Imperial cult
An
Imperial cult is a
cult in which an
Emperor, or a dynasty of emperors, are
worshipped as
demigods or
deities.
:''Main article:
Imperial cult (Ancient Rome)In the
Roman Empire the
Imperial cult was the worship of the
Roman emperor as a god. This practice began at the start of the Empire under
Augustus, and became a prominent element of
Roman religion.
The cult spread over the whole Empire within a few decades, more strongly in the east than in the west. It was gradually abandoned when the emperor
Constantine I started supporting
Christianity.
In
ancient China, the
emperor (皇帝) was considered the
Son of Heaven (天子). The
scion and representative of heaven on earth, he was the ruler of
all under heaven (天下), the bearer of the
Mandate of Heaven (天命), his commands considered sacred edicts (聖旨). A number of legendary figures preceding the proper
imperial age of China also hold the honorific title of emperor, such as the
Yellow Emperor (黃帝) and the
Jade Emperor (玉帝).
Before the end of
World War II, the
Japanese Emperor made similar claims to deity; see:
*
Shinto - general article about Japan's religion.
*
Arahitogami - the concept of
a god who is a human being applied to Emperor
Hirohito, up till the end of
World War II.
*
Ningen-sengen, the declaration with which Emperor Hirohito, on New Year's Day 1946, (formally) declined claims of divinity, keeping with traditional family values as expressed in the Shinto religion.
The Story of Isis and Sarapis also is the worshipping of the ruler as Divine. Sarapis represents the deceased Pharoh who mates with Isis, the Queen of Nature. Their child is the current Pharoh and therefore is considered Divine to the egyptians.This cult myth starts in Egypt, but finds its way into Athens around the 6th century BCE, where is becomes a foreign mystery cult that represents immortality and the changing of the seasons.
An imperial cult of a totally different dimension occurred also in the 20th century. Thousands of miles from where the
Ethiopian
Emperor Haile Selassie lived, a new religion developed in the Caribbean, stating the Ethiopian Emperor to be a manifestation of
Jah. Note that there was no explicit connection to the fact he was Emperor, he was considered to be an earthly aspect of the God that was also identified with the Christian God. That the Emperor was a secular ruler too was no essential part of the definition of his god-like status.
He was exiled in Britain during Italian occupation of his country (1935-1941), but basically he was the only Emperor who survived the second world war with his godhead status still rising: the
Rastafari belief was still far from its peak, which occurred in the
1970s and
1980s, when it was spread around the world with
Reggae music as its best known carrier.
In the book
Dune by Frank Herbert, after
Paul Atreides subverts Emperor Shaddam IV and becomes Emperor of the known universe, and even before that, the native
Fremen of the planet Dune worship him as a Prophet, a Messiah, and even a God.
In the game
Warhammer 40,000, the Emperor of Humanity, though at times clearly states he is not a god ('I want warriors, not worshippers'), but rather chosen by the Gods to lead humanity, is worshipped as a god by billions of his subjects and thousands of his troops.
Imperial cult appears in a fictional
Empire of Tamriel from
The Elder Scrolls games, which has much resemblance to the historical Roman Empire. In Tamriel, Imperial Cult is an organization worshipping the
Nine Divines, one of whom is
Talos, the first Emperor of the Septim dynasty and founder of
The Third Empire of Tamriel.
*
Role of the Roman Imperial Cult During the Augustan Age
