Crawford

KatherineCrawford St.OlafCollege

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The Foundation of the Roman Imperial Cult

In Ancient Rome, a cult did not carry today's connotation as a brainwashing institution or

take people away from mainstream society. Instead, cults were used to worship the gods who

affected the Roman's daily lives. New gods were continually being brought to Rome from

abroad, causing new cults to be established. The imperial cult was no different. It became a new

religious order where, the Roman emperors were worshiped in conjunction with the Roman state

because they controlled Rome's continued prosperity. The following paper will explore how the

imperial cult was created in Rome under Augustus. Since this is just a portion of my original

work, I have decided to focus on how Augusts incorporated the imperial cult into the religious

practices of Rome.

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus became the sole ruler of Rome in the year 27 B.C.E. He

subsequently created a tradition of divine rulers that lasted until the reign of Constantine in 306

C.E. The imperial cult placed emperors among the Roman state pantheon of gods, and was

integrated into the religious life of the Roman Empire. Yet, how was Augustus able to establish

the imperial cult as such an essential facet for his rule as Roman emperor? The two major trends

in scholarship demonstrate the difficulty in answering this question. The first trend claims that it

was an extension of the cult created for Alexander the Great in the Hellenistic East.1 The other

trend holds that the cult arose in Italy as a unique Roman institution under Augustus. Before

considering how Augustus developed the imperial cult, it is necessary to understand how the

scholarly debate has progressed.

1 There remains a large debate among scholars regarding when Alexander's cult was created and at what point he was considered a god. For the purpose of this paper I am following the assumption that Alexander's recognition as a god was established posthumously.


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L'Abbé Beurlier was the first scholar to study the imperial cult's Hellenistic origins,

showing that it was a direct continuation of the ruler cult created for Alexander the Great.2 The

next major scholar, Lily Ross Taylor, questions this claim and argues that it was a revival rather

then a continuation of Alexander's cult.3 Meanwhile, Stefan Weinstock takes a different focus in

the debate, beginning to look at the methods Augustus used to promote a god-like image without

proclaiming to be a god on earth.4 Paul Zanker began the transition to looking at the cult as a

new Roman institution.5 He tried to show that its success stemmed from its attachment to

previously existing Roman cults. Finally, Ittia Gradel emphasized that the imperial cult

succeeded because it accentuated the distance between the worshiper and the worshiped, and

demonstrated a new political system and power structure.6 Despite one hundred years of careful

scholarship, the link between the Hellenistic ruler cut and Augustus' system is still unclear. By

looking at the specific methods Augustus used to create an imperial cult in the Roman Empire,

we can come to a greater understanding of why Augustus decided to use the imperial cult as such

a vital element in his rule as an emperor.

We can begin to see why Augustus thought the imperial cult would aid his rule by looking

at the Cult of Alexander. In the Hellenistic East there was a tradition of divine leaders, but

Alexander the Great was first ruler for which a posthumous succession of ruler worship was

established. Throughout his life, Alexander upheld that he was the son of Zeus.7 The extent to

which Alexander tried to emphasize his divine nature is still debated. But scholars do know that

Alexander tried to employ proskynesis (ritual prostration given to a god and later, a salutation

2 L’Abbé Beurlier, Le Culte Impérial son Histoire et son Organisation depuis Auguste Jusqu’a Justinien” (Paris: Kessinger Publishing, 1891), 3. 3 Lilly Ross Taylor, The Divinity of the Roman Emperor (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1931). 4 Stefan Weinstock, “Victor and Invictus,” The Harvard Theological Review 50, no. 3 (1957), 234. 5 Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1988). 6 Ittia Gradel, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (USA: University Oxford Press, 2002), 34. 7 Boris Dreyer, "Heroes, Cults, and Divinity," Alexander the Great: A New History ed. Waldermar Heckel and Lawrence Tritle (UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009), 221.


