The concept of divine kingship validated their rule.
By Dr. Rebecca Denova
Emeritus Professor of Early Christianity
University of Pittsburgh
Introduction
Theย Romanย Imperial Cultย was the practice of venerating Roman emperors and their families as having divine attributes, honoring their contributions to the spread ofย Roman religionย andย culture. It was instituted by the firstย Roman emperorย Augustusย (r. 27 BCE to 14 CE) in his reforms and transformation of theย Roman Republicย to theย Roman Empire.
Divine Kingship and Hero Cults
Ancientย citiesย had foundation myths, claiming that aย godย or goddess or the son of a god or goddess providedย lawย codes that dictated proper religious rituals, social behavior, and gender roles. Passed down through the generations, the will of the gods was carried out by the governing authorities. Thus, the concept of divine kingship validated their rule.
Greeceย also had hero cults. The heroes ofย Greek mythologyย were the offspring of a god or goddess or the result of sexual intercourse between humans and the divine. A prime example wasย Herakles/Hercules. Heroes were rewarded for their great deeds by being among the gods afterย death, or at least in the higher realms of the Elysian Fields inย Hades. The concept was described asย apotheosisย (“deification”); the hero would reach the levels of the divine and would be worthy of worship and honor. There were dozens of temples and shrines for heroes.
The patron/client system (how things got done) provided the network for relationships for the common good, including relationships between humans and the divine. The word “patron” came from the Latin “defender”. The upper classes (aristocrats) offered benefits to the lower-class poor, distributing food during religious festivals. The lower classes reciprocated through their labor, agricultural products, and trades. The tombs of the heroes became the object of pilgrimage, where people petitioned them as patron gods, mediators between the Olympians and the community for special benefits and protection.
Ancient Rome
Rome absorbed major elements ofย Greek culture. Hercules was also a hero who helped found theย cityย of Rome, but Roman foundation myths were more concerned with honoring the men of the founding families who became the first kings of Rome.ย Romulusย and King Numa were credited with establishing the elements of Romanย religionย and culture and both were deified after their death.
The closest concept of a hero cult in Rome was the ritual of theย Roman triumph. A serving magistrate who waged a successfulย warย against an enemy and personally saved a unit of his legions was acclaimedย imperatorย (“commander”) in the field. Theย Roman Senateย then conferred the right of aย triumph, a parade in Rome where the individual represented the godย Jupiterย for a day.
Rome promoted the concept of genius in humans, an element of the divine nature manifest throughย dignitas, a person’s social standing, reputation, and moral worth. Personified in the concept of theย paterfamilias, Roman men performed the household religious rituals and served as priests, augurs, and pontiffs in Roman religion. All elected magistrates of theย Roman governmentย were empowered withย imperium, the religious authority to uphold and carry out the dictates of the gods. They were not worshipped after their death but became role models for subsequent generations.
From Monarchy to Republic
Several of the later kings wereย Etruscanย invaders (an ancient Italic people) but were denounced as tyrants. Rome eliminated kings with the formation of the Roman Republic, c. 508 BCE. The highest rank was theย consul, two of them ruling through the Senate. Rome expanded its rule throughoutย Italyย and countries bordering theย Mediterranean, and, beginning with some famous generals, hero cults began to take hold. Afterย Scipio Africanusย had defeatedย Hannibalย in theย Second Punic Warย (218-201 BCE), people made pilgrimages to hisย graveย and then others, leaving mementos and memorializing their virtues and great deeds in stories.
In the 1st century BCE, several Germanic tribes invadedย Gaulย and northern Italy, the king of Pontus,ย Mithridates VIย (r. 120-63 BCE), conquered the Roman province of Asia, and the allied cities in Italy rebelled over their citizen status in theย Social War, 91-87 BCE. Some men were elevated as “first citizens” to lead the republic out of these crises. After the Social War, Lucius Corneliusย Sullaย (138-78 BCE) led an army into Rome and becameย dictator. Aย dictatorย could confer martial law and was not responsible for subsequent lawsuits during his rule. He reformed the government in favor of the Senate and removed the power of veto in the Plebian Assembly. He proscribed his enemies in a “reign of terror,” through mass executions. The period after his death is notable for senatorial and Plebian factions either upholding or trying to undo Sulla’s constitution.
