Imperial Cult
| Some Gods of the Roman Imperial Cult (Maintaining deified status after their reigns) | |
| Name | Notes |
| Julius Caesar | Imperator deified 44 BC. |
| Augustus | Emperor deified 14 AD. |
| Livia | Wife of Augustus. Deified years after her death by Claudius in 42 AD. |
| Claudius | Emperor deified 54 AD. |
| Vespasian | Emperor deified 79 AD. |
| Titus | Emperor deified 81 AD. |
| Nerva | Emperor deified 98 AD, but little evidence except posthumous coinage. |
| Trajan | Emperor deified 117 AD. |
| Hadrian | Emperor deified in 138 through the efforts of Antoninus (hence Pius). The Senate wished to condemn his memory. |
| Antoninus Pius | Emperor deified in 161 AD. |
| Lucius Verus | Emperor deified in 169 AD. |
| Marcus Aurelius | Emperor deified in 180 AD |
| Pertinax | Emperor deified 193 AD. |
| Septimius Severus | Emperor deified in 211 AD. |
| Elagabalus | Not deified, but viewed himself as the living Sol Invictus. Was largely responsible for spreading the Syrian god's cult throughout the western empire. |
| Severus Alexander | Emperor deified in 235 AD. |
- ...interesting Books!
- The Gods of Rome by R. Turcan
- Roman Religion by V. Warrior
- The Last Pagans by A. Cameron
Its important to note that by this time in Roman history, nearly every emperor following Alexander was deified by the Senate as standard practice. In reality, only a very few were not deified up to this point (Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Commodus and various usurpers). The practice largely continued until the reign of Constantine in the 4th Century AD. At this point the growth of the Imperial cult ceased as the state religion slowly shifted to monotheism (Mithraism, Sol Invictus and Christian).
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