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The Imperial Cult During the Reign of Domitian

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The Imperial Cult During the Reign of Domitian MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA Filosofická fakulta Katedra archeologie a muzeologie Klasická archeologie Bc. Barbora Chabrečková Cisársky kult v období vlády Domitiána Magisterská diplomová práca Vedúca práce: Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D. Brno 2017 MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology Classical Archaeology Bc. Barbora Chabrečková The Imperial Cult During the Reign of Domitian Master's Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D. Brno 2017 2 I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work, created with use of primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. ……………………………… Bc. Barbora Chabrečková In Brno, June 2017 3 Acknowledgement I would like to thank to my supervisor, Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D., for her guidance and encouragement that she granted me throughout the entire creative process of this thesis, to my consulting advisor, Mgr. Ing. Monika Koróniová, who showed me the possibilities this topic has to offer, and to my friends and parents, for their care and support. 4 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 8 I) Definition, Origin, and Pre-Imperial History of the Imperial Cult ................................... 10 1.) Origin in the Private Cult & the Term Genius ........................................................... 10 2.) Origin of the Imperial Cult in the Near East ............................................................. 13 3.) Establishment and Development of the Imperial Cult During the Imperial Era ....... 15 a) Gaius Julius Caesar .................................................................................................... 16 b) Gaius Octavianus Augustus ....................................................................................... 16 II) Justification of power of the Flavian Dynasty............................................................... 18 1.) Domitian’s Character ................................................................................................. 18 2.) Justification of the Flavian Family ............................................................................ 19 3.) Divi Filius and Other Titulature of a Princeps .......................................................... 20 a) Imperator ................................................................................................................... 21 b) Caesar ........................................................................................................................ 23 c) Augustus .................................................................................................................... 23 d) Divi Filius .................................................................................................................. 23 4.) Deification of the Flavian Family .............................................................................. 27 a) The Temple of Vespasian and Titus .......................................................................... 29 b) Porticus Divorum ....................................................................................................... 32 c) The Temple of the Gens Flavia ................................................................................. 34 III) Development of the Imperial Cult During Domitian’s Reign ....................................... 44 1.) The Patron Deity ........................................................................................................ 45 a) Minerva – Domitian’s Personal Sphere of Her Worship ........................................... 45 b) Minerva’s Influence on Domitian’s Perception and Formulation of Military Policy 46 c) Temple of Minerva Chalcidica .................................................................................. 47 d) Forum Transitorium ................................................................................................... 49 e) Depiction of Minerva on Coinage ............................................................................. 54 f) Domitian’s Affiliation with Other Deities ................................................................. 56 2.) Domitian the People’s Emperor ................................................................................ 56 a) Flavian Amphitheatre & Meta Sudans ...................................................................... 57 b) The Ludi .................................................................................................................... 59 c) The Naumachia Domitiani ......................................................................................... 60 d) Stadium & Odeum Domitiani – The Greek Games Complex ................................... 61 3.) The Cancelleria Reliefs and Depiction of the Genii of Senatus & Populi Romani ... 63 5 IV) Dominus et Deus & Damnatio Memoriae ..................................................................... 71 1.) Dominus et Deus ....................................................................................................... 71 2.) Damnatio Memoriae .................................................................................................. 75 a) Domitian’s Condemnation & Hypothesis .................................................................. 75 b) The Arch of Titus & Its Hypothetical Dating ............................................................ 78 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 83 Resumé ..................................................................................................................................... 87 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 89 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 91 Ancient Sources .................................................................................................................... 91 Literature .............................................................................................................................. 91 6 Introduction The main aim of this thesis is to present the Imperial cult of Roman Principate during the reign of emperor Domitian and its role within the imperial propaganda. Present publications mostly discuss the Imperial cult of Domitian in two ways. It is either only mentioned in regard to the Flavian family as a whole, or it is centred around Domitian’s condemnation and his portrayal as a tyrant. I will therefore attempt to primarily focus my work on Domitianic changes, and I will also try to distinguish it from his often-subjective literary portrait of a tyrant, created by the early modern authors. Domitian’s father, and the establishing member of the Flavian dynasty, Vespasian, assumed the position of princeps in July 69 AD, after the series of conflicts and death of three short-lived principes in the time of the Civil War of 68/69 AD. The imperial position of the Flavians however could not have been justified as easily as that of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which was based on the divine ancestry of Julius Caesar himself, thus Vespasian’s own means of validation were needed for their claim to the title. Flavian family could not trace their origin to any of the Roman deities, therefore with this in mind, Vespasian must have taken different measures than the preceding emperors, and the Imperial cult under the reign of the Flavian dynasty had thus been set for a new course. At the beginning, I would like to provide a short introduction to the Imperial cult, its various theories of origin, and short characterisation of its development prior to the reign of the Flavian dynasty. This would serve as a background for the later chapters of the thesis; mainly as a source for analogy in the comparison between the early imperial dynasties. The main function of the first chapter is thus rather supportive, than an analytical one, as it acts as an introductory summary of secondary sources, rather than a discussion. Next, I would like to address Domitian’s ascend to power and the acts, which secured his position in the principal office. One of the main purposes of the Imperial cult is to justify individual’s right to be the princeps to public. The Imperial propaganda provides the emperor links, which connects his person with his predecessors in order to display the support and encouragement, which had been entrusted in him by the now deified past rulers. Vespasian had neither imperial ancestor to link himself with, nor any immediate predecessor from the group of the “good” emperors that could provide the necessity that was the “right name”, thus he had to reach as far as deified Claudius, to whom he had a temple rebuilt for this purpose (Darwall- Smith 1996, 48). I will examine Domitian’s actions, for when he had found himself in similar 7 position, by being “only” a brother to his predecessor Titus, not his Divi Filius. Even though Vespasian was deified within few months after his death by Titus (Levick 1999, 197), providing Domitian with the opportunity to skip past his brother, Domitian probably did not deem this to be enough of a justification. I will therefore
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