ELEVENTH CHAPTER
XX. The Perpetuation of the Victor by Said Trophies. Tertullian defines that eternity cautiously. It is only an extension of the memory of the Victor. Eternity in its full power belongs only to the Godhead. Therefore XXI. Divinity and God-likeness were also ascribed to the Victors. Lucian and Dionysius call them God-like. Horace calls them Heavenly Ones. They were even called Gods, and revered as Gods. Mostly the deceased were called Divine Ones. Examples from Cleomedes, Theagenes, and Philippus Butacides. Also the Living. Story of Euthymus. To what extent this happened with Augustus. Gaius Caligula allows himself to be given Divine honors. The same for Domitian. Alexander the Great wishes to be considered and honored as such. Some disapproved of this. Flatterers willingly bestowed that honor upon them. This is what they did for Augustus, Nero, and Domitian. The Deification of deceased Kings, etc. Such as Romulus. Of Julius Caesar and subsequent Emperors. Extensive description of this by Oudaan. Deification also of the Empresses.
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§. I.
All these trophies, and in particular the registration in the record book and the erection of perpetual statues, produced a twentieth grand piece, namely that which Tertullian (Tertullianus) expressed with this saying: AND WHICH ETERNITY TIME CAN OFFER THROUGH FAME, WHICH RESURRECTION CAN OFFER THROUGH REMEMBRANCE. That is: AND AN ETERNITY SUCH AS THE WORLD CAN PROVIDE THROUGH FAME, A RESURRECTION SUCH AS IT CAN PROVIDE THROUGH REMEMBRANCE.
§. II.
This Old Father writes cautiously, as he does not say that the Olympic honors gave an absolute ETERNITY, and so on, to the Victor, but SO MUCH AS THE WORLD CAN GIVE: therefore, only a temporary one, in comparison with the absolute eternity which knows no end. And when he speaks of a RESURRECTION SUCH AS THE WORLD CAN PROVIDE, it is precisely because the world can do no more, which makes it clear that he is not speaking of a continuous and uninterrupted life, or one restored after interruption, but of a continuous or renewed remembrance (as he himself explains, saying THROUGH REMEMBRANCE), in which through fixed and lasting signs and proofs a person and his deeds and honor come to our minds, and in this way lives on in likeness, even after having ceased to live on earth for a long time, even for centuries. This ETERNITY and this RESURRECTION are then only fleeting (momentary, if I may say so) and imaginary in comparison with true eternity, and the true resurrection from the dead to indestructible life.
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§. III.
However, the aforementioned trophies, and in particular the registration and statues, certainly provided this imperfect ETERNITY THROUGH FAME and RESURRECTION THROUGH REMEMBRANCE: for the registration perpetuated, that is, extended the name and memory of the Victor; and the statue, which bore not only his name but also his likeness, showed him as if he were alive, even after he had been dead for years, even centuries. And this is evident from experience, because the names have come down to Pausanias, Syncellus, Phlegon and similar writers, and in part to us after the passage of so many centuries, and because the victorious Persons were known to posterity from their statues, until war, destruction, time, and especially the mischief of NERO (which was discussed earlier) spoiled and destroyed them.
§. IV.
Eternity and eternal life, which are included in the thought of a resurrection, are things that belong only to the Godhead, when the words are taken in their full force: however, taken in a weaker sense, they are expressions that cause people to approach and resemble the Godhead, as far as possible. From this it follows that by ascribing eternity to the Victors, one has also ascribed Divinity, or God-likeness, to them.
§. V.
And this, according to our order and count, forms the twenty-first trophy, completes the pile, and puts the finish and the crown on that edifice: to which nothing can be added, because in our minds there is nothing greater than God and the Divine.
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§. VI.
Of these matters they were called by Lucian (Lucianus in Anacharsis) by the name of God-like, as appears from that passage (which we have also considered elsewhere), namely where ANACHARSIS speaks to SOLON about the futility of the games, and where SOLON answers him. The first says: O Solon, what joy and benefit is it that all who see them, crowned with song, applaud them for the victory, while one should pity their wounds. However, these are supposedly happy because they have obtained corn and celery. The latter answers this by saying: You see such a large crowd of people gathered to see such (victorious) ones, and the stadiums filled with thousands of people, and the Contenders praised, and in addition the victors among them reckoned as God-like, sung about, praised. What Dionysius of Halicarnassus says (Dionysius of Halicarnassus) is consistent with this: That is: and to whom also this happens, that many of them are considered God-like. See more of this in Faber (Faber, book 2, chapter 11 and 16).
