The Evolution of Imperial Worship Under Roman Caesars

C. 48, Rome had gener all toldy non followed the practice of emperor worship which had been quite common in Greece and other Eastern provinces. According to Weinstock, "it was an old Greek doctrine that coarse achievements deserved divine honours, and that is why the mythical heroes, [such(prenominal) as Heracles and Dionysius] . . . became beau ideals after their death." Sometimes the Greeks turned their greatest heroes into gods during life and believed "that kings and great men were descended from gods." After his victories in India, Alexander the Great had demanded of the Athenians and had been minded(p) by them the honours accorded to a god.

Similar elements existed in papistical tradition and religion. Ogilvie points out that "Roman religion is essentially the answer of the fusion of primitive Latin and Greek elements." According to him, "the caput feature . . . of the Roman religion was the belief that all the distinguished processes of the world were divinely activated and, conversely, that different gods had charge of occurrence functions and spheres of activity." In other words, the great leader required and oftentimes invoked divine assistance through prayer, sacrifices and divination (of omens and auguries) in decree to achieve success.

Ogilvie says that "it was one thing to believe that a god stood by your shoulder and helped you to overcome all your difficulties. It was only a short step from this to believe that you had within yourself divine powers." Howe

Starr, Chester G. The Roman Empire 27 B.C.-A.D. 476 A Study in Survival. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

Weinstock states that what Caesar had in mind was to state "a grand scheme of ruler cult for his empire." Ogilvie says that "Caesar, onwards his assassination, had determined to claim divine status for himself . . . but his motives for doing so are not wholly clear. He may headspring arrive felt that it would help to . . . justify the absolute monarchy which he realised was the only answer to Rome's perennial quarrels and disputes." Grant disagrees. He says that Caesar had no interest in becoming a inheritable king surrounded by a panoply of divine attributes.

He says "he had no need whatever to take such an unpopular step since his perpetual dictatorship already gave him all the powers he needed."

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars Emperors of Rome. Trans. Philemon Holland. New York: Heritage Press, 1965.

Julius Caesar was born to a patrician family in Rome, which traced its origins back to a Trojan rank founded by Aeneas or one of his companions. Caesar claimed (on the basis of Homeric accounts) to have descended through Aeneas from Venus, the daughter of Jupiter. In the last months, Caesar was called Iuppiter Julius. During his lifetime, Caesar encouraged sundry(a) myths, such as that as a child, "a doughnut surrounded his head" and that Venus had blessed him as a young man with good looks, which "marked him as a man of destiny." In B.C. 46, he erected the Temple Venus Genetrix in Rome to emphasize his divine ancestry. In B.C. 63, he was appointive chief religious magistrate, Pontifex Maximus, for life.

Tiberius was Augustus' step son and designated successor, but his interlocking was not universally welcomed. The rule of the Caesars was, however, not a hereditary monarchy nor did Roman tradition sanction hereditary rule. The succession grapple after the death of Julius Caesar had been long and bloody. Undoubtedly, th
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