The Religion Of Senators In The Roman Empire: Power And The Beyond

THE RELIGION OF SENATORS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE This book examines the connection between political and religious power in the pagan Roman empire through a study of senatorial religion. Presenting a new collection of historical, epigraphic, prosopographical, and material evidence, the author argues that, as Augustus turned to religion to legitimize his powers, senators in turn also came to negotiate their own power, as well as that of the emperor, at least in part in religious terms. In Rome, the body of the senate and senatorial priesthoods helped to maintain its religious power; across the empire senators defined their magisterial powers by following the model of emperors and relying on the piety of sacrifice and benefactions. The ongoing participation and innovations of senators confirm the deep capacity of imperial religion to engage the normative, symbolic, and imaginative aspects of religious life among senators. z s u z s a n n a v a´ r h e l y i is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University. She has published extensively on Graeco-Roman history and religion, and co-edited, with J.-J. Aubert, A Tall Order: Writing the Social History of the Ancient World. Essays in Honor of William V. Harris (2005). THE RELIGION OF SENATORS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE Power and the Beyond by ZSUZSANNA VÁRHELYI cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521897242 © Zsuzsanna Várhelyi 2010 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2010 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Varhelyi, Zsuzsanna. The religion of senators in the Roman Empire : power and the beyond / Zsuzsanna Varhelyi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. isbn 978-0-521-89724-2 1. Rome. Senate – Religion. 2. Elite (Social sciences) – Rome. 3. Rome – Politics and government – 30 B.C.–284 A.D. I. Title. BL805.V37 2010 292.070860 21–dc22 2009054030 isbn 978-0-521-89724-2 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. To my family, whose lives in Hungary in a much-torn twentieth century made me want to become a historian, and to my daughter, in hopes for an ever-better world Contents Acknowledgments List of abbreviations page ix xi Introduction Religion and power in imperial Rome Religion and power: a new approach to senatorial religion The religion of senators in the empire 1 1 2 16 21 part i 1 The new senate of the empire and religion A strong or weak senate? Some sociological considerations New senators and religion: choices and models The Roman senate as a body with religious authority 2 Religious groups among senators Senatorial priesthoods Individual and community in senatorial priesthoods An example of informal religious group formation: coming together in illness 23 25 29 47 56 57 69 78 91 part ii 3 The dynamics of senatorial religion in Rome and Italy Senatorial religion in Rome Senatorial religion in Italy – outside Rome 4 Representing imperial religion: the pr