Which relationship between Greek gods and Roman emperors? The cultic implications of the “assimilation” of emperors to gods in mainlad Greece

Abstract

In the Greek world Roman emperors were often linked with traditional gods. Verbal and iconographical assimilations on inscriptions, coins and statues, integra­tion into pre-existing sacred structures and festivals, and joint priesthoods were three different means of establishing a relation­ship between the old gods of the Greek pantheon and the new divinized masters of the Empire. The ideological valency of this proceeding was strong, as it permitted the Greek elites both to establish a subtle hie­rarchy between emperors and gods and to cope with the new imperial power through traditional tools (and according to Greeks’ cultural horizon). As is generally the case with the “imperial cult” as a whole, howe­ver, the assimilation of emperors to the traditional Greek gods had also significant cultic implications, since ritual ceremonies were performed for the emperors. In this context priests of the imperial cult played an important role. The present paper deals with these aspects in the cities of mainland Greece.