The Buildings and the Images of the
Imperial Cult
IIII Julio-Claudian dynasty
Acta Fratrum Arvalum (Arval Acta)
The Arval Brothers – a college of priests dedicated to the worship of Dea Dia, it became
prominent under Augustus (started to undertake also imperial sacrifice), kept record until mid.
3rd century AD, 12 members elected for life, emperors themselves belonged to them
-earliest surviving record – 55 AD – sacrifice of a bull – early in the reign of Nero (previous
mentions, scarce, during the reign of Claudius)
- important for studying the development of the imperial cult
- main literary source for the period of Julio – Claudian dynasty
1. TIBERIUS (Tiberius Claudius Nero)
Born: November 16th , 42 BC
Died: March 16th , 37 AD
Parents: Livia, Tiberius Claudius Nero
Accession: Augustus, 4 AD (the fourth choice
after Agrippa, Lucius and Gaius)
- succeeded Augustus by formal powers, by
his adoption and Augustus’ will – the main
heir
- conservative, 23 years of reign
- completely loyal to Augustus’ domestic and
foreign policiesforeign policies
Reign:
- always extremely cautious and deferential
in his formal dealings with the Senate,
never accepted honors
- forbade the setting up of his portraits
without permission and banned completely
the erection of his portraits among the cult
images of the gods – so forbade any formal
divine worship to himself
- final establishing of the cult – the cult of
Divus Augustus, not himself or his Genius
IMAGES
Posthumous portrait – a seated statue of the
emperor Tiberius as Jupiter – Cerveteri
- set up by Claudius, dated ca. 45-50 AD
- Vatican Museums
- a group of eight related statues found in
Cerveteri in the 1840s.
Grand Camée
- eight-layer sardonyx: white the upper,
brown the lower.
- irregular shape (not the original)
- appears to be complete
- the largest ancient surviving cameo
(H. 31 cm; w. 26.5 cm) in Paris,
-23-29 AD, Tiberius, or after 50 AD Claudius
(different interpretations)
- a lot of reworked faces – some figures are
hard to identifyhard to identify
Subject: Enthroned Tiberius is surrounded by
various members of the Julio-Claudian family
(living and deceased).
- three levels of scenes, instead of two like in
the Gemma Augustea
- in the lowest one there are northern and
eastern defeated barbarians
-more interesting part is between the
middle and the highest registers
- corresponding to an earthly dimension
(living members of the family at the
moment of production and the celestial
(dead members of the clan, at the same
moment)
1 – Tiberius as Jupiter, holding lituus,
wearing laurel wreath (not a corona civica)
2 - Julia (Augustus’ daughter) but the
marriage ended up quickly, never married
again, so this is Livia (mother), stressing his 4
9
8
10
1112
13
9 – Augustus, 10 - Drusus the Younger, 11 –
Germanicus, 12 – Eros, 13 – Mithras (Aion
– eternal time, Marc Anthony, Alexander
the Great, Iulus Ascanius)
again, so this is Livia (mother), stressing his
succession rights
3 – Nero Germanici,
4 - Julia Drusi, Nero Germanici’s wife
5 - Slightly older boy behind Livia – Drusus
Caesar, with a trophy
6 - Agrippina Maior, Germanicus’ widow
7 - Gaius Caesar
8 - Claudia Livilla, Germaicus’ sister and
widow of Drusus the Younger
3, 5, and 7 – brothers - sons of Germanicus
and Agrippina
1
23
4
5
6
7
8
Boscoreale cup
triumph (awarded in 8 BC and celebrated in 7 BC) of Tiberius
The triumphus de Germanis of Tiberius,
who after his brother’s Drusus’ death in 9
BC led the campaign to Germany
Tiberius – triumphator with servus publicus
The triumphal chariot is carefully detailed.
The decoration of the chariot was formed
by a trophy flanked by two winged
Victories putting other weapons on the
trophy. Behind Victory there is a wingless
Victories putting other weapons on the
trophy. Behind Victory there is a wingless
female personification.
