RULER WORSHIP

Evening Star, Issue 22639, 4 May 1937, Page 1

RULER WORSHIP

CULT OF ANCIENT TIMES RELATION TO MODERN TENDENCIES ‘ Ruler Worship in the Ancient World ’• was the subject of an address given last night by Mr H. R. Minn before a meeting of the Otago Classical Association. The president (Mr W. J. Morrell) was in the chair, and there was a good attendance of members. At the outset the lecturer alluded to the interest which the subject possessed in the light of modern political tendencies, and proceeded to trace in detail the rise,' progress, and culmination of- the ruler cult in the Greek and Roman world, with its ultimate > eclipse on contact with the conflicting ideal of Christianity. The hero cult appeared as early as Homer in Greek literature, incidental reference to- it being made in the ‘ Iliad,’ and it was also mentioned .by Aeschylus. About_ 404 B.c. the worship of Lysander was instituted at Samos. In 336 divine honours were assumed by Philip of Macedon, who claimed to be throne sharer with the 12 Olympian gods. The claim to divinity made by his son Alexander the Great was in consequence not wholly Oriental in precedent. The lecturer quoted original sources in proof of the contention that Alexander demanded divine honours from the Athenians, and that Demosthenes, the heart and soul of the republican resistance, finally succumbed to the popular fervour. A good instance of Laconic wit was to be found in the Spartan endorsement of Alexander’s deification with 'the formula: “ Since Alexander wants to be a god, a god let'him be.” Among Alexander’s successors the worship of Alexander was set up n.c. 318 by Eumenes as a political service for serving loyally and • maintaining unity. . , . The* first literary notice of the ruler cult in the annals of the Roman Republic was found in connection, with the aftermath of the invasion of Greece by Antischus HI., 192-191. On that occasion Titus Flaminius’s services to the Chalcidians led to his worship by them. How quickly the Hellenistic populations learned to play lip service to short-termed Roman Governors could be seen from Pompey’s epitaph: “ How narrow a tomb for one abounding in temples.” Julius Caesar was alluded to by Mr Minn, and the significance of Augus-. tus in the evolution of the Roman ruler cult dwelt on at some length. In connection with the bi-billenary of Augustus, 1937-38, the- Fascist concentration on classic remembrance was noted. Next the application of the ruler cult on the Western provinces was touched on, reference being; made to the Lyons altar in Prance.. and the . temple-of Claudius at Colchester, England. The Herodian interpretation of the ruler cult iyas illustrated for Josephus. Temples were erected to Augustus at Samaria and Csesaria Philippi. "Ruler worship attained its reductio ad absurdum under the half-mad Caligula or Gaius, whose attempt to force recognition of his divinity on the Jews led to revolt and the embassy of Philo 40 A.D.

Respecting the relation of Emperor worship to the Christian- Church, it was important to note, the lecturer said, that the major issue was a political one. Christianity was persecuted not so much per_ se as because of its supposed antagonism to State aims and claims as embodied in the secular head. The fundamental principle of all pagan religions was nationalism. The State and its religion were two_ aspects of the same .thing. The Christians were guilty of treason because they championed the claims of a rival Emperor, and were regarded as atheists in the sense that they rejected the State gods. To the Christian conscience the current emperor worship was a subtle and diabolical amalgam of patriotism, politics, and religion, a grand scale attempt to prostitute the ; religious instinct _of humanity to the service of political ambition. The thirteenth chapter of the Apocalypse was a literary, staging of the hideous travesty of religion incarnated in emperor worship. Finally, the speaker quoted apostolic literature to throw light on the Christian interpretation of the formula -Kulios Kaiser—Lord Caesar—acceptance of which was demanded.. The first historic glimpse in .Roman literature of this butterfly sect being broken on the wheel of Imperial efficiency was provided by the despatch of Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, about 112 a.d. to the Emperor Trajan. On the motion of the chairman, a hearty, vote of thanks was accorded Mr Minn for his interesting lecture.