Julius Caesar
Juliusย Caesarย (100-44 BCE), Sulla’s nephew by marriage, created theย First Triumvirateย with the generalย Pompeyย (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) andย Marcus Licinius Crassus.ย Crassusย died fighting against theย Parthian Empireย at theย Battle of Carrhae, 53 BCE. In a subsequent civil war, Caesar defeated Pompey at theย Battle of Pharsalusย in 48 BCE. While in the East, he permitted some cities to erect statues of himself, with the epithet “divine Julius”. The family of the Caesars claimed that they were the descendants of the founder of Rome,ย Aeneas, the son ofย Venus.
Ceasar created legislation to restore theย Roman law. He had been elected as theย pontifex maximus, the chief priest of Roman religion, and so his changes were validated in relation to Roman religion. The Senate granted him the title of dictator for life. Many senators saw his rise as going against theย mos maiorum, the customs of the ancestors, and a group of them assassinated him over their claim that he aspired to be king of Rome.
Although aย patricianย (upper-class), Julius Caesar was popular with the common people. He grew up in a tenement in Rome’s Subura district, populated with foreigners and the lower classes. During his funeral in theย Roman Forum, the common people raided the basilicas for furniture, piled it on the pyre, and burned him there. Although the Senate ordered it cleaned up afterward, people continued to leave flowers and mementos at the site, as well as the site of theย assassination of Julius Caesarย in Pompey’s theater.
Octavianus/Augustus
Caesar left no direct heirs. He had a son,ย Caesarion, with the queen ofย Ptolemaic Egypt,ย Cleopatra VII, but he was not recognized as legitimate in Rome. His one daughter, Julia, married to Pompey, died in childbirth. His will left everything to his 18-year-old great-nephew, Octavianus, through the process of legal adoption. As the heir, Octavianus went to Rome to put on funeral games for Julius. During the games, a comet appeared over the city for three nights. The common people claimed that this was a sign that Julius was โwith the gods.โ
Octavianus andย Mark Antony, Julius Caesar’s cousin, divided theย empireย into Eastern and Western regions, but ultimatelyย Antonyย joinedย Cleopatraย and challenged Octavianus. They were defeated at the seaย Battle of Actiumย in Greece in 31 BCE, and both committed suicide. Octavianus murdered Cleopatra’s son and addedย Egyptย as a senatorial province.
Octavianus became the “first citizen”,ย princeps. The English “emperor” derives from the Latinย imperator. Through adoption, he was now Octavianus Caesar, which became the official title for subsequent emperors. The role ofย pontifex maximusย became an inherited function of emperors. The Senate voted him the title of Augustus (“esteemed one”) in 27 BCE. Moving from a republic to an empire, all rule was centralized under his authority. Elections for magistrates continued, but Augustus chose the candidates. As Julius’ heir, he later had coins issued with the title, “son of god”.
The Imperial Cult ofย Roma
After the end of the war with Antony, the Eastern client kings of Rome traveled to the city to indicate their loyalty and allegiance. They petitioned Augustus for permission to build temples and offer sacrifices to him. Initially refusing because Romans did not worship their magistrates, his advisors recognized the fiscal and propaganda advantage of these temples, and so he granted permission. They could erect aย templeย to the goddess Roma, an abstract concept of all the virtues of Romanย civilization. Roma could be petitioned for the prosperity of the empire as a whole and not just the emperor. In the provinces, the imperial cult was now a way to ‘climb the ladder’ in terms of status. In order to replenish the Treasury after the last civil war, priesthoods of the cult were sold to the highest bidders.
Augustus extended the Roman worship of theย lares, ancient household deities that oversaw property and the family. He claimed that theย laresย of his family would protect his newย Pax Romana, “the Roman peace”. His Altar of Peace, theย Ara Pacis Augustaeย was dedicated in 13 BCE. It highlighted all the members of the imperial family, natural as well as adopted.