The other side:
The scene of sacrifice in front of the the
Temple of Jupiter Capitoline – probably
before leaving Rome
- attendants – two groups: walking behind the chariot and by the horses.
- by the horses: a slave is guiding the horses, whose heads were originally in full relief and are
lost now (the same as Tiberius’ head and chest), four lictors on the far side of the horses with
rods over their shoulders
- behind the chariot: the four behind the quadriga wear tunics and ankle-length boots, the
two foremost bearing laurel branches (high-ranking officers), the figure just behind the
chariot wheel wears smooth torques with swollen ends, another young officer walks
between the reins loped up before Tiberius in a place of honour. He wears tunica ad
paludamentum
- the right side - the scene of the victim group - a massive bull with two attendants.
- the bull wears a dorsuale and a triangular fastigium (head plaque), from which a garland is
hanging; it is decorated with an eagle on a globehanging; it is decorated with an eagle on a globe
2 CALIGULA (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus)
Born: August 31st , 12 AD
Died: January 24th , 41 AD (stabbed 30 times)
Parents: Germanicus, Agrippina the Elder
Accession: Germanicus (father) adopted by
Tiberius (died before him), Tiberius had two heirs
– Caligula and Tiberius Gemellus (grandson)
- not so clear succession, the Senate claimed the
will invalid and chose Caligula as the only heir
- he couldn’t claim the principate by auctoritas
- the Senate gave him imperial powers (probably
by a decree) – so the principate was firstly
- the Senate gave him imperial powers (probably
by a decree) – so the principate was firstly
identified as an office (the right moment to define
principate as an office with absolute powers)
Reign:
- the beginnings of his reign quite peaceful and
in the agreement with the Senate
- senate’s decree ordering sacrifices to
Caligula’s Genius – the emperor vetoed
(modesty? fear?)
- then humiliated this body, emphasized his
limitless power, the Senate duly cooperated –
personal fear
THE STATE CULT
Literary sources - deified while alive, but no epigraphical (no change in his title), nor
archaeological sources
problematic nature: Suetonius – sensationalist
Dio – no critical ability
(a habit to generalize from single incident),
Seneca – hatred of the emperor
Jewish writes Philo and Josephus – Caligula’s conflict with Jews,
no other aspects
- Caligula’s personality does not depend on his craving for divine honors
- Dio – divine honors were paid to Caligula and he was called by divine titles (Jupiter, deus,
divus), but no official decreedivus), but no official decree
The opinion of public deification during his life based on his hobby of dressing up:
- impersonating different gods:
a) in the beginning - part men-part gods: Hercules, the Dioscuri
b) continued with full-blown gods: Mercury, Apollo and Mars (Jupiter is not included,
strange)
- Suetonius and Cassius Dio – his behavior is the sign of madness
- the emperors dress should have been the same as the senators – through this he showed them
his absolute power and monarchical position
- the dress used as an emblematic dress to define position without courting death (the state
deification would have) - the emperor could, however, dress up as anything he liked without
affecting his formal role in the Roman constitution
-the senators never refused the priesthood (not popular, costly) – the higher the emperor
the higher was the relative placement of the senators
- instead Caligula developed the system in the private sphere (Augustus and Tiberius were
worshipped in private cults), encouraged the phenomenon
- Caligula’s cult – far less sensational than might be expected
- a disaster emperor, but no reason to assume that his cult or flirtation with divinity caused
his murder – but his general incompetence and singular ability to insult everybody
- behavioral pattern was something for emperors to avoid in general - emperors were more
anxious to avoid any too obvious and active flirt with the divinity – public or private
- he never received state deification or divine worship in the Roman state
BUILDINGS
