The Buildings and the Images of
the Imperial Cult
I. Beginnings
What is the imperial cult?
- assimilating an emperor and deity
The beginnings:
Later unitary concept, but also:
a) Initial phase of heterogenity
b) Regional differences and peculiarities
5 points to remember:
1. Rome and the East – great military leaders (a complex system of interrelations)
but also traditional Greek cities to the Hellenistic rulers relationship
2. A ruler needs – the consent of some people, the support of the army2. A ruler needs – the consent of some people, the support of the army
3. Greeks and Jewish/Christians – different concept of deity
4. „human“ and „divine“ not strictly divided
Servius , Ad Aeneida:
„deos perpetuos [dicimus], divos ex hominibus factos […], unde divos etiam
imperatores vocamus“ („we call deos those who are eternal, divos those who,
once men, became [gods] […], so we call divos also the emperors“).
5. Today´s idea of separating cultural-religious sphere and political sphere wasn´t
familiar to the ancient people
-the most important change of the roman religious system – the end of republic and
beginning of the principate
-uniformity
Phenomena:
1. Building and consecrating altars and temples to emperors and members of their
family
The temple of Vespasian and Titus, Forum
Romanum
Ara Pacis, Rome
2. Establishing of priests – administer cultic activity,
e.g. Marc Anthony – a flamen of Julius Caesar
3. Emphassising the characteristic feautres and
achievements – using religious terminology, e.g. aeternus
(perpetuus), invictus, providus, operosus, omnipresens,
decorus, divinus, using astral connotations to Sol etc.
4. Setting public holidays – concerning living or dead
emperors and their inclusion to the
calendar, regular rituals: fasti capitolini, fasti triumphales,
fasti sacerdotales, …fasti sacerdotales, …
5. Rituals and traditions previously reserved for deities –
e.g. games on behalf of the emperor, increasing
importance of emperal portraits in public life and
including them to processions: Ludi Augustales, October
3rd – 12th , games were held in Augustus' honor starting in
11 BC. It became a ten-day event under Tiberius. Fasti capitolini, The Capitoline Museum, Rome
6. Likening emperors to dieties – e.g. statues with characteristic atributes
Claudius as Jupiter, marble, Vatican
Museums, Rome
Commodus as Hercules, marble, The Capitoline
Museum, Rome
Preliminary steps to the imperial cult:
1. Egypt – ancient Egyptian cults: Divine cults, Royal
cults, Private cults, Animal cults and Funerary
cults
- Egyptian ruler received cult both during his
life and after his death
- during coronation – deified
2. Hellenistic world – cults dedicated to the rulers of the
Hellenistic kingdoms
3. Greek cities – divine cults of the individuals
4. Roman republic – standardization of rituals,
beginnings of the system and rules for deification
Some scholars (Price) suppose that the ruler cult
speeded up the decline of the traditional cults.
Coronation of King Ptolemy VIII
conducted by the goddess
Nechbet,right,and the goddess Uto
or Wadjet,left,Temple of
Horus,Edfu,Luxor,Nile Valley,Egypt
1. EGYPT
- the ruler cult is the strongest
- the „divine essence“ of the ruler spreads to the south and west coasts of Asia
Minor and Aegean - conquests
e.g. : Telmessus (Turkey) – an altar in the middle, Ptolemaic style
- difference: divinity was a public matter for centuries
- Starting point – a close relationship between Ptolemaic monarchy and Egyptian
cults
- From the cult of the deceased ancestors - to the veneration of living men: 17th
year of the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus – proclaimed his father god and made
himself and his sister/wife Arsinoe II living gods
Gold octodrachm – reverse capita iugata of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe –
legend “of the siblings – άδελφῶν”, obverse – capita iugata of Ptolemy I
Soter and his wife Berenice I – “of the gods - θεῶν”
Temple of Isis on the isle of Philae
- the cult centre of Isis during the Ptolemaic Period
- dedicated to Isis and Osiris
- a court, vestibule, several antechambers and the
inner sanctum, where the sacred image of Isis was
kept
- reliefs and inscriptions: various Ptolemies
(Philadelphus, Euergetes II) and Roman Emperors
(Augustus, Tiberius, Antonius Pius) – making offerings
and rituals
Temple of Isis, the island of Philae
Ptolemy II in Pharaonic costume
offering to Isis (also Augustus depicted in
the Pharaonic costume in front of Isis and
Harpocrates).
