to be shar p ly d is
c ri m inated fro m the theories ere c ted upon the m
S e e F airbairn : P hilosophy of the C hristia n Re l i g io n pp
z4 f
That e v en
C f B i g g : O ri g ins of C hristi nity p 3 0 4
S toi c p ntheis m l e ds in the dire c tion f d ifi c a t i n is wel l ex
h ib it e d in the followin g fro m C i c ero s S m n i m S c ip i n is
Deu m te i g itur sc it esse si
( D e Repub l i c a C h XXIV
quide m est de u s qui v ig e t qui sentit qui m e m in it qui p ro
videt qui t a m v g it t m d t
t m v t id c orpus
cu i
p raepositus est quam h u n c m undum i ll e p rinc eps deus e t c
The pra c tic a l i m possibi l ity of es c apin g the p ower of the
m an c ult for any one reared in the p g a n syste m however
e nl i g hte n ed and i n telle c tu al is thus strikin g ly illustrated in
the c ase of C i c ero C ol l atin g the c itations already m ade fro m
C i c ero we have the fo l lowin g c urious res u lt
Divine honors
for hi m se l f nisi v e rb u m he de c lined and he was a bo ut
equal ly an g ered n d dis g usted by the de v elop m ents f the
Julian c ult ; but when his dau g hter Tullia died he persistently
hel d to the idea of ere c ting a fa n e to her as a divine being and
in the mystic m ood of the S m n i m Sc ip io n is he developed t h e
“
idea that m a n is a deity d iffering o nl y in de g ree fro m i ll e
p rinc eps deus qui m undu m r e g it
254
On
y
e
,
,
.
.
.
255
.
,
1
.
a
.
a
a
.
,
o
e
’
.
,
o
u
o
o
,
e
o
,
,
,
.
e
,
,
o
era ur
,
e
o
e
,
”
,
.
,
a
-
,
,
.
.
,
“
or
,
”
,
a
O
-
,
,
o
u
”
.
Th e R u l e r C u l t
-
P o ly t h e is m
a nd
125
The swing from one a spe ct o f natu re to anothe r
in the p olytheist s ce a seless and feverish hunt for
—
the ultimate t o which allusion h a s alre a dy b een
—
m a de is bound to bring him a round to man as
the fi nal te rm in the na t ural p roces s which he rec
Og n iz e s a s d iv in e
N a t u r ism which constantly tends to lo se its a rti
fi cial content o f p ers onality and be come impe r
sonal and ab stra ct b oth develop s and re a cts int o
22 6
the p e rsonalism o f man worship
T hi s j usti fi e s
“
the brilli ant gene rali zation o f Bo is sie u : C é t a it
l e ter me in evit ab l e auquel devait ab outi r l e p an
théisme antique c t i dole p our idol e l e de rni e r des
V ivants comme dit T e rtulli an éta it p ré fé rable au
25 7
plus illustre mo rt
T h e individual obj e ct wo r
whic h in its
sh ip e d i s p a rt o f a la rge r whole
totalit y i s divine but undivided is too va st and
vague t o wo rship
’
.
,
,
-
.
’
,
,
,
,
,
”
.
,
,
,
,
.
uddhis m C onfu c ianis m and C o m tian p he n om e n l P osi
al l three attem pts to substitute i mpersonal forc es or
abstra c t prin c ip l es for the p erso n alis m o f r e l ig io n have in the
end reverted to the p ersonalism against whic h they were p rin
O n the transfor m ation of nature powers into
c ip a l ly fra m ed
m en of heroic di m ensions see Ré v il l e : Hibbert L e ctures for 8 84
( N Y 8 4 ) p 2 0 6 O n the c o mbin tion of n ture powers and
dei fi ed m en see M o o re : H ist o f Re l ig io ns p 9 5 ; H arriso n :
T h m is p p 44 5 6
I ns de Lyo n p 51
25°
B
t iv is m ,
a
,
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a
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C HA PTE R X
THE
RU L ER C U L T
-
A N D THE
J
D
fE
O
U
C H RI STIA N
M OVE M E NT
1
.
THE
J
Ew s A N D
E M P E RO R WO RS H IP
-
HE tr ansition from the d ec ad ent p agani sm
o f the e m p ero r cult t o the contemp ora ry
th ought and worship o f the Jews is the entrance
25 8
into a new wo rld
I t would b e di ffi cult to e x ag
gerate the s ense o f relie f which one feels in p a s s
ing fro m the h e ated arti fi cial incense la den at
m o sph ere o f th i s court wo r ship into the la rger and
fre er thought o f t h e worship ers o f Je h ovah T h e
di fference between the self inclosed p agan thought
which changes fro m deity to deity but neve r e s
c ap es from a syste m b ounde d by n ature on the
on e h and an d m an on the other to the thought o f
thos e who se Go d i s a univers al invisible sp i ritu al
an d ethical p erson ality can b est b e re ali ze d b y a
.
-
,
,
.
-
,
'
,
,
,
,
The ge n era ll y fair rec ord of the Je w s i n regard t o the
e mperor c u l t has one spot o n it I n A km n ia the High priestess
of A ugu stu s w as a Jewess a n d built the Jews a sy n ago g u e
Jews were in Offi c e when the c oin to P o pp e a was stru c k— Ram
say : Op c it I pp 6 3 7 640 64 9 5 ; cf P hi l o : Fl accu m 7 ;
L e g at io ad G aiu m 2 0
21
58
o
.
