The Imperial Cult 2

1. The Imperial Cult 2

2. Religion and the Emperor • Religious position of Roman emperor was dominant and pervasive in the city of Rome • Cult consisted of a variety of rituals developed over time which associated the emperor with gods or linked him with religious institutions and ceremonies; • became integrated within religious framework of city • Under Augustus his Lares and Genius moved into the public sphere and were worshipped; but no full emperor cult • However, there is little difference between worship of the genius of Augustus (his spirit) and the man. • Practices established by Augustus provided basic religious framework for subsequent Imperial period: Emperors and Imperial family received divine honours by vote of senate after death, only when merited • One senior senator is said to have been paid a million sesterces for declaring on oath to the senate that he had actually seen Augustus ascending to heaven.

3. The deification of Claudius or the Pumpkinification of Claudius • The scene is set in the senate on Mount Olympus where the gods debate about granting divine status to Claudius. A satirical take on debates about deification of emperors that took place in the Roman senate.

4. Seneca(?), Pumpkinification of Claudius 9 • “It finally dawned on Jupiter that so long as strangers were loitering in the senate house the senators were not allowed to express opinions or take part in debate. ‘Conscript fathers’ he said, ‘I gave you permission to ask questions, but all you have done is to create mayhem. I require you to obey the rules of the senate house. What impression will this man (whatever he is) have formed of us?’ So Claudius was sent out and the first called to give his opinion was Father Janus. He was the consul designate, down to hold the office for the afternoon of the following first of July, and a fellow who, so long as it’s up his own street, always looks ‘backwards and forwards at the same time.’ He lived in the Forum and had much to say with an eloquence that the shorthand-writer could not keep up with. I’m therefore missing out,

5. Seneca, continued • So as not to put his speech into other words. He had a lot to say about the greatness of the gods and about how the honour should not be handed out to every Tom, Dick and Harry. ‘There was a time,’ he said, ‘when it was a great thing to be made a god; but you have turned it into a Bean Farce. To avoid seeming to give my views ad hominem, rather than on the issue, my proposal is that from this day onwards nobody should be made a god from those who consume the fruits of the earth or whom the fruitful earth sustains. Anyone who, contrary to this decree of the senate, is made, spoken about or represented as a god shall be delivered up to the spooks and lashed with whips among the new gladiators at the next public spectacle.

6. Religious Life in the Provinces

7. Roman Religious Authority outside Rome • Legal writers claim that a sharp distinction existed between religious law applied at home and in the provinces • In Rome and Italy ruling of priests was authoritative, not in provinces • Provincials often complied, but only out of convenience or courtesy

8. Gaius, Institutes II.1-11 • The first division of things is into two classes; for some are subject to divine law (ius) some to human law. Within divine law some things are sacred, some religious. Things sacred are those consecrated to the gods above; things religious are those devoted to the gods below. Nothing can become sacred except by the authority of the Roman People which can result either through the passing of a law or through a decree of the senate. On the other hand, things can become religious by our own act of will when we bury the dead in our own ground, provided that the particular burial is our own business. On soil of the provinces, however, since individuals can only have possession or usufruct but not full dominion, which belongs only to the people of Rome or to the emperor, the ground can never become properly religious but only quasi-religious. In the same way in the provinces, ground that has not been consecrated by authority of the Roman People is not properly sacred but quasi-sacred.

9. Pliny, Letters X.68 to the emperor Trajan , 100 CE (when Pliny, the Younger was governor of Pontus Bithynia • To Trajan: • “Certain people have requested that I should give permission, following the precedent of earlier proconsuls, for them to move the mortal remains of their family members, either because of damage (to the tombs) caused by the passage of time or because of river floods or other similar accidents. I thought it best to ask your advice as pontifex maximus on the best practice, for I am aware that in our city it is the custom to consult the college of pontifices in cases such as these.” • (burial law was one of the responsibilities of the pontifices in Rome, beginning with Augustus, the emperor was always the pontifex maximus)

10. Pliny, Letters X.69Trajan to Pliny • “ It is hard to impose on provincials the obligation of consulting the pontifices if they wish to transfer the remains of their relations from one place to another for nay good reason.”

11. The Imperial Cultin the Provinces

12. Provincial Assemblies • Each member city in a province sent representatives to an annual assembly • In some Provinces assemblies were established before reign of Augustus to handle variety of business • From Augustus on primary focus of all provincial assemblies was worship of the emperor • General Pattern: Met at a provincial temple of the emperor; elected a chief priest; celebrated a festival in honour of emperor • Most provinces had one temple, some, including Asia had several • Hosting the provincial cult added to prestige of local cities: i.e. three major cities Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum competed for imperial permission to construct more temples.