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made before an alter with Alexander's image) as a way to establish a formal ruler cult.8

Alexander developed a relationship between himself and his subjects, which eventually gained

him the title of theos.9 As an almost divine ruler, Alexander received honors such as; sacrifices,

temples, priests, festivals, and images, that made him appear as a god on earth.10

Rome's close contact with the East allowed Gaius Julius Caesar to observe how

Alexander's posthumous ruler cult reinforced ties between cities and the ruler. Caesar adopted

the idea of trying to become a god on earth as a way to strengthen his own rule. The Senate was

able to award Caesar with divine honors because of the success he had in becoming a mediator

between the gods and the people as Pontifex Maximus.11 While Caesar never held the title of rex,

the limitless honors and titles he accepted indicated that he was divine in all but name. It is

impossible to know from our literary sources if Caesar was actually considered rex, but the

honors of consul, imperator, triumphator, dictator perpetuo, and pontifex maximus, gave him

power equal to rex. Caesar, by accepting these honors, created the beginnings of a ruler cult

based on honors unequaled by any previous Roman ruler.

It is after Alexander’s cult and Caesar’s attempt to become a divine ruler that Augustus

came into power. Augustus knew that he needed to separate himself from Caesar to gain the

peoples trust, while simultaneously linking himself to the Roman state. If Augustus was going to

adopt the idea of the Hellenistic ruler cult, he had to be careful of maintaining the people's trust

by showing that he did not want to become a monarchal ruler. The Roman people, who still

remembered Antony’s association with the East, could be reluctant to accept a Hellenistic

practice at the beginning of Augustus’ reign. Dio observes the people's reaction to Antony's

8 Ibid., 219. While Alexander's attempt to adopt proskynesis was unsuccessful it shows one method Alexander used to try to develop his potential divinity. 9 S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 52. The title of theos did not make Alexander a god, but referred to his power as a ruler. 10 Duncan Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West (The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1987), 21. 11 Ibid., 56.


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actions, “Now he has abandoned his whole ancestral way of life, has embraced alien and barbaric

customs.”12 Dio presents an example of how important tradition was to the Romans. By

incorporating traditional Roman practices into the creation of his ruler cult, Augustus could

maintain the people's trust and strengthen his reign.

In order for the Roman people to be open to the idea of emperor worship, the imperial

cult had to appear to develop spontaneously as a unique Roman institution. Augustus began a

religious revival to restore the republic from the civil wars.13 This also served to explicitly link

Augustus to the well being of Roman society. Through the use of religion, politics, and

propaganda, Augustus managed to establish an imperial cult that recognized his divinity upon

death. He modified the conception of genius, which resembled a living spirit that was present in

all living things, people, and gods. Augustus adopted the worship of his genius as a way for the

public to unofficially worship his potential divinity. The worship of Augustus’ genius did not

make Augustus divine, but was a way to publically acknowledge the “spirit” of the emperor.

Sources tell us that Augustus decreed that a libation should be poured to his genius at every

banquet.14 Augustus adapted the purpose of the genius' offering to be given in recognition of his

position as emperor instead. He modified Alexander's attempt to adopt proskynesis for personal

worship with greater success. As a result, genius becomes a state practice in recognition of

Augustus's rule. Horace’s ode 4.5 demonstrates that the pouring of the libation became common

practice at Roman parties, and not just a forgotten decree.

Hinc ad vina redit laetus et alteris Te mensis adhibet deum; Te multa prece, te prosequitur mero Defuso pateris, et Laribus tuum Miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris 12 Cassius Dio, The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (London: Penguin Classics, 1987), 50.25. 13 Armstrong, G.E. "Sacrificial Iconography: Creating History, Making Myth, and Negotiating Ideology on the Ara Pacis Augustae." Religion & Theology 15 (2008), 343. 14 Taylor, 151.


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Et magni memor Herculis.15 In these two stanzas, Horace emphasizes that the libation was poured as a way to

remember the emperor’s greatness. Horace uses imagery that depicts Augustus as a god, the

word memor stresses that the Romans were reminded on a regular basis of his divinity. Laribus

tuum miscet numen illustrates Augustus’ practice of combining Roman religious worship with

imperial worship. Augustus was careful to align himself with previous deities such as Hercules

so that when Romans worshiped him, they simultaneously worshiped the Roman state. The

required pouring of libations to the emperor’s genius sets the foundation for future emperor

worship.

