Roman Imperial Cult Research Articles

Book Review of The Small Temple: A Roman Imperial Cult Building in Petra, Jordan, by Sara Karz Reid

Book Review of The Small Temple: A Roman Imperial Cult Building in Petra, Jordan, by Sara Karz Reid

The power of sacrifice: Roman and Christian discourses in conflict

The rhetoric and the ritual practices associated with sacrifice filled the ancient world. They were potent tools that maintained a balance between the powers of heaven and earth. They were also impressive vehicles used politically for establishing and maintaining social control. In short, the idea of sacrifice was itself a form of social discourse - a rhetorical means that generated and constituted social identity through the exercise of power. In this work, George Heyman offers a fresh perspective on the similarities between pagan Roman and Christian thinking about the public role of sacrifice in the first two and a half centuries of the Christian era. He shows that both imperial Rome and early Christianity capitalized on the rhetoric of sacrifice as a discursive means to craft their location, their identity, and their social power within the cosmos. Early Christian authors, like those responsible for the New Testament and other Christian literature, adopted this sacrificial discourse in order first to understand the death of Jesus and then later to valorize the deaths of the early martyrs. Heyman shows that such a discourse, however, was not unique to early Christianity. The sacrificial practices associated with the Roman imperial cult also established civic and national pride throughout the Empire. Because of their refusal to participate in the normal Roman civic sacrifices, Christians were perceived as a threat to the complex and fragile balance of power that existed between the gods and the state. The earliest Christians responded by crafting the death of Jesus in sacrificial rhetoric and exalting the spectacle of the martyr in imitation of the biblical Christ. Even though they refused to participate in Roman sacrifices, Christianity created its own social order through a novel formulation of sacrificial discourse. While many scholars have researched the discourse of the Roman imperial cult, none has included a comprehensive analysis of the impact of this discourse on early Christianity. This book offers a synthesis of contemporary theory and historical data, a novel approach to the power of sacrifice and conflict between Rome and early Christianity.

Pontius Pilate and the Imperial Cult in Roman Judaea

While Pontius Pilate is often seen as agnostic, in modern terms, the material evidence of his coinage and the Pilate inscription from Caesarea indicate a prefect determined to promote a form of Roman religion in Judaea. Unlike his predecessors, in the coinage Pilate used peculiarly Roman iconographic elements appropriate to the imperial cult. In the inscription Pilate was evidently responsible for dedicating a Tiberieum to the Dis Augustis. This material evidence may be placed alongside the report in Philo Legatio ad Gaium (299–305) where Pilate sets up shields – likewise associated with the Roman imperial cult –honouring Tiberius in Jerusalem.

"A Sight Unfit to See": Jewish Reactions to the Roman Imperial Cult

"A Sight Unfit to See": Jewish Reactions to the Roman Imperial Cult

The Emperor and the Gods (review)