No difference between the ways in which Octavian-Augustus and Ptolemic predecessors are
named and depicted:
“Welcome! Welcome, son of Ra, Caesar, who lives forever. Until the sky lasts, your kingdom
will last. Your mother Isis is pleased with that you have done and directs you the hearts of
the inhabitants of the Earth.”
Augustus is named:
“Ra of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the two kingdoms, emperor son of Ra, lord of the
crowns, Ceasar, who lives forever, the beloved of Ptah and Isis.”
2. HELLENISTIC WORLD
- hellenistic cults - considered preliminary to the imperial cult
- religion: belief in cults, a set of rules of rituals
- politics: about actions, diplomacy and wars
- ruler cult: honours granted in gratitude for political benefactions
Hellenistic rulers – cults - mostly meant as cults of benefactors, saviours from dangers and
founders of cities
Such devotion is explained with the increasing number of people depending on the will of a
single man, the greater merits, the deeper devotion towards him
first – heroic honours
then – switch to divine honours
Imperial cult – continuation
Crucial conditions: AUTOCRATIC RULE
EXTERNAL TO THE POLIS
AT LEAST A BIT GREEK
Why not earlier? Tyrants – didn´t fit, no monarchical institutions, not external to the polis
-Pindar – no special language praising tyrants – the same as other aristocrats
-Persian kings – monarchy highly developed, but Persian rule was rejected, not at least a bit
Greek
Examples of cult:
Macedonia – cults of Macedonians before
and after Alexander – rare
Macedonian towns – less important role in
the organization of kingdom than
the Old Greek cities
Philip – cult in Philippi (particular case,
because the city was founded by him)
Alexander the Great – divine cult was offered
to him in his lifetime
Absence of the cult in Macedonia – lack of
independent civic traditions, unproblematic
nature of the traditional monarchy
Alexander the Great, Alexandria, Egypt, 2nd /
1st century BC
Antigonus I Monophtalmus (Antigonus the One-eyed) and his
son Demetrius Poliorcetes (the Besieger)
The end of the 4th century BC , by Athens – the democracy
was restored
-celebrated as „saviours“ and „benefactors“
-the hymn sung in honour of Demetrius:
„For the other gods are far apart, or have no ears, or no
existence and they do not care of us. But you are present, not
made of wood or stone, a real god, we pray to you.“
(Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Banquet of the Learned VI 253e)
Marble bust of Demetrius I
Poliorcetes. Roman copy from 1st
century AD of a Greek original from
3rd century BC
-what makes him divine:
a) power to offer protection to Athens
b) vengeance against those who had attacked them
Essential feature of divinity for Greeks – not immortality but
the willingness to hear the prayers of men and offer them
help in need (Asklepios, Herakles – once men, helping, then
entered the sphere of gods)
The hellenistic ruler never declared himself divine, but the
recipients of benefactions did
Antiochus III, Syria
- liberation of Iasos 197 BC – altar, later further honours
- Laodice III – wife, shelters for the daughters of poor
citizens, new cult – priestess, procession,
sacrifice
Teos – Antiochus III and Laodice received cult
– feast (marked in the civic calendar), sacrifices, cult
statues next to the statue of Dionysus in his temple
Kings are gods not heroesKings are gods not heroes
Distinction: funeral – depends on sacrifices
thysia – in the cult of gods – a part was eaten
enhagisma – heroic sacrifice – non-consumable, didn´t deify the deceased, were not directed
to them either
„heroic honours“ – Alexander the Great
Heroes – limited space and couldn´t intimate relations with the power of heaven
Ruler cult – the universal power of a god lying outside the city and that of the king
Antiochus III, Louvre
3. GREEK CITIES
Lysander – Spartan general, 5th /4th century BC
-not of a noble origin
- recieved a cult on Samos as the first mortal during his
lifetime
a) Samians erected an altar
b) Offered him sacrifices
c) Sang cultic songs
d) Renamed the festival of Hera the Lysandreaia
Still a substantial difference between worship of theStill a substantial difference between worship of the
gods and the honours for the mortal: no reference to a
cult statue or to a shrine.