-
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,
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-
-
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1
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,
A sp
128
e cts
o
f
R o ma n
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
p aganis m began with the Jews a mong whom
C hristianit y whi ch w a s the heir o f Jewis h mono
th eis m wa s cra dled C hristi ani t y m a de use o f the
Jewi sh S criptu re s and wa s p o werfully mol d e d by
them On the ot h e r hand it w a s C hri stianity
wh i ch free d the e s sential Jewish te a ching from its
i
l
a
m
and
ma
de
it
a
world
p
owe
r
I
t
wa
s
a
r
t
c
f
f
s
u
p
not Juda ism w h ich wa s calle d up on to resist t o
th e de ath t h e p an Roman Im p e ri al system but
C hristianity
The re a son for this is n ot fa r to
seek
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
-
-
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-
,
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.
a
.
THE
TEA C H I NG
H RI ST A ND
C U LT
OF C
T HE
I M P E RI A L
T h e foun d er o f C hristiani t y wa s b orn un d e r
A ugu stus a nd cruci fi e d unde r T ib erius
T h e last
su rvivo r o f His immedi ate dis ciples suffere d unde r
D omiti an in the last deca de o f the fi r s t centu ry
By the time o f V a l e n t in ia n u s and midway o f
the fi ft h centu ry the e m p ero r cult ha d lost it s
p owe r alth ough t h e o ffi ci al frame work o f it still
sto od
M eanwhile no m inally C hristian e m p e r
o r s like C on stantin e h a d b een o ffi cially d ivi an d
h a d w ink e d at the continuance o f the p agan fa m
ily ritu al whic h coupled their name s with those o f
the gods
A n allege d C hristi an write r at t h e end o f the
.
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,
,
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,
,
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,
Ru l e r C u l t
-
an
J
d
u
d
o
e
M o ve m e nt
C h r is t ia n
129
peri od now unde r review could write : ( milite s )
ju rant autem per D eum e t p er C h r ist u m e t p er
Sp ir it u m S anc t um e t per m aj e st at e m Im p e r at o r is
qu a e secu ndum D eum generi humano d il ig e n d a est
e t c o l en d a
N am I mp eratori cum A u g usti no m en
a cc e p it tamquam pra esenti e t co rp orali D e o fi d e lis
est p r a e st an d a d e v o t io e t im p e n d e n d u s p e rvig il
26 0
fam ul at u s
H e va inly tries to s o ften this e vi
“
dent compromi se with p aganism by saying : H e
s e rve s Go d wh o fa ithfully hon o rs hi m who rule s
by the authority o f God
I t i s evident enough that the syst em die d slowly
and di ed h ard but at la st it died Betwe en the dei
fi c at io n o f Juliu s C e s a r and the fi nal dissolution
o f the stru cture who s e corner stone wa s lai d in
26 1
th at d e ifi cat io n
lie s the history o f nascent
—
fi v e full centurie s
Ch r 1st 1an 1t y an d a little more
o f intense complicate d and colorful life to depi ct
whi ch a dequ ately would take v o lumes
O ne
thre a d only o f thi s complex histo ri cal fab ric I
wi sh to draw out to vi ew
Ju st a s deca dent p aganism wa s inte rp rete d in
term s o f the emp e ror cult its fi nal and supremely
cha ra cteri sti c p ro duct s o through the s a m e m e
,
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II V
V e g e ti u s :
As
“
”
A u g u st a l is
a term inus ad que m — in the C odex J u stinian u s the
titl e
seem s to be c on fi ned to the P refe c t of E g ypt
and is entire l y otiose see Dig
C I 3 7 ; cf C o d T h e o d
2“
XV I,
X
,
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,
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1 1.
.
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,
A sp e c t s
13 0
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
d iu m ,
in its co nne ction with the s a m e syste m I
would view nas cent C hristi anity I do this b e
c a use in thi s conta ct whi ch b e ca m e a confl i ct a
l o u t m nc e the e s s enti al quality and spi rit o f C hris
I f I m is
t ian it y we r e ex h ib ite d a s nowhere els e
take not this is the centra l thre a d o f e a rly C hris
tian h istory
Jesus in His te a ching does not menti o n t h e
Rom an Emp ire by name and yet incidenta lly and
als o In th e general sub stance o f His te aching It Is
qu ite evident that He kn ew that His move m ent
wa s a c h allenge to the dominant p ower o f the
—
w o rl d a c h allenge b ound to p roduce conflict and
revolution I nci dentally He m a de thi s re m a rk :
,
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“
B
oi
aa t h ei s 7
'
'
631) eflvéav Kvp LGIJ OUO LV
'
’
atrr cf w,
min
o
'
o vr e s
o vo t dg
f éE
etc
I t cannot in vi ew o f the context b e a mere coin
c id e n ce that in a p assa ge which sha rply s ets H is
dis ciple s against the p revalent e t hni c custom
C h rist s h oul d u s e the familia r divine titl e o f the
P tole m aic king s
The exqui s ite irony involve d in
the contra st b e t w e en t h e verb forms and the title
m a rk s it a s o riginal and a s the utterance o f one
w h o h a d a kn o wl edge o f wo rld movements
M oreove r in the consistent and detaile d te a c h
ing o f C hrist concerning the Kingdo mo f Go d
which i s constituted t h rough the o rganic working
41137
631!
'
'
évep yé r at
K ak o fivr a t ,
find
s
63:
o rJ x o iir ws ,
’
26 2
”
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,
,
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-
-
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,
,
2”
u
L k
e
,
As
13 2
p e cts
f
o
R o ma n E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
bl e t h an tho s e in whi ch Tert ullian de fi nes his p o si
tion and th at o f h is fell ow believe rs with reference
—
to th e empire and its he ad in whi ch he re fu s e s
t o call the emp eror god but p rays for him wit h
26 3
all honest f ervor and devoti on
O f cour s e this inward p rinciple o f C hristi anity
wa s only gra du ally di sclose d to the world W hen
it w a s dis cl osed the e ra o f ma rtyrdom wa s on
L et u s tra ce it s development
-
,
.