Imperial temples were established throughout the empire, fromย Roman Britainย to Northย Africa. As an addition to the imperial temples, Augustus published hisย Res Gestae, a list of all of his deeds and titles during his reign. Myths emerged that his mother, Atia, Julius Caesar’s niece, had been impregnated by the godย Apollo. The vastย extent of the Roman Empireย contained distinct ethnic groups and their various gods. The imperial cult did not replace these ancient traditions but provided a layer of Romanization that unified the new empire. The precedent was established for the deification of emperors, but only after their death. When Augustus died in 14 CE, he was deified by the Senate.
Theย Julio-Claudian Dynasty
The next few emperors were the descendants of Augustus andย Livia Drusilla’s lineage from the founding family of the Claudians. Augustus adopted the two sons ofย Liviaย by a previous marriage,ย Tiberius, and Drusus. Drusus died fighting in Germania, leaving Tiberius the heir. The Julio-Claudians had complicated intermarriages of sons and daughters with cousins, nieces, and nephews. Later Roman historians detailed rumors of sexual scandals, poisonings, and executions in the reigns of Tiberius,ย Caligula,ย Claudius, andย Nero. Only Claudius was deified after his death.
Nero became infamous for the first persecution of Christians, blaming them for a devastating fire in Rome in 64 BCE. The story first appeared in theย Annalsย of the historianย Tacitus, written c. 110 CE. It should be noted that we have no contemporary witnesses for the story. If Nero did this, it was an aberration; in this period, there was no official policy concerning Christians.
Flavian Dynasty
Nero’s reign ended with his forced suicide in 68 CE. At this point, any continuing reign of the Julio-Claudian family was incredibly unpopular. What followed was the year of the four emperors,ย Galba,ย Otho,ย Vitellius, andย Vespasian. They were generals who had the support of their legions in Germany, Spain, and Egypt. The winner was Vespasian (r. 69-79 CE), of the Flavian family. He was sent by Nero to put down theย Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CEย in Judea. Upon Nero’s death, he left the war in Judea to his sonย Titus, who led theย siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, which culminated in the destruction of theย Temple in Jerusalem.
The Flavians were tax-gathering public servants. Vespasian proceeded to restore the economic productivity of the empire. In consolidating Roman power in his wars in the East, Julius Caesar utilized Jewish mercenaries in theย Roman army. Returning in triumph to Rome, Caesar rewarded Jews with the privilege of continuing to practice their ancestral customs, exempt from the state cults of Rome. Inherent in his legislation was that Jews were not to recruit outside the synagogue nor interfere with the customs of Rome. Vespasian kept the edict intact but issued a Jewish tax. Jews voluntarily sent funds toย Jerusalemย for the maintenance of the Temple, but it no longer existed. They were to collect the funds but send them to Rome for war reparations for the revolt. Vespasian was succeeded by his elder son, Titus, who only ruled for two years. Both were deified after their deaths.
Vespasian’s second son, Domitian (r. 81-96 CE), renewed all the policies that usually got emperors killed. He employed spies to report conspiracies among senators and executed them so that he could confiscate their estates for the treasury. There were rumors that he murdered Titus. Domitian allegedly ordered people to address him as “Lord and god”, as a living deity. He mandated that everyone offer sacrifices to him at the imperial temples. However,ย Paul the Apostle, in his establishment of the first Christian communities, eliminated the traditional sacrifices to the gods, and Christians refused to obey the mandate.
The Crime of Atheism
The modern word “atheism” comes from theย Greekย atheosย (“godless”). It did not deny the existence or belief in the other gods but indicated impiety, sacrilege, and disrespect of the gods. As the gods were responsible for the prosperity of the empire, angering the gods imperiled everyone.
Seeking more revenue, his advisors reminded Domitian of the Jewish Tax. Apparently, it had not been enforced in Rome or the provinces. Domitian sent theย Praetorian Guardย throughout Rome hunting out the Jews. An earlier decision by the Christian communities was that pagan converts were not required to adopt the identity marker of Jews, such as circumcision (Acts 15). Therefore, as the adherents ofย early Christianityย were not ethnic Jews, they were not liable to the tax, but it also meant that they had no legal exemption, and refusing to honor the mandate of the imperial cult was unpatriotic and the equivalent of treason. Treason, always and everywhere, carried the death penalty. Thus, Christians and others were executed in the arenas. Domitian was stabbed to death by some advisors and Praetorians in 96 CE. He was not deified.
