Aspect of Emperor Cult

Harvard Divinity School
An Aspect of the Emperor Cult: Imperial Mysteries

Author(s): H. W. Pleket
Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Oct., 1965), pp. 331-347
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HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
VOLUME 58 OCTOBER 1965 NUMBER 4
AN ASPECT OF THE EMPEROR CULT:
IMPERIAL MYSTERIES
H. W. PLEKET
UNIVERSITY OF LEIDEN
I
THE French scholar P.
Veyne 1
has
recently
classified a number
of
phenomena,
which
clearly prove
that the
person
of the Roman
emperor occupied
a
predominant position
in the minds of the
average
Roman and Greek. He shows that the
imperial ideology
both reflected certain sentiments current
among
the
people,
and
contributed toward the
shaping
of those sentiments.
The texts and
objects
dealt with
by Veyne testify mainly
to a
popular, political
devotion to the
emperor,
on the
part
of the
people
in
general
or of the owner of the
object
in
particular.
Some
examples:
in
Carthage
a rather
cheap
and
poor
relief
represents
the Genius of the Colonia
Carthago
as
carrying
on her
right
hand an
effigy
of what
Veyne
takes to be the
emperor.
In
El-Djem, Africa,
a medallion
found
in a tomb
pictures
Domitian 2
sacrificing
to
Minerva;
is this
only
an
unimportant sepulchral
monument or a
deliberately
chosen
image
with which the de-
ceased testifies to his "amor
Augusti"? Veyne properly
observes
that we cannot make a firm decision
here,
but the latter
possibility
seems the more
probable
one. In
Pompeii appear
texts of the
type:
"vobis
(i.e.,
the
emperor
and his
family)
salvis felices
sumus."
Finally
we come to the border line between a
popular-
1
P. Veyne,
Tenir un buste: une intaille avec le
GCnie
de
Carthage
et le
sardonyx
de Livie a
Vienne,
Cahiers de
Byrsa
8
(1958-59),
6iff.;
id., Latomus 21(1962), 83f.
'This relief should not have been omitted from
my "Domitian,
the Senate and
the
Provinces," Mnemosyne,
IV:
14 (1961), 296ff.
The relief shows us once
again
that an
emperor, painted
in
gloomy
colors in most of the senatorial
sources,
could
be and in fact was
popular
in the
provinces;
for the
problem
of
Domitian,
cf.
further a statement
by
E.
Birley,
who remarks with
regard
to the
appointing policy
of Domitian: "indeed one is
tempted
to reconsider the
reputation
of Domitian as an
emperor,
if his
military appointments
met with such
general acceptance
under his
successors as is indicated
by prosopographical study."
Roman Britain and the
Roman
Army (London,
I953),
143.
332 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
political conception
and a
religious one,
with a text from
Lyon,
inscribed on a
clay
medallion:
"Genio
amantissimo
coloniae,
habeas
propitium
Caesarem."
3
This "Merciful Caesar" reminds
us of the "dei
propitii,"
'
a
phrase
which carries us
directly
into
our theme.
II
Is
emperor worship
an
expression
of
political loyalty
clothed in
a
religious garment (since
one could not honor a man better than
worship
him as a
god,
6
4OE6O)?
Or is this a
genuine religious
phenomenon (no
matter of what
nature)
?
Recently
Ed. Will
'
has
given
a much-needed antidote
against
the
supporters
of the former
conception.
His statement is a
good guide
when we
approach
the
phenomenon
of the ruler-cult in
general:
"Le sentiment
religieux
authentique
et
l'intelligence politique qu'en
avaient les b6n6-
'8Though
much work has
already
been done in the field of the ruler-cult in
antiquity (cf.
Fr.
Taeger's Charisma,
vols. I and
II,
and L. Cerfaux -
J. Tondriau,
Le culte des souverains dans la civilisation
greco-romaine, 1957), Veyne's
words
are worth
repeating:
"Une 6tude de
l'opinion publique d'apres
ces documents
souvent
humbles, d'usage domestique, achetks
par
goi^t,
aurait son
interet;
elle
permettrait
de considerer
moins
abstractement
moins 'theologiquement' l'ideologie
imperiale,
et de voir comment elle
repondait
a la
sensibilit6 populaire
ou
s'efforqait
de la
faqonner" (art. cit., 75);
cf. for a correct
approach
of the
"religion imperiale"
also P.
Veyne,
"Ordo et
Populus, Genies
et Chefs de
File,"
MEFR
73
(I96I),
229ff.,
esp.
266-68.
'Cf. the words of
J. Bayet:
"Marc-Aurele fut
declare spontanement
'Dieu
propice'
et
prophetique;
.
.
on est loin des ironies sur
l'apotheose
des
pamphl&-
taires
rationalistes, Seneque
au
Ier
siecle ou Lucien au
IIe."
Histoire
politique
et
psychologique
de la
Religion
Romaine
(Paris, 1957),
I9o;
the Greek rhetor Menan-
der describes in his De encomiis
(p. 414,
i6
Sp.)
the scheme of the ideal
rapaivOla,
in which he
suggests,
inter alia:
bAW
,ev
oiv
avTbrbv [i.e.,
the deceased] '7s
pwa,
/cXXov
5
''
BsE
6O',
ab~,bv AaKapl'w/iev
,
eiK6ivas
ypi'Owtev,
iXao'K'AyteOa
's
54alova.
This
"appeasing"
or
"concilating"
(diXgKeOta)
is intended to
put
the deceased
(e.g.
Marcus
Aurelius,
as mentioned
above;
or in
general anyone dying prematurely)
in a merciful
mood;
in such a mood he can be called
e6~e7ev
to the
ordinary
mor-
tals,
as the deified Romulus declares about himself after his ascension to heaven:
'Ey&
5~
56 Zv
ebiev`
s
eo/agr G
5al'o
Cwv
Kvpvos (Plutarch,
Vita
Romuli, cap. 28);
for
"propitius" applied
both to
gods
and to
rulers, cf. PW,
s.v.
propitius (St.
Wein-
stock
rightly points
out that this
epithet
when
applied
to the
emperor
in
expres-
sions like "Habeas
propitium Caesarem," implies
the
rendering
of divine honor to
the
living emperor
on a
private
level [col.
824]);
a recent
example
of
t'ews applied
to a
god
in BE
1963,
n.
253 (L.