,
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,
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I)
C
.
H U RC H
AND E
M PI RE I N
THE B
OO K
OF A C
TS
Th rou ghout the entire Bo ok o f the A ct s whic h
b re aks o ff abru ptly about the ye a r 6 2 A D t h e
attitu de o f the Roman s to the C h risti an s w a s
favo rable rathe r th an o t herwi se A t the en d o f
A cts t h e A p o stle P aul wa s a p ri sone r at Ro m e
but only b ecause o f the a ctivity o f the Jews against
him and a s the re sult o f h is own app eal t o C aas ar
He w a s treate d with extreme leniency and wa s
app arently con fi dent o f rele a se
Tertu ll ian A p ol 5 in whi h he p oi n ts o u t ho w the
S
Ro m ans m ade their g ods by o ffi ia l de ision
A po l
i n whi h he a ffi rm s that a ll the gods were dei fi e d
m en
A po l 3 i n w hi c h he shows how irrevere n t l y the Ro m a n
treated their g ods
A pol 3 in w hi h he states his ow n p ositio n This is a
,
.
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,
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,
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”
:
ee
.
:
c
,
c
.
:
10,
.
:
0,
c
.
c
.
s
.
:
c
0,
sub l i m e p assa g e both fro m a reli g ious and a l terary p oi n t
of v iew Nothin g c ould show m ore c l early how i mm eas u ra b ly
C hristi anity had broade n ed the m ental horizo n of its advo c ates
than this p assage
17
C} a l so ibid 3 2 3 5 a n d L a c t Div I n s t
.
i
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-
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,
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Ru l e r
c
-
C ult
'
an
'
M o v e m e nt
d J u d m C h tj zs t za n
o-
A F T ER T H E
3
M PI RE IN N E Ro s RE I GN AN D
B E G I NN I N G o r P E RS E C U T Io N
’
C H U RC H A N D E
.
13
I n the ye a r 6 4 A D
the Ne ronia n p e r s e cution
broke out in the course o f whi ch i f we follow the
well authenti c a ted tra diti on Paul lost hi s li fe a s a
m a rty r b ut only a fte r relea se a p eri od o f fre e
dom a second arrest and trial F rom th at time
on the C hri sti ans were in dange r at any time o f
being a rrested a s m ale fa cto rs th at is a s crimi
mals accuse d o f sp eci fi c offens es a gainst the law
The next gre at p ersecutor o f the C hristi an b o dy
wa s D o m iti an and a s all c o mp etent histori ans
h ave note d a gre at change h a d come over the
at titude o f the Rom an authorities N ero s p erse
c u tio n wa s indivi du al and t h e attacks up on C hris
ti an s imm e diately sub sequent were also u n o r g an
iz e d an d sp oradi c b a se d l a rgely up on a ccu s ations
o f d e la t o r s and trump ed u p criminal cha rges
U nde r D omitian a s refl ected in t h e A p o cal yp s e
and even e arlier a s shown by the fi rst Epistle o f
P eter p ers ecution ha s be come regula r organize d
an d p itile s s but more imp ortant still it ha s in
th e cours e o f ab out th i rty ye ars become criminal
e
r
s
e
to
b
e
a
hristi
an
N
o
form
o
f
wrong
C
p
do ing othe r than belonging to the C hristi an b ody
ne e d b e p rove d a gainst the a ccuse d in o rder to
bring immedi ate condemnati on W h at brought
.
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,
A sp e c t s
134
o
f
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
-
about t h is c h an g e o f sentiment on the p a rt o f the
Rom an aut h oriti e s it is not di ffi cult to dis cover
.
(1
.
T H E CA
U SE S o r P ERS E C UTIO N
L o ok fi rst at the charges aga inst C hristians
which were c o nsi dere d by Roman o ffi cials in the
e a rly p erio d and tho se which we re di smisse d o ff
h and in thes e same courts
I n every instance re co rde d in the Book o f the
A cts when Paul alone o r with his a sso ciate s wa s
b rought be fore the Roman tribunal the qu estio n
turne d not on h is guilt o r innocence but on the
questi on o f j ur is d ic t io n and the na t ure o f the a c
.
,
,
,
c u s a t io n
.
A t Ph ilippi ,
the crowd a ccused Pau l a nd S ila s
a s Jews with teaching what wa s unlawful for the
Rom ans T h e magistrate s were evidently gre atly
distu rbe d re as onably enough fo r it wa s danger
ous fo r a Ro m an city to h ave such cha ra cte rs a s
the C hristi an s were a ccuse d o f b eing a t la rge and
ha stily and without rega rd for form s o f law o r
dered them severely s courge d and thro w n int o
p rison This wa s a mistake a s p resently wa s re c
o gn iz e d
fo r these unknown Jews happ ene d to b e
Rom ans T h e magi strates we re oblige d to sue fo r
favo r in o rde r to get ri d o f thei r trouble s o m e
26 4
,
,
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,
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” 4
Ac
ts
,
f
.
