1 Earliest Rome

9- I N D I V I D U A L S A N D G O D S
9.2 Emperor worship
The increasing claims of the late republican leaders might predictably have led
on directly (once the republican system had fallen) to the recognition of
emperors as gods on earth. It is indeed possible that Julius Caesar did have
plans to be recognized as a god in his own lifetime (9.2a). But if this is the case,
and if Caesar's successors were aware of these plans, they chose largely to avoid
any such precedent. In practice, 'deification' of Roman emperors was a com­
plex, shifting and varied phenomenon. In Rome itself emperors were often
closely associated with the gods (see 2.8c), but only the stereo typically 'bad'
emperors were said to have become gods during their lifetime; in general,
emperors received divine status only after their death - and only if the senate
deemed to them to have deserved it (2.8b). In the provinces, divine honours
were sometimes given to living emperors — but local practice varied widely and
was a matter of local initiative as much as demands made by the emperor him­
self (10.4e, 10.5, 10.6).
See further: Vol. 1, 140-9; Koch (I960); Hopkins (1978) 197-242*; Price
(1984); Fishwick (1987- ) 1.3-93; for further passages and bibliography, 2.8.
9.2a Caesar as god
Cicero, Philippic llA 10-11
This passage is one of the main pieces of evidence to suggest that Caesar was
aiming at deification during his lifetime. It is part of a speech delivered by
Cicero in the autumn of 44 B.C. against his great political enemy, Mark
Antony. Cicero is teasing Antony by asking him why, if he was as devoted to
Caesar's memory as he said he was, he had not yet gone through the formal cer­
emony of inauguration as flamen, that is special priest of Caesar's new cult. In
doing this, Cicero claims detailed knowledge of the cult - the god's title, the
priests title, even the new priest's identity. In fact, the formal recognition of
Caesar as a god {divus Julius) did not occur till after Cicero's death and Antony
only became flamen divi lulii in 40 B.C. (Plutarch, Life of Antony 33-1). The
only explanation for Cicero's apparent knowledge is that he knew of detailed
plans for deification drafted in Caesar's lifetime, but only implemented in the
years after his death.
See further: Vol. 1, 140-2, 145, 148-9; Weinstock (1971) 305-8; North
(1975); Fishwick (1987-) 1.56-72*.
And you so sedulous about Caesar's memory, are you really devoted to the
man now he is dead? What greater honour did he ever get than that he should have the
sacred couch, the statue, the gable on his house, the special flamen? 1
So you see, just as
there is & flamen for Jupiter, for Mars and for Quirinus, so there is now a flamen for the
divus Julius - Mark Antony himself. So why hesitate? Why do you not hold the
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