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The Foundation of the Roman Imperial Cult
In Ancient Rome, a cult did not carry today's connotation as a brainwashing institution or
take people away from mainstream society. Instead, cults were used to worship the gods who
affected the Roman's daily lives. New gods were continually being brought to Rome from
abroad, causing new cults to be established. The imperial cult was no different. It became a new
religious order where, the Roman emperors were worshiped in conjunction with the Roman state
because they controlled Rome's continued prosperity. The following paper will explore how the
imperial cult was created in Rome under Augustus. Since this is just a portion of my original
work, I have decided to focus on how Augusts incorporated the imperial cult into the religious
practices of Rome.
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus became the sole ruler of Rome in the year 27 B.C.E. He
subsequently created a tradition of divine rulers that lasted until the reign of Constantine in 306
C.E. The imperial cult placed emperors among the Roman state pantheon of gods, and was
integrated into the religious life of the Roman Empire. Yet, how was Augustus able to establish
the imperial cult as such an essential facet for his rule as Roman emperor? The two major trends
in scholarship demonstrate the difficulty in answering this question. The first trend claims that it
was an extension of the cult created for Alexander the Great in the Hellenistic East.
1
The other
trend holds that the cult arose in Italy as a unique Roman institution under Augustus. Before
considering how Augustus developed the imperial cult, it is necessary to understand how the
scholarly debate has progressed.

1
There remains a large debate among scholars regarding when Alexander's cult was created and at what point he
was considered a god. For the purpose of this paper I am following the assumption that Alexander's recognition as a
god was established posthumously.
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L'Abb Beurlier was the first scholar to study the imperial cult's Hellenistic origins,
showing that it was a direct continuation of the ruler cult created for Alexander the Great.
2
The
next major scholar, Lily Ross Taylor, questions this claim and argues that it was a revival rather
then a continuation of Alexander's cult.
3
Meanwhile, Stefan Weinstock takes a different focus in
the debate, beginning to look at the methods Augustus used to promote a god-like image without
proclaiming to be a god on earth.
4
Paul Zanker began the transition to looking at the cult as a
new Roman institution.
5
He tried to show that its success stemmed from its attachment to
previously existing Roman cults. Finally, Ittia Gradel emphasized that the imperial cult
succeeded because it accentuated the distance between the worshiper and the worshiped, and
demonstrated a new political system and power structure.
6
Despite one hundred years of careful
scholarship, the link between the Hellenistic ruler cut and Augustus' system is still unclear. By
looking at the specific methods Augustus used to create an imperial cult in the Roman Empire,
we can come to a greater understanding of why Augustus decided to use the imperial cult as such
a vital element in his rule as an emperor.
We can begin to see why Augustus thought the imperial cult would aid his rule by looking
at the Cult of Alexander. In the Hellenistic East there was a tradition of divine leaders, but
Alexander the Great was first ruler for which a posthumous succession of ruler worship was
established. Throughout his life, Alexander upheld that he was the son of Zeus.
7
The extent to
which Alexander tried to emphasize his divine nature is still debated. But scholars do know that
Alexander tried to employ proskynesis (ritual prostration given to a god and later, a salutation

2
LAbb Beurlier, Le Culte Imprial son Histoire et son Organisation depuis Auguste Jusqua Justinien (Paris:
Kessinger Publishing, 1891), 3.
3
Lilly Ross Taylor, The Divinity of the Roman Emperor (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1931).
4
Stefan Weinstock, Victor and Invictus, The Harvard Theological Review 50, no. 3 (1957), 234.
5
Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1988).
6
Ittia Gradel, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (USA: University Oxford Press, 2002), 34.
7
Boris Dreyer, "Heroes, Cults, and Divinity," Alexander the Great: A New History ed. Waldermar Heckel and
Lawrence Tritle (UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009), 221.
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made before an alter with Alexander's image) as a way to establish a formal ruler cult.
8

Alexander developed a relationship between himself and his subjects, which eventually gained
him the title of theos.
9
As an almost divine ruler, Alexander received honors such as; sacrifices,
temples, priests, festivals, and images, that made him appear as a god on earth.
10