Augustus aligned his divine image with the Roman state in an attempt to amalgamate

imperial and state worship. Augustus made small modifications to religious practices that placed

imperial worship within set religious traditions. As stated by Dio, “the first name of Octavian

was to be included in public hymns on the same terms as those of the gods.”16 This was one of

many ways that Augustus began to be venerated in a way previously unseen in Rome. The

public's acceptance of this change showed a marked transformation in Roman rule, where the

Roman people would no longer wait to confer honors on a leader until his death, but during life.

Just as Alexander waited for individual towns to declare him theos, Augustus never demanded

any honors. As a way to prevent the people from granting him too many honors, Suetonius states

that Augusts “would not accept any such honour in the provinces unless his name were coupled

with that of Roma.”17 Playing towards the current stakeholders, Augustus demonstrated that all

his actions were for the benefit of the Roman state and not for himself. Augustus showed that

any honors the people awarded him also honored the success of Rome. 15 Garrison, 4.5 (From here he returns happy to the symposia and he invites you as a god at the second course. He honors you with much prayer, with unmixed wine poured from bowls in a libation and he mixes your divinity with the household gods, Greece is mindful of Castor and great Hercules.) 16 Dio, 51.20. 17 Suetonius, Augustus 52.


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The forum Augustum was the pinnacle of Augustus’ combination of the imperial cult with

state religion. A forum was one of the most public spaces in Roman society. In creating the

forum Augustum, Augustus aligned himself with the people of Rome. His forum served in a

similar way to the Ara Pacis Augustae, where he used iconography to link himself with Rome's

past to show that he was the new founder of Rome.18 When he won the battle of Philippi, he had

vowed to build a temple to Mars in recognition of his victory. In actually creating the temple, he

publically recognized that the gods aided him in his victory. He also simultaneously said that he

did not consider himself to be a god. The forum was an incredible example of how Augustus

wove together the public and private life of Rome. Augustus stated in the Res Gestae, “in privato

solo Martis Ultoris templum forumque Augustum ex manibiis feci.”19 Augustus recognized that

he built a private temple that proclaimed his victories in battle on public Roman land. In Ovid's

Art of Love, the paternity of Augustus and his association to Mars Ultor is referenced, “Marsque

pater, Caesarque pater, date numen eunti, nam deus e vobis alter es, alter eris.”2021 While this

passage was written in the 2nd century B.C.E., it refers back to Augustus' reign and his forum,

showing that even then he was depicted as belonging to a divine family. The passage

demonstrates that Augustus was part of the house of Mars and the son of the deified Caesar, and

that he will become a god upon his death. Just as Alexander claimed to be a descended from

Zeus, Augustus knew that linking himself to divine ancestry would enhance his image. Anyone

visiting the forum was reminded of his standing among the Roman deities. While Augustus did

not proclaim to be divine, he successfully created an imperial cult that alluded to his divinity and

served as the foundation for his forum.

18 Armstrong, 340. 19 Divi Augusti, 21. (On private land I built the Temple of Mars the Avenger and the Forum Augustan out of the spoils of war). 20 Severy 179. (Both father Mars, and father Caesar, grant your divine influence to the ones passing by, for one of you is a god, the other will be a god.) 21 Ovid, The Art of Love and Other Poems (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979), 1.202-204.


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Augustus included statues in the forum to visually depict his relationship to the people of

the Roman state, but it also showed his place among the gods. Niches placed throughout the

forum held statues of famous Romans, demonstrating that Augustus recognized the importance

of the Roman population in his reign. In Suetonius Augustus proclaims, “This has been done to

make my fellow citizens insist that both I (while I live) and the leaders of the following ages

shall not fall below the standard set by those great men of old.”22 Augustus was recognizing the

actions of previous Romans in creating the current Roman state. Even as a potentially divine

ruler, Augustus showed that he would not threaten the integrity of the Roman state. Augustus

placed a frieze of Mars, Venus, and a deified Caesar in the temple of Mars Ultor.23