§. VII.
And following this Greek word, not only did Horace (see above chapter 8 § 8) in the verse that we saw above, call the Olympic victors HEAVENLY ONES: we gave it thus:
Let him be richly gifted with songs of victory
Who takes home the Eleian Palm,
As a HEAVENLY ONE. and so on.
But also considering them to be elevated by the victory to Gods, Rulers of the earth, he lets his Lyre sound as follows (Idem, Odes, book 1, ode 1):
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Her hot wheels fear
To approach the finish line,
That noble palm elevates them,
And places them as Gods in the arc of heaven
Among Gods, who rule the earth.
§. VIII.
They were not only considered God-like, but also honored as Gods in an idolatrous manner. This is again evident from Dionysius, who adds this to what was mentioned in § 6. (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in the cited place): to be honored as Gods. That is: those who have also been honored as Gods, namely not only with statues, but also with offerings, worship, and the like. For so Pausanias relates that the Oracle of Delphi had commanded (Pausanias, book 6) to honor CLEOMEDES with offerings. And the statues of THEAGENES, erected in the Olympic field and in many other Greek as well as foreign States and considered useful for the healing of the sick, received Divine honors: which honors or Divine tributes again included offerings, but also prayers and other services.
§. IX.
The elevation to Gods or God-like ones, and to objects of Divine worship, occurred mostly with regard to the deceased (as in general the deification and Divine worship with regard to the ancient deceased of the Pagan time took place, and elevated these to Heroes and to Gods: just as later the deceased
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Caesars were placed among the Gods, and were called by the name of Divine Ones), but indeed also with regard to the living. We will cite something from both as an example.
§. X.
To complete the part concerning the deceased, we will first relate here the detailed history of the just-mentioned CLEOMEDES, as Pausanias (Pausanias, ibidem) has related it. In the previous Olympic games, Cleomedes the Astypalaean, as the memory of it records, had killed Iccus the Epidaurian in a boxing match, and that having been judged by the Officials to have forfeited the prize because of this crime, he had gone mad with grief: and having then returned to Astypalea, had entered a school in which there were about … boys, and had overthrown the pillar that supported the roof: that therefore, the boys having been crushed by the fall, when the citizens threw stones at him, he had fled into the temple of Minerva, and had locked himself in a chest that was in the temple: the lid of which the Astypalaeans could not lift for a long time, they finally broke it, but saw Cleomedes neither alive nor dead. Then, sending envoys to the Oracle to ask about this wonder, this was answered in verses (Idem, ibidem):
That is:
Honor then the last of the heroes, the Astypalaean
Cleomedes, as immortal, and according to the splendor
Of the Gods, with slaughtered sacrifices.
And thereupon in subsequent times the Astypalaeans paid Divine tribute to Cleomedes as a Divine Hero. Here
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we add from the same writer the main parts from the detailed story of and concerning THEAGENES the Thasian, namely that this Thasian THEAGENES, of whose Olympic deeds he had spoken before, was generally considered the Son of TIMOSTHENES, a priest of HERCULES, who had dreamed that his Wife had intercourse with someone who looked like HERCULES, from which a Son was born, who, about nine years old, coming home from school, had lifted the bronze statue of a god, erected on the market, attracted by its graceful beauty, from its pedestal, placed it on one of his shoulders, and so had carried it home: For which the people, who began to rage, were finally calmed by a reverend man, who said that one should by no means kill the boy, and gave him the task of putting the statue back in its previous place: which he did, and thereby acquired a great name in Greece, over time boasting of no less than four hundred crowns of honor. Furthermore, that after his death someone of his envious people scourged his statue with rods, but that the same statue suddenly fell over and buried and crushed the scourger, as if in revenge: whose sons subsequently accused the statue of manslaughter, whereupon it was thrown into the sea according to the laws of DRACO, who also banished inanimate things from the country if they killed a person. Whereupon for many years the country refused the Thasians fruit, they sent to the Oracle of APOLLO: the answer was that they had to call back the exiles, which they did, but the plague did not stop, whereupon they again went to ask what else could be wrong? and they were told:
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The exiles have been brought home,
But your Theagenes has not been remembered.
because his bronze statue had been left behind in the sea as an exile: having understood this, they had fishermen retrieve the statue from the sea, and had it restored to its place: that they then honored it with Divine honor, yes, many were made after it, and erected among Greeks and foreigners, and honored by their countrymen, believing that its Divinity was beneficial to the sick and miserable.