Robert
promises
a
study
of
fXews-acclamations).
For the relation
ipws/Oe6s,
cf. P.
Boyanc6,
Le culte des Muses chez les
philosophes
grecs (Paris, 1936), 291-92,
who shows that
hardly any
difference needs to be made
between
apotheosis
and heroization of a deceased.
'E.
Will,
"Autour du culte des souverains
(a propos
de deux livres
recents),"
Rev. de Phil.
(1960), 76ff.
IMPERIAL MYSTERIES 333
ficiaires concourent de
faqon
indissoluble
A
l'instauration des
cultes
monarchiques,
et il faudrait se
garder
de mettre
trop
ex-
clusivement l'accent sur le second
6l6ment,
comme cela est
trop
souvent le cas."
6
A
sociological approach
which
distinguishes
between those who are
philosophically
interested and the man
in the street seems to be
very
desirable. For
example:
In the
literary descriptions
of the
imperial apotheosis
the
emperor
ascended to heaven in
body
and soul. That Plutarch
happens
to
reject
such a
conception
and thinks in terms of ascension of the
soul alone
7
is
interesting enough,
but irrelevant for an
approach
to the
impact
of the ruler cult on the man in the street.
The
leading
historians of Greco-Roman
religion, however,
seem to adhere to the view that the
imperial
cult is an
"empty
shell";
"the
egg"
is found in the cult of the traditional
and/or
Oriental
gods,
demons and heroes. M. P. Nilsson calls the im-
perial religion
a
"religibses
Hohlraum."
S
K. Latte cannot make
much of the
religiosity
in the
emperor
cult.9
A. D. Nock has
more than once
10 pointed
to the absence of exvotos to the em-
peror,
in which thanks would be
given
for
recovery, prayers
answered and other
favors;
in his
opinion
this absence
clearly
showed that ancient
religiosity
should be looked for in the tradi-
tional cults and not in the
imperial
cult. To
give
an
example:
the
heroized and later even deified Thasian athlete
Theagenes
was
worshipped by
the faithful as a
healing god.
A Roman
emperor
was never so
honored;
he was rendered divine
honor,
because in
accordance with ancient
usage
the
highest
honor that the most
deserving
man could be
given
was divine honor. This did not
imply by any
means that the
person
honored was considered to
6
E.
Will,
art.
cit., 79.
'Life of
Romulus, 28;
for ancient ideas
concerning apotheosis
cf. E. Bicker-
mann,
"Die r6mische
Kaiserapotheose," Arch.f.Religionswiss. 27(1929),
Iff.
and
Holland,
"Zur
Typik
des
Himmelfahrts," ibidem 23(1925), 207ff.;
K. Latte's short
paragraph
on
apotheosis (R6mische Religionsgeschichte, 317f.)
is too rationalistic
for us to
recognize
the
impact
of this
phenomenon
on the sentiments of the man in
the
street;
a
very good
treatment of the
meaning
of the
apotheosis
of the
ruler,
especially
for the consciousness of the common
man,
is
given by
D. M.
Pippidi,
"Apotheoses imperiales
et
apotheose
de
Peregrinos,"
Studi e Materiali di storia
delle
religioni
21
(1948), 77ff. (referred
to
by Latte, op. cit., 317,
n.
8).
8Rh.
M.
48(1933), 246;
cf. also GGR
IIP,
385ff.
*
R6mische
Religionsgeschichte (196o), 308.
10Gnomon 8(1932), 518;
HTR
45(1952), 237ff.;
Gnomon
27
(I955),
245; JRS
47(1957), I15ff.
be
(or
to
become)
a
god;
it was
only
a matter of
homage
and not
of
worship.11
"Ruler-worship
started as an
expression
of
gratitude
to
benefactors;
it became an
expression
of
homage
and
loyalty.
There were no doubt moments of intense emotion." 12
It is not
my
intention to
develop
here and now a
phenomenol-
ogy
of the
imperial
cult and thus to form an
opinion
about the
religious meaning
of that cult. Let it suffice for the moment to
point
out that
although
we have as
yet
no exvotos dedicated to
the deified
emperor,
domestic altars dedicated to certain em-
perors
seem to have been
popular; 11
in
addition,
we have the
admittedly
rare
literary
testimonia about
"pers6nliche Fr6mmig-
keit" towards the
living
ruler,14
and the above-mentioned notion
of the merciful
emperor.
Moreover there is
interesting
evidence
of the
importance
of
mysteries
in the
imperial
cult: in this con-
nection we should
by
no means
speak
of a
"Redensart," espe-
cially
not as far as the
Pergamene mysteries (cf. infra)
are
concerned;
in
my
view we have to do here with
genuine mystery
devotion,
even
though
there are no exvotos of the
uvo-rat'
of the
emperor surviving."
"
For the distinction between these two attitudes of mind cf. P.
Veyne,
art. cit.
(cf.
note
13), 83,
n. 3.
12Nock, JRS 47(1957),
121.
13
Cf. A. S.
Benjamin-A.
E.
Raubitschek,
"Arae
Augusti," Hesperia
28
(1959),
65ff.;
P.
Veyne,
"Les honneurs
posthumes
de Flavia Domitilla et les dedicaces
grecques
et
latines," Latomus 21(1962), 49ff., esp.
7Iff.
on domestic altars for the
emperor.
"
Cf. S.
Morenz, "Vespasian,
Heiland der Kranken: Pers6nliche
Fr6mmigkeit
im antiken
Herrscherkult," Wiirzburger Jahrbiicher fiir
die
Altertumswissenschaft,
4 (1949/50), 370.
A. D.
Nock, JRS 47(1957), 118
with note
28, argues
that Ves-
pasian,
who cured sick
people
in Alexandria on his accession to the
throne,
"does
not
appear
as a wonderworker in his own
right."
He denies that we have to do
with a
"power intrinsically belonging
to the
legitimate
monarch." This
may
be
correct,
but one wonders whether the common
people really
bothered about such
scholarly
distinctions. In IGRom
IV, 1273,
the
gods, together
with the K
pLOL
av-rKparopes,
are worshipped;
ez'Xal
and
Ovaial
are addressed to
both;
it
may
be
that both were
supposed
to hear
prayers.
For an
emperor
called
r-qKOOS,
cf. Abh.
Akad. Berlin
14 (1943), 9,
n.
