El culto imperial: una reflexión historiográfica

Abstract

This paper presents a historiographi­cal reflection about how historians have studied the worship of the Roman em­perors. Firstly, the main characteristics which defined this cultural manifesta­tion are presented. Secondly, the im­portance of the S. Price’s book - Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor - is analysed. In this book the author by applying anthropological theories radically modifies the way the imperial cult is understood. Conse­quently, one can observe the influence of Price’s book in the following publi­cations about the emperor worship in the oriental (S. J. Friesen, B. Burrell, F. Lozano) and occidental (I. Gradel, M. Clauss) provincials of the Empire. Fi­nally, the last interpretations and their methodology in the study of this new cult is analysed (S. H. Versnel, R. Gor­don, G. Woolf).