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These three statues in the image clearly show that the family of Augustus had a position amongst

the most important Roman deities. It served as a public representation that Augustus was part of

a divine genealogy and would officially become a god upon his death. Both Mars and Venus are

depicted in a parental way, as opposed to their normal immodest representations in art.25 Cupid is

placed between Venus and Mars, handing Venus a sword. The shield is inscribed with corona

civica, demonstrating Rome’s peace. Augustus showed that as pater patriae, he successfully

brought about peace because of his potential divinity and divine ancestry. 22 Suetonius, Augustus 31. 23 Severy, 171. 24 Zanker, Figure 155. 25 Ibid., 172.


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The imperial cult, by the end of Augustus’ reign, was evident in all aspects of the Roman

Empire. Augustus managed to successfully manipulate aspects of the Hellenistic cult created by

Alexander to appear as a unique Roman institution. In doing so, he incorporated the cult into the

daily religious and political practices of Rome, making it a vital part of his imperial rule.

Augustus never forced the Roman people to worship him as a god, but as a potential god in

conjunction with the Roman state. He slowly introduced the Roman people to the idea of a ruler

cult in the guise of traditional roman practices, such as the worship of the genius. The forum

Augustum was a prime example of the many different ways Augustus was able to successfully

institute the idea of an imperial cult into Roman public and private life. After Augustus, the cult

was firmly implemented in the Roman Empire, and was used by successive emperors as a way to

maintain control of the Roman state.


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Works Consulted

Armstrong, Gail. "Sacrificial Iconography: Creating History, Making Myth, and Negotiating Ideology on the Ara Pacis Augustae," Religion & Theology 15. (2008), 340-356. Beurlier, L’Abbé. Le Culte Impérial son Histoire et son Organisation depuis Auguste Jusqu’a Justinien. Paris: Kinssenger Publishing, 1891. Badian, E. “Alexander the Great Between Two Thrones and Heaven: Variation on an Old Theme,” Alexander the Great ed. Ian Worthington. London: Routledge, 2003. Clifford, Ando. The Matter of the Gods. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. Divi Augusti. Veleius Paterculus and Res Gestae Divi Augusti. Translated by Frederick W. Shipley. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1924. Dreyer, Boris. “Heroes, Cults, and Divinity,” Alexander the Great: A New History ed. Waldermar Heckel and Lawrence Tritle. UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009. Ehrenberg, Victor. “Caesar’s Final Aims,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philosogy 68. (1964), 149-161. Fishwick, Duncan. The Imperial Cult in the Latin West. The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1987. Garrison, Daniel. Horace: Epodes and Odes, A New Annotated Latin Edition, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. Gradel, Ittia. Emperor Worship and Roman Religion. USA: Oxford University Press, 2002. Hekster O.J. “Descendants of Gods: Legendary Genealogies in the Roman Empire” In The Impact of Imperial Rome on Religions, Rituals and Religious Life in the Roman Empire, edited by Lukas de Blois et al. Leiden: Brill, 2005, 24-35. Ovid. The Art of Love and Other Poems. Translated by J. H. Mozley. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1970. Pleket, H.W. “An Aspect of the Emperor Cult: Imperial Mysteries,” The Harvard Theological Review 58, no 4. (1965), 331-347. Price, S.R.F., Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Ryberg, Inez. Rites of the State Religion in Roman Art. Rome: American Academy in Rome, 1955. Sherk, Robert K. The Roman Empire: Augustus to Hadrian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Severy, Beth. Augustus and the Family at the Birth of the Roman Republic. New York: Routledge, 2003. Scott, Kenneth. The Imperial Cult Under the Flavians. New York: ARNO Press, 1936. Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Translated by Robert Graves. London: Penguin Classics, 2007. Taylor, Lily Ross. The Divinity of the Roman Emperor. Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1931. Weinstock, Stefan. “Victor and Invictus”. The Harvard Theological Review 50, no. 3. (1957), 211-247. Zanker, Paul. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1988.

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