13
As
6
p
e cts
o
f
R o ma n
E mp e r o r W o r s hip
-
tion o f hi s court He did not nee d to try the c a se
an d ther e fo re would not
26 7
trou ble a rose between the P aul
A t Ephe sus
ine comp any and the shrine m akers and s elle rs o f
the l o cal cult o f Di ana N ote a s germane to ou r
whole discussi on t h e fact that the religi ous ant a g
I t is
o n is m arise s ove r a purely local wo r ship
not Jup iter C ap it o l inu s for whom the fanati cs a re
j ealou s but Di an a o f the Ephesi ans A n d here
an extremely inte re sting fact eme rge s The
“
—
si
a
rchs
that i s th e p rovinci al priests o f t h e
A
—
e
emp ror cu lt t o ok the side o f P aul to the extent
o f giving hi m a frien dly wa rning not to b rave th e
fu ry o f the mob The explan ation o f thi s rather
anom alous p roceeding i s that the A si arch s ha d
no ze al fo r Di an a and felt n o antagonism to P aul
a s long a s they re cognize d n o d anger to the im
p erial cult
L ate r in his famou s le t ter the
26 8
Emp e ro r Juli an
e xp ressly c h arge d t h e p ro
vin c ia l pri e s ts with the ta sk o f watching t h e C hris
ti an s but at t h i s d at e the imp eri al syste m w a s not
a rous e d against the C hristi ans A t Ephesus the
antagonism to Paul ha d no legal standing an d wa s
e asily controll e d by the authoritie s
I n h is de fens e b e fore F estu s at C msa r e a Pa ul
e xp re ssly stated th at h e ha d done nothing against
C ae s a r and t o cap the climax o f the whole strug
A cts
f
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”
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L
etter
49
.
Rule r
-
C u lt
a nd
J
u
d
g e-
M o v e m en t
C h ris t ia n
13
7
gle when Festus wanted to turn h i m ove r to the
Je w s app ealed to C ms a r T h e appe al o f course
ca rrie d L ate r A gripp a s aid to F es t us that the
p risoner might have been rele a s ed then and the r e
h a d he not s et the ma chine ry o f the Emp ire in
op eration by app e aling t o C ms a r
—
B
This is the record in the o ok o f t h e A cts and
the lesson i s plain T h e C hristi an s cann o t b e
b rought be fo re Roman magistrates to b e trie d ex
cept fo r p o lit ic a l afi e ns e s — o fl e n s e s against the
law o f the empire o r the p erson o f t h e emp ero r
Th e next inference al so is inevitable that b e t w een
th e clos e o f A cts and the reign o f D o miti an when
to b e a confesse d C hristian i s a cap ital o ffens e
p e r s e C hri sti anity ha s be come a p olitical offens e
in the two sens e s j ust mentioned T h e autho r o f
I P ete r urge s t h e C hristi ans to be b rave in su ffe r
26 9
ing
and cle arly intimate s that in his ti m e the
b eli evers a re su ffe ring s imply fo r b eing C hristians
C hristianity is no
fo r the n a m e o f C hrist
longe r a pha se o f Juda ism to b e dismi s se d a s Gal
“
li o dismissed it wit h a look ye to it a ddres se d
C hri sti ani t y i s now seen
to diso rde rly Jews
to b e a dea dly mena ce to the unity o f the empi re
and the sup rema cy o f the emp e ro r T h e A p o ca
,
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”
,
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i
.
269
on
l’
a
6 13
7
7
I
6
P eter
,
4
:1 2 1 6
-
3 56 5m K a t f a
7 7 3
n a a x ér a
6 c w s xp w
0 7 1593
.
w goo
’
n a vo s ,
E
To v
t’ e US
M7
t
6ne t 5£§ e o fle
96 0 0 w ve vu a
i)
xk
én r ns
é
a ia x vv a flw ,
’
c v o vo u a n
‘
o
eg
vu ci s ( w
ar
xp w
fi iv
m/ e r a t
’
u a né p co c
‘a
uh Y p
‘
r es
fixa xo n o w s fiw s d k h o r p t e fl l mco wo s
6a £c § ér o as r o v Osov cu f t; o vo p a n
'
,
’
’
’
13
A sp
8
e ct s
o
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
R o ma n
f
-
reco rds in vivi d imagery the struggle whic h
h a d just b egun when the fi rst P etrine le t ter wa s
written Rome i s the gre at ha rlot drunk with
th e blood o f the s aints T h e emp e ror o r rather
the imp e ri al system ( not t h e individual emp e ror )
c o ns id e r e d a s t h e c l a im a n t o f d ivin e h o n o r s i s the
2 7 0—
th e sum total o f th e fo rce s th at claim
Bea st
to b e go d a nd yet a re against God W e fin d t h is
s am e antithesi s o f p agani sm centere d in the em
e
and
the
followers
o
f
h
rist
in
all
these
r
o
r
C
p
later b o ok s o f t h e New Testament W estcott h a s
“
‘
27 1
said :
I n the E m p ero r the world found a
p erson al emb o diment and cla ime d divine honors
A single sentence o f P aul s over against the a tti
tude o f D omitian the emp er o r o f John s visi on
will S how h ow this struggle a ro se P aul s ays
“
N o m an sp e aking in the Spi rit o f Go d s a i t h Jesu s
i s anathema ; and no m an can s ay Jesus i s L o rd
but in the Holy Sp irit
O f cou rs e thes e are not m e rely forms o f wo rds
they emb ody the whole C hri stian and anti
C hri sti an con fessions
The C hri sti an calle d Je sus
“
D ominus
He could not als o call the emp eror
“
—
D ominu s
a s D omiti an love d to b e calle d A d
cl am a r i eti am in A m p it h e a t r o e pu li di e l ib e n t e r
27 2
D o mino e t D o m ina e felicite r
l yp s e
.
,
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,
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’
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’
’
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,
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“
,
”
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,
-
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”
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”
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°
”
.
27 °
Rev
13
pistl e to Joh n
uetoni u s : Do m
E
S
.
.
2d
,
.
,
edit
13.
.
,
p
.
2 68
.
A sp e c t s
140
o
f
Ro ma n
E mp e r o r W o r s h ip
-
an d he m ight have lived Bu t when h e re fuse d
“
the court ro o m was fi lle d with t h e cry : Pol y
27 “
ca rp h at h confes se d tha t he is a C hri stian !
