The Imperial Cult

The Notion of Emperor Worship

• The cult of the emperor's 'genius' was first introduced during the time of Augustus
• The genius was regarded as the divine spirit of an individual - to worship the genius of the Princeps was a form of homage
• This is different from the 'numen', the Roman term for a god
• It was rapidly established throughout the empire and its provinces, with marked local variations in its reception and expression

Emperors and Religion

• The princeps was expected to balance the interests of the Roman military, senate and people and maintain peace, security and prosperity throughout an ethnically diverse empire
• The imperial cult became an important unifying factor in the vastly under governed Roman empire
• It was mutually beneficial for both Rome and its subjects. Most importantly, it was a focal point for loyalty to Rome and the emperor
• For the provincial elites it also provided new opportunities for social advancement. Yet, despite its political significance, the imperial cult should not be simply dismissed as a political tool

Roman religion and Emperor Worship

What permitted the naturalisation of emperor worship into Roman religious life?

• Ancestor worship was already an established element of Roman religion
• Ancient religions placed importance on external action over internal beliefs - there was no need to reconcile faith because of this
• Worship of rulers was an already well established phenomenon in other ancient societies, particularly in the east
• The emperors already took an extremely central role in the religious life of the city - such as the adoption of pontifex maximus as an official imperial title

The Cult and the Emperor

Each emperor took a different approach to the cult. Some, such as Caligula, openly embraced it, whilst others such as Tiberius seem to reject the worship altogether. However many steps were taken over the period to establish the Imperial Cult both at home and abroad:

•  Julius Caesar was deified as a god following his assassination, as at his funeral a comet was seen passing overhead. Augustus continued to emphasise this close association and adopted the title "divi filius" - "son of a god"
• The emperor's name was also often associated with the worship of Fortuna and Roma
• Provincial elites could set up temples and altars to honour the emperor
• Statues and coins would emphasise divine links

Establishing the Cult: Augustus

No formal arrangements for ruler-worship existed in Rome before Augustus. As usual he was pragmatic and approached the situation differently depending on where he was aiming to cultivate worship for himself:

The Provinces

• Ruler worship was already firmly established in Eastern cultures such as Egypt and Greece (e.g worship of the Pharaohs)
• Views of the emperors came solely through official representation, such as statues, that made the emperors seem semi-divine already (i.e Augustus never ages in his statues or coins)
• Several steps were also taken by Augustus to officialise the cult both at Rome and abroad:
• The creation of local religious cults combined with temples across the empire focused on the worship of the emperor and the imperial family
• However these were carefully managed and integrated into local religious customs rather than being forced onto peoples

"He treated with great respect such foreign rites as were ancient and well established, but held the rest in contempt. For example, having been initiated in Athens and afterwards sitting in judgment of a case at Rome involving the privileges of the priests of Attic Ceres, in which certain matters of secrecy of bystanders and heard the disputants in private. But on the other hand he not only omitted to make a slight detour to visit Apis, when he was travelling through Egypt, but highly commended his grandson Gaius for not offering prayers at Jerusalem as he passed by Judaea" - Suetonius

• [Tacitus 4.37] - Reveals Augustus approved of a temple to himselg and Roma that was requested by the people of Pergamum
• [Strabo, 4.3.2] - temple to Augustus at Lugdunum (Lyons)
• "The temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus by the union of all the Celtic people is situated in front of this city at the confluence of the two rivers. In it there is a remarkable altar inscribed with the names of their tribes, sixty in number, together with a representative image for each tribe, plus another large altar"
• [Lactor 17] - Inscription from an altar to the numen of Augustus in Narbonne, detailing their dedication to worship him such as annual sacrifices

In Rome Augustus was far more tact:

• [Ovid Fasti 5.140-158] - Augustus incorporated his genius alongside the Lares Compitales, crossroad protection gods
• "Rome had a thousand twin Lares now, and a leader's Genius... every district now pays honour to its three divinities"
• [Lactor 17] - inscriptional evidence for Lares introduction
• "Dedicated to the Augustan Lares"
• [Tacitus 1.10.6]
• "There were no honours left for the gods, now that Augustus chose to be worshipped with temples and godlike images by flamines and priests"
• [Horace + Ovid] - refer to Augustus as a living god or Jupiter on earth in their poetry

Case Study: Tiberius

Tiberius' reluctance to rule as an emperor is reflected in his overall attitude and approach towards the imperial cult, in which he sought to distance himself from any notions of worship for him...

