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WORSHIP OF EARLY CAESARS.
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Examines cultural & historical origins, evolution & reasons for deification of three early Roman rulers & cult of emperor worship.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines cultural & historical origins, evolution & reasons for deification of three early Roman rulers & cult of emperor worship.
Paper Introduction:
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY CAESARS AS DIVINITIES
This research paper discusses the origins, evolution and underlying reasons for the system of imperial worship which developed under the early Roman Caesars, Julius Caesar (b. B.C. 100, d. B.C. 44), Augustus Caesar (b. B.C. 63, d. A.D. 14) and Tiberius (b. B.C. 42, d. A.D. 37). Belief in the divinity of a Roman ruler first seriously developed during Julius Caesar's brief reign as dictator, primarily as an accoutrement of his rapidly accumulating and increasingly unrestricted power. The beginnings of a cult of emperor worship were cut short by his assassination, but its foundations were broadened by his deification during the succession struggle which followed. After he prevailed over his rivals for power, Octavian (later named Augustus) cleverly channelled the impulse toward emperor worship
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In B.C. [28] Buchan, 287-288. 48-44. Trans. As hegrew older and as his power became more secure, he grew less categoricalabout refusing honors. . He expressly forbade the erection of anytemples, statues or images in his honor, or the ordaining of any priestsfor him, except household numen type arrangements. Divus Julius. but his motives for doing so are not wholly clear. [3] R. Ogilviepoints out that "Roman religion is essentially the result of the fusion ofprimitive Latin and Greek elements."[3] According to him, "the chieffeature . First, asBuchan points out, "Augustus was as free as any man who ever lived fromwhimsies about his own divinity. [12] Weinstock, 411. Many such shrines, called Lares Augusti, were constructedthroughout the Empire. [23] Southern, 26. 48 he began to build (in Alexandria) the first ofseveral basilica (Caesaria) used to promote his cult of worship. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975.Ogilvie, R. Norton, 1969), 4. When he first consolidated power in or about B.C. [9] Weinstock, 12. W. He could gather all the powerinto his hands because he "enjoyed an enormous advantage . [31] Grant, 94. In accommodating tothe desires of his subjects in the East, Augustus was taking one of manysteps to unify what Ogilvie says was "a huge and motley Empire, whichcomprised all sorts of races, religions and colours."[16] Starr says that"Augustus found the role of earthly messiah useful as a way of promotingimperial unity."[17] Adkins et al noted that "the worship of the emperorbecame a test of loyalty to Rome: subjects were free to worship gods theychose, provided they also paid homage to the emperor."[18] Augustus proceeded much more cautiously in the West with respect topermitting outward displays of emperor worship and images, a caution whichincreased as one approached nearer to the city of Rome itself. As a hard headedrealist, some of the honors and perquisites of office Caesar rejected werenot essential to his central goal of gaining undisputed political power andwere less important than the titles he did accept such as Imperator(Emperor), Parens Patriae (Father of his country) and Dictator perpetuo(Dictator for life). New York: W. Ogilvie, The Romans and Their Gods in the Age of Augustus(New York: W. The succession struggle after the death of Julius Caesarhad been long and bloody. [14] Lesley Adkins & Roy A. Others, however, appeared to appeal to his personalsense of vanity or had symbolic import, such as the privilege of riding ina chariot drawn by white horse, sitting on a golden throne, the creation ofan empty golden chair at the theater and having his golden statute carriedin the procession of the gods and placed on the couch of the gods at theCircus. [25] Southern, 1 7. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1937.Chisholm, Kitty, and John Ferguson (Eds.). He may well havefelt that it would help to . The Romans and Their Gods in the Age of Augustus. He says that Caesar had no interest inbecoming a hereditary king surrounded by a panoply of divine attributes. . B.C. [7] Weinstock, 19 & 25. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.----------------------- [1] Stefan Weinstock, Divus Julius (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971),287. Thereafter, both typesof temples and shrines to Augustus proliferated in the East, especially inAsia Minor. Undoubtedly, the reason why Tiberius and hismother and Augustus' widow, Livia, had Augustus consecrated as a Roman godafter his funeral in A.D. . He also allowed himself to be referred to as a deity in Egypt,as had been the custom since the time of the Pharaohs. B.C. [22] Southern, 195. During that period, a comet reportedlyappeared every evening which the populace soon labelled the 'star ofJulius," and which Suetonius Tranquillus said represented the belief was a"blazing star" which "was to be the soul of Caesar received up intoheaven."