N 0 o the r condemnation wa s ne cess a ry o r thought
o f He h ad bla spheme d the de ity o f the e m pire
and m ust die a c o nfe ss e d m a l e fa c t o r in t h e e y es
o f the law
.
,
-
”
.
.
e
C
.
ON
CL
—
USIO N
C
H RI ST
A N D C ZE SA R
The conclusion o f the whole investigation is
now with in ou r re a c h and would se em to be in e v
it abl e
.
i s a di ffe rence b etween p a gani sm an d
C hristi anity n ot o f degre e but o f kind Th at di f
ference b e c o me s an imp ass abl e gulf the moment
the attempt is m ade to e stablish geneti c conne c
tion betwe en the two sy s tems I t is allowable to
call p aganism a p rep a ration fo r C hri stianity in
esp eci ally on its philo
a s m u ch a s it constitutes
s ophical S ide the b ro a dest and deep est disclosure
in histo r y o f the l imitations and ne eds o f the h u
m an he a rt It is not p oss ible in view o f the facts
many o f t h e mo st S igni fi cant o f whi ch have been
p a sse d in review here to make C hristianity an
evoluti ona r y derivative o f the system which it
antagonize d and sup e rseded
C hri sti ani t y and imp e ri al p aganis m a re m ost
IV 5 2 5
Ibid
T he re
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
27 °
.
,
,
1
.
.
Ru l e r C u l t
a nd
-
k id
d o-
C h r is t ia n
M o v e m e nt
14 1
widely s ep a rated at the p oint whe re historically
27 7
they come ne arest ea ch othe r
Thi s p oint o f
approa ch is found in the antithesi s o f D ivus Im
i
e
t
o
and
hristu
s
D
om
nus
r
a
C
r
p
Thes e two fi gu res confront e ac h other the one
th e genius o f p aganis m— the othe r the p r o t ag o
27 8
ni st rep resentative and L ord o f C hristi anity
There is the s ame centrality o f p osition in e ac h
case the s ame solita ry p re eminence the s ame a s
c r ip t io n s o f he avenly p owe r and glo ry
T h e sim
T here i s no phra seology
il a r it y he re i s startling
o f devoti on whi ch the C hristi an could a pply to
C hrist — L ord S avi our S on o f God God
which ha s not b een applied to the C msar s and to
their p rede ce sso rs in royalty o f othe r times and
in fa raway lands Bu t there the res emblance ends
N 0 one can p o ssibly be blind whethe r C hris
tian or not to the vast difference in cha racte r b e
twe en the p aganism which dei fi ed t h e C ms a r s and
the C hristi ani t y which worship e d C hri st
On
the one hand a fawning sycophancy whe re there
wa s not abj ect sup e rstition deep desp a ir and u n
fatho m able corrup tion ; on the othe r a lo fty t h e
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
”
,
Dil ] ( o p c it p p 6 2 2 3 ) says a lm ost the sa m e thi n g with
res p e c t to M thrais m : O n e g reat weakness of Mithrais m l ay
pre c isely here—that in pl a c e of the narrative o f a Di v ine l ife
ins t in c t with hu m n sym p athy it ( Mithrais m ) had o nl y to
offer the c ol d symbolis m of a c os m ic l egend
For the p g n view of this c ontrast see Julian : C a e s a r e s
Juli n seizes upo n C hrist s attitude to
H e r t h e in s E d p 4 3 1
w ard the sin n er for his attack
.
,
.
“
i
,
,
a
,
”
.
27 8
a
a
,
’
.
,
.
.
’
a
.
A sp e c t s
14 2
o
R ma n E mp e r o r
f
o
-
W o r s h ip
i s m a pure morality a s ane s ob e r uni fi e d gra sp
o f tru th a j o y o f li fe an d a d e ath les s h op e But
th at i s not the c o re o f the diffe rence T hat di ffe r
ence is focuse d in the two contra ste d fi gu res o f
C aes a r an d C hrist
F o r wo rd s which but reve al the p iti ful hu m an
weakness the ab su rdity and the b a sene ss o f the
gre ate st o f t h e C ae s a rs w hen applie d t o C hrist
a re like a cluster o f j ewels which belong to the
sunlig h t to which t h e y a dd nothing but fro m w h ich
t h ey gather a n d refl e ct unimaginable splen d o rs
F or a fte r all the p roblem o f religion is n o t to
pr o duce d e scr 1pt 1ve epithets but a p e rsonality to
fit t h em
H ere p agani sm f a ile d He r d ei fi e d
C aes a rs coul d not always fill let alone a do rn the
robes o f royalty to s ay no t hing o f the m o re augu st
ga rm ents o f deity W hile the humble G a lile an
whose Kingdom wa s n ot o f this worl d w h os e
crown wa s o f thorns and who se rob e wa s one o f
m ockery brought he a ven to e a rt h and m a de re a l
to m en the glor y o f the U nse en and Ete rn al
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
‘
[K cu
'
6 A6 yo s
éOea a dueOa
7ra r p 6s ,
6
V
6
9
{
7
6V
wh
ri v
ims
-
ff
ux
3
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( JS
[ LOV0 7
78
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wap ei
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7 01
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6 6811 1)
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31
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.
m in
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or e
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6 uo vo yevrj s 01563 6 63V
'
éxe ivo s éfnyfia a r o
.
e ls
Biblio g r a p hy
144
.
P a uly
W iss o w a :
Re al En cy cl o p ae die ,
-
E dition
S acred Bo oks o f the E ast
Bre asted :
Re cords o f
A ncient
N ew
E gyp t
F ische r : Ro m is ch e Zeitt a feln
Fyn e s C linton : F a sti etc
Ki ep e rt and Hulsen : F o rm a e U rbi s Ro m a e
.
