Loading...Here I continue my account about how some human beings became gods according to ancient Greek and Roman traditions. Last time I discussed the “founder of Rome,” Romulus. Now I shift to a time period more relevant for Jesus – in fact his own period – and to figures who are not legendary (Romulus), but actual historical figures we know about from a large range of sources.
Again, this will be taken from my book How Jesus Became God.
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Julius Caesar
The traditional date for the founding of Rome [under Romulus] is 753 BCE. If we move the calendar forward about seven centuries, we still find men who are declared to have become gods. Few are better known than Julius Caesar, the self-declared dictator of Rome who was assassinated on the Ides of March, 44 BCE, by political enemies who preferred not having a dictator when all was said and done. A life of Julius Caesar is provided for us by the Roman biographer Suetonius, in his Lives of the Caesars, published in 115 CE. According to Suetonius, already during his lifetime Caesar had declared that he had a divine heritage. In a funeral oration he delivered for his aunt he stated that one side of his family descended from the ancient Roman kings — through the legendary Marcus Ancius, the fourth king of Rome — and the other side descended from the gods. His family line, in fact, could be traced back to the goddess Venus.
At Caesar’s death there was…
Julius Caesar, a god? Wasn’t he a tyrant? Well, yes, tyrants often imagine they are divine. And Caesar pulled it off! Keep reading an you’ll see how. If you’re not a member of the blog, there has never been a better time to join!
Bret Deveraux, who is an expert on Roman and Greek religions, has written a four-part series on practical polytheism. The fourth part is especially relevant here since it talks about the spectrum running from large gods (like Jupiter), through small gods (Vagitanus, who gives babies their first cry) to big people like Augustus and Julius Caesar. What united them all was the power to affect the world – Augustus was just as capable of destroying your town as Jupiter was, and Augustus was much more likely to do so, so why not worship him? It can’t do any harm. I’ll leave a link here and Bart can decide if he wants to keep it or not:
https://acoup.blog/2019/10/25/collections-practical-polytheism-part-i-knowledge/
The ancient world was comfortable with the idea of gradations of divine beings, as you’ve pointed out. They weren’t operating under the assumption of an unbridgeable gulf between the human and divine. I recall a priest in my parochial school talking about angels in this manner, describing a hierarchy that extended from beings that were only a little “above” the human to beings of such vast power and majesty that they could be mistaken for gods. I think that’s pretty much what Aquinas described, if memory serves. So, a little of that ancient idea survives. And to me it all sounds rather pagan. But that’s fine! I’ve got nothing against pagans!
Interestingly, Seneca, in his later satirical work (often called the Pumpkinification of Claudius) which was mocking that emperor’s apotheosis, has Augustus as a very minor god in the Greco-Roman pantheon. I sometimes think the modern Catholic practice of canonisation is a pale imitation of the ancient Roman deification process.
You stated, “ I sometimes think the modern Catholic practice of canonisation is a pale imitation of the ancient Roman deification process.”
I just want to add that that has been my impression as well…a Christianization of the pagan practice of deifying “special” people. Christians took this idea of powerful worthy men and transferred it to holy pious men. Either way, they are guaranteed to be in heaven!
It’s seems that Christians definition of God and the Romans definition are different. Is that because Christian believe in 1 true God versus the Romans view of many Gods. Did the Romans believe that Caesar created the heavens and earth or just another God in a long line of Gods?
Yes, a monotheistic religion will have a different conception of God; and no, Caesar was a very minor divinity, not a Creator.
Unrelated question: I’m considering pursuing religious studies (perhaps early Christianity specifically) for a career path. I was recently at a fundamentalist Bible College for three years, but dropped out now that I am agnostic. Because you’ve traveled down this path already and because you were influential in my “deconversion,” I was wondering what steps you would encourage me to take now as a 22 year old. Is their a particular college you would recommend? Other scholars you would encourage me to listen to?
With that background the best think to do would be to go to a very good secular college/university to finish the degree, and then try to get into a high level master’s program. For that you will need very good grades and (probably) GRE scores.
And then there is the Divine Claudius, who chose the route of Apocolocyntosis….or perhaps, had it chosen for him. But then, it didn’t work out so well for Claudius, did it? At least not in the play.
I am interested in your comments on this play, which is contemporary to perhaps Paul’s letters, where there is clear reference to both the realm of the gods as a sort of heaven, and Hades as a place of punishment.
In your book “How Jesus became God”, you took the view that all gospel authors viewed Jesus as divine in some sense, but in different senses from each other. How would you separate evidence that the synoptic authors’ viewed Jesus as divine, from evidence that Jesus was believed by his followers or by himself to be divine during his ministry?
The Synoptic writers are writing 40-60 years later, and in many many ways their views differed from those of the earthly followers of Jesus.
Some focus upon differences rather than commonalities of the Gospel writers. Then reverse tactic to show the similarities of the bible with other faiths, ignoring the differences. Perhaps they are not even conscious of what they are doing.
Acts “When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” 12 And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.”
The notion or concept of a form of incarnation was already around prior to and during Paul’s day.
Perhaps professed (Jewish & non-Jewish) followers of Jesus during the earliest period of the post easter experience interpreted Jesus with these incarnational ideas that later theologically became more refined in Christian Christology?
If Paul can be misinterpreted as a god who become like a man and has come down to us, then imagine those people whom witnessed Jesus and his miracles both during his ministry and later heard those stories about Jesus? wouldnt take much to misinterpret Jesus too?
How about God becoming bird (but still remaining God)
Luke 3.22
σωματικῷ εἴδει … in a bodily form/bodily nature .
The incarnation of the holy gost/God in bird form. 100% bird / 100% god. Was he spatchcockt for our sin?
I understand Aquinas discussis the incarnation of other pursuns of the trinity in his Summa. He seems missing this one.
Did you mean “earthly” followers of jesus ? Or perhaps “early” followers?
Regards
JN
earthly!
Is it better to understand Augustus as a “divine Son” or “son of a god”, rather than “the Son of God”?
It probably is if you don’t think he was the Son of God! But if Caesar was God (you would say “a god” — but rulers were actually called “God”) then, well…