§. XI.
Here we add a third example in abundance, namely that which Herodotus relates of (Herodotus in Terpsichore or book 5) PHILIPPUS BUTACIDES, a Crotonian, for whom the Egestaeans erected a hero's grave and offered sacrifices. However, this happened not only for his victory, but also for his exceptional beauty, which is why he was called by Herodotus the most beautiful Olympic victor: for beauty also came very much into consideration, as has already been said elsewhere. One can also see more of this example in Faber (Faber, Agonisticon, book 1, chapter 14 & book 2, chapter 16).
§. XII.
Regarding the other point, namely the placing of living Victors on a par with Gods and greeting them with Divine honors, we will now also say something. Here EUTHYMUS the Locrian is relevant. This man, says Aelianus (Aelianus, Varia Historia, book 8, chapter 18), was a very good boxer, and wonderful in physical strength. Which he proves with a very large stone that he had been able to lift, and with the overcoming of the Temessian Giant or Hero ALYBANTES, as Suidas, or LYBANTES, or LYBAS, as Pausanias calls him, who also
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describing him as a spirit, ghost, bogyman (namely of one of ULYSSES' companions), gives him out as such. Pausanias describes the history, or fable, thus (Pausanias, book 6): "In those and the following Olympic games, the crown of the boxing match was awarded to EUTHYMUS. His statue is a work of the Rhegine PYTHAGORAS, which seems particularly worthy. This man, then, crossing over to Italy, fought with a Giant: of which battle what has come to our knowledge, happens thus. It is said that ULYSSES, after the destruction of Troy wandering here and there, by chance of storms came to other cities of Italy and Sicily, and also to TEMESSA, where one of his shipmates, having forcibly violated a daughter, was stoned by the citizens who took revenge for the wrong: and that although ULYSSES left without taking revenge, the spirit of the murdered companion did not stop tormenting people of all ages, until the Temessians, intending to leave their homeland to escape that plague, received an answer from APOLLO that they had to reconcile that Giant or Hero, and build him a temple on a dedicated ground, in addition promising him a daughter, held by them for the most beautiful, every year. Which, according to the Oracle, they did, and they no longer knew of any evil. But when EUTHYMUS now by chance came to Temessa at the same time as the usual offering was made, he, having heard of the matter, asked to be allowed into the temple, and having seen the young daughter there, was first seized with compassion, and then also inflamed with love, and so the
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Daughter promised to become his Wife, if he would deliver her. He therefore taking up arms fought with the spirit, which, having been overcome, left the city and the country, and having disappeared from human society, drowned himself in the sea. They report that the city was then completely freed from the horrible plague, and that the wedding of EUTHYMUS was celebrated in the most splendid way. But of the same EUTHYMUS we have also learned from the ancient monuments that he lived for a very long time, and did not die, but in another way ceased to be a human being. That TEMESSA is still inhabited today, I have learned from the story of a merchant skipper. But from a writing with old letters I have copied this word for word: Youth CYBARIS, River CALABRUS, Fountain CALYCA, Cities HERA and TEMESSA have been, in which the spirit ruled, which was cast out by EUTHYMUS. He was black in color, of the rest of his form quite hideous, his garment was a wolf's skin, those letters call his name LYBAS."
Aelianus describes this monstrosity not as a companion of ULYSSES or his evil spirit, but as a predatory enemy: and he also describes nothing of the sacrifice of virgins, but speaks of the plunder that he had plundered from the Temessians, and that EUTHYMUS in the fight, overcoming him, recaptured that and much more: among which perhaps one or more plundered daughters would have been. And this is the history. However, what Pausanias says about EUTHYMUS' end, Aelianus relates as follows (Aelianus, in the cited place): They say that EUTHYMUS, when he had come to the river COECIS,
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which flows past the city of the Locrians, was never seen on earth again. And so, it seems to us, in place of what the story of Pausanias says, that the spirit LYBAS drowned in the sea, the truth of the history will consist in this, that EUTHYMUS himself, and perhaps some time after he had subjugated the robber, drowned, and was never found again.