The palace of Caligula (Suetonius describes it as a domus)
-the northern side of the Palatine, built in a series of terraces against the Palatine Hill, the
construction showing work of Caligula, Trajan, and Septimius Severus, discovered in 2003
- the lowest level - chambers warmed by hypocaustum, containing fragments of statuary
- the terrace above - there is an arcade paved with blocks of silex, and on one side shops
- a flight of travertine steps conducts to some small chambers above with mosaic pavements
and frescoes (Caligula - frescoes, Hadrian – mosaics on the pavement)
- the side walls and vaults are decorated with frescoes of the time of Hadrian
- connected with the House of Tiberius by a vaulted portico
– a massive brick construction from the period of Domitian and Hadrian, under this – traces of
earlier buildings behind the temple of Dioscuri, probably an impressive atrium
- east of the remains – large piscine with an inscription to Caligula from a statue base confirms
his palace extension, a room projecting from its south side and placed on its central axis
(tablinum?) could have housed Caligula’s cult image
- Dioscurii as gatekeepers – the Temple of Castor and Polux included to the complex as an
entrance - implies a close physical connection between their temple and his own sanctuary,
Caligula would have received the worshippers in the propylon, standing between Castor and
Polux – appearing as Jupiter, their father
- recent excavations – the temple of Dioscuri couldn’t have been incorporated into these
buildings – the atrium is not aligned with the temple, no alternations were made to it in this
period – no walls, doorway, no alternations to the base, but certainly a close relation of the
temple and the palacetemple and the palace
Problem with the buildings:
Building (palace) – situated behind the temple of Dioscuri - incorporated into it (literary
sources)
- close proximity of the temple and palace could have caused mixing the two cults,
- Dio - Claudius restored the temple to Castor and Pollux – probably only removed Caligula’s
statue
3 CLAUDIUS (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus)
Born: August 1st , 10 BC
Died: October 13th , 54 AD
Parents: Drusus the Elder, Antonia the Younger
Accession: after Caligula’s murder, he was chosen to
be the emperor by the guardsmen (who killed the
former emperor)
- title’s permanent place - a formal definition of
powers and auctoritas
- under Tiberius – served as an Augustan priest
Reign:
- early part of his reign – he wanted to- early part of his reign – he wanted to
accommodate the leading senators
- distanced himself from the absolutist
pretensions
- modest as well as legitimate
- prevented to dishonor Caligula, made the senate
divinize Livia (against her will, 17 years after her
death)
- Vestal Virgins – duty to offer proper sacrifice to
Augustus and Livia
- ordered women to use Livia’s name in taking
oaths
- forbade sacrifice and worship of himself
THE STATE CULT
- huge changes in the state cult, the most important time in the development of the role of the
Genius
- provinces – worshiped – temples of Claudius at Cos, Priene, …
- the right person to start with the worship development – Caligula not a good example, he
wasn’t a “good emperor”
- chronological order - Claudius received the title of pater patriae, Livia’s deification - Claudius
Genius included in the ritual
- clear limit- did not receive a cult statue in the temple and a temple in Rome – minimized
provocation
- emperor’s Genius joined the state pantheon of Rome
- beginnings – Claudius wanted to stress himself as the heir of Augustus- beginnings – Claudius wanted to stress himself as the heir of Augustus
- state worship – position of the emperor in the state clearly expressed – paterfamilias for the
whole people (pater patriae only a honorary title)
- senators became his clients, having a servile position
Archaeological evidence:
The Frieze of the Vicomagistri
- the name: after the four ministry
- a part of a rectangular monument or a statue base
- an early stage of depicting religious state ceremonies, the iconographic vocabulary has not yet
frozen into the stock depiction of the emperor sacrificing - well known from later representations