Reviewed by: The Emperor and the Gods Kenneth R. Calvert Daniel N. Schowalter. The Emperor and the Gods. Harvard Dissertations in Religion, 28. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. Pp. xii + 164. $15.00. The works of Fishwick, Macmullen, Etienne and Vermaseren, among others, have, in the last twenty years, redirected scholarship away from the idea of a monolithic Roman imperial cult toward the study of local variations. Following [End Page 121] the lead of S. R. F. Price (Rituals and Power [Cambridge, 1984]), whose descriptive “web of power” has greatly influenced this discussion, Daniel Schowalter analyzes the Panegyricus of Pliny the Younger for its complex, “images of relationship between the Emperor and the gods” (3–4). These results are compared with images in the broader socio-political context that is, quoting Price, within the “traditional symbolic system” of Rome (4). Schowalter then promises to discuss how his analysis informs, “the broader context of developing Christian communities in the early second century” (6). In this work Schowalter critiques J. Beaujeu, Y. Shochat, and, above all, J. Rufus Fears, each of whom finds evidence of Trajan’s “Jovian theology” or “imperial” policy in the Panegyricus (12, 27, 30). Schowalter convincingly argues that Pliny communicated a Senatorial perspective, not that of the PRINCEPS. “To whatever degree Pliny was supportive of Trajan’s regime, he was not about to endorse the Principate wholeheartedly” (35). Writing early in the reign Pliny sought to, “embrace the moderation that Trajan had shown, while pressing for more involvement in the governing process” (37). The relationship between the emperor and the gods is therefore expressed in a speech which describes the relation of the emperor to the social order, “the inhabitants of the empire, the people of Rome, and especially the Senate” (51). Schowalter’s analysis of cultic expression in the Panegyricus includes the duty of the emperor to pray and sacrifice as well as that of the people to entreat the gods on his behalf. The emperor, while not divine in life, acted as mediator (Pontifex Maximus) between the gods and the people as well as between the gods and the Senate. Pliny’s task was to, “persuade Trajan to see himself in a balanced power relationship with the gods and thereby with his subjects” (75). Pliny praised the emperor’s moderation while warning him of his accountability to heaven (and the Senate who divinized dead emperors). Schowalter concludes that Pliny’s Panegyricus, while clearly reflecting a social order, illustrates a situation wherein, “the actual relationship between the emperor and the gods is described not in simple terms of Jupiter protecting Trajan, but in terms of mutual support and responsibility, which holds the emperor accountable” (80). Schowalter describes similar complexities in literary evidence, numismatics, epigraphy and monumental art. This confirms that while Trajan’s letters (in Pliny’s collection) included ideas of moderation, as in the Panegyricus, coin issues could suggest a similar mutuality or at times a more autocratic tendency. Monuments, too, provided mixed messages. The Arch of Beneventum illustrated a strong divine presence alongside Senatorial and probable Hadrianic influences. However, the Column of Trajan included only occasional, but important, divine appearances amidst a strong emphasis on the emperor’s military achievements. While common themes existed, such as the imperial (and community) obligation to acknowledge divine assistance, Schowalter concludes, “there was not any single portrayal of the relationship between the emperor and the gods” (125). Despite Schowalter’s excellent treatment of Pliny’s Panegyricus there are aspects of his thesis that need questioning. Price’s “web of power” should be better defined. Simon Price himself seems unsure of whether the imperial cult(s) of Asia Minor reflected a “process of flexible adaptation of the traditional cults” [End Page 122] (Price, 47), or reflected more the peculiarities of the Roman period (Price, 24). What, more exactly, can be included in the “traditional symbolic system” of Rome? What defined the possible expressions of the relationship between the emperor and the gods? Surely, Fears’s “Jovian theology” (PRINCEPS A DIIS ELECTUS: The Divine Election of the Emperor as a Political Concept at Rome [Rome, 1977]) can assist us with these questions. There is little doubt that Schowalter is right to reject...

Beyond Romans and natives

Revisionist studies of Roman imperialism and Romanization continue to show the traces of modern debates on imperialism and colonialism, in particular a tendency to analyse cultural change in terms of the interaction of two ethnic cultures. An analysis of the changing unities and diversities of cultures in Gaul (modern France), and of the transformation of Roman culture during and as a result of imperial expansion, suggests a new view of the nature and genesis of Roman imperial culture.

