Download Augustus and the revival of Roman religion

Augustus and the revival of
Roman religion
Background
• Octavian = heir of Julius Caesar
• Battle for power after Caesar’s death
• 31BC Octavian defeated Mark Antony and
Cleopatra in naval battle at Actium
• Peace after intermittent civil war for 100 years
• Relief and guilt
Why had such terrible events
happened?
• Failed to carry out rituals to maintain the
favour of the gods – pax deorum
– Civil wars were punishment sent by the gods
• Octavian determined to restore stability
– One way was to promote the ancient religion
• Octavian = Augustus – ‘a person in whom
numen was increased’
– Therefore, worthy of great honour and respect
The revival of the old religion
• Festivals and rituals had been ignored
• Temples damaged, destroyed or ruined
• Priesthoods left vacant
The revival of the old religion
• According to Augustus’ records, he:
– Rebuilt 82 temples in 28BC alone
– Filled vacant priesthoods
– Promoted the worship of 2 old gods in a new role
• Mars honoured as father of Rome’s founder, Romulus, as
god of war, and Mars the Avenger (he had helped Augustus
avenge two wrongs – murder of Caesar and the slaughter of
Roman legions at Carrhae)
• Apollo honoured for helping Augustus win at Actium. A large
temple was built for him and he was honoured as the
protector of Rome. Also promoted as a god of arts and
civilisation, and a symbol of Augustus’ success
The revival of old Roman virtues
A moral code for Roman people
• pietas – dedication to duty
• gravitas – sense of responsibility
• simplicitas – being sensible, clearly seeing things as they are
• humanitas – respect for human personality and relationships
• frugalitas – simple tastes
• disciplina – character training
• industria – hard work
• virtus – manliness and courage
• constantia – firmness of purpose
• clementia – showing mercy/compassion to the weak or defeated
Can you think of an English word that derives from the Latin word for each of the
Roman virtues?
The backing of the poets of Rome
• Little opposition to revival of religious
practices
– Uneducated continued practices that were of
benefit to them
– Many educated Romans no longer believed in the
gods, but few objected to those who did worship
them
– Religious toleration – wide range of beliefs
The backing of the poets of Rome
• Augustus backed by Rome’s poets
– Virgil and Horace
– Horace not particularly religious but appreciated the peace
Augustus brought to the Roman empire
– Horace praised Rome and Augustus in a poem sung at the
Secular Games in 17BC. He asked for the help of numerous
gods and goddesses, prayed for all Romans and praised
public and private virtues
– Virgil was genuinely religious. Believed fate or destiny had
made Rome the power that it was (Aeneid). This, he
believed was reward for the virtues of early Romans. If
descendants of early Romans returned to these virtues,
they too would prosper
Primary source material
O Meliboeus, it is a god who has fashioned this peace
(otium) for us. For me he will always be a god (deus),
and a tender lamb from my folds will often stain his
altar. For he has allowed my cattle to wander, and me
to play what I want on my rustic pipe.
Virgil Eclogue (1.6-10)
Without naming Octavian, Virgil calls the man who
brought peace to Rome a god, he declares he will
always be a god, and he will honour him by sacrificing
lambs to him.
The Ara Pacis
• Altar of Peace – 13BC
• Divinities depicted on walls
• Aeneas, father of the Roman race, depicted
sacrificing to the gods
• Augustus’ family is depicted, together with
priests, magistrates and senators, making a
procession to the altar to offer a sacrifice of
thanksgiving
The Ara Pacis
The Ara Pacis
The creation of the cult of the
emperor
• Worship of the ruler as a god
• Based on the concept of power
– An all-powerful ruler could drastically change
someone’s life for better or worse
– An all-powerful ruler could claim descent from the
gods
– Therefore, they could claim respect beyond that
given to other men while alive, and could be
worshipped as a god after his death
• Aeneas, Romulus, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar
The creation of the cult of the
emperor
• Origins of practice lie in traditional Roman
practice and Rome’s contact with the
Mediterranean world during the 3rd and 2nd
centuries BC
– Cult of dead ancestors honoured at Parentalia and
Feralia
– Ancestors memorialised in the family home – eg
masks made and worn at funerals by relatives who
impersonated dead ancestors
– In the Roman triumph, the victorious general
impersonated the god Jupiter for one day
The creation of the cult of the
emperor
- People in the Near East were accustomed to
regarding their emperors as gods
- Egyptian pharaohs
- Alexander the Great – story that Zeus had entered
the bed of Alexander’s mother, Olympias, in the
form of a snake, another that the oracle of Zeus
Ammon in Egypt had greeted Alexander as the son
of Zeus
Primary source material
• The story that Rome’s founder became a god dates at
least to the late 3rd century BC
• Livy gives a graphic though somewhat sceptical
account of Romulus’ death, his assumption into
heaven, and his deification