-
A nt iqu ae
,
.
.
Suetonius : D e V ita C a e s aru m
D io C a ssius : Histo ry o f Rome
Ta ci t us : A nnales ( T a c
L ivius : A nnales
D io d o ru s Sicu lu s ( D io d
D iogenes L a e r t iu s ( D io g
Seneca : D e I ra
C i ce ro
A d Quintum e t al
.
.
.
.
.
,
O r a t io n e s
.
.
D e Re r um N atura
Juvenal ( M ayor s
Ph ilo : L e g a t io a d G a iu m
Josephus : A ntiquiti es etc
M o nu m e n t um A n cyr an u m A ugusti ( M o mm
sen )
V e ll e iu s Pa t e r cu lu s : Roman History
Pliny : N atura l Histo ry ( H N )
Ep istles
Pliny ( The Younger )
Lucretius :
.
’
.
,
.
.
.
W
.
Biblio g r a p hy
14 5
M etamorp h o ses
F a sti
Hero dotus : History
S e rvius : Schola e etc
ZE S Ch ylu s : Pe rs a e
F lavius V o lp is cu s
Pluta rch : L ives etc
T r e b e ll iu s P ollio
Ph il o st r at u s : A p ollonius o f Tya n a ( A pp
.
.
.
.
,
-
.
.
,
.
.
A mmi anus
M a rcellinus
.
.
Statius
S ilva e
Theb ais
V alerius M aximus ( V M )
V ergil : Bucolica ; Georgica
Pl ato : M eno
Lucan : Pha rs ali a
Luci an : D e o ru m C oncilium ; M e n ippu s
Eusebius : Hist Eccl
.
.
W
.
.
.
.
L a ct ant iu s :
.
D ivin a r um
L ib
F irmicu s M a t e r n u s
In st it u t io nu m
.
A ugustine
.
.
D e C ivitate D ei
Justin M ar t yr
Prudentius
Te rt ulli an : A p ologia etc
“
:
.
.
,
.
.
Sep
.
Biblio gr ap hy
14 6
II
.
M o dern W rite rs and M onograp h s
M ommsen
R6 m isch e Gesc h ic hte 5t h E d
.
o
R
( m
~
,
Sta atsrec h t 2 n d E d
M a rqua rdt : R6 m is ch e
1
8
8
5)
(
D b lling e r :
e
t
h
m
u
d
n
u
J
Regensburg 1 8 57
Histo ry o f
T e u ffe l :
,
.
.
.
Sta
ats
)
(
Sta atsve rwaltung
.
und H e id e nt h u m
,
Ro m an
L iteratu re
Erm an : L i fe in A ng ie nt E gypt
I S94 )
Br ugsch : E gyp t un d e r the Ph a r a o h s ( Eng
L on d on
tr
F a rnell : C ults o f t h e Greek States ( V o l
IV )
M ah a ffy
Greek L i fe and Though t ( L on d on
.
-
,
.
,
.
.
,
Histo ry o f E gyp t unde r t h e Ptolemies
L
ondon
(
E m p ire o f the Ptolemies ( N Y
Lyall : A siati c Studies ( L ondon
Rams ay :
C iti e s a nd Bishop ri cs o f Phrygia
Histo ri cal Ge ography o f A si a M ino r
,
.
.
,
,
.
.
Biblio g r a p hy
14 8
tion I h a ve not venture d to inclu d e any wo rk
anci ent or m odern which I h ave not consulte d
and m any even o f these have b e en o m i t ted M o re
ove r I h ave not allowe d m yself to form any im :
p ortant judgment excep t on the b asis o f an ancient
text T o th at extent my opini ons right o r wrong
a re m y own
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
I N D EX
A b eshu 7
A c ro 7
A e n eas 44
A e hylus 9
A grippin a dei fi ed 7 6
A hura Mazda 9
1
,
e
1
,
,
sc
,
A
l exa n der
1
,
the
.
102
,
3 5,
2 4,
,
85
A l exander Ro m a n e of 24
A l exander S ever u s
A l ii
ousi n of Moha mm e d
dei fi ed 3 6
A n tinous
6
A ntio hus
; dei fi ed 3 6
A n tonius M dei fi ed 57 6
A po alypse ( The ) 3 3
A p ollo 3
A rsino e P h l d lp h d ei fi ed
c
,
,
20
,
c
,
,
,
c
1,
,
.
,
11
,
,
0
,
,
c
2n
1 a
e
u s,
,
27
rtaxerxes 2 0
A rva l B rothers The
A
an d
,
,
n
.
,
82 n
78
,
.
A s lepius 3
A sia Mi n or 7 9 8
A t b k
hero 3 4
A thenagoras 5
A thens 7 9
A tossa d of C yr u s 2
A t t lid w 3 6 6 9
A tta l us ; dei fi ed 3 6
A ttalus P hil adelph u s 3 6
A tti us fr of C i ero 4 5
A u g ustales 6 6 7 a n d
c
2n
,
,
s ra
a
.
o s,
,
,
,
,
,
c
.
,
n
7 7, 8 3 , 8 9
A u g u st a l ia , 6 9
A g e,
g
A u ustan
B
B
.
,
,
II d ei fi ed
,
as
.
,
,
,
,
,
Pt o l
.
,
.
,
A
,
Be u r l ie r , 5 8, 8 0
B g g, 1 24
B c , 2 8 , 57 n , 7 2 n
Bo iss ie u , 4 8 , 7 1 n , 8 7 , 1 2 5
H , 2 2, 2 3
B a
,
K , 29
B g c ,
B
,
41
i
oe k
n
,
0
.
re sted J
ru s h H
u ddhis m
.
