Imperial Cult Flashcards
What is the imperial cult?
Another element in the Roman state religion was what is generally referred to as the imperial cult. This cult regarded emperors and members of their families as gods.
On his death, Julius Caesar was officially recognised as a god, the Divine (‘Divus’) Julius, by the Roman state. And in 29 BC Caesar’s adopted son, the first Roman emperor Augustus, allowed the culturally Greek cities of Asia Minor to set up temples to him. This was really the first manifestation of Roman emperor-worship.
While worship of a living emperor was culturally acceptable in some parts of the empire, in Rome itself and in Italy it was not. There an emperor was usually declared a ‘divus’ only on his death, and was subsequently worshipped (especially on anniversaries, like that of his accession) with sacrifice like any other gods.
