Imperial cult in Hellenistic times

Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint Lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

1 March 2011

The phenomenon of worshipping the ruler of a country, or ascribing elevated respect to the absolute to such a person, we call imperial cult.

If we look at the imperial cult in the Hellenistic period, one should distinguish between two kinds, a local cult and an official cult. The local cult was the one that was followed within the Hellenistic states. The official Hellenistic cult practiced in all the other countries that Alexander conquered. Hellenistic is the word we use to describe events or trends between 333 BCE and 333 CE. It spans about 600 years.

There was a difference between the local and official imperial cult. The local cult is mostly Greek with slight Eastern influences. The official cult is mostly Eastern with slight Greek influences.

Alexander the Great was responsible for the official imperial cult that was followed by his successors.

During his campaigns in Egypt in 332 BCE, Alexander visited the sanctuary of Zeus Ammon at Siva in the desert of Libya and through the oracle, he was proclaimed the "son of Ammon". The result was that he insisted in 324 BCE that the Greek cities respect him as god. The origin of the official imperial cult start with Alexander the Great. It is ironic that the one who wanted to enlarge Greek influene over the East was the one who was influenced by the East.

Another origin of the imperial cult is the explanation of Alexander's activities. It is said that Alexander did it on purpose to include the Greek states that was part of the old Corinthian league, and thus theoretically independent, which means he stands constitutionally outside of the league, to bring them within his domain since he as god he can step into their theogony, and as one of their gods, he could influence them.

The desire to be honored by his fellow countrymen, was also one of the reasons for the origin of the imperial cult. It was his last step to absolutism. The throne binds the ruler to the general laws and public opinion. As god he could rise above the laws and responsibilities of the laws. This view of Alexander is of Eastern origin since the concept of the relationship between the individual and the state, the way Alexander suggested, is Eastern.

The Eastern influence flowed through Alexander to the Greek states. In Egypt it was custom that the individuals of the colonies had to bow deeply and even crawl on the floor before the ruler of Egypt. In the Greek states individuals of states and regions were given freedom and self-rulership. Individuals could still develop their own self-respect and self-control.

The Greeks themselves can be seen as origin to the imperial cult. A secularization and low religious level of the Greeks at that time, was the origin of the imperial cult. The Greeks were philosophers and could only supply philosophy to the conquered colonies. The conquered Eastern countries did not have such a strong philosophical system but were religiously centered. What the East gave the West was belief. Belief gained momentum and philosophy lost its value. Greek unbelief let to the consumption of Eastern beliefs in the Greek society and that included the imperial cult with religious overtones.

Another origin of the imperial cult was a practice that the Greeks followed for years: the honoring of heroes. As soon as a person displayed special talents or special achievements that he did to humans, he was raised to the level of a god. These heroes were divine mortals that took a position between god and man. A person who started a city was clothed with divinity. It was thus easy for them to listen to the request by Alexander the Great.

Some Greeks were longing for conversion, salvation from evils. It was not uncommon for them to attach theological concepts like soter, euergetes, epiphanes to the ruler, since he was considered to be the "incarnated law".

The philosopher also contributed to the imperial cult since the philosopher was searching for the ideal ruler with philosophical grounds. Greek philosophers of the classical period accepted the city state as part of their political philosophy, and its laws, that was considered to be of divine origin, was seen as the highest authority. We find this idealizing of the laws of society in the work Crito by Plato. The change that came in the Hellenistic period, is that other countries, non-Greek were now included into a system that they did not want to accept, and a new basis was needed. The trust in the polis started to diminish at the end of the fourth century BCE. Already then the ideal ruler dogma started to gain momentum. In his later work, Politicus (249a) Plato explained this change: "Lawmaking is undoubtedly in a sense the responsibility of the king and yet, it is much better that the law do not rule, but that a man rules with this understanding that he possesses both wisdom and royal authority".

Also Aristotle, the student of Plato said about ability to rule:

"If one person is accidentally excellent so that he is better than anyone else, it is correct that this citizen become ruler over the nation . . . that he has the highest authority and that people must be obedient to him".

In Greek philosophy, man could climb the ladder of achievement until they are divine. A certain Eemerus said that he has documentary proof on his island of Panchaea that gods are nothing but humans that disappeared (A history of the Greek World, 370).

The ruler was seen as the nomos empsuchos, the incarnated or living law.

His actions were inspired through the law but not by written laws prescribed from the polis.

The Hellenistic imperial cult influenced later the Roman Republic and they started to erect temples for the divine officials.

The imperial cult and aspects developed in the Roman period became the backdrop for what we see happened with Constantine the Great and finally the role of this cult entering the Holy Roman empire between 538-1798 CE.