Premisele cultului imperial. Caius Iulius Caesar (101-44 a. Chr.)
The Premises of the Roman Imperial Cult. Caius Iulius Caesar (101-44 B.C.)

Summary/Abstract: The veneration of the emperor was, for the religious history of the Roman Empire, a very peculiar phenomenon. The celebration of the cult of the leader in the Roman West brought forth a considerable change both in mentality of the Roman citizens and in that of the subjected peoples. Under the influence of Oriental religions (the Egyptian one in particular), C. Iulius Caesar tried to impose, in the religious life of the Roman citizens, the faith in the divine character of the person who reigned the Empire. From the year 48 and until his murder in 44 B.C., Caesar continued to receive several titles and honors, which placed him in a higher position than any ordinary rex: consul, imperator, triumphator, augur, pontifex maximus, praefectus morum, and, as the culmination of his political career, dictator perpetuus. But all these titles, granted to a single person, could not be too easily accepted by certain Romans, especially by those who had important political interests; in fact, the receipt of this last-mentioned title, and then the fact that the Senate accepted to grant him divine honors meant the abolition of the Republican principles and the return to Royalty. From this perspective, the tyrannicide was regarded by some politicians as the deliverance of the State, whereas the population in the Capital considered it as the appropriate moment to officially recognize the divine character of the Dictator.

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