7,
with A. D. Nock's remarks in
JRS 47(1957), 121,
with notes
45
and
46. Just
as both the
emperor
and an
ordinary
mortal could
be merciful towards the
living (cf.
note
4),
both
categories
could hear
prayers
after
their
death;
cf. the
epitaph
of a
4 year
old
boy,
who was called
by
his
parents
"their own
God,
who hears our
prayers" (Kaibel, Epigr. Gr., 314=Peek,
Griech.
Versinschriften, II66,
with C. Bradford
Welles,
HTR
34(1941), 90f.
and W.
Seston,
Hommages
'
J.
Bidez et
'
Fr. Cumont [Collection Latomus
II], 313ff.);
cf. also
note
65.
1 Inscriptions
from
Mytilene
and
Thasos,
in which certain terms could
point
Perhaps
this is the
place
to refer to what Nock once called
"expressions
of
gratitude
which came close to
pious
veneration."
16
The so-called
imperial mysteries
have
recently
been
severely
dis-
counted and classified with the
"pseudo-mysteries."
In a recent
study
M. P. Nilsson discussed a number of
"pseudo-mysteries"
from Asia
Minor," including
a number of
imperial mysteries.s8
The
mysteries
of the
Smyrnaean Dionysus
Breiseus
(celebrated
by
47 1Ep& o-vo80o
r6v
rITEp'
r7v
BPELo-Ea ALOVoov rEXVELTrOv
KaL
iEvo-r6v)
as well as the
mysteries
of the
Pergamene Dionysus
Kathegemon
and of the
Ephesian Dionysus (perhaps
connected
with the
imperial
cult?
19)
were for Nilsson "mehr eine Redensart
als eine wohl
gehiitete
Wirklichkeit"
20;
in his
opinion dances,
performances
of a sacred
drama, hymn singing
and
symposiums
form the
major part
of these
mysteries.
Nilsson denies the exist-
ence of secret rites "die nur den
Eingeweihten zugainglich
waren."
21 It is
striking
that all of the
Dionysus mysteries
mentioned
by
Nilsson were celebrated in
private clubs;
the
members of the clubs were the
participants
-
already
initiated
or still to be initiated - in those
mysteries.
Members of the club
to the existence of
imperial mysteries,
I leave undiscussed
here; they
cannot
give
us information about the nature of the
mysteries;
cf.
Nilsson,
GRR
II2, 370
and
"Kleinasiatische
Pseudo-Mysterien," Bull.Inst.Arch.Bulg.
16
(1950;
= Serta Kazaro-
viana), 19. J. Pouilloux,
Recherches sur
l'histoire et les cultes de
Thasos, II, 163,
esp.
n.
7,
denies
(and
in
my opinion rightly so)
that IG
XII, Suppl. 387
would im-
ply any
existence of
imperial mysteries.
In
imperial mysteries
in
general
Pouilloux
sees not much more than
"representations sacrbes"
in a closed club. He denies that
the deified ruler was
supposed
to
guarantee
a blissful hereafter to the
worshipper.
1
JRS
47(I957), i20,
in connection with the sentiments
(described by Philo,
Leg.
ad Gaium
151)
aroused in sailors when
seeing
the Sebasteion in Alexandria.
17
M. P.
Nilsson,
Kleinasiatische
..., 17-2o; id.,
The
Dionysiac Mysteries
of
the Hellenistic and Roman
Age, 6o,
n.
83;
see also
id., "Dionysische Mysterien
in
Phrygien,"
Eranos
60(1962), I8of.
(cf. J.-L. Robert,
'Bull.
tpigr., 1963,
n.
262):
Nilsson sees in the
Dionysus mysteries only drinking parties
combined with some
ritual. The
only
reaction to Nilsson's thesis known to me is that of Robert: "nous
ne le suivrions
pas entierement,
notamment
pour
le culte
imperial."
Bull.
tpigr.
(I951),
n.
43;
cf. also REA 62
(1960), 322,
n.
3.
18 The Roman
imperial mysteries correspond
to the
royal mysteries
in
Egypt
alluded to in a small
scrap
of
papyrus
from
Antinoopolis
and
interpreted by Nilsson,
"Royal Mysteries
in
Egypt,"
HTR
50o(957),
65f.
The words
equ~VcK[
and
LuvorTK6O
clearly
refer to initiation into the
mysteries.
The
Egyptian kings
were identified
with
Triptolemos
who
initially
seems to have been the chief
personage
in the
mys-
tery
cult.
19
Cf. M. P.
Nilsson,
The
Dionysiac Mysteries,
6off.
2
Kleinasiatische
Pseudo-Mysterien,
i9.
2Ibid.,
18.
played
the
parts
of the various divine characters in the sacred
drama,
which
frequently
included certain
dances;
it does not
seem correct to conclude from the
presence
of these ceremonies
that other
rites,
secret
rites,
are out of the
question.
In this
connection a well-known
inscription
from
Ancyra
deserves our
attention.
III
The
inscription (SEG VI,59,128 A.D.)
contains a decree of a
group
of
technitai,
who
worship Dionysus
and the New
Dionysus
(Hadrian)
as
patron.
In this decree mention is made of an
&ycv
LvOTrLKO9,
supervised by
the
agonothete Ulpius
Aelius
Pompeianus.
This
dywy
LVo'rtLKO6
indeed seems to have been held in
public,
viz.
in the theatre of
Ancyra;
it was a
competition
to which various
aycovurrat
were
invited; presumably
it was a
religious drama,
in
which the
leading
actors
impersonated Dionysus
and Hadrian.22
The
adjective
JMVo'-rLKo6
probably
bears
upon
the sacred dances
performed
in this
play.
Secret
performances certainly
cannot be
postulated
here. Nilsson
rightly
considers
UVOTrLKOk
here a "Red-
ensart" as
compared
with the
original meaning
of the word.
However,
in this
completely
secular context we read
(line 21)
that the honorand
"ravrT
pLpELp ro
p0
v
vCrrrpLov
ErTpKE0Ev."
There
was a
"mysterion"
with various
parts;
in addition to the
public
aycov
LVO-TLKO9 some
other "rites"
evidently appeared
on the
program.
It would be unwise a
priori
to consider these "rites"
part
of secret
mysteries;
after
all,
the technitai from
Ancyra
did
not even
style
themselves
pvo-rratl.