[13] Octavian put a star on the statues of Julius Caesar and usedthe symbol on coins. He was content to rule in fact and to augment his powersgradually. . Rome The Augustan Age Part 1. Since he was assassinated beforehis plans fully ripened, it is difficult to state with certainty just howfar he intended to carry the emperor worship cult. Caesar claimed (on the basis of Homeric accounts) to havedescended through Aeneas from Venus, the daughter of Jupiter. Philemon Holland. 59 and its undisputed leader after hisdefeat of his great rival Pompey at the battle of Pharsalus in Thessaly inB.C. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars Emperors of Rome. 42, d. Weinstock states that what Caesar had in mind was to advertise "agrand scheme of ruler cult for his empire."[9] Ogilvie says that "Caesar,before his assassination, had determined to claim divine status for himself. According to Ogilvie, Mark Antony attempted to wrap himself in thedivinity of Julius Caesar, posing as Dionysius in Athens and as a royalconsort of the divine Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.[15] Such stratagems availedhim little since Romans knew the difference between Mark Antony and JuliusCaesar. but hitherto they had not been long lasting."[6] Julius Caesar as a God Julius Caesar was born to a patrician family in Rome, which tracedits origins back to a Trojan clan founded by Aeneas or one of hiscompanions. [18] Adkins et al, 1 6. 63, d. 46, he erected the TempleVenus Genetrix in Rome to emphasize his divine ancestry. W. [29] Kitty Chisolm and John Ferguson (Eds.), Rome The Augustan Age Part1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), 164. Augustus was content with thesubstance rather than the forms of absolute power and much less concernedthan his father with questions of divinity. Caesar's deification began in the East after his victory atPharsalus. In the lastmonths, Caesar was called Iuppiter Julius. justify the absolute monarchy which herealised was the only answer to Rome's perennial quarrels anddisputes."[1 ] Grant disagrees. [2] Weinstock, 19. According to Adkins et al, "acult of the assassinated Caesar grew up at the site of his cremation."[14]Just before Caesar's death, Mark Antony was appointed chief priest orflamen in charge of the various temples or shrines dedicated to Caesar'smemory. 63, he wasappointed chief religious magistrate, Pontifex Maximus, for life. . If Julius Caesar had not become a god by the time of his death, hewas close to becoming one. not anovelty in Rome . Pre-Caesarian Background Prior to the conquests of Julius Caesar and his rise to power as oneof Rome's three consuls after B.C. Adkins, Dictionary of Roman Religions (NewYork: Facts on File, 1996), 146. He could laugh at such pomposities."[19]He took advantage of his father's divinity for purposes of state, but"Augustus kept aloof from any such folly. Belief in thedivinity of a Roman ruler first seriously developed during Julius Caesar'sbrief reign as dictator, primarily as an accoutrement of his rapidlyaccumulating and increasingly unrestricted power. He called himselfsimply princeps or leader. He repudiated a personaldivinity."[2 ] Augustus was also, however, a great showman. 29 he permitted a temple of Roma and Divus Julius to beerected by Roman citizens at Ephesus and Nicaea and a temple of Rome andAugustus for non-citizens at Pergamum and Nicomedia. New York: Facts on File, 1996.Buchan, John. He denied aproposal by his friend Marcus Agrippa to erect a large temple to hisdivinity in Rome to be called the Augusteum. [13] Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, The Lives of the Twelve CaesarsEmperors of Rome (Trans. . Similar elements existed in Roman tradition and religion. the empirehad been convulsed and ruined by decades of civil war."[26] Toward the end of Augustus' rule, he relaxed his rules and acceptedmore honors, consulships for longer terms and consented to be calledImperator. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.Grant, Michael. [8] Weinstock, 41. As a young man, he hadclosely followed the events of the last months of 45 and the first part of44 which to him "comprised a whole catalogue of situations to be avoided ifever [he] found himself in a similar position of power."[23] He concludedthat "Rome was a more sensitive area, where proclaiming oneself a livinggod was not the wisest course to follow."[24] So, Augustus arrived at a compromise. Not longthereafter, he contributed to the legend of Caesar's divinity by organizingthe Ludi Victoriae Caesaris, games in honor of Venus to celebrate Caesar'svictories, which lasted ten days. [26] Michael Grant, The Twelve Caesars (New York: Charles Scribner'sSons, 197 ), 64. Caesar accepted some honors and rejected others. After his death, a shrine to the dead ruler's memory waserected on the site of his cremation in Rome. by Philemon Holland, New York: Heritage Press,1965), 63. 