In the history ofย Christianity, the imperial cult ultimately became the reason for the ordeals and sufferings of Christians. The cult personified everything that was wrong with paganism. Christian refusal resulted in martyrdom, with the reward of achieving heaven in the afterlife. Traditional histories of Christianity list thousands dying in the areas. However, there is little historical evidence for vast numbers. Over the course of 300 years, we have periods of persecution perhaps seven or eight times, and usually only in the provinces. This is because persecution was directly related to a crisis.
Rome’s response to the spread of Christianityย intensified whenever there was famine, drought, anย earthquake,ย plague, or an invading army. This was when Rome persecuted Christians for angering the gods. When times were normal and prosperous, Rome paid little attention to what Christians were doing or preaching if they did not foment rebellion or interfere with established social conventions.
A second element of illegality was related toย collegia. Collegia wereย tradeย and social groups that formed clubs under the auspices of a god or goddess. Butย collegiaย had to be granted a license to assemble by the Senate. Christians were not granted this permission for 300 years.ย Pliny the Youngerย (61-112 CE) served as the governor of Bithynia-Pontus. In his correspondence with Emperorย Trajanย (r. 98-117 CE), he reported that Christians were meeting in illegalย collegia,ย and attendance at the imperial cult temples was neglected because of their recruiting. Our earliest descriptions of Christian trials come from the writings ofย Pliny the Younger on Christianity.
Subsequent Roman Emperors and the New Imperial Cult
Between 250 and 300 CE, the empire suffered theย Crisis of the Third Century: soaring inflation, plagues, invading armies on the borders, and several coups by generals usurping the throne asย barracks emperors. Maintaining the elements of the imperial cult, divergent and oppositional views against each new emperor led to persecution and execution. As with all statistics in the ancient world, numbers are difficult to verify, but with the eventual dominance of Christianity, their stories were omitted in the Western tradition.
Emperorย Constantine Iย (r. 306-337 CE) legalized Christian assemblies in 313 CE with the Edict of Milan.ย Constantineโs conversion to Christianityย ended the persecution of Christians. At that time, Christian bishops were in open dispute because some Christians had lapsed in the earlier persecutions by performing the sacrifices. Should they be driven from the church or forgiven? The bishops askedย Constantineย to intervene in the dispute. With his overriding concern for unity, Constantine ordered lapsers to be forgiven. This essentially made him both head of the empire and head of the church.
Due to riots and debates over the question of the relationship ofย Jesus Christย to God (the Arian controversy), Constantine called for the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. This resulted in the Christian concept of theย Trinity, that Christ was the identical essence of God, manifest as a human on earth. It also produced the Nicene Creed, what all Christians should believe and practice.
Christian emperors were now elevated as the new Imperial cult. The emperor stood in for Christ until he returned to usher in the kingdom of God. Any Christian who deviated from the theology of the Christian emperor was deemed a heretic against the concept of orthodoxy (“correct beliefs”). Because he was the head of the state, heresy was the new treason, carrying the same death penalty. The sacredness of Constantine and subsequent Christian emperors was demonstrated through iconography, with haloes surrounding their heads. Further elevation declared Christian emperors as saints in heaven after their death.
When Emperor Theodosius I (r. 379-395 CE) issued an edict that Christianity was the only legal religion throughout the empire, imperial temples and public basilicas were converted to Christian churches. He also ordered the cessation of theย Olympic Gamesย because they were dedicated to pagan gods. They were only reinstated in 1896.
Bibliography
- Capes, W. W. -.ย Roman History The early empire, from the assassination of Julius Ca๏ธ e๏ธกsar to that..ย Generic, 2018.
- Moss, Candida.ย The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom.ย SanFran, 2014.
- Raimondi Cominesi, Dr. Aurora & de Haan, Dr. Nathalie & Moormann, Prof. Dr. Eric M. & Stocks, Dr. Claire.ย God on Earth.ย Sidestone Press, 2021.
- Rhodes, Kevin W.ย A Consequence of Legitimacy.ย Hopkins Publishing, 2014.
- Wilken, Robert Louis.ย The Christians as the Romans Saw Them.ย Yale University Press, 2003.
Originally published by the World History Encyclopedia, 11.05.2024, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
About the Author