- the monument stood indoors, placed about 1 m above the ground - probably on a statue base
in a temple
Found: Campo Marzio under the Palazzo Cancelleria in 1937-39 together with the Cancelleria
relief panes (Domitian) – a secondary sculptor’s workshop
Depiction: religious procession with togati, musicians, attendants and sacrificial animalsDepiction: religious procession with togati, musicians, attendants and sacrificial animals
Height: 1.05 m, a third is occupied by sculptured frieze, top and button – boarder
Length: 4.74 (but a piece is missing (probably two half figures in foreground, another background
figure) – 5.05m
The togate figures
-“magistri” – only four of them
depicted in compital cults
- here 9 - only four of them depicted
in a more prominent position
- these not on an equal footing as in
compital cults
- on the very left – three-quarters
profile behind the three more
prominent ones, the three left ones,
the one in the middle is the only onethe one in the middle is the only one
frontal, the other two looking at him
and he is taller
- the one is the emperor Claudius depicted
in the same manner on Villa
Medici reliefs
The ministri – four –coincidence, in state cult not termed ministri, but performing the same
functions
-two groups: publici (public slaves) and pueri ingenui patrimi et matrimi (senators’ young sons),
who will one day function as priests
- the number four – The Arval Brothers also had four – probably a standard number
- the four boys occupy a prominent position, especially the ones carrying the statuettes – almost
frontally
- carry statuettes of the emperor’s Genius and Lares
- bring forward the importance of the images they carry, further attention – they are pointing at
them with their free hand,
- the youth heading the group is less prominent, the object has broken off
- the right edge – lion’s paw – part of the hind leg of a throne, the front leg remains and a part
of the left side on the bottom
- two almost frontal togati, three lictors, two tunicate figures, presumably camilli, three
hornblowers, three bovine victims – a bull, a steer and a young heifer each pulled by a
victimarius, group of musicians, part is missing
- The two togati – sodales Augustales – priestly college established in 14 to worship Divus
Augustus. The sodales were 21 plus the members of the imperial family, that’s why Claudius
among them
- the two small togate leaders – magistri of the college for this particular year, three lictors
(strange number - sodales augustales headed by three annual magistri, that’s why three
lictors, one magister missing)
The background – crowded with several minor figures, e.g. a victimarius carrying a tray, other
carrying a cauldron,carrying a cauldron,
Claudius – problems claiming legitimacy as an emperor, the first Augustus’ successor who did
not descent from the first emperor, Livia was his grandmother by blood, to stress this
connection – divinization
- the size and quality of the monuments points to a state monument, but which cult?
- to answer – victims, their nature and order (Rome was a strictly hierarchical society confirmed
by the Arval Acta, rank of each god worshipped is strictly codified, e.g. Capitoline Triad – always
Jupiter, Juno, Minerva)
Bull – the highest rank – Jupiter or the living emperor’s Genius
Steer – male and infertile gods – underworld (but why to sacrifice to infertility?), male Divi, gods
of underworld inappropriate in connection with the living emperor’s Genius (till 54 AD – only 1
Divus Augustus)
Heifer – below Divus – Diva – deceased and deified empress
- Arval brothers worshipped all Divi together, the fact that we have one divus and one diva
allows dating:
Claudius deified Livia as Diva Augusta in 42 AD, in 54 AD he was himself deified as
Divus Claudius – the monument antedates his deification
- the scene: consecration of Livia and the procession to the temple of Divus Augustus with her
statue (the part of the throne) and rededication of the temple to both of them
-the frieze placed on the base of a new cult statue of Divus Augustus and Diva Livia
- Genius of the living emperor included in the state cult for the first time!
