Roman religion had many gods and spirits and Augustus was keen to join their number as a god himself. This was not unusual: turning political leaders into gods was an old tradition around the Mediterranean. There was also precedent in Roman history – Aeneas and Romulus, who had helped found Rome, were already worshipped as gods.
Having fought his way into power, Augustus used religion as a tool to protect his position and promote his political agenda.
Having gained power by force in a bitterly fought civil war, Augustus was aware that he could easily lose it again. He was prepared to use any tool at his disposal to strengthen his claim to the imperial throne and thereby make it harder for his enemies to overthrow him.
A piece of heaven
An important part of this strategy involved religion. The Emperor of Rome was already the most powerful man on earth, but this wasn’t enough. Augustus wanted a piece of heaven too: he was determined that his people would see him as their supreme spiritual leader.
Halley’s Comet
Aside from their many gods, Romans were deeply superstitious, so when Augustus was handed a huge piece of luck, he took full advantage of it.
Early in his reign, Halley’s Comet passed over Rome. Augustus claimed it was the spirit of Julius Caesar entering heaven. If Caesar was a god then, as his heir, Augustus was the son of a god and he made sure that everybody knew it.
Now regarded as part-god, Augustus encouraged stories of his frugal habits. He let people know that he lived in a modest house, slept on a low bed and, when he wasn’t fasting, ate only very plain food, like coarse bread and cheese. In a letter, he boasted to his stepson, Tiberius, of how he had not eaten all day.
Traditional values
Promoting himself as the man who would return Rome’s past glory, Augustus claimed that only by restoring the traditional values that had first made Rome great could he hope to make it great again. One writer commented: ‘He renewed many traditions which were fading in our age and restored 82 temples of the gods neglecting none that required repair at the time.’
As ruler of Rome, Augustus had to lead by example. He re-established traditional social rules and religious rituals, sacrificing animals to Rome’s gods. In 12 AD he made himself Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of Rome and head of the Collegium Pontificum, the highest priests in the land.
These initiatives were very popular. To many Romans, the reign of Augustus marked the point at which Rome had rediscovered its true calling. They believed that, under his rule and with his dynasty, they had the leadership to get there. At his death, Augustus, the ‘son of a god’, was himself declared a god. His strategy had worked.
Alexander's conquests going East and the Apostle Paul's message going West were big influences on the evolution and birth of Christianity. The mix of cultural movements during Hellenism led to an evolution of beliefs eventually leading to Christianity where the apostle Paul (A Roman Jew) would lead the theological mixing of beliefs and as the message of Jesus moved West it would even become more Hellenistic and Roman as Jesus went from a Messiah to a God.
Alexander was a Son of God (War and conquest) where Jesus was a Son of God (Peace and Roman occupation)
It is no accident the New Testament was written in Greek and the apostle Paul was a Jewish educated Roman citizen. The mix and influence of Hellenism is found in the Apostle Paul himself and all over the New Testament.
Alexander the Great Son of Zeus - Amun. Salvation in this world through war and conquest. And Jesus Son of a Jewish God of a new covenant of peace and love. Salvation in another world through death and sacrifice. It was the perfect counter narrative to Imperial theology.
"I have always thought of the historical Jesus as a homeland Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. I have always thought of the historical Paul as a diaspora Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. For me, then, within Judaism within the Roman Empire has always been the absolutely necessary matrix rather than the annoyingly unnecessary background for any discussion of earliest Christianity. You can see that three-layer matrix, for example, in the sub-titles to the first and last books above. For the historical Jesus, The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant, emphasizes Rome, Judaism, and Jew.
The Apostle Paul Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom, emphasizes Jew, Rome, and Judaism. Whether you start or end with the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire is always there."
John Dominic Crossan
Incarnation was not invented by Christianity. Caesar and Alexander before him were Sons of God. The Jesus as God theology was a revolution not by a man as a Son of God but what TYPE of man could be a son of God. It was also a counter narrative to what type of man could be a Messiah for the Jews.