Lysander
Divine cult of individual citizens – the end of the 2nd
century BC
Diodorus Pasparos at Pergamum
-city lost its freedom – Mithridatic War against Rome
(88-85 BC)
-Diodorus – went to Rome – reduced the rate of
tribute to Rome
-series of divine honours:
1st: a tribe was named after him
recieved a priest
the day of his return – commemorated
Diodoros Pasparos – the cult statue
from his sanctuary
the day of his return – commemorated
by a festival
a sanctuary containing his cult statue
was built
2nd: in the gymnasium – a cult statue in a
separate room sharing the throne with
the gods of the palaestra
This kind of honours – isotheoi timai (godlike
honours)
Heroon of Diadoros Pasparos – the cult room and odeon, Pergamon
Heroon of Diadoros Pasparos – the cult room and
odeon, Pergamon – marble panels
4. ROME
I Public sphere
The regal period – kings put to the position much closer to the gods than other people
e.g. Romulus – after his death (or disappearance) – worshipped as Quirinus
Servius Tullius – a friendly relationship with goddess Fortuna, chosen to reign by a
prophecy in his early childhood
Army leaders – on the day of their triumph – more or less worshipped as a deity
(Tertullian (160 AD – 225 AD):Respice post te, hominem memento te)
A triumph – in the regal pariod awarded to: Romulus (?), Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius
Tullius, Tarquinius Superbus and some generals (Fasti triumphales)
the cult of important individuals (imperatores):
a) Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
– the first member of aristocracy, who during
the battle with Hannibal, gained the status
highly exceeding the other aristocrats
- close relationship with Jupiter Capitoline
- in favour of gods
- legends about his divine origin – similar to
those of Alexander the Great
The republican period – several historical moments – inspiration to the imperial cult
those of Alexander the Great
- divine origin – will appear in unchanged
form with the birth of Augustus
- Apotheosis – 50 BC – Cicero – describing
Scipio Africanus – became a star – a symbol of
apotheosis
b) Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
- statues placed in public places –compita,
- sacrifices of the first crops in all seasons, worship
c) Marius Gratidianus
- for a currency reform, 85 BC, statues displayed in
compita
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, bronze,
Naples, National Archaeological Museum
d) Pompey
-honours rendered to him by the Greek cities in
Asia Minor
- Miletopolis (Pompey defeated Mithriades, 63/62
BC) – σωτήρ (soter/saviour), εύεργέτης
(euergetes/benefactor), and έπόπτης γῆς καί
θαλάσσης (epoptes ges kai thalasses/an overseer
on the sea)
- his dominion is „universal“ – control over land
and sea is a warranty of a universal peace
- Ilion (inscription) – Pompey „has freed men from- Ilion (inscription) – Pompey „has freed men from
the wars against Barbarians and from the dangers
of the pirates, giving peace and safety on land and
sea“
- in the East – Pompey regarded as the heir of
Alexander the Great and taken as Neos Dionysos
(evidence: coins from Amisos, Nicea, Nicomedia,
Prusa ad Olympium) Pompey the Great, marble bust, Carlsberg
Glyptotek, Copenhagen
e) Julius Caesar
-the only living man in Rome receiving divine honours
three main phases of the Senate´s honours:
1. after the battle of Thapsus – April 6th,46 BC –
senators decreed him a chariot (facing Jupiter
temple or another statue?), a statue (his foot on
the globe) to be placed on the Capitol – inscription
hemitheos (the first time the term applied to a ruler
in Rome)
2. the battle of Munda – March 17th, 45 BC – a
statue in the temple of Quirinus with an inscriptionstatue in the temple of Quirinus with an inscription
„unconquered god“ „deus invictus“
- the news about the victory got to Rome on April
20th – the Senate announced the Parilia
(anniversary of the foundation of Rome) to be
dedicated to celebrations of the victory
- a procession – Caesar´s image carried in the
company of gods, Cicero says „next to Quirinus“
3. the last months of Caesar´s life – decreed a
divinity with a cult name Divus Iulius, a state
flamen, a state temple, a pulvinar for his image Julius Caesar, bronze, Altes Museum,
Berlin
Cassius Dio, Roman History, book XLIV (the list of honours granted to Julius Caesar by the Senate)
The privileges that were granted him, in addition to all those mentioned, were as follows in number and nature; for I shall
name them all together, even if they were not all proposed or passed at one time. 2 First, then, they voted that he should
always ride, even in the city itself, wearing the triumphal dress, and should sit in his chair of state everywhere except at
