Roman Imperial Texts: A Sourcebook

3. The Emperor: Source of Deified Virtues, Predestined Son of God

3 The Emperor: Source of Deified Virtues, Predestined Son of God The Deified Virtues The worlds in which the Gospels were composed and circulated were filled with messages of the good that the Roman emperor was bringing to all known peoples. There would be no way for the Gospel writers and their audiences to avoid these messages. It is useful to consider how the gospel regarding Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God that he announced compares with the Roman gospel of the Caesar who actualized a number of virtues for the benefit of the world. Though what we now call the Roman Empire was relatively young when the Gospels were written, the idea that the Roman Caesar was the source or agent of divine virtues had roots in Greek political thought and in the Roman Republic. The emperor was the most central focal point of the religious consciousness of the Roman people and lands touched by the Romans for the period in which Paul lived and wrote. The emperor was viewed as a divine guarantor of good things to the world. All humanity, not just the Roman citizenry, was viewed as the beneficiary of the emperor’s generosity and help. The victories that the emperor provided in conquering barbarians and protecting Rome’s borders were viewed as the basis for all the other good aspects of his rule. The specific aspects of the emperor’s power and the benefits of his rule were promoted in first-century propaganda and even worshiped in what is now known as “the cult of virtues.” Victoria, the emperor’s power to conquer barbarians and rule strongly over enemies that threatened the stability of the Mediterranean world, was the foundational virtue. Next in the consciousness and closely associated with the virtue of victory was Pax, or peace.1 Sometimes 1. J. Rufus Fears, “The Theology of Victory at Rome: Approaches and Problems,” ANRW 2.17.2, 804–7, 813; and Fears, “The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology,” ANRW 2.17.2, 884–85. 43 Securitas was also associated with Pax. Just as police forces today sometimes use the motto “Safety and Security,” so the early Roman empire sometimes used the motto of Pax et Securitas—“peace and security.” Other deified virtues that figured on the imperial propaganda were Concordia (“social harmony”), Felicitas (“happiness”), Clementia (“mercy”), Fides (“faith”), Salus (“health”), and Spes (“hope”). These deified virtues appeared in different places in Paul’s worlds, in literature, on coins, in sculptures, and in official inscriptions. In this section, we will see single examples of how the virtues of Concordia and Clementia were celebrated. 6. CONCORDIA2 Ovid, a Roman poet who lived from 43 bce to about 17 ce, wrote a long poem on the Roman calendar known as the Fasti. Here is what he wrote for January 16, the day that the deified virtue of Concordia was celebrated for the social harmony that the emperor Augustus had brought to the Roman people. Concordia, now you take good care of the Latin crowd, now the dedicated hand has established you. Furius—conqueror of the Etruscan people— the old temple had vowed, and he kept faith on that vow. The story is that the commoners took up weapons to secede from the nobility, and Rome was then in fear of her own power. The recent story is better yet—Germany let down her unkempt hair at your bidding, honored prince. Then you sacrificed the booty of the conquered people and built the temple for the goddess whom you yourself honor. Your mother established her by both her business affairs and the altar, she alone who was discovered worthy of great Jupiter’s bed.3 2. Ovid, Fasti 1.639–50; my translation. 3. “Your mother” refers to Livia, the wife of the emperor Augustus,who according to 6.637–38 of Ovid’s Fasti, dedicated a temple to the goddess Concordia. This deified virtue was considered the consort of Jupiter. The temple was built on the site of a lavish building that had been given to the emperor Augustus. According to Ovid, Augustus destroyed the building because he considered it an excessive display of wealth (Fasti 6.640–48). His wife Livia officially dedicated the temple then built on that site to Concordia. 44 | Roman Imperial Texts 7. THE DEIFIED VIRTUE OF MERCY: (Clementia) on a Coin of the Divine Hadrian4 Here is a...