1 Earliest Rome
1 Earliest Rome 1 Earliest Rome
8.10 Pagan priesthood other words chief priest'. In fact, all other emperors appear to have accepted the honour and to have used this title most gladly - even Constantine, when he came to the imperial throne (despite the fact that in religion he turned away from the correct path and embraced the Christian faith), and the others that came after him in turn, including Valentmianus and Valens. ! But when the pontifices followed the tradition in presenting the robe to Gratian, he rejected their offer - regarding such garb as unlawful for a Christian. And when the robe had been returned to the priests, the story goes that the leading man amongst them retorted: 'If the emperor doesn't want to be pontifex maximus, Maxim us soon will be pontifex? 1 1. The point is that even Christian emperors had accepted the office. 1. Tire priest puns on the tide at the otrice and the name of the usmper Maximus - who (successfully) revolted against Gratian in A.D. 382-3. 215
9 Individuals and gods: life and death 216 This chapter deals with various aspects of the relationship between individuals and the gods. The first three sections are concerned with the most powerful members of Roman society, and with the gradual evolution of the idea that rulers did, or should, enjoy particularly close relations with divinities (9.1) - some even being worshipped as gods themselves (9-2—3). Such an idea was in many ways incompatible with the tradition of Roman republicanism which placed much emphasis on the rotation of power between the great families and on the avoidance of pre-eminent power for any one man. The later sections deal more with the ordinary man or woman in the imperial period: with their conceptions of the place of supernatural beings in human experience (9.4—5), and their ideas of death and the consequences of death (9.6). See further: Vol. 1, 140-9, 206-10. 9.1 Late republican dynasts In the last period of the Republic, religion provided one of the fields in which Marius and Sulla, Caesar and Pompey, Antony and Octavian/Augustus fought out their conflicts, each claiming to have more reliable access to divine support than did their rivals. Some believed that there had been precedent for such divine associations in the career of Scipio Africanus (236-184/3 B.C. - the conqueror of Hannibal), who was said to have paraded his special relationship with Jupiter. See further: Vol. 1, 84-7, 140-9; Bayer (1955); Gallini (1970); V/einstock (1971); Champeaux (1982-7) n.215-91. 9.1a Scip io African its It is impossible to be sure whether the associations of Scipio with Jupiter (and with Alexander the Great) claimed in the following passage were contemporary with Scipio or later inventions. Their resemblance to the divine associations of such men as Pompey and Caesar has led to the suspicion that they were invented in the first century B.C., to serve as precedents for what was happening then. On the other hand, it is possible that in this, as in other respects, the events of the late third century B.C. anticipated some of the features of the fall
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9 Individuals and gods: life and death<br />
216<br />
This chapter deals with various aspects of the relationship between individuals<br />
and the gods. The first three sections are concerned with the most powerful<br />
members of Roman society, and with the gradual evolution of the idea that<br />
rulers did, or should, enjoy particularly close relations with divinities (9.1) -<br />
some even being worshipped as gods themselves (9-2—3). Such an idea was in<br />
many ways incompatible with the tradition of Roman republicanism which<br />
placed much emphasis on the rotation of power between the great families and<br />
on the avoidance of pre-eminent power for any one man. The later sections<br />
deal more with the ordinary man or woman in the imperial period: with their<br />
conceptions of the place of supernatural beings in human experience (9.4—5),<br />
and their ideas of death and the consequences of death (9.6).<br />
See further: Vol. 1, 140-9, 206-10.<br />
9.1 Late republican dynasts<br />
In the last period of the Republic, religion provided one of the fields in which<br />
Marius and Sulla, Caesar and Pompey, Antony and Octavian/Augustus fought<br />
out their conflicts, each claiming to have more reliable access to divine support<br />
than did their rivals. Some believed that there had been precedent for such<br />
divine associations in the career of Scipio Africanus (236-184/3 B.C. - the conqueror<br />
of Hannibal), who was said to have paraded his special relationship<br />
with Jupiter.<br />
See further: Vol. 1, 84-7, 140-9; Bayer (1955); Gallini (1970); V/einstock<br />
(1971); Champeaux (1982-7) n.215-91.<br />
9.1a Scip io African its<br />
It is impossible to be sure whether the associations of Scipio with Jupiter (and<br />
with Alexander the Great) claimed in the following passage were contemporary<br />
with Scipio or later inventions. Their resemblance to the divine associations<br />
of such men as Pompey and Caesar has led to the suspicion that they were<br />
invented in the first century B.C., to serve as precedents for what was happening<br />
then. On the other hand, it is possible that in this, as in other respects, the<br />
events of the late third century B.C. anticipated some of the features of the fall
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