Kejserkult i den romerske husstand

A recurrent statement in scholarship on the Roman imperial cult has been that the phenomenon was but a political expression of loyalty towards the emperor, involving little “truly religious” sentiment for the worshippers. According to this argument, the cult was almost exclusively a public phenomenon. Private emperor worship has received surprisingly little attention from scholarship, but even in the unequivocally private sphere of the Roman household (in Italy), the cult of the living emperor seems to have been widespread during early imperial times. Although the difficult nature of the source material for private emperor worship calls for caution, this conclusion forms a basis for rejecting the traditional interpretation of the imperial cult as reductionist and Christianizing.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Genesis, with an Introduction to Narrative Literature. By George W. Coats. Genesis 1–11: A Commentary. By Claus Westermann. The Enemy is my Guest: Jesus and Violence in Luke. By J. Massyngberde‐Ford. God of the Lowly: Socio‐Historical Interpretation of the Bible. Edited by Willy Schottroff and Wolfgang Stegeman. La Naissance des évangiles Synoptiques By Jean Carmignac. Les Premiers évangiles: Un Nouveau Regard sur le Probleme Synoptique. By Philippe Holland. Law in Paul's Thought. By Hans Hübner. The Glory of the Lord, A Theological Aesthetics, II: Studies in Theological Style: Clerical Styles. By Hans Urs von Balthasar, edited by John Riches, translated by Andrew Louth, Francis McDonagh and Brian McNeil. Origen, Spirit and Fire: A Thematic Anthology of his Writings. By Hans Urs von Balthasar, translated by Robert J. Daly. Tibet. Translated with an Introduction by Robert A.F. Thurman. The Relevance of Bliss: A Contemporary Exploration of Mystic Experience. By Nona Coxhead. Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition. By Harvey B. Egan. Unsearchable Riches: The Symbolic Nature of Liturgy. By David N. Power. Priest as Type of Christ: The Leader of the Eucharist in Salvation History A ccordint to Cyprian of Carthage. By John D. Laurence. Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding. By Robert Taft. Towards Christian Reunion. By Luis M. Bermejo. The True Church and the Poor. By Jon Sobrino. Ethos und Kirchliches Lehramt. By Josef Schuster. Humanity in God. By Elisabeth Moltmann‐Wendel and Jurgen Moltmann‐Wendel. Theism. By Clement Dore. The Existence and Nature of God. Edited by Alfred J. Freddoso. Christian Theism: A Study in its Basic Principles. By Huw Parri Owen. Experience, Explanation and Faith: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. By Anthony O'Hear. Matter and Consciousness: A Contemporary Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind. By Paul M. Churchland. Introduction to the Problem of Individuation in the Early Middle Ages. By Jorge J.E. Gracia. Paulus Venetus: Logica Parva (1472 ed.). Trans, with introduction and notes by Alan R. Perreiah. Representational Mind: A Study of Kant's Theory of Knowledge. By Richard E. Aquila. An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. By John Henry Newman. Edited by I.T. Ker. Natural Reason: A Study of the Notions of Inference, Assent, Intuition, and First Principles in the Philosophy of John Henry Cardinal Newman. By Gerard Casey. Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge. By David Bloor. Contingent Immaterialism: Meaning, Freedom, Time, and Mind. By Ben Mijuskovic. Struggles of Gods: Papers of the Groningen Work Group for the Study of the History of Religions. Edited by H.G. Kippenberg. The Buddha. By Michael Carrithers. Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. By S.R.F. Price. Religion in Roman Britain. By Martin Henig. Makarios‐Symeon.‐Epistola Magna. Edited by Reinhart Staats, Pp.196, Göttingen, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1984, 136 DM. Texte zur Geschichte des frühchristlichen Osterkalenders. By August Strobel. The Byzantine Empire 1025–1204: A Political History. By Michael Angold. Byzantium: Church, Society and Civilization Seen Through Contemporary Eyes. By Deno J. Geanakoplos. The Birth of Purgatory. By Jacques Le Goff, translated by Arthur Goldhammer. De Dominis (1560–1624): Venetian, Anglican, Ecumenist and Relapsed Heretic. By Noel Malcolm. Francois Genet: The Man and his Methodology. By James R. Pollock.

Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor.

Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor.

Rituals and Power. The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor

Rituals and Power. The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor

BOOK NOTICES

Journal Article BOOK NOTICES Get access Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. By S. R. F. Price. Cambridge University Press, 1984. 289 pages. $49.50. Luther H. Martin Luther H. Martin The University of Vermont Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume LIV, Issue 1, Spring 1986, Pages 189–190, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LIV.1.189 Published: 01 March 1986

Gods and emperors: the Greek language of the Roman imperial cult

The Greeks under Roman rule suffer from a double prejudice. On the one hand, Hellenists lose interest in the Greeks after the classical period; on the other, Roman historians find it hard to avoid a Romanocentric perspective. This double prejudice becomes particularly acute when the issue is the religious language used by the Greeks to refer to the Roman emperor. For example, the Greeks called the living emperor both theou huios (‘son of god’) and also theos (‘god’). The language looks odd from the perspectives both of classical Athens and of imperial Rome. One way to make sense of it is to treat it as a translation out of Latin. Thus the bizarre practice of calling the emperor theou huios is seen as perfectly natural because it is simply the translation of divi filius. Why natural? Because, as the heirs of Rome, we can attempt to ignore the cultural differences between us and the ancient world. But the tactic of treating Greek as a translation out of Latin does not always work. Calling the living emperor theos cannot be seen as a translation of divus, a term which applies only to dead emperors. Modern scholars are therefore forced to treat the usage as ‘deviant’, the product of either folly or flattery. In fact the failure of theos to translate divus undermines the first assumption that theou huios is a translation of divi filius.

The Imperial Cult under the Flavians

PREFACE Since the publication of Abbe Beurlier's Le Culte Imperial in 1891 our knowledge of the ruler cult has been increased by the discovery of new evidence and by the investigations of numerous scholars. In recent years a notable contribution was made by Taylor's The Divinity of the Roman Emperor, which shows the beginnings of the Roman Imperial Cult. Miss Taylor's book, however, does not extend in scope beyond Augustus. It has been the purpose of this study to give a picture of the development of the imperial cult at a later period and under an entire dynasty, that of the Flavians. It appears that much of the cult of the Flavian family was the result of shameless flattery or was dictated by political motives. This worship of the Flavians bas, however, left a deep impress upon the literature ·and art of the day, while many of its forms hark back to beliefs and conceptions centuries old. An understanding of the history of the Flavian period is impossible without some regard for the imperial cult, and it is my hope that this book will be of service to the more general historian and student of literature and art as well as to the specialist in Roman religion. ……..