29-27, he refused titles such as lord (Dominus) or Dictator. [27] Grant, 64. [11] Michael Grant, The Twelve Caesars New York: Charles Scribner'sSons, 1975), 48. . In B.C. 14 was to ensure Tiberius' succession to power.According to Starr, "the most important single succession was certainly thefirst, that of Tiberius, which consolidated the principle that Rome wouldcontinue to be ruled by a princeps."[3 ] According to Grant, Tiberius was "a Republican by ancestry andconviction alike, [and] deprecated excessive adulation directedhimself."[31] Suetonius Tranquillus says that Tiberius "detested flatteryand obsequious compliments."[32] He refused the use the name August orother titles such as Imperator or Pater Patriae or to permit the month ofSeptember to be named after him. The beginnings of a cultof emperor worship were cut short by his assassination, but its foundationswere broadened by his deification during the succession struggle whichfollowed. Hewould, however, permit shrines or temples to be erected to worship hisguardian spirit, his Genius or Numen, which watched over every Romanfamily. B.C. Starr, The Roman Empire 27 B.C.-A.D. [24] Southern, 195. It was onlya short step from this to believe that you had within yourself divinepowers."[5] However, the Roman tradition had been otherwise before JuliusCaesar stepped onto the scene. Accordingto Weinstock, "this was done at once, in accordance with the Greektradition, in temples and public places, and he was often styled a god onthe inscriptions."[8] Various attempts were made in Rome at the initiationof his devoted Master of the Horse Mark Antony or the Senate to elevate himto superhuman status during the years B.C. became gods after their death."[1] Sometimesthe Greeks turned their greatest heroes into gods during life and believed"that kings and great men were descended from gods."[2] After his victoriesin India, Alexander the Great had demanded of the Athenians and had beengranted by them the honours accorded to a god. After he prevailed over his rivals for power, Octavian (laternamed Augustus) cleverly channelled the impulse toward emperor worship inpolitically acceptable directions which helped forge unity in theheterogenous Roman Empire and strengthen his regime. Weinstock views "Caesar as an imaginative anddaring religious reformer, who created and planned new cults, acceptedextraordinary honours, and died when he was about to become a divineruler."[12] Manipulation of Emperor Worship under Augustus Octavian, Caesar's adopted son and political successor as designatedin his last testament, was only 19 when Caesar was killed. 14) and Tiberius (b. . London: Routledge, 1998.Starr, Chester G. [32] Suetonius Tranquillus, 176.----------------------- 14 [5] Ogilvie, 119. Ogilvie says that "it was one thing to believe that a god stood byyour shoulder and helped you to overcome all your difficulties. Thus began the legend of Octavian as Divi Filius, theSon of God. A.D. He forbade any attempts (in theWest) to make him divine during his lifetime and emphasized his point byhaving melted down silver images of him as a god presented to him. 476 A Study inSurvival (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982), 31. BibliographyAdkins, Lesley, & Roy A. 37). . 31 and murderedCleopatra's and Julius Caesar's son Caesarion, he turned his attention tothe manifold problems associated with consolidating his rule. The Twelve Caesars. WORSHIP OF THE EARLY CAESARS AS DIVINITIES This research paper discusses the origins, evolution and underlyingreasons for the system of imperial worship which developed under the earlyRoman Caesars, Julius Caesar (b. He also accepted a variety of other honors,which Southern says fell into "categories of monumental, distinctions indress and in name, adulatory celebrations, and useful privileges."[25] Augustus ruled alone for many decades from B.C. Previous victorious generals, like GaiusMarcellus after he liberated Syracuse in Sicily from Carthage and TitusQuinctius Faminius who conquered Greece, had had temples named after them,statues erected and cults established in their honor, but the traditions ofRepublican Rome had militated against ascribing divinity to its rulers.Weinstock says that "religious honors for an individual were . In this way the belief inand practice of emperor worship came to serve as pillars of imperial rule. After Octavian (later named the Emperor Augustus) defeated his lastrival, Mark Antony, at the Battle of Actium in B.C. His recent biographer, Southern, notes that Augustus"was aware of and utilised every means of self-advertisement to elevatehimself and then maintain his pre-eminence" and comments that "the imagemakers of Hollywood would have nothing to teach Augustus."[21]According to him, Augustus saw the value "of the Imperial cult [as] one ofthe most remarkable and novel methods of bringing [him] to the notice ofhis people."