the games; for at those he received the privilege of watching the contests from the tribunes' benches in company with
those who were tribunes at the time. 3 And they gave him the right to offer spolia opima, as they are called, at the temple
of Jupiter Feretrius, as if he had slain some hostile general with his own hand, and to have lictors who always carried laurel,
and after the Feriae Latinae to ride from the Alban Mount into the city on horseback. 4 In addition to these remarkable
privileges they named him father of his country, stamped this title on the coinage, voted to celebrate his birthday by
public sacrifice, ordered that he should have a statue in the cities and in all the temples of Rome, 5 and they set up two
also on the rostra, one representing him as the saviour of the citizens and the other as the deliverer of the city from siege,
and wearing the crowns customary for such achievements. They also resolved to build a temple of Concordia Nova, on the
ground that it was through his efforts that they enjoyed peace, and to celebrate an annual festival in her honour. 5 When he
had accepted these, they assigned to him the charge of filling the Pontine marshes, cutting a canal through the
Peloponnesian isthmus, and constructing a new senate-house, since that of Hostilius, although repaired, had beenPeloponnesian isthmus, and constructing a new senate-house, since that of Hostilius, although repaired, had been
demolished. 2 The reason assigned for its destruction was that a temple of Felicitas was to be built there, which Lepidus,
indeed, brought to completion while master of the horse; but their real purpose was that the name of Sulla should not be
preserved on it, and that another senate-house, newly constructed, might be named the Julian, even as they had called the
month in which he was born July, and one of the tribes, selected by lot, the Julian. 3 And they voted that Caesar should be
sole censor for life and should enjoy the immunities granted to the tribunes, so that if any one insulted him by deed or
word, that man should be an outlaw and accursed, and further that Caesar's son, should he beget or even adopt one,
should be appointed high priest. 61 As he seemed to like all this, a gilded chair was granted him, and a garb that the kings
had once used, and body-guard of knights and senators; furthermore they decided that prayers should be offered for him
publicly every year, that they should swear by Caesar's Fortune, and should regard as valid all his future acts. 2 Next they
bestowed upon him a quadrennial festival, as to a hero, and a third priestly college, which they called the Julian, as
overseers of the Lupercalia, and one special day of his own each time in connection with all gladiatorial combats both in
Rome and the rest of Italy. 3 When he showed himself pleased with these honours also, they accordingly voted that his
golden chair and his crown set with precious gems and overlaid with gold should be carried into the theatres in the same
manner as those of the gods, and that on the occasion of the games in the Circus his chariot should be brought in. And
finally they addressed him outright as Jupiter Julius and ordered a temple to be consecrated to him and to his Clemency,
electing Antony as their priest like some flamen Dialis.
The death of Julius Caesar and the process of his deification:
March 44 BC – a grand public funeral on the traditional lines, but some extraordinary features:
a) The corpse – hidden by an image of wax which lay inside a gilded shrine
modelled on the temple of Venus Genetrix.
b) Marc Anthony – funeral speech (reciting earlier decrees which passed divine
honours and praising him as a god)
c) Caesar’s wounds displayed – perhaps by rotating the wax image
d) Cremated – also the wax image
The Temple of Divus Iulius
-Caesar’s body was cremated in this area – a marble column with the inscription: parenti
patriae (to the father of the fatherland) – later removed
- dedicated: August 18th , 29 BC - erected by Augustus
- podium (opus cementicum) has survived, the front part – hemicycle (altar)
- later: hemicycle with the altar closed off by a straight wall
- ionic, composite (coin representations) or corinthian style (archeaological evidence)
- destroyed during the reign of Septimius Severus and then restored
The events after Caesar’s death:
July 44 BC – the games held in memory of Caesar –
comet appeared (believed to be Caesar’ s soul in
heaven)
September 44 BC - Antonius forced the Senate to
add a day to the of each official supplication of the
gods, on which prayers made to Caesar
Beginning 42 BC – the Senate passed the officialBeginning 42 BC – the Senate passed the official
consecration of Caesar, including building the
temple to Divus Julius.