However,
this
inscription
makes it
possible
that in the
uvor-npta
of
Dionysus
Breiseus in
Smyrna
and of
Dionysus (+ emperor?)
in
Ephesus
other rites
could have been celebrated of a more secret character in addition
to the sacred drama. For that
matter,
at the end of his
study
Nilsson
gives
us back what he seemed to have taken
away
at
first;
in
spite
of the
"Veriusserlichung"
of the
mysteries
he admits
22
Cf. A.
Bruhl,
Liber Pater.
Origine
et
Expansion
du culte
dionysiaque
'
Rome
et dans le monde romain
(Paris, 1953),
i86f.: ". . .
jeux
sacrs
. . ;
.
. .
cet
dywu'
mystique, qui
a un caractere incontestablement
religieux...";
for this
-dyw,
VaTrTLK6s
cf. also
L.
Robert,
Hellenica
XI-XII, 366,
with references to an
d-yw'
AvaTITK6s
in Side in honor of
Dionysus
and
Demeter;
cf. Rev. de Phil.
(1958),
21.
that "die Heiden
jener
Zeit
mystische
Ideen in
jene
Riten hinein-
legen
und ihnen mit frommer Scheu zuschauen konnte."
23
IV
The fact that
mysteries
were created within the
imperial
cult
unduly strengthened
the
tendency
mentioned above to think in
terms of
pseudo-mysteries.
The evidence for the existence of such
imperial mysteries
is rather
poor:
i. An
inscription
from
Ephesus
showing
that the deified
emperor
was taken into the Demeter
mysteries;
the text does not
give any
details.24
2. An
extremely
mutilated text from
Ephesus,
from which it
may
be inferred that
Dionysus
and the Roman
emperor, together
with
many
other
gods
and
goddesses,
were
objects
of
vo-rpIptLa.25
3. Bithynian
in-
scriptions,26
in which the words
wLvo-rjpta
and
oEPao-ro'dbv"v
occur
(each
time in a "cursus honorum" of a local
politician):
Tro
KOLVOV
vaov
Twv1 ~Lvotf)qpULtO
EpO
fvrY9V
KatL
o
craoTrofvTrYqv
and
o-Eacao'-rodcT7lv
KcaL
TO-
,LEkyXOV KatL
KOLVOi
"r BELWvvia,
vao3 rwiv
pvo-~T7qpWv lepobdavr'.
4.
A
Pergamene
inscription, containing
the
regulations
of the local
hymnodes,
in which
rvo-r7pmta
and
probably
certain
mystery-rites
are mentioned.27
The first two
inscriptions
tell us little or
nothing
about the
contents of the
mysteries; probably
we have to do with secret
celebrations,
in one of
which,
inter
alia,
a sacred drama was
per-
haps performed;
it is not certain what
happened
further. The
Demeter
mysteries
in
Smyrna
involved two female
EOX6dyoL,
while at the same time "dances" are mentioned. It is
supposed
that the two
OEoX6lyo
danced the
parts
of Demeter and
Core;
28
in
addition, perhaps,
in a
separate ceremony, they praised
the
goddesses
in a
sermon,
for such was the normal function of the
23
Kleinasiatische
. .
. , i9.
SSIG
3:
820.
a GIBM
III:6oo. cf.
M. P.
Nilsson, Kleinasiatische,
I8;
id., Dionysiac Mysteries,
60.
"
Ath.Mitt.
24(1899), 429;
Le
Bas-Waddington,
1I78,
quoted by
Nilsson GGR
II, 371; Kleinasiatische
. . .
,
19.
'
Inschriften von
Pergamon II,
n.
374 (= IGRom IV, 353
=
Ziehen
-
von
Prott, Leges Sacrae, I,
n.
27).
SCIG
3211, 3199, 3200, 3194;
cf. Nilsson GGR
II2,
357.
OEoXyog.29
It
is
possible, though
it cannot be
proved,
that in the
Ephesian
Demeter
mysteries,
in which later the
emperor
was
included, OEOXyoL
also
appeared;
in the course of the celebration
of the
mysteries they
would then have
praised
the virtues of the
emperor
in their sermon
(and possibly
danced the
emperor's
role).
V
The
Bithynian inscriptions
mentioned show that
mysteries
were celebrated in the
provincial emperor
cult and that two func-
tionaries were involved: the
1Epod'vr-qg
and the
ro-Epaaorocdfvrvs.
The function of the
sebastophant
and the
meaning
of his title are
both
disputed questions. Generally
this term is deemed to be a
rendering
of the Latin "flamen
Augusti" 30;
in this sense the term
does not make the contents of the
imperial mysteries any
clearer.
Nilsson assumes that in the
the sebasto-
phant
was not much more than
"Spielgeber."
'
He bases this
assumption
on the fact that in these texts the title is
coupled
with that of
"Bithyniarch"
and
"Helladarch," i.e.,
with
specific
political
functions
relating
to the
idyovoEo-a.
Further he
points
to a number of
inscriptions
in which the honorand is both
sebastophant
and
agonothete:
OGIS
542 (Ancyra; aPXtEPEv
-
oTE/3aoro0dTvcrr-q -dycovoOr&)
and two
parallel
texts from Ak-
monia and
Ephesus,
in which the honorand
is, among
other
things,
Eirapxov
v
XVELcrov, PXLEpLa
'Ao-tai vaov 70ro v
'E
4o'o-
KOLVOV
7~i 'Ao-Fai
EC rV
KCloL
aOVOVVrV
3 a l3ov.32
According
to
Nilsson these texts take us
immediately
into the
sphere
of an
agonistic
theatre. In his
opinion
the term
E7rapXov
r&v
reX'ELt~W
would
imply
that the honorand was leader of a
group
of actors
(technitai,
viz.
of
Dionysus).
But Robert has
pointed
out that
this term was the Greek
rendering
of the Latin
"praefectus
'
About the
meaning
of the
OeoX6yot,
cf. L.
Robert,
Rev. de Phil.
(i943),
i84f.;
REA
62(1960), 3i6ff., esp. 321;
Hellenica
VII, 2io;
for the
increasing
importance
of the sermon in Hellenistic-Roman
worship
see M. P.
Nilsson, "Pagan
Divine Service in later
Paganism,"
HTR
38(1945), 63ff.;
cf. also GGR
II2, 380f.
30So
Latte,
R6mische
Religionsgeschichte, 320;
Ch.
Edson,
HTR
41(1948),
153ff., esp. 196,
n.
