The Buildings and the Images of
the Imperial Cult
VII The Flavian cult
The Flavian Cult
changes:
a) Arval rituals
b) Genius of the princeps
c) Divi
Arval rituals:
-the calendar of events
- Julio-Claudians
- Flavians
- Votum
Pantheon:
Julio-Claudians
Domitian
Sources:
Galba, Otho, Vitellius
Vespasian
Titus
Domitian
Genius
Censorinus (grammarian): “A genius is a god under whose protection each person lives from
birth”
Modern scholars: “Life force or guardian spirit”
Genius and the Julio-Claudians:
Augustus
Nero
Genius and Galba, Otho, Vitellus
Genius and the Flavians:
Vespasian
Domitian
Iconographic evidence:
a) The Arch of Titus
b) Cancelleria A and B
c) The Temple of Domus Flaviae
- genius absent – 3 other deities instead
The Arch of Titus
- dedicated to Divus Titus by the Senate and
Roman People
- dedicated by Domitian or Trajan ?
The Arch of Titus – the Triumphator relief
-the protagonists: both human and divine
a) Titus and Vespasian
b) Domitian
The vault
The Cancelleria Reliefs
- discovered in 1937 and 1939, the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome
- controversy
- style
Panel B
Domitian
Vespasian, laurel
wreath
Panel A
Domitian or Nerva?
- hairstyle
- facial features
Divus
- more similarities between the Julio - Claudians and Domitian
The Julio-Claudians
Beginning of Vespasian’s rule
Titus
Domitian
Flavians – two groups of divi: divi principales and divi minors
Flavian deification
5 members deified: Vespasian, Titus, Julia Titi, Caesar
Domitiani filius, Domitilla (4 deified under Domitianus)
Vespasian
- died 24th June, 79 AD, divus in September 79 AD (delay)
Titus
- even more difficult to determine
- died 13th September 81 AD
Julia Titi
- died 89 AD – must have been deified within a few
months of her death
Others
Domitian’s son
-deified early in Domitian’s reign
Diva Domitilla
- under the reign of Titus
Cult Apparatus
- shared temples and shared priests
3 temples:
a) Divus Vespasianus and Divus Titus
b) Porticus Divorum
c) Templum Gentis Flaviae
The temple of Divus Vespasianus and Divus Titus
Forum Romanum
- the temple
- cella
- statues
Poticus Divorum, Divorum, Temlum Divorum
Campus Martius
- coins of Domitian (94-96 AD) - the image of a tetrastyle temple
The building - importance in the religious
policy of Domitian
- well known from the Forma Urbis
Marmorea
The porticus
The Propylaeum
The TemplesThe Temples
- the coin represents one of
them
A
B
- after the fourth century there is no mention
of the structure
- many architectural remains – reconstruction
still problematic
Porticus Divorum belongs to the sanctuary
a) the Temple of Minerva Chalcidica
b) the Iseum Campense/Serapeum
c) the Porticus Divorum
- assimilation to Egyptian gods – Sarapis and
Anubis
- assimilation to Egyptian gods – Sarapis and
Anubis