Christianity: The Re-imaging of the Roman Emperor
The legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in 313 CE by way of the Edict of Milan proved to yield adverse effects on the perception of the position of Emperor of Rome. Henceforth the emperor was disenfranchised of his divinity and the authoritative influence that accompanied it as he became vulnerable to the rise of Christianity and Christians’ moral obligation to the unquestionable worship of a singular uncontested god.
Throughout the course of Roman history Roman society was stimulated by a plethora of changes that affected the entirety of its existence.
From its earliest primitive beginnings to the rise of a republic, to the birth of an empire, and its eventual downfall Romans were exposed to societal changes in areas of utmost importance that paralleled its growth to include warfare, engineering, governmental structure, the right of man, and religious progression. Of these aforementioned examples, religious progress would prove to be the most impactful to the structure of the Roman ruling class concerning the perception and inherent authority of the Roman Emperor.
Early Roman religion’s paganistic roots can be traced back to Rome’s creation story involving Romulus and Remus and the role of the paterfamilias who led family worship of proprietary ancestral worship that eventually evolved into a full-scale community affair. The groundwork set forth combined with the adoption of Hellenistic religious beliefs would lead to the deifying of the Roman emperor which lasted multiple centuries before being upset by the legalization of the practice of Christianity.
The legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in 313 CE by way of the Edict of Milan proved to yield adverse effects on the perception of the position of Emperor of Rome. Henceforth the emperor was disenfranchised of his divinity and the authoritative influence that accompanied it as he became vulnerable to the rise of Christianity and Christians’ moral obligation to the unquestionable worship of a singular uncontested god.
Early Roman Religion
To fully comprehend the deification of the Roman emperor one must first understand Roman religious roots, roots imprinted with a narrative of a view that one’s time on earth may be temporary but one’s life becomes eternal with the practice of ancestral worship.
Just as important as the story of Romulus and Remus is to Rome’s foundation story, the individual family worship of ancestral gods is important to the progression of the history of Roman religion. Religious practice in primitive Rome revolved around the belief in a spiritual entity found in human beings, the Genius of the man, and the Juno of the woman, similar to the belief of the human soul practiced in Christianity.[1]
This Genius or Juno belonged to an individual throughout their earthly stay and with the death of man became divine continuing to exist in an afterlife instilling a strong personal connection and reason to worship one’s ancestors because it was believed that they held influence over the quality of life of their descendants.[2] Therefore, the bonded duty of appeasement of a family’s ancestor through worship became the responsibility of each family who sought the best quality of life.
The paterfamilias or “head-of-household” was a senior male who led his family and any others who may have lived in his home in the worship of the genius of the family and other associated household gods umbrellaed under the terms Lares and Penates.[3] As previously alluded to, these ancestral deities worshiped were in a sense proprietary belongings of the individual family, and although an uncountable number of variations might have existed with astounding similarities, no two were the same.
This identifiable difference would remain standard practice until a greater sense of community involvement developed between primitive Romans who began to see the importance of constructive interaction between one another as a practical necessity for long-term endurance. With this, the perception of a community as a larger extended family unit influenced the introduction and acceptance of worship of community Lares and Penates with the same intentions that worship of these community deities might decide the fate of the community as a whole. [4]
This shortsighted idea yielded little benefit, for the fact that proprietary household deities had context whereas community deities seemed hollow. However, this failed notion did reek of ideological benefit for religious progress and the adoption of community gods that would follow.
In a way, Roman worship of community gods shared similarities to that of the original individual family worship of ancestral deities led by the paterfamilias. Just as how proprietary ancestral deities could share the same indistinguishable qualities from that of another family’s ancestral deities, no community god even if referred to by the same name was the same god. For example, Jupiter, Juno, and other gods were worshipped by the Romans and belonged to the city of Rome meaning that if another city were to worship one of these gods as their city’s god it was not the same god that was being worshipped in the city of Rome.[5]
The Romans took this belief very seriously even going as far as to invocate a desired deity with all of its power and glory from a weaker city and summon it to a stronger city, however, these jealous acts would phase out as the Roman Republic grew in size reserving any disputes over the gods as an exchange of doubt believing that if a deity was claimed to have resided in a weaker city it was a lie and that they were a despicable creature, for a respectable deity would not depart the comfort of the city of Rome for a foreign city.[6]
This period of Roman religion lacked a strong faithful connection between the Romans and the gods for it lacked a sense of morality or reserved religious leaders which left religious guidance in Rome to simply be another function of the state. This simplicity of religion in the Roman State was accepted with the same obedience as Roman citizens accepted the political system in place meaning that citizens could live their lives normally without having to pay any special interest in the official state religion.[7]
It was not until the rule of Julius Caesar, his deification, and the reforms introduced by his adopted son and later emperor of Rome Augustus that Rome would find a sense of religious importance once more.