45.
"'
Kleinasiatische . . .
, 19;
GGR
IIJ, 371.
32 Ephesos II, 173ff.,
n. 61 and
63;
Le
Bas, 655.
fabrum."
33
It follows that in these two texts a number of dis-
jointed
titles are mentioned.
Moreover,
Robert observed that the
juxtaposition
of
sebastophantes
and
agonothetes
makes an identi-
fication of the two functions
very improbable.
In the
the
hierophant
and the sebasto-
phant
seem in
any
case to be involved in the
imperial mysteries.34
The
only way
to
give
the
sebastophant
an
agonistic
function here
would be to use the
argument
of the
dyc'ov
LUTvo-rLKO
from
Ancyra,
which
was,
as a matter of
fact, part
of a
vo-iriptov.
However,
this is
by
no means a
parallel,
for in
Ancyra
the
"agon"
is
organ-
ized
by
the technitai of
Dionysus,
who were famous for their
frequent participation
in
"agones";
an
agonothete
is mentioned
expressis
verbis. In
Bithynia
there is
only question
of
rvo-rIpLa
in the
provincial imperial temple
and an
agonothete
is not men-
tioned;
on the other
hand,
the
sebastophant
from
Bithynia
does
not occur in the
organization
of the
wvo-r4pcov
at
Ancyra.
It seems to be safer and
methodically
more correct to
explain
the
sebastophant
in connection with the
hierophant.
As a matter
of
fact,
the honorands
perform
both functions in the
Bithynian
imperial mysteries.
It is a known fact that in Eleusis the hiero-
phant discharged
the
following
functions: he
participated
in the
liturgical
dramas
performed
as a
part
of the
mystery celebration;
at the initiation he
spoke
the
mysterious
words that should not be
passed
on to the non-initiated
(ra
drrdopp'rra);
and he showed
rd
Nepd, i.e.,
the sacred
objects,
to the
mystai.35
On the
analogy
of
these functions
36
the
sebastophant might play
a
part
in a litur-
gical, "imperial"
drama. As far as I
know,
no direct evidence is
to be found for this function. The
EofocvrqY
occurring
in a
Smyrnaean Dionysus-thiasos
37 might
serve as a
parallel.
With
some hesitation it has been
suggested
that this
Oeo0dv1-rq
possibly
"appeared
in the role of the
god
and announced
something
to the
"3L.
Robert,
"Recherches
Rpigraphiques,"
REA
62(196o), 3x6ff.,
esp. 322, n. 3.
4
Therefore,
Latte's
remark, op. cit., 320, n. 2,
that nowhere is the
sebastophant
related to
mystery cults,
remains obscure to me.
"5P. Foucart,
Les
Mysteres
d'Eleusis
(Paris, 1914), 179.
6
Latte's
view, op. cit., 320,
that the
parallelism
between
hierophant
and
sebastophant
was
only
intended to show that the
imperial
cult was
just
as sacred
as the Eleusinian
cult,
is too
vague
to be attractive.
a7
SEG
XIV, 752 (XVI, 726; XVIII, 494).
mystae
in sacred
ceremonies"
38;
to
support
this view it was
pointed
out that in certain
religious
clubs the members sometimes
played
the roles of
gods
in a
liturgical
drama. The
phenomenon
itself is well
known,
but the
question
remains: was the
person
who
played
such a role called a
OEofxab`
-
or a
o0-Efao-rof4xvr)qg?
Nilsson's view is that these functionaries "showed the
power
of
the
god Dionysos
or the
emperor respectively by praising them,
their
power,
and their deeds in words"
39;
he would answer the
question just
above in the
negative.
In his
opinion
the
theophant
is identical with the
EoXo'yoa,
whose function it was to
praise
the
virtues of the
emperor
in a sermon. But the
theologos
was in
numerous cults too well-known a
functionary
for his function to
be indicated
by
an
entirely
new
title, i.e., "theophant,"
and in
my
opinion
this fact militates
against
Nilsson's
explanation
of "theo-
phant."
Within the
imperial
cult a new function has even been
created,
which runs
parallel
to that of the
OEoXoyog.
A Milesian
inscription
mentions a
o-rEfao-CroXdyo
in a context otherwise unim-
portant
for our
purpose:
he was the man that had to deliver the
eulogy
on the
emperor."4
The fact that here a
special
function
with a
special
title has been created tells
against
the
theory
that
the
sebastophant
would in fact be and do the same as the sebasto-
logos.
The
description
of duties and titles in this new cult would
probably
have been exact
enough
to
prevent
such a
duplication.
One
gets
the
impression
that Latte and Nilsson
suggest
the
interpretation
of the
sebastophant
from an instinctive dislike of
what I should call the literal and most obvious
explanation:
the
sebastophant
is the
person
"who shows
(the image of)
the Em-
peror." 41 They
have
emphasized
too much the fact that the
imperial mysteries
are as
mysteries
a "Redensart" to
accept
this
literal
interpretation.
The
arguments
that are
brought
forward
against
this view seem to me to be weak: i. We do not know
any-
SSo M. P. Nilsson
(Dionysiac Mysteries, 138f.), rendering
the
opinion
of the
original
editor
J.
Keil.
39Ibidem, 138.
40
L.
Robert,
Hellenica
VII,
ch.
22,
and
p. 210o.
41 Again
it can
only
be
guessed
what the
lepai
are that the
hierophant
showed
in the
imperial mysteries
in
Bithynia: perhaps
certain attributes of the Roman
emperor
or
objects symbolizing
the
majesty
of the
Emperor and/or
the Roman
Empire
?
thing
at all about such a
ceremony
in
imperial mysteries;
42
this
is
hardly
an
argument,
as
Nilsson,
for that
matter,
admits him-
self;
the
argumentum
e silentio is
always dangerous
and the more
so where
mysteries
are
concerned,
of which
nothing
should be-
come known to outsiders. 2. Latte's view that
imperial images
were too
profane
to be shown in the sacred
mysteries
4
is also
incorrect. Robert has
recently
shown that the
ElKOVEf
Of the
emperor
are on a
par
with the
diytXiara
of the
gods:
both were
the
object
of the devotion of the
people.44
The view that the im-
perial religion
was not much more than an
expression
of
political
loyalty
or
gratitude
and that it had little or
nothing
to do with
what the ancients meant
by religion,
has
again
an
important
though
unadmitted influence on Latte.
