Ancestral masks of the princeps as one of the instruments of imperial propaganda in the period of Julio-Claudian dynasty

Vasil’ev Andrey Vladimirovich, The Classical Gymnasium of St. Petersburg, School N 610 (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)

Ander-Vaas@yandex.ru

Vasil’ev A. V. Ancestral masks of the princeps as one of the instruments of imperial propaganda in the period of Julio-Claudian dynasty, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2014, vol. 3, pp. 158–197.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2014-00009

Language: Russian

Ancestral masks (imagines maiorum) played an important role in the public representation of the Roman aristocracy in the Republican epoch, but remained relevant also in the time of Principate. The paper presents an attempt to trace the role of ancestral masks demonstration on the funeral ceremonies of princepes and their relatives basing on the written evidences of ancient authors (mainly, Tacitus, Svetonius and Cassius Dio).
The first part of the paper deals with the use of ancestral masks in the funerals of Augustus’ family members. The thesis that Augustus changed the old tradition adding images of legendary and real prominent Romans to the masks of his ancestors on the funerals of his heirs (Marcellus, Agrippa, Drusus the Elder) is grounded by the author. The comparison between the choice of personalities of the heroes for the funeral images and the statues on the Forum of Augustus allows to infer in both cases that it was about the same propagandistic concept. In the second part of the article the application of the ancestral images by the Augustus’ successors is analysed. Basing on the Tacitus’ evidence about the funeral of Germanicus as well as the epigraphic monuments, which allow judging the posthumous honours intended for him (Tabula Hebana, Tabula Siarensis), the hypothesis is expressed that all of them were a response to the political crisis, which Tiberius met as a result of his refusal to give him the ceremonial burial in Rome.
In the end of the paper the author comes to a conclusion that the use of such propagandistic instrument as ancestral masks by the princeps for squaring account with each other led to its gradual devaluation. As a result it was sidelined with coming of the new dynasty of Flavians, who had no family aristocratic tradition.
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Key words: masks, images, ancestors, princeps, propaganda

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/vasilev-2014-en/

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Roman rite of devotio and Early Christian martyrdom: a comparative study

Andrey Vladimirovich Vasil’ev PhD in history, The Classical Gymnasium of St. Petersburg, School N 610 (Maluy prospect Petrogradskoy storonu, dom 9, corpus 6, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 197198), Ander-Vaas@yandex.ru

Vasil’ev A. V. Roman rite of devotio and Early Christian martyrdom: a comparative study, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2015, vol. 4, pp. 116–135.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2015-00007

Language: Russian

The rite of the self-devotion of a Roman together with the enemy’s army to the infernal gods for the sake of victory occurred twice in the Roman history and both times was connected with the Decii family. The religious meaning of this rite is still discussed. Some historians consider it as one of the typical vows (votum), a sort of a promise to bring the gods one’s life instead of the victory over the enemy. Others think it was a self-consecration (consecratio) of a Roman general. The author represents some contemporary interpretations of the rite. He also marks out some details that might help to comprehend this ritual as a particular and individual one and make it impossible to attribute it to one of the known types of Roman religious rites. Besides, the paper deals with some features in the ancient authors’ descriptions of this rite that draw it together with the phenomenon of the Early Christian martyrdom, well-known from the hagiographic literature and other Christian writings of the 1st–3rd  centuries. The ideas of sacrifice and glory which is attained through the sacrifice are present in the descriptions of the both forms of the death with dignity. Both phenomena can be characterized by accompanying afflatus and the transformation of the person influenced by the forthcoming voluntary death. Aristocratic character of the devotio ritual wasn’t an obstacle for the use of its image by the Christian writers. This may prove that the Early Christian community was quite familiar with the  ancient culture. Comparing two forms of self-sacrifice the author concludes that they were characterized by the common motive of the individual choice which was usual for different forms of “noble death” in antiquity.
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Key words: Rome, religion, devotio, Early Christianity, martyrdom

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/vasilev-2015-en/

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