The Religious Reforms of Augustus
Ironically, the deification of the Roman Emperor started with Julius Caesar, an unforgettable historical figure in Roman history who was believed to have been an atheist.[8]
Julius Caesar’s process of deification started during his lifetime when he was acclaimed by the Roman populace and honors were erected in his name. These indications of Caesar’s godliness were humbly denied by himself, but these indications did not stop the anger and jealousy that irritated his enemies and became one of the catalysts for his assassination.[9]
This assassination did little to slow the progression of the deification of the Roman emperor, with Julius Caesar’s death, his fate was sealed, and he was no longer present to humbly oppose the status of a god bestowed upon him. Caesar’s death only increased his popularity, and the Roman Senate in his death cemented the idea forever that Caesar was a god by formally giving him the title Divus, meaning the deified, and erecting a temple of which the Romans would worship his name.[10]
Following Julius Caesar’s assassination his adopted son Augustus would take his place as a leader of Rome as a member of the second triumvirate driven to avenge his father’s death by destroying his assassins. Following the same path as the first triumvirate, the second triumvirate would suffer from similar internal turmoil leaving Augustus as the sole leader, and new emperor of Rome.
Henceforth Augustus focused on reforming Rome with his religious reforms being one of the most impactful on Roman society erasing the idea of religion being little more than a governmental task by instilling once again a sense of purpose and morality in religious practice by reintroducing traditional Roman religious practices and by creating laws that praised the idea of a strong Roman family.
His reforms both added attention to the idea of the deification of Roman emperors by creating the cult of Divus Iulius which worshipped Julius Caesar and attempted to revive methods of traditional Roman worship by revitalizing priesthoods such as the flamen dialis, reconstructing the Vestal Virgins and the Arval brotherhood, resurrected at least eighty-two temples of worship, created new temples of worship, and restored religions festivals.[11]
His laws combated the population decline in Rome’s upper class who avoided reproduction for their interests by punishing those who committed practices of extravagance, adultery, and chastity while rewarding those who were married, who married among various social classes, and bore children.[12]
These contributions to Rome would lead Augustus down a similar path to his father Julius Caesar, not in the sense that he angered his peers so much that an assassination plot was formed against him, but in the sense that the Senate wished to deify him too. Like Julius, Augustus would humbly deny such ovations from Roman society, and only in his death could he not deny it. By the time of Augustus’ death, the imperial cult had grown to such popularity throughout the empire that it stood dominant over all other religious forms.[13]
With Augustus’ death, the Senate set forth a precedence with his deification, that all Roman Emperors were of divinity, to be consecrated at death, and to be worshiped as a god.[14] This decree was carried out until the fall of the Roman Empire, however, the perception of the Roman emperor was diminished as the Roman Empire converted to Christianity.
Christianity in the Roman Empire
The rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire is a story of overcoming adversity through tragedy and triumph.
Like other religions, Christianity during the period of Pax Romana found a prime opportunity to flourish within Roman society with a well-established and defended transportation system to spread its gospel, as well as it received state leniency towards religious practice as long as certain conditions could be met. Nonetheless, Christians would prove that their devotion to their singular God was more consequential to their eternal existence in the afterlife than the imposed policies of the Roman State that aimed to control religious supremacy.
What was asked of Christians by the Roman State was firstly that they did not influence the undermining of the state, and secondly that they accepted pagan gods as equal to that of the state.[15] Christians refused these terms. Not in the sense that they rebelled, but in the sense that they could not morally oblige and remain religiously devoted.
Christians questioned where the power of the Roman emperor ended and where the worship of their God began and were unable to accept the intentional worship of perceived false deities in the Roman emperor and pagan gods to maintain religious and societal harmony which led to harsh persecutions that followed.[16]
The persecution of Christianity was not immediate or completely everlasting, there were instances between the first and fourth century C.E. when Christianity was supported by the Roman State. These instances proved to be crucial for Christianity to deeply root itself in the Roman Empire allowing the religion to outlast the adversity that it faced to be rewarded with full acceptance as a state religious under the rule of Constantine.