,
57
n ;
n
.
.
.
.
.
.
51 ,
,
.
,
53 , 54 , 55, 56 ,
58, 59, 60 n , 8 1 ,
.
1 13
a sarea te p l es ) 7 o u
son of C aesar a n d
leopatra dei fi ed 3 0 3 1
ali ul a
aius c o m pared
with T
Mo mm sen on
9 5 ; a n d Drusill a 9 5 ; and
Pt o l
9 6 ; m adness of 9 6
C e
( m
C ae s a r io n,
C
,
C
G
,
g
ih , 94 ;
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
.
1 0 2,
64
,
abylo n 1 6
ereni c e d of
8 2,
0
,
c
,
.
1,
pol l o
;
and n 1 2 8
A u st see bib 4 7 4 8 49
A vesta ( Zend ) 1 8 1 1 6
11
1
1 12
10 1,
esar J
57 and
,
,
;
121
Ca
,
.
o n,
o e
.
1 00
0
,
,
a
1
.
,
,
1
,
,
1,
2
10
,
,
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reat
u
c
1 18
,
G
n
,
,
a e s,
o
.
,
,
4
,
11
0
,
,
,
,
.
1
,
A u g u sti ( T h ) 7 5 7 6 7 7 7 8
83
A u g ustus 4 8 53 5 s 59 6 9
C l
( see S d l
7 and
tores P rovin ia l P riests
H i g h P riests ) 7
72 an d
Jupiter 7 m ; 7 3 7 4 7 9 8
See P l m V erg i l o n
9
C
,
,
120 ,
127
a m eo ( P aris )
,
1 1 2,
1 13
,
Ind e x
1 50
C
C
C
C
arter J B 42 47 4 8
hina d e ifi c a t io n in 2 0 2 1
hrist n d C e sar 1 40 1 4 3
i c ero M T 4 5n 5t u 60 n
.
,
.
,
dei fi ed as K h u dd r 40
peror C u l t 8 8 2 see
Te mp l es ; 8 3 84 8 5 8 8 8 9
E l 1j a h ,
Em
,
,
,
,
,
-
a
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
l udius 9 1 1 0 2 1 0 3
odex T h e d sia nu s
o odus 1 2 3
nfu ius dei fi ed 4 1
ultores 7 0 8 9
u ont 1 5 1 2 3
y l ades 2 6
D arius
,
,
,
o
o
,
.
1
22n
E
E
E
,
,
20
,
D a r m e st e t e r ,
La S
D e ifi c a t io n,
1 16
De
aussaye 42
in p a g a n is m
and Mythology 3 8 4 1
not u m Rom an 4 3
C ult of D ead and 4 5n
,
,
-
10
3,
5
11
D e ifi c a t io n ,
tota l
,
t n hero dei fi ed 1 6
uhem erus 3 4 3 8 3 9 1 1 4
u m e n es 3 6
a
.
,
37 ;
42 ;
45 ;
52 ,
82
,
,
.
,
8 2,
58 ,
6 6,
2
a,
11
.
,
.
0,
;
.
a ll ienus
.
auta m a the
2
B
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
E c sh e l, 9 7
Eg
, d e ifi c a t io n
in
,
enius W orship of 4 6
Ro m e 4 9 ; 7 8 8 6 1 1 1
G i m i l S in dei fi ed 1 7
G lory Divine of P ersia n s
G
,
,
,
,
47 ;
1 15
,
,
,
,
,
,
1 8,
ods a n d m e n ( in Troj a n sto
ries ) 44 ; k i n ship w ith
c l ai m ed by Ro m ans
45
G r a t id ia n u s M M dei fi ed by
the peop l e 5 1
33n ,
.
,
13 8
22
.
,
W
riffi th F
G r ifli s,
G
,
G
G
,
G
,
16
.
,
.
,
,
.
rote
udea of
.
E
.
2 1n
,
H
.
,
.
2 8n
3 8,
.
39
S h ir p u r l a,
dei fi e d
H dria n 1 1 3
Haki m Ibn A ll ah deifi e d
a
,
uddha dei fi ed
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
G
,
,
as su n god
-
.
1 16
,
,
4 6,
43 ,
,
12
,
E mp
,
,
I,
,
Divi 4 8 7 8 8 2 1 1 1
Divine Kin g theory 2 5
D 6 llin g e r J J I vo n
67 82 8 6
Do m itian 7 7 7 8 90 9 8
Druses The 40
D un g i of U r dei fi ed 1 7
Duruy 4 8 n 50 11
Dynasties ( divi n e ) 2 8
,
7 7 , 90
,
,
,
.
ypt
2,
,
1
,
,
n
,
.
,
41
D io d o r u s S ic u l u s, 20
Dio g e es L a e r t iu s, 2 4
D io sc u r o i, 3 2 n , 3 3
Divi P a r e nt u m, 4 5
,
.
.
v
G
10 5
,
,
,
122
1
,
,
.
,
a
G
,
,
,
F airbairn A M 24
F rnell L R 3 3
F l m en 7 8
F l a ian House The
F lor
4
F owl er W W 42
47 49 5
S
3
F razer J G 4
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
a,
,
,
.
25
,
,
D essau 90
D eus Inv ic t u s 51 1 2 3
D i Manes 4 5
Dill S 6 7 n 1 1 5
Dio c l etian 0 5
Dio C assius 47 56
,
.
a
,
,
12 9
,
,
,
ah
s
n
,
,
n
1 1 1,
,
,
Em perors , 8 1 , 94
E n t e m e n a of L a g ash , 1 6
E rm a n, o
early d e ifi c a t io n,
.