Deification
- died in 54 AD – Agrippina was an active participant in the funeral – priestess of Claudius
Two changes:
a) conflicting version of achieving his apotheosis:
I senatorial decree (senatorial deification), then the funeral (Tacitus, Seneca)
II the funeral and then senatorial decree (senatorial deification) (tradition,
Suetonius - testimony)
a) no eyewitness - the custom fell into disuse, symbolically performed by the release of an
eagle from the pyre shortly after it was set on fire during the funeral
- valid until Antonine dynasty
Death of the emperor
Formal deification by theFormal deification by the
decree of the Roman Senate
Official consecration by
the new emperorPublic imperial funeral
Symbolical apotheosis
performed by the release
of an eagle from the
funeral pyre
Either before or after the
senatorial decree
Official consecration by
the new emperor
BUILDINGS
Temple of Divus Claudius – Caelian hill (peripheral site), side of Claudius’ private domus
- 54 AD died – wife Agrippina began the construction
- excavated in 1880
- partially preserved:
W side: within the bell tower in the
Convent of Sancti Giovanni e Paolo
- Constructed immediately after the
death
- the oldest phase - interconnecting
rooms, two floors high, travertine
blocks
- piers – Doric pilasters, only capitals- piers – Doric pilasters, only capitals
are finished, heavy architrave
- radial walls – bricks, ceiling vaulted
S side: fewer has remained
N side: little has survived – row of
rooms built against a brick wall
- a large cascading fountain – during the reign of Nero – large marble fountain head in the form
of ship’s prow with a boar’s head
E side: the most monumental and best preserved, Nero’s modification of the building
Large brick wall with a series of niches and a larger chamber in the middle – enormous
nympheum
- colonnaded porticus
- no trace of the temple above the platform foundations - Severan Marble Plan – prostyle,
hexastyle, 3 columns on the sides
- the rest of the area – garden
- Nero cancelled several Claudian acts, destroyed the temple and built Domus Aurea instead
- Vespasian restored Claudius’ divine honors, because he served under his command and Titus
grew up with Britannicus
- restored and rebuilt several of his buildings
IMAGES
Portrait from Lanuvium
-dedicatory inscription found near the
piece (today lost) – the statue was
erected in honor of Claudius by the
Senate and the people of Lanuvium
- Claudius shown with a Julio-Claudian
cap of layered hair with comma shaped
locks parted near the center, brushed
to either side, broad cranium, tapering
chin
- represented not youthful – in his
fifties, bags under eyes, sagging jowls,fifties, bags under eyes, sagging jowls,
furrows on his forehead
- idealized body type, stands in
contraposto, a scepter in his left hand
patera in the right
- next to his leg – an eagle with
outstretched wings
- an eagle and a scepter – attributes of
Jupiter
- the same bronze prototype had also
the statue of the emperor from the
Metroon in Olympia
Seated statue from Cerveteri as Jupiter
- a part of a Claudian dynastic group – Claudius, Tiberius, Agrippina, Britannicus
Cameos
Grand Camée
1 Tiberius
2 Livia
3 Germanicus
4 Agrippina the Elder (in front of Tiberius)
5 Claudius – behind Tiberius
6 Agrippina Younger – Claudius’ wife and niece at
the same time
7 The child on the left – Nero
8 Behind Nero – Providentia Augusti
9 Augustus in the middle, up
10 Drusus the Younger – on the left of Augustus
1
23 4
5
9
8
10
1112
13
10 Drusus the Younger – on the left of Augustus
11 Drusus the Elder – on the right of Augustus
(died falling of the horse)
12 Eros
13 Mithra/Sol Invictus – Nero was born on the
15th December, close to Mithra’s birthday –Nero
loved himself showing as Sol, astrological
reference to the birth (similar to Gemma
Augustea)
• Seated oriental figure - Ti. Claudius Balbillus – a
personal counsellor of Nero – oriental origin,
living on the court, connection to the Claudians
23 5
6
7
Claudius apotheosis, mid 1st century AD, four layers, sardonyx
The Ravenna Relief (Claudian date between 45-50 AD)
Two marble relief fragments from a Claudian monument, possibly an altar honoring the
imperial family
The smaller fragment – sacrifice in honor of the imperial cult, a bull is being sacrificed
The bigger fragment – a series of frontally positioned imperial figures against a blank
background
- Augustus – distinctive coiffure and characteristic facial features, wearing corona civica, hole in