For example, before the rule of Nero, Augustus took measures to prevent violent actions against Christians, and Tiberius allowed the drastic spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire where Christians established churches in every city.[17] Furthermore, Tertullian accounts for Tiberius’ support of Christianity as involving the threat of death to those who should bring harm to the religion.[18]
However, the support for the growth of Christianity would be stalled during the rule of Nero who performed heinous acts against followers of the religion this caused a shift in Christianity’s outwardness that caused Christians to reserve their practice to secrecy that birthed controversy when rumors were abundant about what they did in the dark.
Nero’s persecution of Christianity that followed the devastating fire of Rome in 64 C.E. can be seen within reason as a method to fulfill his bloodlust because it is believed that he ordered the burning of Rome himself to shift the blame onto the Christians who were seen as an abomination to Roman order by some.[19]
Nero did not simply charge and punish Christians he found guilty of setting Rome ablaze, with them at his mercy he ferociously toyed with their lives as he subjected each to odious deaths. The method of death Nero instituted for each exemplifies his psychotic nature as he murdered each for sport by attaching hides of wild beasts to them and setting dogs loose on them or crucifying them and setting them ablaze in the daytime and relighting them in the evening to be used as nighttime lamps.[20]
Henceforward, Christians would reserve themselves to privacy in their practice which brought forth much speculation that further fueled the rollercoaster of periods of tolerance and persecution that eventually cemented its place as a legal Roman religion. The speculative rumors delivered as a result of this period of private practice were little more than malicious gossip that attempted to paint the Christians as horrid people. As if simple name-calling and labeling weren’t enough stories were fabricated about them that included cannibalistic acts such as consuming an infant wrapped in dough as a means to energize lustful orgies.[21]
Not until the approximately forty-year period of long peace instilled during the rule of Gallienus before the final attempt to rid Christianity from the Roman Empire known as the Great Persecution did Christians find themselves finally deeply rooted in society.[22] As a result of this long period of peace, there was no turning back. Christianity finally found its much-needed longstanding support becoming an official state religion of Rome under the rule of Constantine forever changing the way the perception of the Roman Emperor, and forever re-imaging the position for those to come.
In a joint effort by Constantine and Licinius through the passing of the Edict of Milan in 313 C.E. Christianity became a permanent constant in the Roman Empire, Christians were at last free to practice their religious beliefs without ridicule or persecution and they received civic rights to the Christian Church as well as the promised restoration of all confiscated goods by the Roman Empire.[23]
Undoubtedly, Constantine’s decision to implement the Edict of Milan can be accredited to his divine intervention at Milvian Bridge and his devotion to the Christian God who he believed helped him secure the victory over his adversary Maxentius.[24] Licinius was of the latter in his conversion when he saw the formidable power that came from Constantine’s devotion to the Christian God.[25] Regardless, their combined efforts forever changed the Roman Empire and the perception of the Roman Emperor.
Henceforth, the divinity of the Roman emperor and the act of public emperor worship strictly declined as a result of the Christian belief that worship belonged to God, and God alone.[26] This formal recognition of the religion further progressed the decay of the imperial cult and the old religion leaving practices that exemplified the godliness of the emperor as merely respectful actions.[27]
Examples include the practice of kneeling before an emperor or his statue against the discretion of the Church and as a sign of respect, not worship. Traditional ceremonies continued to commence but for political reasons and not for religious ones. Emperors still received the title of Divus in their time of death but not the deification that traditionally accompanied it.[28]
Lastly, the Roman Emperor initially found it difficult to maintain a functional army because of the Christian antipathy to war, but in due time an alliance would be made between the State and Christianity that resolved the hesitancy.[29] Henceforth, the Roman Empire would discover the benefits of loyalty and morality brought to the empire by the adoption of Christianity, as Christians entered the ranks of the government the empire found loyal subjects to the cause and the influence of their strong devotion to their faith caused society to develop a higher standard of personal morals not found within the practice of paganism.[30]
Conclusion
Throughout the course of Roman history, few subject areas created such an impact on the position and perception of the Roman emperor and society, as the progression of Roman religion.
What started as proprietary ancestral worship progressed as quickly as other aspects of Roman society as it advanced from primitive Rome to the Roman Republic, to the Roman Empire, leaving the Roman emperor in a position to be deified that would last centuries before being reduced to nothing more than a title, and any actions associated to satisfying the godliness of the position mere acts of respect.
The legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in 313 C.E. by way of the Edict of Milan proved to yield adverse effects on the perception of the position of Emperor of Rome. Henceforth the emperor was disenfranchised of his divinity and the authoritative influence that accompanied it as he became vulnerable to the rise of Christianity and Christians’ moral obligation to the unquestionable worship of a singular uncontested god.
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Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Constantine. “Chapter 48: The ‘Edict of Milan’ 313 AD.” In De Mortibus Persecotorum, edited by Lactantius. Accessed November 25, 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/edict-milan.asp.
Eusebius. “Chapter 7: The Exemption of the Clergy.” In Church History Book X. Accessed November 25, 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/const1-laws2.asp.
Tacticus. “Tacitus (c. 55 -117 CE): Nero’s Persecution of the Christians.” Tacitus: Nero’s persecution of the Christians, edited by Paul Brians. Accessed October 14, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081014010347/http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/tacitus.html.
Tranquillus, C. Suetonius. “The Life of Augustus.” In The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library, 1913. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#34.
Secondary Sources:
Burton, Henry Fairfield. “The Worship of the Roman Emperors.” The Biblical World 40, no. 2 (1912): 80–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141986.
Keresztes, Paul. “From the Great Persecution to the Peace of Galerius.” Vigiliae Christianae 37, no. 4 (1983): 379–99. https://doi.org/10.2307/1583547.
Storch, Rudolph H. “The ‘Eusebian Constantine.’” Church History 40, no. 2 (1971): 145–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/3162367.
Merrill, Elmer Truesdell. “The Attitude of Ancient Rome toward Religion and Religious Cults.” The Classical Journal 15, no. 4 (1920): 196–215. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3288303.
Paiva Bondioli, Nelson de. “Roman Religion in the Time of Augustus.” Numen 64, no. 1 (2017): 49–63. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44505322.
Prince, Simon. “Religious Mobility in the Roman Empire.” The Journal of Roman Studies 102 (2012): 1–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41724963.
Rayner, A. J. “Christian Society in the Roman Empire.” Greece & Rome 11, no. 33 (1942): 113–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/640855.
[1] Henry Fairfield Burton, “The Worship of the Roman Emperors.” The Biblical World 40, no. 2 (1912): 80–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141986.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Elmer Truesdell Merrill, “The Attitude of Ancient Rome toward Religion and Religious Cults.” The Classical Journal 15, no. 4 (1920): 196–215. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3288303.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Henry Fairfield Burton, “The Worship of the Roman Emperors.” The Biblical World 40, no. 2 (1912): 80–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141986.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Nelson de Paiva Bondioli, “Roman Religion in the Time of Augustus.” Numen 64, no. 1 (2017): 49–63. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44505322.
[12] C. Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Life of Augustus.” In The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library, 1913. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#34.
[13] Henry Fairfield Burton, “The Worship of the Roman Emperors.” The Biblical World 40, no. 2 (1912): 80–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141986.
[14] Ibid.
[15] A. J. Rayner, “Christian Society in the Roman Empire.” Greece & Rome 11, no. 33 (1942): 113–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/640855.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Simon Prince, “Religious Mobility in the Roman Empire.” The Journal of Roman Studies 102 (2012): 1–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41724963.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Tacticus. “Tacitus (c. 55 -117 CE): Nero’s Persecution of the Christians.” Tacitus: Nero’s persecution of the Christians, edited by Paul Brians. Accessed October 14, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081014010347/http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/tacitus.html.
[20] Ibid.
[21] A. J. Rayner, “Christian Society in the Roman Empire.” Greece & Rome 11, no. 33 (1942): 113–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/640855.
[22] Keresztes, Paul. “From the Great Persecution to the Peace of Galerius.” Vigiliae Christianae 37, no. 4 (1983): 379–99. https://doi.org/10.2307/1583547.
[23] Constantine, “Chapter 48: The ‘Edict of Milan’ 313 AD.” In De Mortibus Persecotorum, edited by Lactantius. Accessed November 25, 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/edict-milan.asp.
[24] Storch, Rudolph H. Storch, “The ‘Eusebian Constantine.’” Church History 40, no. 2 (1971): 145–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/3162367.
[25] Ibid.
[26] A. J. Rayner, “Christian Society in the Roman Empire.” Greece & Rome 11, no. 33 (1942): 113–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/640855.
[27] Henry Fairfield Burton, “The Worship of the Roman Emperors.” The Biblical World 40, no. 2 (1912): 80–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141986.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