,
,
,
sorbs Mithra and A p o ll o ;
1 2 8,
,
,
,
,
9 1 ; 9 3 , 9 9, m o ,
,
10 4
4 8n
,
1,
,
,
1 z4 n .
C a
C
C mm
Co
c
C
C m
C c
,
,
,
,
,
40
Ind e x
1 52
O lymp ia n deities
8
9
O vid on ZE
6 8, 7 2 ,
1 1 2,
1 14
0,
1 1 1,
0,
n e a s, 44 ; 4 6, 4 7 ;
,
R m
,
49
on
3 4,
,
o ulus
P a g a n is m i n o n fl i t 9 2 ;
7
P antheis m 4 7 2 4
P a u s ni s 3 5
P er g a m os 69
P erse utio n unde r Nero
10
c
c
,
99,
,
111
,
a
a
,
1
,
-
,
,
1
,
,
1
,
,
,
,
P h il o s t r a t u s, 9 8 n
E
,
.
P liny the lder 4 5 4 6
P liny the Y oun g er
P l utar h 3 3 3 4 3 5 6
P l mi
A l exander 2 4
P l m
of P ont u s 9
P olybius 8 5
P o l ytheis m fra g m entary
,
,
c
o e
n
,
,
.
,
on
,
w eakness
4
P o m pey the
,
12
10
10 8- 1 1 1,
,
a
G
,
,
.
,
,
,
5
.
,
,
n
0,
,
,
a
-
.
on
e n e s,
s
Saoshyant 9
Sardis c oin of
,
63 ,
8 5,
87
1
,
7 5n
A ug ,
,
,
S e g im u n d u s,
.
p riest
.
90 ,
,
91
ej anus
S
10 5
,
S e l e u c id e , 3 6
S
c , 5 1 ; Lu d u so f, 1 0 2
S
m, 2 1
S
E
G , 3 1 , 3 2 n , 3 5,
,
51
S t e r r e t, 7 9, 80
g
R , 42
S
,
S
R m c
,
, 62
S o d a l e s, 7 0
S
R E , 41n
,
S
(
) , 63
n , 66
,
5 6 , 5 8 , 6 8 , 7 3 , 7 4,
82, 98 n , 1 0 1 , 10 3 , 1 04
ene a
hintois
ihl er
.
.
.
ul t
.
-
peer
tatue w orship I mp eria l
an d
and n
Suetonius
.
.
.
-
.
.
.
2
,
,
.
.
,
n
.
u l t at
.
,
1 1 4,
24n
.
1 3 2n.
1 1 5,
.
,
46
,
,
,
,
50
,
7 6n
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
12
,
10 3
Throne na m es ( divine ) 2 8
Tiberius 7 4 7 5n 94 ; a n d
A u g usta n C ult 9 6 and n
1 4
2 ; statu es of
97 9 8
.
.
6 9, 7 1 , 9 7 ,
Im p
c
-
m say W M 3 3
6
R awli n son o n
Son of
,
1
( Ro m
T e u ffe l
2 5f
Qui n tus C i c ero 57 n
Quirinus 4 9 ; and Mars
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
2
,
22
62 ,
.
Ta c itus 62 6 5
Te mp les ( of
Ro m e ) 8 2
Tertu l lian 0 6
121
c
,
,
.
.
P rel ler L 5 6 3
P rop ertius
P rovin ial P riests 7
P seudo C l l i t h
4
P tah 7
P to l em ies The dei fi ed
Ra
1 1 4,
reat dei fi ed 57
S a b i n a dei fi ed 7 6 n
,
Po p p e
88 ;
,
of
n
re l igio n The
.
1
,
n
Sitlin ton
m ith W
myrna and o a
o u.
,
,
u s,
o e
100,
,
,
57
139
,
nd n
;
13 3
under Do m itian 1 3 3 ; c a u ses
of 3 4 140
P ersians d e ifi c a t io n a m o n g
8 8 4 see Mithra
P etro n ius 2 7
P hilip of Ma c edo n dei fi e d 3 5
P hilo of A l exandria 1 2 7
,
.
-
and
,
,
m
.
.
Ro m a
,
c
.
72
1
,
,
Re , 2 3 , 2 4
Renouf, P , 2 2 n
Re v il l o u t , 2 6
Rhodi ans , The , 2 6
Rhys , J 4 2
Ro g ers , R W , 1 7 a
Ro a c ult, The, 3 5,
11
,
,
128
1 20,
Titus
6 8n
Tr j an 0 0 1 3 and n
Tul lia d of C ic 4 5 1 24
.
Re ,
”
a
,
,
1
.
,
1
.
.
,
,
1
,
,
Ind e x
Un derw ood H C 4 m
Un i fi atio n un der Emp W or
.
,
c
.
.
,
.
,
.
,
8 8f
.
V a l eri u s Maxi mu s
V aru n a 7
V edas The 7
,
,
,
,
V e g e t iu s, 1 2 9
V e l l e iu s P a t e rc u l u s,
V er u s 5
V es p asia n
,
46
P apyrus The
,
8
,
,
.
A
.
G
on B ah is m 4 1
o n C sar as
a
,
.
25
,
,
,
e
,
,
,
,
,
,
-
.
59,
6 1n
.
,
Zarathustra ( Zoroaster ) 1 9 ;
dei fi ed 1 1 6
Zoroastria n is m see Mazdais m
,
9 8,
10 4
,
6 4, 6 8
,
10
,
W ilson
,
divus 53 59 6 3 6 6 8 0
W o l fe E xpedition 7 9
W orship of E mp i n l ife ti m e
59, 97
11
105
W a ssn e r
W e st c a r
W iss o w a
11
,
1 53
,