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The London Serapis |
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Between 290 and 205 BC there was a major effort to translate Greek into Latin, beginning with L.Andronicus’ adaptation of the Homeric epics, this was also tied to a huge influx of Greek art circa 270 BC, the result was a cultural explosion within the Roman Empire. The Romans adopted public festivals, coinage, oratory and architecture, the armies undertook tours of duty in the East, and the Greeks, such as Polybius, came to Rome, often bringing their libraries with them. These soon fell into Roman hands, Cicero’s personal library, which he bought from Sulla had originated in the East. By the first century BC all great literature was available, stimulating Latin writing such as Catullus’ Berenice’s Lock, adapted from Callimachus, and especially philosophy, resulting in an exuberant open-mindedness which would ultimately usher in a blending of cultures, and especially religion. Rome’s direct interaction with Egypt came after Octavian’s victory at Actium in 31BC, and his subsequent rule as Augustus was to establish a new tradition of morality and religion, Pietas, in Rome. Augustus proposed the vital nature of maintaining good relations with the gods both for the individual and the state, it was his opinion that the eighteen years of civil war was a direct result of a failed relationship with the gods. In 17BC the Ludi Sae Culares, the secular games, adopted many more religious overtones stressing fertility and prosperity. They represented a new beginning, encouraging child birth, which was ensured through the Lex Papia Poppiea, a ruling in AD9, which provided bonuses to families with three children, and made adultery a criminal act. It speaks offamily values, but was a definite policy to replace males lost in the Civil War, as with most Augustanreligious reforms there was a political impetus. When sacrifices were made at the games, Augustus was careful to make sure they were not to, but for the Augustan family’s welfare and safety, the features of bountiful mother goddesses, such as Terra Mater, who was symbolised by babies and cattle, as represented upon the Ara Pacis, the Senate altar to the goddess Pax, erected after Actium. The Ara Pacis included Aeneas alongside the family of Augustus, and made it apparent that the Julian family had strong connections with Venus, who was associated with the Lares, the domestic/household cults. These Lares cults grew in popularity, with Augustus adopting them to his own cult needs (Lares Augusti), Rome was the household, Augustus was the father, Genius Augusti, he adopted the garb of Jupiter, and in 12BC made himself Pontifex Maximus (head priest), although not a god, he came close. What Augustus was doing was hijacking existing ideas and cults to meet his political needs, and although his actions were innovative and new, they were given a patina of tradition. Most importantly these cults provided communication lines to the provinces, the spread of the cults of Roma, Genius Augusti and Pax, were integrally tied to the diplomatic relations of Rome and the East, and it was along these same lines of communication that Egyptian cults were to find their way to Rome, and a moral and religious atmosphere that would allow the cults, especially that of Isis, to flourish. |