[22] However, he proceeded slowly and circumspectly because hewas aware of the Romans' traditional aversion to kingship and divine ruleand more particularly, because of Caesar's fate. 44), Augustus Caesar (b.B.C. . To the end, he adhered to the principle that had helped keep himin power so long, namely, that "the ruler should exercise vast powers in away which took into account public opinion . At the same time Augustuspermitted large altars to him to be erected to him in other westernprovinces, such as the Altar of the Three Gauls at Lugdunum in Gaul and theAltar of the Ubis at Cologne. Conclusion The cult of emperor worship in the Rome of the first Caesars cameabout largely because of the accretion of great power to them. [16] Ogilvie, 4. In general, Tiberius dideverything he could to discourage emperor worship yet the widespread beliefin the divinity of the emperors continued. 48, Rome had generally not followed the practice of emperor worshipwhich had been quite common in Greece and other Eastern provinces.According to Weinstock, "it was an old Greek belief that great achievementsdeserved divine honours, and that is why the mythical heroes, [such asHeracles and Dionysius] . M. One was whatto do about the rising pressures for emperor worship. No one could or did effectively question his authority to rulethe Empire for more than four decades, although family plots, especiallyover the succession boiled from time to time. For example, at thepeak of this adulation in January 44, when Caesar was acclaimed king by thepeople of Rome and his statues were decorated with diadems, he repliedangrily that his name was Caesar, not Rex. JuliusCaesar, who thought he had divine origins, did more explicitly to encouragethe belief in emperor worship than did his successors, but ironically itsperpetuation was largely the work of Augustus. The rule of the Caesars was,however, not a hereditary monarchy nor did Roman tradition sanctionhereditary rule. He saw in modern termsthe public relations value of identifying himself with the public desire toworship their emperor. As did his fatherbefore him, Augustus readily yielded to those pressures in the East but hedid so by insisting that all honors be directed to him and Rome 'Augustuset Roma.' In A.D. . A.D. 14. . Hesays "he had no need whatever to take such an unpopular step since hisperpetual dictatorship already gave him all the powers he needed."[11] One can, however, see a logical progression. M. During his lifetime, Caesarencouraged various myths, such as that as a child, "a halo surrounded hishead" and that Venus had blessed him as a young man with good looks, which"marked him as a man of destiny."[7] In B.C. Norton, 1969.Southern, Pat. 1 , d. [19] John Buchan, Augustus (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1937), 285. of the Roman religion was the belief that all the importantprocesses of the world were divinely activated and, conversely, thatdifferent gods had charge of particular functions and spheres ofactivity."[4] In other words, the great leader required and frequentlyinvoked divine assistance through prayer, sacrifices and divination (ofomens and auguries) in order to achieve success. 3 to A.D. He, too, was deifiedafter his death which helped establish the principle of imperial successioneven though Tiberius himself opposed all attempts to attribute divineattributes to his personage during his lifetime. Augustus. The Roman Empire 27 B.C.-A.D. . [4] Ogilvie, 1 . . New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. [2 ] Buchan, 286. [3 ] Starr, 4 . . The deification of Julius Caesar was accomplished by a decree in B.C.42 when the Second Triumvirate, Octavian, Mark Antony and the third consul,Lepidus, agreed on the need to rally around their fallen leader and use hismartyrdom as a weapon against his assassins, Cassius and Brutus, whom theydefeated and killed later that same year. 476 A Study inSurvival. Dictionary of Roman Religions. [15] Ogilvie, 122. Augustus. . and especially the opinionof Senators."[27] He used the imperial cult of emperor worship to enhancehis authority, but, according to Buchan, kept it on a tight leash,"strictly within bounds in Italy, confining it to forms which had ancientsanction and general approval."[28] Despite all these limits, Chisholm etal say that "it was Augustine with his extraordinary political flair whoset the pattern for Emperor-worship at Rome."[29] Role of Emperor Worship in the Early Reign of Tiberius Tiberius was Augustus' step son and designated successor, but hisappointment was not universally welcomed. He permitted special flamen called sodalesAugustales to guard his shrines and tend to their worship. [1 ] Ogilvie, 121. [21] Pat Southern, Augustus (London: Routledge, 1998), 194. Adkins. New York: Heritage Press, 1965.Weinstock, Stefan. [17] Chester M. He would have himself appointed consul on anannual basis and was granted authority over three provinces, Spain, Gauland Syria. [6] Weinstock, 3.
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