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Religious Cults And Power


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Just wanted to throw a general enquiry into the air, I apologise if it has been covered somewhere else on the site. Does anyone have a view on whether religious cults were used as opportunities for power. I am thinking along the lines of the Greek cities and the Imperial Cult eg the Ephesian cult and the standing of the city as Ephesion Proton Asias (first in Asia) twice neokoros, did the establishment of the Imperial Cult in Ephesus add to their standing amongst other cities? Any references to individuals and power would also be interesting.

Edited by Dodge
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Of course they were. The chief high priest of Rome, the Pontifex Maximus, was a political appointment. The Vestal Virgins had some influence too. I also note that the concept of the Underworld was exploited in roman times by some cheeky individuals who set up an oracle service in a cave system somewhere (I don't know the location). I don't know of any specific examples of cult influence off-hand (except the various christian cults or mithraic beliefs) but given roman ways it stands to reason that cults were exploited for personal gain.

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"he met a most wretched end before reaching the age of seventy, in a manner that befitted a son of Podaleirius; for his leg became mortified quite to the groin and was infested with maggots. It was then that his baldness was detected "

 

oh dear.

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Alexander the false prophet makes for a very interesting read!

 

It really does, I was first intrigued by his crazy story when I read about it in The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook

 

Saw this post and figured it was a good example (even though he did it for non-political, indulgent reasons)

Edited by Pantagathus
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Caldrail do you mean the Oracle of Delphi?

 

I honestly don't know where it was. I saw a report of a cave system and one archaeologist had figured out that it was being used as a sort of 'augury theme park' by duping visitors into believing they were travelling deep into the underworld - with a steep entry price of course!

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