Flemings Divi Iulii

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Flamines maiores and flamen Divi Iulii on a relief of the Ara Pacis .

The Flemish Divi Iulii was in the religio Romana the priest of the god Divus Iulius . He was the fourth and most influential of the great flamines , the so-called flamines maiores . After two years of unofficial veneration of Gaius Iulius Caesar , who was raised to the rank of god , the new priesthood was established with the official consecratio of Divus Iulius in 42 BC. Introduced, but not until October 40 BC. Occupied for the first time.

Origin of the office

The introduction of the priesthood, together with Caesar's apotheosis and his cult name, was approved by the Senate at the beginning of 44 BC. Decided and Mark Antony designated as the first incumbent. The original reasons for creating a new flamen maior lie in early Roman history when King Numa brought the third great Flemish into being, the flamen Quirinalis, for the god Quirinus , who would later be identified with Romulus . Since Caesar had often been identified and compared with Romulus, he saw Numa's theopolitics as a precedent for introducing his own fourth flamen maior for the time after his planned apotheosis .

In his function as pontifex maximus , Caesar himself chose Antonius for the priesthood with the ritual of the captio . He could not designate his nephew Gaius Octavius , who later became Emperor Augustus, because he had intended him as his political heir. Antony, on the other hand, was directly related to Caesar through his mother Julia. In addition, he was since 50 BC. BC Augur and now also magister of the newly created luperci Iulii . Since 47 BC he had No longer held a political office when he was 44 BC. Became consul together with Caesar . In addition, Antony was a close confidante of Caesar. However, Antonius could not inaugurate after the captio , since he was a plebeian and therefore not married according to the rite of confarreatio . Based on the lex Cassia from 45 BC However, Caesar had the right to make him a patrician . He was therefore able to raise both Antony and Gaius Octavius ​​to the patrician rank.

The fact that Antony's parents did not marry through the ritual of confarreatio was apparently ignored in this case. Nevertheless, Antonius could not inaugurate at first, as he himself was not married according to the old rite either, which caused some opponents of Caesar to make malicious remarks and put Octavianus under pressure. Only after the Peace of Brundisium in October 40 BC At the request of Octavian, Antonius was finally able to inaugurate the Flemish Divi Iulii . By this time his plebeian wife Fulvia had died and his new wife, the patrician Octavia , had been married to him according to the rite of confarreatio .

Attributes of the priesthood

Although the creation of the flamen Quirinalis was considered a precedent for the new priesthood, the model was most likely still the flamen Dialis , the priest of Jupiter . Weinstock (1971) assumes that the priest of Divus Iulius was granted the same privileges as the flamen Dialis , including the political right of a magistrate, i. H. the granting of a sella curulis , a seat in the Senate, the allocation of a lictor and the right to wear the toga praetexta at any time . However, the archaic and paralyzing restrictions that applied to the priest of Jupiter did not apply to the Flemish Divi Iulii . Thus Caesar succeeded in creating a modern and unique as well as politically and religiously highly influential priesthood in Rome , which went far beyond the Flemish Dialis . The Tabula Hebana (1.50) mentions Germanicus , the first flamen divorum of the imperial cult , the so-called flamen Augustalis , and implies the lifting of all priestly restrictions that should have been valid for a priest like the flamen Dialis during the Republic . So, the model for the first priest of Divus Augustus under Tiberius was either the office of the flamen Divi Iulii or the office of the flamen Dialis, which had been reactivated shortly before . The latter, however, is very unlikely, since at that time the cult of Divus Iulius under Augustus was firmly anchored as a state and provincial religion and thus also as a model for the new imperial cult.

A special reason for such a formation of the new priesthood will have been the fact that the office of the flamen dialis has been held since 87 BC. BC was vacant and, on the other hand, had previously only been an empty, merely decorative shell. It is probable that Caesar unofficially led the office of the flamen Dialis as a non-inaugurated destinatus and therefore did not have to take into account the restrictions and taboos of the office. Due to the official priestly vacuum, Caesar in his role as pontifex maximus will have to act, at least for Divus Iulius, the "new Jupiter" and highest state god, to create a new flamen maior according to all previous flamines maiores , who is also took over the most important privileges and powers of the flamen dialis , an office that was considered almost extinct at the time of Caesar's apotheosis.

In addition to the obligatory apex , the Flemish Divi Iulii also wore the Roman oak wreath as a sign of his official dignity. The Flemish inherited the corona from Caesar himself, who as the savior and protector of Rome had been given the title parens patriae ("father of the fatherland"). This is related to the right to asylum of every citizen in need, newly introduced by Caesar : originally planned for the temple of the clementia Caesaris , the right of refuge was extended to all temples, altars and statues of Divus Iulius. This also included protection by the Flemish Divi Iulii .

Incumbent and spreading the flaminate

According to Mark Antony, only two flamines Divi Iulii are known for the Roman cult of Divus Iulius , Sextus Appuleius, Augustus' brother-in-law or nephew , and Decimus Iunius Silanus Torquatus , who was also related to the imperial family. For the provinces, the sources are far more abundant: here, too, the priests of Divus Iulius were respected Roman citizens. In the years after Caesar's death, the divus Iulius flaminate was spread throughout the empire , especially in the Caesarian and Augustan colonies.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cassius Dio 44,6,41; Cicero , Philippine Speeches 2,110.
  2. ↑ Cicero, philippicae 2,110.
  3. ↑ An inscription from Carthage ( CIL 8, 24583 ) mentions a Sextus Appuleius as [flamen] Iulialis and is mostly related to the husband of Augustus' half-sister Octavia Maior . But the honor could also be given to his son, the consul of the same name in 29 BC. Chr., Have applied; see. John Pollini: Ahenobarbi, Appuleii and some others on the Ara Pacis. In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 90, 1986, No. 4, pp. 453-460, especially pp. 456-457.