• "Of many high honours he accepted only a few of the more modest. He forbade the voting of temples, flamens, and priests in his honour, and even the setting up of statues and busts without his permission; and this he gave only with the understanding that they were not to be placed among the likenesses of the gods, but among the adornments of the temples. He also declined the forename Imperator, the surname of Father of his Country, and the placing of the civic crown at his door; and he did not even use the title of Augustus in any letters except those to kings and potentates, although it was his by inheritance" - Suetonius
• However, he was happy to encourage the worship of the now deified Augustus, and even took some steps to enhance it:
• Tiberius created a specialised priesthood known as the Sodales Augustales which were dedicated to the cult of the deified Augustus
• Coins also emphasise Augustus as "Divus" and Tiberius as "son of the Divine Augustus"
• Tiberius would have wanted to emphasise the link to Augustus so the people (and senate) would support him as they supported Augustus
• There is also evidence that, although Tiberius did not wish to be worshipped, others still tried to:
• [L4 Lactor 19] Inscription from Gytheion in Laconia
• Describes how Tiberius and the Imperial Family will be honoured, including statues, games and festivities, and sacrifices
• [Tacitus] tells us of Tiberius' response:
• Approved the worship for his family, but rejected for himself and even apologised to the senate "I am content with mortal honours"
• [L6 Lactor 19] Inscription from AD 27, Rome
• "to the genius of Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine Augustus, Gaius Fulvius Chryses... gave this as a gift"
• shows individual worship and honours could still exist, even though the emperor personally disproved of them
  

Activity: Gaius Caligula

Bullet point different steps taken by Gaius to establish worship for himself

• Cassius Dio - Divine pretensions and megalomania:
• Caligula had been demanding to be considered more than a mere human being, and when people started calling him a demi-god and even a god "he went completely out of his mind"
• Kept declaring that he was having sex with Luna, the moon goddess, and being crowned by victory
• Kept pretending he was Jupiter and used this as a pretext to sleep with many women, including his own sisters
• Other times claimed to be Neptune, because he had bridged such a large stretch of water
• Also imitated Hercules, Bacchus, Apollo and others, as well as Juno, Diana and Venus
• He would dress up as different gods all the time, even changing half way through the day
• "It was these costumes that he used to assume, then, whenever he was pretending to be some god; and in addition supplications, prayers and sacrifices would be offered to him as was thought fit"
• He cut the temple of Castor and Pollux in two, creating an entrance to the palace right through the middle of the temple so he could "have the Dioscuri as his gate-keepers"
• Designated himself Jupiter Latiaris and appointed his wife Caesonia, Claudius and other very rich individuals as his priests. He received 2.5 million denarii from each of them. He then went even further and swore himself in as a priest of himself, and appointed his horse a fellow priest - all kinds of expensive birds were sacrificed to him daily
• Ordered that a sacred precinct be consecrated to him in Miletus because he wanted to take over the "large and exceedingly beautiful" temple that the Milesians were building in honour of Apollo
• Already constructed a sort of lodge on the Capitoline to share quarters with Jupiter. However, he did not approve of being the junior partner in this union of households and blamed Jupiter for having occupied the Capitoline before him. So he pressed on with the erection of another temple on the Palatine, and wanted to transfer it to the statue of Zeus that he'd had remodelled to look like him, but the ship built to carry the statue was wrecked by lightning
• Suetonius - attempts to establish the Imperial Cult in Rome
• Adopted a variety of titles, including Caesar Optimus Maximus (Jupiter was often called Jupiter Optimus Maximus)
• Once, at the dinner table, some foreign kings, who had come to pay homage, were arguing about who was the most nobly descended. Caligula burst out "Nay let there be one master, and one king" and almost assumed a royal diadem there and then. However, once his courtiers reminded him that he already outranked any king or local ruler, he insisted on being treated as a god - arranging for the most revered or artistically famous statues of the gods to be brought from Greece and have their heads replaced by his own
• At his temple he had a life-sized golden statue of himself that was dressed each day in the same clothes he happened to be wearing on that day
• Josephus - Gaius usurping divine honours as another example of his madness
• Brazenly addressed Jupiter as his brother
• Instead of simply taking a trireme from Campanian to Misenum, he built a bridge nearly four miles long and drove across it in his chariot "since he was lord of the ocean, he felt entitled to demand the same sort of service from the sea as he did from the land"