The emperor cult in Ancient Rome and Italy in the intertestamental and early Christian era

The Emperor Cult in Ancient Rome and Italy in the Doctorate Intertestamental and Early Christian Era. The emperor cult existed in the Roman Empire since the enthronement of its first emperor Octavian Augustus up to Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 AD. There were significant differences between the emperor cult in Rome, Italy, the provinces of Asia Minor annexed after invasion, and Egypt. For example, it is believed that there was no actual cult of the living emperor (Augustus) in Rome and the provinces, but there was worship of his genius, while in Asia Minor and Egypt the cult was carried out according to the Hellenistic model of a “divine ruler.” It has become traditional to emphasize formality, insincerity of the emperor cult in Rome. The religious perception of the figure of a ruler-emperor by the Romans (both in Rome and Italy) differed from the Hellenistic one. This difference was due to the 231 Romans’ religious attitude, other than that of the Greeks: they saw a god not so much as an abstraction but rather as an action. Religious, not metaphysically oriented, strong and vivid Roman mind took an interest in a particular event. Worshiper of the emperor worshipped not his master, «dominus», head of the family, «pater familias», or patron, but rather a living deity. And this elevated the worshiper to a completely different level — he was not a client, but a “participant of the altar” of the living god — the emperor. Hence came the religious enthusiasm of the Romans — it can not be reduced simply to flattery and obsequiousness. Worshipers of god-emperor, not his genius, did not want to be their patrons’ clients — they wanted to be free Romans before their living god.