Professional paper
Apotheosis: the system, implementation and symbolism of the deification of Roman emperors
Ivana Banovac
Ivana Jadrić-Kučan
orcid.org/0000-0002-8235-2311
; Sveučilište u Zadru, Odjel za arheologiju, Zadar, Hrvatska
Abstract
Deification or apotheosis was a ritual elevation of the soul of a deceased person to the divine sphere – in other words, turning a mortal into a deity. As relevance of deification and its components evolved with time, awarding divine honors to an emperor became dependent on political and sacral laws, personal interest and the circumstances of the day. This posthumous awarding of the ultimate honor, greater than any other in his lifetime, was a move of both political and religious nature that primarily suited the needs of the Senate and incumbent ruler – the successor of the late emperor who is being divinized. This became obvious in the early days of the Empire, when young Octavian, as the adopted son of the divinized Julius Caesar, was awarded the title divi filius which he used to justify and ensure his place at the helm of the Roman state. Inspired by his lineage and the religious traditions of Oriental civilizations, Octavian – later Augustus – introduced worshipping of an imperial cult both before and after the emperor’s death, thus setting a precedent that his successors would turn into a lasting phenomenon that would manifest in different ways during the Principate and Dominate periods. For example, in the early phase, deification – as one of the aspects of this phenomenon – was considered the highest and unique degree in the lives and careers of prominent emperors and members of the imperial family, but later it evolved into a standard of the Roman imperial funerary practice. Finally, when Christianity was introduced as the central religion of the Roman Empire, deification lost its original significance and was discontinued.
Keywords
apotheosis; deificatio; imperial cult; divus; Roman emperors
Hrčak ID:
284632
URI
Publication date:
10.10.2022.
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