The Cult of the Emperor

1
The Cult of the Emperor
2
When was the first Roman ruler deified?

• The Romans began the practice of deifying their
  dead rulers with Julius Caesar. Before he died,
  Caesar received the right to have a flamen for a
  cult in his honour, to mark his house like a
  temple and to place his imago in the procession
  of the gods that featured in Roman parades and
  festivals.
• After he died, the Senate passed a decree
  formally deifying Caesar and altars and temples
  were erected to him.

A flamen was a priest with the
responsibility for the worship of a god or
goddess in Roman religion
3
Why did the Romans accept the deification of
Caesar so easily?

• Although the deification of their ruler would
  certainly have seemed novel to the inhabitants of
  Rome, his assimilation to divine status would
  have seemed quite normal to the peoples of the
  eastern empire who had always regarded their
  kings and rulers as divine, and were equally
  ready to pay divine honours to the Roman
  emperors.
• The fact that he was deified after his death
  would have meant that Romans would have not felt
  directly threatened by such an action.

• The peoples in the Eastern Roman empire had
  always thought of their rulers as divine, so it
  seemed natural to worship the Roman emperor as
  god.
• Source material 7.3.1

4
In what way was Augustus so skillful in
exploiting the cult of the emperor?

• Augustus was brilliant in the way he aligned
  religious authority with political while
  Augustus allowed himself to be associated with
  numerous rites and cult activities e.g., his
  membership of the various colleges of priests,
  there was no single ceremony such as a coronation
  where he was the dominant actor.
• Indeed, Augustus never personally claimed divine
  status during his lifetime.

5
How did Augustus use the goddess Roma to
enhance the power of the empire?

• ROMA was the deity personifying the Roman
  state.
• Augustus, however, encouraged the worship of Roma
  in the provinces (although she did later on gain
  a temple in Rome itself).
• Many temples were built in the provinces in her
  honour, often as a Temple of Rome and Augustus
  to make the imperial cult and emperor worship
  more palatable.
• Thus, outside of Italy, worship of the emperor
  was usually linked to the worship of the goddess
  Roma.

• This coin, struck in an eastern province, has on
  the reverse a temple devoted to the goddess
  Roma.

6
What was the genius?

• The Romans believed that every living being had a
  genius or protecting spirit.
• People in the provinces were encouraged to
  worship the genius of the emperor, linked with
  the goddess Roma - another method of
  promoting emperor worship.

Detail of the Genius (spirit) of the
Paterfamilias flanked by 2 lares Lararium in the
house of the Vettii in Pompeii
7
What was the numen?

• The nod that Juppiter gave assenting to an action
  was called his numen.
• It thus became to signify divine will or the
  power of a deity.
• Augustus organised public worship of his numen
  which represented the godhead or divine power of
  a living emperor - another example of emperor
  worship.

Bust of the Juppiter, the Father of the gods
8
Why did Augustus never explicitly say that he was
a god?

• The Roman political system did not approve of a
  living emperor declaring himself a god (no doubt
  as a result of their dislike of an all powerful
  head of state).
• The emperor Caligula made the mistake of claiming
  to be a god during his lifetime. This action was
  described by contemporary historians as an
  example of his dementia.
• This is why Augustus was careful to never
  explicitly to declare himself a god although he
  walked a very fine line in this respect.

Bust of the Emperor Caligula
9
Why did Romans encourage the worship of emperors
as gods?

• People were more likely to submit to Roman rule
  if they regarded the supreme ruler as a god
• It reduced, as a result, the chances of uprisings
• It gave many people in the provinces a sense that
  they belonged to one great empire
• It was very popular amongst the upper and middle
  classes who looked to Rome to promote their
  careers

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus
10
Did this cult of the Emperor always have the
desired effect?

• The temple at Colchester dedicated to the deified
  emperor Claudius was regarded by the Britons as a
  symbol of eternal oppression, and the priests
  used religion as an excuse to waste British
  money.
• Boudicca raised this temple to the ground when
  she rebelled against Roman occupation

This is a model of the temple of the deified
emperor