VI
The
inscription concerning
the
Pergamene hymnodes (see
above, p. 337)
offers us the
possibility
of
supporting
the literal
interpretation
of
"sebastophant"
and of
illustrating
the
meaning
of the
imperial
eikon in the
mysteries.
The most
important
fes-
tival
days
of the
Hymnodes
mentioned in this text were: a. The
birthday
of Divus
Augustus (September 23)
celebrated as a
part
of a
three-day
festival
(September 21-23), together
with Livia's
birthday (September 21);
on
September
22 a
rapafl3ctLov
is
sung,
for which there is a
parallel
in the cult of the
Attalids;45
b. The
birthday
of the Divus
Augustus
celebrated
every month; i.e.,
the
first
day
of
every
month serves to commemorate Divus
Augustus
(with
the Asiatic calendar reform of A.D.
9 Augustus' birthday
was
proclaimed
the first
day
of the first month of the
year);
c. The two
three-day
festivals of the
Rosalia46
and of the
Mv'arrjpa
(Ist,
2nd and
3rd
Panemos and
Ist,
2nd and
3rd
Loios
respectively).
About the
Mvrnjppam
of the
Hymnodes
we read the
following:
2
Dionysiac Mysteries, 138.
Op. cit., 320,
note 2.
*
Cf. Robert's "Recherches
]pigraphiques."
46 Cf. L.
Robert,
etudes
Anatoliennes,
ch. I.
~
L. Robert has
promised
a
study
of this
festival; cf. already
now his remarks
in REA
62(1960), 342.
"The eukosmos will
give
the
hymnodes
wreaths on the
monthly
celebration of the
birthday
of
Augustus
and on the
remaining
birthdays
of the
Autokratores; during
the
mysteries
he will dec-
orate the
hymnodeion
with
wreaths; every day (sc.
of the
mystery
festival)
he will
give
the
hymnodes
and their sons
wreaths,
and
Augustus
a
cake,
incense and
lamps" (B,
lines
14-20).
Further
it
appears
from C.8 and D.io that
during
the
mystery
festivals
there was
heavy eating
and
drinking;
some functionaries have to
provide olvos,
aproa,
o-rpwo-tcr
("Gedeck")
and hard cash. The
hymnodists
formed a
very old,
well-to-do and exclusive club:
4
the admission of new members is
subject
to
guarantees.
It
may
be assumed that the club and a
fortiori
its
mysteries
were
tightly
closed.
Important
for our
purpose
is the statement that
Augustus gets
a
cake,
incense and
lamps during
the
mystery festival.48
In the
second
century
A.D. the
offering
of a
r&cLravov
and of
Xtkfavwr0`
has no
longer solely
a
funerary
character. Attic
inscriptions
men-
tion a
ro-iravov
offered to Zeus in our
period;
49
incense
offerings
are
equally
a normal
phenomenon
in the divine cult. In the
second
century
A.D. we find ourselves in a
stage
of the
develop-
ment of ancient cult that has been described in detail
by
Nils-
son."5
In addition and in contrast to the
traditional, expensive
and
consequently comparatively infrequent
animal sacrifices a
new
temple
ritual is
developing
in the Hellenistic-Roman
period.
Performed more
simply
and
cheaply,
it is used more
frequently,
often even
daily.
The
principal parts
of this ritual were:
incense,
candles, lamps, hymns (cf.
the
popularity
of the
hymnodes 51),
7
Cf.
the edict of P. Fabius
Persicus, published by
F. K.
Diirner,
Der Erlass des
Statthalters von Asia Paullus Fabius Persicus
(diss. Greifswald, 1935).
8
Curiously enough
both Nilsson and Robert think that
Augustus
received these
offerings
on his
birthday; cf. Nilsson,
GGR
II2, 375
and
Robert,
Rev. de Phil.
(1939), 191,
n.
9;
in fact line
B, i9f. clearly
occurs in the
passage
about the
mys-
teries. It is true that the first
day
of the
mysteries
coincides with the
monthly
celebration of
Augustus' birthday,
but this is no more than a chance coincidence.
The
cake,
incense and
lamps
are offered in the course of the celebration of the
mysteries.
For that
matter,
the ceremonies of the two festivals need
by
no means
be the same.
9
L.
Deubner,
Attische
Feste,
I54,
158, 163;
about the
meaning
of the
offering
of incense and
irr6rava,
cf. P.
Boyanci,
Le culte des Muses chez les
philosophes grecs
(Paris, 1936), 278ff., esp.
282f.
0
Cf.
Nilsson,
HTR
38(1945), 63ff.
SAbout
the
hymnodes,
cf. literature and references with L.
Robert,
REA
and sermons
(cf.
the
OEoXyoL 52). Nilsson
has
given special
attention to the function of the
lamp
as a cult instrument."3 He
adduces evidence which shows that the
glaring light
of
lamps
in
the Hellenistic-Roman
temples
is a usual
phenomenon.
In the
imperial cult,
which knew
relatively
few if
any traditions,
the
XVXvog
becomes a
popular
cult instrument. A Teian
inscription
concerning
a combined
Dionysus-Tiberius
cult mentions Ovtua^o-6at
and
XvXvaerredo-OaL
as
principal, daily rites.54 Thus,
in the
Per-
gamene inscription,
the
lamp
is in
place.
What was then the
meaning
of the
lamps
in the
mysteries
of
Divus
Augustus?
Two
literary
texts mentioned
by
Nilsson but
not related
by
him to our
inscription may
assist us in
answering
this
question. Apuleius
tells us that in the
Isis-mysteries
at a
certain moment "the sun was
suddenly shining
with a heroic
light
in the middle of the
night." 55 Julianus
testifies that
ivoa-ral
lit
torches in front of the
image
of
Attis.56
If one thinks furthermore
of the
great significance
of
light
effects in
mysteries
in
general,
one is
tempted
to
suppose
that the
XvXvoL
served the
purpose
of
showing
the
image
of the Divus
Augustus during
the
mystery
celebration
suddenly
in a
glaring lamp-light
to the
meeting
of the
initiated. Further there seems to be some evidence that also in
the Eleusinian
mysteries (and possibly
in others as
well)
the
images
of the
goddesses
were shown to the
mystai
in
glaring light.
Aristotle
compared
the
impact
of the Eleusinian initiation rites
with the
*XXawj*
0ro voi3
conferred
upon
the mind
by philosophy.
