Fragments of the written pronouncement, given in 69 C.E. by the prefect of Egypt Tiberius Alexander, in which he recognized Vespasian as the new emperor, are still in existence.Vespasian is referred to in them as the divine Caesar and Lord.
Josephus also believed that Vespasian was a divine person. He claimed that Judaisms messianic prophecies foretold that Vespasian would become the lord of all mankind.This indicates that in the eyes of Josephus, Vespasian was not only the Jesus, or savior of Judea, but that he was also the Christ, the Greek word for Messiah that was foreseen in the prophecies of a Judaic world leader. [17]
Josephus, in proclaiming himself Gods minister, also described an ending of Gods contract with Judaism that was quite similar to the position that the New Testament takes concerning Christianity the only difference being that Josephus believed that Gods good fortune had gone over not to Christianity but to Rome and its imperial family, the Flavians.[18] (page 34)
There was nothing unusual in Josephus recognition of Vespasian as a god.The Flavians merely continued the tradition of establishing emperors as gods that the Julio-Claudian line of Roman emperors had begun.Julius Caesar, the first diuus(divine) of that line, claimed to have been descended from Venus.The Roman Senate is said to have decreed that he was a god because a comet appeared shortly after his death, thus demonstrating his divinity.
In 80 C.E., Titus established an imperial cult for his father, who had passed away during the previous year.The cult was politically important to Titus because Vespasians deification would break the Julio-Claudian line of divine succession and thereby secure the throne for the Flavians.
Because only the Roman Senate could bestow the title of diuus, Titus first needed to convince them that Vespasian had been a god.There was evidently some difficulty in arranging this, however; Vespasians consecratiodid not occur until six months after his death, an unusually long interval.19Titus also created a priesthood, the flamines, to administer the cult.The cult of Vespasian was not isolated to Rome, and appointments were made throughout the provinces.In the areas surrounding Judea, a Roman bureaucracy called the Commune Asiae oversaw the cult.Notably, all seven of the Christian churches of Asia mentioned in Revelation1:11 had agencies of the Commune located within them.
Upon her death, Titus also secured the deification of his sister, Domitilla.In going through the process of deifying his father and sister and establishing their cults, Titus received an education in a skill few humans have ever possessed.He learned how to create a religion.
Titus not only created and administered religions, he was a prophet.While emperor, he received the title of Pontifax Maximus, which made him the high priest of the Roman religion and the official head of the Roman College of priests the same title and office that, once Christianity had become the Roman state religion, its popes would assume.As Pontifax Maximus, Titus was responsible for a large collection of prophecies (annals maximi) every year, and officially recorded celestial and other signs, as well as the events that had followed those omens, so that future generations would be able to better understand the divine will.
Titus was unusually literate.He claimed to take shorthand faster than any secretary and able to forge any mans signature and stated that under different circumstances he could have become the greatest forger in history.20Suetonius records that Titus possessed conspicuous mental gifts, and made speeches and wrote verses in Latin and Greek and that his memory was extraordinary.21
Titus brother Domitian, who succeeded him as emperor, also used religion to his advantage.In addition to deifying his brother, Domitian attempted to link himself to Jupiter, the supreme god of the Roman Empire, by having the Senate decree that the god had mandated his rule.
Not only did the Flavians create religions, they performed miracles.In the following passage from Tacitus, Vespasian is recorded as curing one mans blindness and anothers withered limb, miracles also performed by Jesus:[22]
Other stories were circulated about Vespasian that suggested his divinity.One involved a stray dog dropping a human hand at Vespasians feet.The hand was a symbol of power to first-century Romans.Another tale described an ox coming into Vespasians dining room and literally falling at the emperors feet and lowering his neck, as if recognizing to whom its sacrifice was due.
Circulating tales that suggest they were gods was no doubt thought by the Flavians to be a good tonic for hoi polloi [hoi polloi- the common people (Greek,the many)].The more an emperor was seen by his subjects to be divine, the easier it was for him to maintain control over them.The Flavians certainly focused on manipulating the masses.To promote the policy of bread and circuses they built the Coliseum, where they staged shows with gladiators and wild beasts that involved mass slaughter.
Imperial cults that portrayed Roman emperors as gods and workers of miracles appear to have been created solely because they were politically useful.
The advantage of converting ones family into a succession of gods appealed to many Roman emperors: 36 of the 60 emperors from Augustus to Constantine and 27 members of their families were apotheosized and received the title diuus. (pages 35-37)
continued in part twobelow
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