AUGUSTUS, THE FIRST ROMAN EMPEROR. Part 2
part II
The Imperial Cult
The deification of the Roman emperor – Augustus was the first – is an example of political pragmatism that had very little to do with religion, and actually served to legitimize the imperial power as sacred.
Why Augustus (and others after him) could be emperor and not another senator or consul instead of him? Because he was the son of a god and implicitly superior to the others. Thus the Power surrounds itself with Sacredness and becomes untouchable.
The deification of the ruler originated in ancient times in the Mesopotamian world and then in Egypt, where the Pharaoh was divine and identified himself with the Sun, which has always been the symbol of divinity.
The Imperial Cult established itself in the Hellenistic era: the dynasts (especially the Ptolemies) were already divine during life and their statues were placed in the temples next to those of the Olympian gods. The people owed them obedience exactly as they owed it to Apollo (god of the Sun) or other gods.
The Imperial Cult was imported into Rome with some changes. Roman emperors were in fact deified only after their death, with a special decree of the Senate, which was responsible for decisions in religious matters. A special priestly body was also created, that of the Seviri Augustales.
In the Roman provinces and municipalities, the Imperial Cult, already actively promoted by Augustus, was associated with that of the goddess Rome. A cult that did not replace the local ones but joined them, leaving freedom of choice.
It became the state cult, a political-religious unifying element that celebrated the power of Rome. In late antiquity there were fierce persecutions against Christians precisely because they refused to consider the emperor god, and implicitly did not recognize his authority.
Legitimation of Power
The legitimization of imperial power and succession was always a crucial issue in the history of ancient Rome. During the monarchy of the seven kings, succession did not take place on a dynastic basis.
With the Republic there were two consuls with full powers in office for one year, who were elected by the Comitia Centuriati on the proposal of the consul in office. They gave their name to the year in which they held office. In imperial times the consuls were appointed by the Emperor.
With the empire, succession to power was attempted through family and dynastic lines, resorting to adoption in the absence of legitimate heirs.
The problem already arose with Augustus, because his nephews Gaius and Lucius, his legitimate heirs, died one after the other within a short time, in rather mysterious circumstances.
In 4 BC Augustus therefore adopted as designated successor the only remaining candidate: Tiberius, the son born from the first marriage of the empress Livia, who after the divorce had married Augustus in second marriage.