Proclus
says
that one of the results of the
neoplatonic
"telestike"
was that the
cult-image
was animated and moreover illuminated
62(196o), 318,
n.
4; 321,
n.
6; 322,
note
3;
34If.;
Rev. de Phil.
(1959), 214,
n.
8;
Bull.
Rpigr. (1941),
n.
9;
(I952),
n.
Ioo;
Gnomon
(I959),
661.
52
Cf. Nilsson's article HTR
38(1945).
3
"Lampen
und Kerzen im Kult der
Antike," Opuscula Archaeologica
VI
(1950),
96ff. (= Opusc.
Selecta
III, 189ff.) ; on
X6os
and
XvXYactia
see also L.
Robert,
Rev. de Phil.
(I939), I89f.;
A. Garcia
y Bellido,
"Isis
y
el
Collegium Illychiniari-
orum del Pratum Novum"
(Conv. Cordubendis), Hommages
'
W. Deonna
(=
Coll. Latomus
XXVIII), 238ff. (on
the
importance
of
XvXvcdrroL
in the Isis cult
and
mysteries).
'L.
Robert,
etudes
Anatoliennes, 20off.
'
Metamorph.
XI.
23.
'
Or. V.
179c;
cf. also an
Ephesian inscription,
in which two
uvaral
dedicate an
Eros and a three-bracket chandelier to
Aphrodite
Daitis
(J. Keil, Jahresh. 17(1914),
145ffi.) .
by
the
deity
('4riEXEoUTLK7'
.
.
EL/JvXov aVTO E'tVOl0-E Ka'L
XXa/p4-
ONvat Traph
rov
OELov).
From the combination of these two
pieces
of evidence
Boyance
has
tentatively
inferred that in the Eleusin-
ian
mysteries
the
images
of the deities were illuminated and thus
shown to the
mystai.57
This inference finds
support
in a
passage
from the
2oth
oration of Themistius
(ed. Dindorf, p. 288)
in
which the
philosopher
is
compared
with the
priest
who shows the
dyaXta
of the
deity, aryj
KaTaXan7rt/IyoEVOV 6-'Ecol,
to the
initiated. Even if
Boyance
is
wrong
in
supposing
that Themistius
had in mind the Eleusinian
mysteries,"s
this text does not lose its
evidential value: the link between
mystery
cults in
general
and
the rite of
showing
the
image
of the
god
to the
worshippers
is
firmly
attested
by
it and that is
precisely
what we are
looking
for.
The
Fpya fOC2 which, according
to Plutarch
(De prof.
Virt.
8ie)
the Eleusinian
mystai suddenly observed,
is
generally
taken to
be,
to
put
it in Deubner's
words,
"einem durch
Tageslicht bedingten
Effekt."
"
In
Pergamum
the function of
daylight
has been taken
over
by lamps,
in the Isis
mysteries by
torches. The
replacement
of torches
by lamps
seems understandable
enough
on
practical
grounds. Against
those who
might possibly object
that
lamp-
light
was not
bright enough
for
purposes
of illumination in a
mystery cult,
I
may point
out that
according
to Artemidorus
(Oneirocriticon,
ed.
Hercher, p. 96,
line
i6)
lamps
sometimes
produced
a
very
clear
light.
My interpretation
of the
Pergamum-inscription implies
that
the
hymnodes possessed imperial
ELKOVE. In C.
12-13
ELKOVE
rirv
1E3ao-rCv are indeed
mentioned, i.e.,
of
Augustus
and Livia who
are
worshipped together.
'0
eEfao-r-6
in B.
20-
it
may
be
assumed
-
is
presumably
also
represented by
an ElKCtV.60 Follow-
ing
Robert I have
already pointed
to the
great significance
of the
"P.
Boyanc6, op. cit., 54ff., esp. 57 (with
a discussion of the texts of Aristotle
and
Proclus) ; idem,
"Sur les
myst'res d'Eleusis",
REG
75 (1962), 46off.
The
prob-
lem of whether the illumination of the
cult-images
took
place
both in the Eleusin-
ian
mysteries
of the
imperial period
and those of the classical
age
or
only
in the
former is
clearly
irrelevant to us here.
'
Op. cit., 58,
note
i;
art.
cit., 473,
n. 2.
9
Attische
Feste, 90.
0
Cf. also W. H.
Buckler--D.
M.
Robinson,
Sardis
VII,
n. 21 where in con-
nection with
r(eXeral)
of Athena
Neikephoros
xpvoa
elic6ves are
mentioned;
more-
over,
in the same text
.uvarTpta
are recorded of the
gods
of the
palaistra,
Hermes
and Heracles.
ELKOVES
in the
imperial
cult in the East. From Robert's
study
it
appears
clear that there is a strict
parallelism
between the struc-
ture of the
"liturgie imperiale"
and that of the
worship
in the
traditional cults: the
lepa4~ poL,
O
EdopoL, S/38OdLopoL
etc. are
paral-
leled
by
the
sebastophoroi
in the
imperial
cult. The
(dKopo0
in
the traditional cults finds his
counterpart
in the
CdKopoT
T-Cv
OELwov
ELKOVCov
from a
recently published
Athenian
inscription.
Robert
has shown
conclusively
that we have to do in this case with a
"sacristain"
of a
chapel
with
imperial images."' Hymnodes
and
theologoi
occur in the
imperial
cult either under the same name
or with a
slight
variant
(EoX06yog/o-E/8ao-roX0yog).
Finally
the
Eleusinian
hierophant may
thus be
supposed
to find his counter-
part
in the
sebastophant
of the
imperial mysteries.
On the basis
of this strict
parallelism
between the
dignitaries
in the traditional
and the
imperial
cult it seems advisable to consider the "sebasto-
phant"
as "one who shows the
imperial image."
The
Pergamum
inscription
makes it
plausible
that the
showing
of the
imperial
image
under
glaring lamplight
constituted a
part
of the
mysteries.
This
phenomenon supports,
in its
turn,
the
explanation
of the title
of
"sebastophant."
In a Greek
inscription
found
recently
in
present-day Bulgaria
mention is made of a
aorepa
of
Dionysian mystai.62
The
long
series of
dignitaries
include three that are
important
for our
pur-
pose:
one
XvXvadrrpLa
and two
or~-Eaoa-o4draea.