Rome's close contact with the East allowed Gaius Julius Caesar to observe how
Alexander's posthumous ruler cult reinforced ties between cities and the ruler. Caesar adopted
the idea of trying to become a god on earth as a way to strengthen his own rule. The Senate was
able to award Caesar with divine honors because of the success he had in becoming a mediator
between the gods and the people as Pontifex Maximus.
11
While Caesar never held the title of rex,
the limitless honors and titles he accepted indicated that he was divine in all but name. It is
impossible to know from our literary sources if Caesar was actually considered rex, but the
honors of consul, imperator, triumphator, dictator perpetuo, and pontifex maximus, gave him
power equal to rex. Caesar, by accepting these honors, created the beginnings of a ruler cult
based on honors unequaled by any previous Roman ruler.
It is after Alexanders cult and Caesars attempt to become a divine ruler that Augustus
came into power. Augustus knew that he needed to separate himself from Caesar to gain the
peoples trust, while simultaneously linking himself to the Roman state. If Augustus was going to
adopt the idea of the Hellenistic ruler cult, he had to be careful of maintaining the people's trust
by showing that he did not want to become a monarchal ruler. The Roman people, who still
remembered Antonys association with the East, could be reluctant to accept a Hellenistic
practice at the beginning of Augustus reign. Dio observes the people's reaction to Antony's

8
Ibid., 219. While Alexander's attempt to adopt proskynesis was unsuccessful it shows one method Alexander used
to try to develop his potential divinity.
9
S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1984), 52. The title of theos did not make Alexander a god, but referred to his power as a ruler.
10
Duncan Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West (The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1987), 21.
11
Ibid., 56.
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actions, Now he has abandoned his whole ancestral way of life, has embraced alien and barbaric
customs.
12
Dio presents an example of how important tradition was to the Romans. By
incorporating traditional Roman practices into the creation of his ruler cult, Augustus could
maintain the people's trust and strengthen his reign.
In order for the Roman people to be open to the idea of emperor worship, the imperial
cult had to appear to develop spontaneously as a unique Roman institution. Augustus began a
religious revival to restore the republic from the civil wars.
13
This also served to explicitly link
Augustus to the well being of Roman society. Through the use of religion, politics, and
propaganda, Augustus managed to establish an imperial cult that recognized his divinity upon
death. He modified the conception of genius, which resembled a living spirit that was present in
all living things, people, and gods. Augustus adopted the worship of his genius as a way for the
public to unofficially worship his potential divinity. The worship of Augustus genius did not
make Augustus divine, but was a way to publically acknowledge the spirit of the emperor.
Sources tell us that Augustus decreed that a libation should be poured to his genius at every
banquet.
14
Augustus adapted the purpose of the genius' offering to be given in recognition of his
position as emperor instead. He modified Alexander's attempt to adopt proskynesis for personal
worship with greater success. As a result, genius becomes a state practice in recognition of
Augustus's rule. Horaces ode 4.5 demonstrates that the pouring of the libation became common
practice at Roman parties, and not just a forgotten decree.
Hinc ad vina redit laetus et alteris
Te mensis adhibet deum;
Te multa prece, te prosequitur mero
Defuso pateris, et Laribus tuum
Miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris

12
Cassius Dio, The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (London: Penguin
Classics, 1987), 50.25.
13
Armstrong, G.E. "Sacrificial Iconography: Creating History, Making Myth, and Negotiating Ideology on the Ara
Pacis Augustae." Religion & Theology 15 (2008), 343.
14
Taylor, 151.
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Et magni memor Herculis.
15


In these two stanzas, Horace emphasizes that the libation was poured as a way to
remember the emperors greatness. Horace uses imagery that depicts Augustus as a god, the
word memor stresses that the Romans were reminded on a regular basis of his divinity. Laribus
tuum miscet numen illustrates Augustus practice of combining Roman religious worship with
imperial worship. Augustus was careful to align himself with previous deities such as Hercules
so that when Romans worshiped him, they simultaneously worshiped the Roman state. The
required pouring of libations to the emperors genius sets the foundation for future emperor
worship.
Augustus aligned his divine image with the Roman state in an attempt to amalgamate
imperial and state worship. Augustus made small modifications to religious practices that placed
imperial worship within set religious traditions. As stated by Dio, the first name of Octavian
was to be included in public hymns on the same terms as those of the gods.
16
This was one of
many ways that Augustus began to be venerated in a way previously unseen in Rome. The
public's acceptance of this change showed a marked transformation in Roman rule, where the
Roman people would no longer wait to confer honors on a leader until his death, but during life.
Just as Alexander waited for individual towns to declare him theos, Augustus never demanded
any honors. As a way to prevent the people from granting him too many honors, Suetonius states
that Augusts would not accept any such honour in the provinces unless his name were coupled
with that of Roma.
17
Playing towards the current stakeholders, Augustus demonstrated that all
his actions were for the benefit of the Roman state and not for himself. Augustus showed that
any honors the people awarded him also honored the success of Rome.