40 BC Marcus Antonius inaugurated a flamen of
Divus Iulius
Marcus Antonius, marble, Vatican Museums,
Rome
II Private sphere
Divine honours – before Caesar – confirmed in the
private sphere (more cases than a public sphere) – the
master of the house – „paterfamilias“
„paterfamilias“ – unlimited power
- house cult – slaves, freedmen – in the
individual household for its welfare
- monarchic position – permanent,
institutionalized, hereditary
Sources: comedies, inscriptions, archaeological sources
(few, damaged, only poor had benefactors) – mainly
Pompeii
Lararium, Pompeii
The object of worship: Genius (paterfamilias), Juno (the life force of women)
Genius – the life force of a man – external to a man – spiritual companion under
whose protection he lived
earliest sources: Genius worshipped along with other gods such as Lares, Penates,
Manes, Olympian Gods.
rituals: prays, offerings – on birthdays
not only humans had Genius, also places (Genius loci), buildings, towns, groups of
men (Genius collegii) or things
representation: Genius of a man - corporeal form, a Roman youth in toga with the rim
drawn over his head, with a cornucopia and sacrificial vessel, often in the act of
sacrificing – pouring a libation
the facial features of Genii are irrespective of the physical appearance of their ownersthe facial features of Genii are irrespective of the physical appearance of their owners
Genius of a place - snake
House of the Vetii: decoration
Lararium – the place where Genius was worshipped
-In the house – a modest niche in the wall, in Pompeii usually embellished with the main gods of
the cult – Lares – and Genius
Lares – unclear origin
intepratation – collective personifications of dead ancestors of the paterfamilias, dancing youths
in short tunics, pouring wine from drinking vessels
All these gods had their public equivalents with state temples in Rome, reflecting a view of the
Roman state as a large domus. The one clear difference is revealing: during the republic, the
Genius worshipped in state cult was not of a man, but of the populus Romanus.
Only in 14-12 BC was the worship of theOnly in 14-12 BC was the worship of the
Genius formally declared a state cult and
the emperor´s Genius was officially
honoured along with the Lares Augusti,
set up at the crossroads of Rome and
eventually in many towns and country
districts throughout Italy
Lararia, Pompeii
Lararium of the House of Menander, Pompeii
Lararium from Pompeii, National Archaeological Museum, Naples
Above: The Genius is flanked by the Lares. The Genius is pouring a libation to himself.
The sacrifice is attended by a flute player and a small boy carrying the tray with mola
salsa. Another attendant, a victimarius, leads a pig to be sacrificed to the Lares.
Below: two snakes (for symmetry if to be meant as a doubled Genius loci, or perhaps
representing the Genius and Juno of the master and mistress respectively) partake of
eggs placed on an altar.
The emperor cult is the practice of assimilating emperor and deity
In the Hellenistic world in 307 BC the
hymn sung in honour of Demetrius
Poliroctes is the earliest attestation
of the rules as a “present god”.
The great leap from the cult of the
deceased ancestors to the
veneration of living men takes
place in Egypt, where the ruler cult
is the strongest in the 14th year of
the reign of Ptolemy II
Philadelphus, when the living
siblings Ptolemy II and his
sister/wife Arsinoe II were deified.
In the Greek cities the divine cult
of individual citizens can be
found towards the end of the 2nd
century BC, one of the earliest
cases is the cult of Diodorus
Pasparos at Pergamon.
Also in the Roman world, in
private/public relations, it hadprivate/public relations, it had
been usual for a long time to
address a man with emphatic
epithets and to honour him:
this is the case of the relation
patronus/cliens, the patron is
the benefactor of his clients
The object of worship in the
household was the Genius of
the paterfamilias. The
worshippers were freedmen
and slaves.
The development of
intersections between the
ideology of patronage and
of Hellenistic kingship.