13. Nature and Purpose of the Imperial Cult inProvincial Assemblies • In less Romanized Regions of Empire worship of living emperor; originally restricted to non-citizens. • In more Romanized Regions - cult of the deified emperor (after death) established instead • Over time, most provincial cults honoured the ‘emperors’ in general (living and dead). • Provided opportunities for members of the local elite to express their loyalty and closeness to the centre of power – Rome and the Emperor

14. Imperial Cult associations outside Provincial Assemblies • Provincials of all ranks eager to display loyalty and closeness to emperor • present in cities throughout the empire with shrines, public priests, included a regular schedule of ceremonies • i.e. (Inscriptions from Narbo in France) on birthdays and other important dates, representatives of the populace including freedmen offered animal sacrifices to the emperor’s numen (divine power) and provided people with wine and incense for individual offerings (ILS 112). • Civic Cults did not require permission from emperor, but an official endorsement meant prestige for community • Also voluntary associations focused on the emperor • Wealthy freedmen had opportunity to participate in cult as Augustales (formal rank associated with worship of emperor) • A gild of physicians in Ephesus described themselves as “those who sacrifice to ancestor Asklepios and the emperors”.

15. Festival Regulation, Gytheum (near Sparta) Greece, c. 15 CE • “The agoranomos shall celebrate the first day for the god Caesar Augustus, son of the god (Caesar), our Savior and Deliverer; the second day for the emperor [Ti]berius Caesar Augustus, father of the fatherland; the third day for Julia Augusta, the Fortune of our nation and city; the fourth day (of Victory) for Germanicus Caesar; the fifth day (of Aphrodite) for Drusus Caesar; and the sixth day for Titus Quinctious Flaminius (the commander who had freed the Greeks from king Philip of Macedonia two centuries earlier and who received these honours since.) • The agoronomos shall be responsible for the good order of the contestants. He shall render accounts to the city for all payments to the performers and for the administration of the sacred monies at the first assembly meeting after the contest …(SEG XI.923.7-40)

16. Barbarian reaction? • I cannot resist inserting a minor incident even into this narrative of great events. Our camp was on the nearer bank of the river (Elbe)..on the far bank there was a glittering array of the enemy’s troops, but hastily retreating (at every movement of our ships). But one of the barbarians, a senior man in years, very tall, high-ranking as shown by his dress, embarked in a canoe – a hollowed out log, as is their custom – and steered his own course to the middle of the river. Then he asked if he could have permission to land in security on our bank, and to look at Caesar (Tiberius). Permission was granted, so he beached his canoe and gazed at Caesar for a long time without speaking. Then he spoke: ‘Our young men are crazy: they worship your divine power when you are absent (i.e. the provincial imperial cult), but when you arrive they would rather go in terror of your arms than put themselves under your protection. But I, Caesar, by your kind permission, have seen the gods of whom I used once only to hear; nor have I ever hoped for or experienced a happier day in my life.’ He was given permission to touch Caesar’s hand, and then he went back to his boat, and carried on ceaselessly gazing back at Caesar until he reached his own side’s bank of the river. (Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome II.107)

17. Sacrifice ‘to’ or ‘on behalf’ of the Emperor • “Isidorus (leader of the Greek, anti-Jewish delegation to Gaius in 38 CE) , that bitter sycophant, realizing that Gaius (Caligula) enjoyed being offered titles beyond human nature, said: ‘you are going to hate these Jews here, my lord, and their fellow-countrymen more than ever when you hear about their ill-will and impiety towards you. For when all humanity was offering sacrifices of gratitude for your recovery, these were the only ones who could not bear to perform sacrifice. By “these” I mean to include all the other Jews as well.’ At that we all shouted out together, ‘Lord Gaius, we are being slandered; we did sacrifice – we sacrificed whole hecatombs. And we did not just sprinkle blood on the altars (as some people do) and then take the meat home for feasting and celebrations, but put the whole offering into the sacred flame to be burned up (it was standard Greek/Roman practice to eat the meat at end of the ritual). We have already done this not just once but three times: the first time was on your accession as emperor (37 CE); the second was on your recovery from that dreadful illness that the whole world suffered with you (37 CE) ; the third was in expectation of your triumph in Germany (39 CE). It may be true, Gaius replied, that you did sacrifice but you sacrificed to somebody else, even if it was on my behalf. So where’s the merit in that? You did not sacrifice to me. Immediately we heard that, following on his previous remark, we were seized by a violent trembling, such that it was beyond all concealment.” (Philo, Embassy to Gaius 355-7)