forehead for a bronze star, left foot on a globe with the signs of zodiac, in the guise of Mars
Ultor with a short sword and a spear
- Livia – assimilated to Venus, with Eros on her left shoulder, wears a tiara, posture and drapery- Livia – assimilated to Venus, with Eros on her left shoulder, wears a tiara, posture and drapery
based on Venus Genetrix
- Julio-Claudian youth – a full cap of layered hair, bare chest and mantle draped over the lower
part of his body, like Augustus – bronze star – Germanicus
- Older man in cuirass and paludamentum – originally held a sword and a spear – Drusus the
Elder
Seated draped, headless woman – Claudius’ mother – Antonia (or Pietas)
NERO (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Claudius
Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Nero
Claudius Drusus Germanicus)
Born: December 15th , 37 AD
Died: June 9th , 98 AD
Parents: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Agrippina
the Younger
Accession: adopted by Claudius
- the last julio-claudian emperor
Reign:
- early part of his reign – influenced by his- early part of his reign – influenced by his
mother, Seneca and Burrus (Praetorian
commander)
- an oath formula by Jupiter Optimus Maximus,
the Divi and the Genius – became standard,
the official state oath (archive in Pompeii)
- later – independent ruler – cruel
- persecuted Christians
- committed an “assisted” suicide
STATE CULT
- the worship of Genius continued – The Arval
Acta – even more frequent – dies natalis, dies
imperii, even when he recovered from a
sorethroat! (also more frequent during Galba,
Otho and Vitellius)
(not a togate one as Genius Augusti)
- change of iconography – The god depicted as
Genius populi romani - semi-nude heroic form,
evidence – coins
- reason of the change: difficult to distinguish the
Genius of emperor and every other man.
The Colossus Neronis 30 m bronze statue,
in the vestibule of his Domus Aurea.
- resembling himself and the Roman sun god, Sol
- holds a rudder on the globe which is a symbolic
gesture of his power over land and sea.
- modified by Nero's successors into a statue of
the sun god Sol (only), moved to a spot outside
the Flavian Amphitheatre
- last mentioned in the 4th century AD
PRIVATE CULT
- the sources fail – texts and monuments created for the public eye, private cults had a well
informed insiders – no need of explanatory monuments
- literary sources ignore private life (only eccentric aberrations)
- there is hardly any archaeological evidence of emperor worship in the domus – mosaics
and wall paintings never refer to emperor, but why would they? – emperors weren’t
permanent, they changed quite fast and the imperial honors focused on the ruling
emperor rather than on the Divi (the emperor was the one who could change something in
their lives, not the dead ones)
- Pompeian wall painting – scene of fantasy architecture or mythology, specific cults only in
lararia
- portraits in private homes – only temporary, not elaborate ones, modest character- portraits in private homes – only temporary, not elaborate ones, modest character
(Fronto to his imperial pupil Marcus Aurelius – images painted on the wooden panels – no
chance they are preserved even in Pompey)
- sculptured miniature portraits – Herculaneum – two busts of Augustus, Livia in The Villa
dei Misterii in Pompeii, another villa – young Julian prince in a back room, a life-size silver
bust of Galba in Herculaneum, a collection of imperial Julio-Claudian bronze portraits…
-literary evidence – Ovid – Augustus, Vitellius father of the emperor – golden image of
Claudius, Marcus Aurelius – golden portraits of his teachers, Hadrian – bronze miniature
bust of Augustus – all the text one in common – represent exceptions
Imperial libation before private banquets
- to the living emperor
- 30BC after the conquest of Egypt – the Senatorial Decree – a libation poured to the emperor,
not to his Genius, at all banquets, public and private
- no evidence it was ever performed before public banquets
- private: Ovid, Horace, Petronius in connection with ceremonies with lares – but libation to the
emperor himself, the idea of the Genius – later
- a wall painting from Pompeii – a libation performed to the Genius, in the garden of a private
house, small lararium, it was destroyed many years ago, no photo or other reproduction
- before the meal, or between two courses