15
Garrison, 4.5 (From here he returns happy to the symposia and he invites you as a god at the second course. He
honors you with much prayer, with unmixed wine poured from bowls in a libation and he mixes your divinity with
the household gods, Greece is mindful of Castor and great Hercules.)
16
Dio, 51.20.
17
Suetonius, Augustus 52.
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The forum Augustum was the pinnacle of Augustus combination of the imperial cult with
state religion. A forum was one of the most public spaces in Roman society. In creating the
forum Augustum, Augustus aligned himself with the people of Rome. His forum served in a
similar way to the Ara Pacis Augustae, where he used iconography to link himself with Rome's
past to show that he was the new founder of Rome.
18
When he won the battle of Philippi, he had
vowed to build a temple to Mars in recognition of his victory. In actually creating the temple, he
publically recognized that the gods aided him in his victory. He also simultaneously said that he
did not consider himself to be a god. The forum was an incredible example of how Augustus
wove together the public and private life of Rome. Augustus stated in the Res Gestae, in privato
solo Martis Ultoris templum forumque Augustum ex manibiis feci.
19
Augustus recognized that
he built a private temple that proclaimed his victories in battle on public Roman land. In Ovid's
Art of Love, the paternity of Augustus and his association to Mars Ultor is referenced, Marsque
pater, Caesarque pater, date numen eunti, nam deus e vobis alter es, alter eris.
2021
While this
passage was written in the 2nd century B.C.E., it refers back to Augustus' reign and his forum,
showing that even then he was depicted as belonging to a divine family. The passage
demonstrates that Augustus was part of the house of Mars and the son of the deified Caesar, and
that he will become a god upon his death. Just as Alexander claimed to be a descended from
Zeus, Augustus knew that linking himself to divine ancestry would enhance his image. Anyone
visiting the forum was reminded of his standing among the Roman deities. While Augustus did
not proclaim to be divine, he successfully created an imperial cult that alluded to his divinity and
served as the foundation for his forum.

18
Armstrong, 340.
19
Divi Augusti, 21. (On private land I built the Temple of Mars the Avenger and the Forum Augustan out of the
spoils of war).
20
Severy 179. (Both father Mars, and father Caesar, grant your divine influence to the ones passing by, for one of
you is a god, the other will be a god.)
21
Ovid, The Art of Love and Other Poems (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979), 1.202-204.
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Augustus included statues in the forum to visually depict his relationship to the people of
the Roman state, but it also showed his place among the gods. Niches placed throughout the
forum held statues of famous Romans, demonstrating that Augustus recognized the importance
of the Roman population in his reign. In Suetonius Augustus proclaims, This has been done to
make my fellow citizens insist that both I (while I live) and the leaders of the following ages
shall not fall below the standard set by those great men of old.
22
Augustus was recognizing the
actions of previous Romans in creating the current Roman state. Even as a potentially divine
ruler, Augustus showed that he would not threaten the integrity of the Roman state. Augustus
placed a frieze of Mars, Venus, and a deified Caesar in the temple of Mars Ultor.
23

24

These three statues in the image clearly show that the family of Augustus had a position amongst
the most important Roman deities. It served as a public representation that Augustus was part of
a divine genealogy and would officially become a god upon his death. Both Mars and Venus are
depicted in a parental way, as opposed to their normal immodest representations in art.
25
Cupid is
placed between Venus and Mars, handing Venus a sword. The shield is inscribed with corona
civica, demonstrating Romes peace. Augustus showed that as pater patriae, he successfully
brought about peace because of his potential divinity and divine ancestry.

22
Suetonius, Augustus 31.
23
Severy, 171.
24
Zanker, Figure 155.
25
Ibid., 172.
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;
The imperial cult, by the end of Augustus reign, was evident in all aspects of the Roman
Empire. Augustus managed to successfully manipulate aspects of the Hellenistic cult created by
Alexander to appear as a unique Roman institution. In doing so, he incorporated the cult into the
daily religious and political practices of Rome, making it a vital part of his imperial rule.
Augustus never forced the Roman people to worship him as a god, but as a potential god in
conjunction with the Roman state. He slowly introduced the Roman people to the idea of a ruler
cult in the guise of traditional roman practices, such as the worship of the genius. The forum
Augustum was a prime example of the many different ways Augustus was able to successfully
institute the idea of an imperial cult into Roman public and private life. After Augustus, the cult
was firmly implemented in the Roman Empire, and was used by successive emperors as a way to
maintain control of the Roman state.













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