It is
possible
that in these
Dionysian mysteries
the
ZEf3ao-r6d
is
worshipped
at
the same time and that also in this case the
XvXvaqtia
is
designed
to accentuate the
"showing
of the
imperial image (and perhaps
also that of
Dionysus?)." 63
Two final remarks:
I.
It is
probable
that in the
Pergamum mys-
teries
hymns
were
sung;
in the first
place
because there are
mysteries
celebrated
by hymnodes, secondly
because the sons of
"REA
62(196o), 3x6ff.
(essential
for a correct
approach
to the
imperial
religion).
"
G.
Mihailov, IGB III,
I517,
line
5;
cf.
Robert, Bull.1pigr. (1962), 175,
n.
198.
'P.
Boyance,
L'antre dans les
mysteres
de
Dionysos,
Atti Pontif. Accad. Rom.
di Arch.
III: 33 (1960/61), 107-27,
and D. M.
Pippidi,
Grottes
Dionysiaques
'
Callatis,
BCH
88(1964), 151ff.,
have
recently
and
rightly
stressed the
importance
of caves
(Owrpa)
in
Dionysian mysteries.
Thus it is
conceivable, though
it cannot
be
proved,
that the
lamp (which
on
my theory may
well have illuminated the
image
of the
emperor)
was lit in a dark cave.
the
hymnodes, though
not full members of the
club,
are allowed
both to attend the
mysteries
and to
sing
in the choir on
payment
of
the
Xop~Eov
mentioned in D.2
I
("Chorgelder" 64).
There is
prob-
ably
some connection between these two
privileges; they
had to be
allowed to
participate
in the
mysteries,
because the choir of
which
they
were members
happened
to
sing
in those ceremonies.
2. In
A.3o
a
OEoXo6o
is
mentioned in a
badly damaged
con-
text; consequently
his function within the club of the
hymnodes
is
vague.
On the
ground
of what is mentioned above on
p. 338
about the function of the
theologoi
in
(imperial) mysteries
we
may perhaps
consider the
possibility
that the
Pergamum
theolo-
gos
also had a function in the
three-day mystery
festivals.65
Conclusion: our
interpretation
of the
Pergamene
document
66
shows that the
mysteries
at
Pergamum
as far as their rites are
concerned were true
copies
of the traditional
mysteries;
both
include
hymns, glorification (theologos?), showing
of the
image.
It seems to be certain that the festivals
involving hymnodists
had
a closed character. I see no value in
speaking
of
pseudo-mysteries
in this case. The
Bithynian mysteries may
be
grouped together
with the
Pergamene.
The
sebastophant
takes care of the cere-
mony
to which
(according
to our
explanation)
the
Pergamene
inscription
alludes in B.
Iff.
At
present, however,
both the
epigraphic
and the
literary
sources are too scarce and too
vague
to allow a more detailed
description
of the
"imperial mysteries."
VII
Nothing compels
us to
deny
that we have to do with
genuine
devotion to Divus
Augustus,
dead for more than
150 years.
A. D.
"
As stated
rightly by
M. Fraenkel in his
commentary,
ad
loc.,
2
70.
85
CIG
3803
can no
longer
be used as evidence for the
presence
of a
OeoX6yos
in
imperial mysteries;
the
reading
OeoX6yos
rw3v zr;e
EvLva'rqptlwv
proved
to be in-
correct;
the correct version is
OvrIK6oS etc.;
the text
originates
from
Bithynion-
Claudiopolis
and
probably
refers to the
mysteries
of
Antinous;
for all
this,
cf. L.
Robert,
Rev. de Phil.
(I943),
184,
n.
9;
for Antinous'
worship
in
Bithynia,
cf. also
F. K.
D6rner,
Denkschr. Akad.
Wien, 75:1 (1952), 40,
n.
78:
Nw~t
0e&
i[]
'AvrtLv6w
EXrv w-E0vYq
[s]. Antinous,
who was
worshipped
in a
mystery cult, apparently
heard
prayers;
it is not inconceivable that in
Pergamum
likewise the Deified Au-
gustus
was
supposed
to hearken to
prayer.
In
general, however,
as Nock has em-
phasized,
exvotos are rare in the
imperial cult, JRS 47(1957), 115ff.
"6
We
may
look forward to a
study
on the
Pergamene
p~zvtoli
from L.
Robert,
see REA
62(I960),
342,
n. 2.
Nock
recently spoke
of the
"deepened sentimentality"
of some
2nd
century mystery
cults as
opposed
to the
pseudo-mysteries,
in
which the term
mystery was, properly speaking,
no more than a
"fagon
de
parler."
67
In
my opinion
the
Pergamene imperial
mysteries belong
to the former
category."8
Though
the Divus
Augustus worshipped
at
Pergamum may
not
have heard
prayers
and healed
patients (theoretically
the
possibil-
ity
remains that in the minds of his
worshippers
he was
supposed
to do
so;
cf. notes
14
and
65), yet
it
may
not be said that
partici-
pation
in the
mysteries
is "Ausdruck der
Anerkennung
einer
politischer Wirklichkeit,
nicht
religioises
Bekenntnis." Such
statements are based on too narrow a definition of
piety.
Between
the so-called
genuine piety
of the
exvotos,
and the mere
expression
of
political loyalty
there is a wide field of ritual
piety,
the source
of which need not
necessarily
be the actual
hearing
of
prayers
or
the
healing
of
illness;
here we are faced with an
expression
of the
general dependence
of man on the
god(s)
which comes close to
pious
veneration.
'
Class.
Philol.
55(196o),
121.
SWhen
dealing
with the Hekate
mysteries
from
Lagina (3rd century A.D.)
A.
Laumonier,
Les cultes
indigenes
en
Carie
(Paris, 1958), 404f., distinguishes
between
"mystere-sacrement, renouvable,
de caractere oriental et
dionysique"
and
"mystere-initiation,
avec formules et
representations
. .
. , qui preparait plus
directement au bonheur de
l'au-delk."
The
Pergamene mysteries have,
in
my opin-
ion,
a share in both: the
mystai
had their
heavy drinking
and a
good meal,
but at
the same time Divus
Augustus
was the centre of an initiation rite. In how far the
expectations
for the after-life were determined
by
the initiation cannot be decided
in the
present
state of our sources.

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An Aspect of the Emperor Cult: Imperial Mysteries

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