§. XIII.
Of this EUTHYMUS, at whom we have perhaps been looking for too long, Pliny (Plinius, Naturalis Historia, book 7, chapter 47) and Faber (Faber, book 2, chapter 16) now relate that he was deified alive and knowingly by the command of the Oracle, and with the permission of Jupiter, Supreme of the Gods, and that God commanded him to be offered to, which was then also done to the LIVING and the DECEASED. To this Paschalius (Paschalius, De Coronis, book 6, chapter 7) could then rightly say: namely that to this boxer much more honor was given than by the most sought-after flattery even to the Roman Princes: to whom (he further says from the statesman Tacitus (Tacitus, Annals, book 15, at the end)) the honor of the Gods was not bestowed until they had ceased to live among men.
§. XIV.
What Paschalius says from Tacitus, that the honor of the Gods was not bestowed until they had ceased to live among men, must be understood as the ordinary rule, and what was most in esteem and fame; for otherwise it is evident that sometimes this ordinary rule was sinned against. It is evident what Tacitus says of AUGUSTUS from the mouths of some (Tacitus, Annals, book 1, chapter 10), who considered or thought about his funeral procession: that nothing was left to the worship of the Gods, since he wanted to be served with temples and images of deities by priests and sacrificial priests. That is: That nothing was yielded to the worship of the Gods,
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since He wanted to be celebrated with Temples and images of Gods by Priests and Priests. Which general saying of Tacitus, however, Suetonius specifies (Suetonius, in Augustus, chapter 52): although it was the custom that temples were also dedicated to the Old Mayors, he did not accept one in any province, except under the common name of Himself and of Rome: for in the City he steadfastly refrained from that honor. Here, I say, it is specified to temples, and consequently linked worship in the conquered lands (which they called Provinces) where the custom already wanted that one glorified Old Mayors with such worship, in order that the victorious Romans might be exalted all the more everywhere, and the conquered peoples might be oppressed all the more. All the more, because the Eastern peoples were accustomed to honoring their benefactors (that is, their rulers) with offerings and altars, and now the Romans looked upon them as such, and therefore also acted accordingly towards them. Who thereby also allowed this kind of idolatry to take place among them, and in time also allowed it to nest in the entrails of their state; although the most moderate avoided this weakness: hence Cicero writes (Cicero, to Atticus): no tributes, except those that happen in words, do I allow myself to befall: statues, sanctuaries, four-horse chariots I forbid. See more of this in the very learned notes of the famous Casaubonus on Suetonius (Casaubonus, on Suetonius, in the cited place), who also adds that said conquered nations did not worship the Persons so much as their virtues: for which he adds a very remarkable passage from Cicero to his
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Brother Quintus (Cicero, to his brother). However, because Tacitus speaks so generally, as has been shown above, it seems to us that Suetonius in his saying, either out of ignorance or out of flattery, tried to cover up the shame of Emperor AUGUSTUS, because his name was in high regard. Be that as it may, it is certain that other Emperors of the Roman Empire appropriated and allowed themselves such Divine honors. Let GAIUS (whom one calls CALIGULA) show himself. Certainly, Suetonius (Suetonius, in Caligula, chapter 22) relates the following of him: having commanded that the images of the Gods, highly renowned for religion and art, and among them that of the Olympic Jupiter, be brought from Greece, and that, having removed the heads, his own was placed on them, he extended a part of the palace to the market, and having transformed the temple of Castor and Pollux into a forecourt, he allowed himself, standing between the two Brother-Gods, to be worshiped by those approaching, and some greeted him as the Latin Jupiter. He also established his own temple for his Divinity, and Priests and invented offerings. In the temple stood a golden, life-sized image: and it was dressed daily with such a garment as he himself used. The supreme command of the priesthood was obtained by turns by the richest through intrigue and highest bid. The offerings were Herons, Peacocks, Grouse, African, Turkey hens, Pheasants, which were lit daily. And also at night he invited the full and clear Moon to his embrace and concubinage: but during the day he spoke secretly with the Capitoline Jupiter, sometimes listening, and bending his ears to each other, sometimes loudly, and not without curses: for his threatening voice was heard:
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I will banish you to the Greeks.
(Or as others, according to Dio, want (See Casaubonus on the cited place))
Either you will drive me out, or I will drive you out.
Until he finally, forbidden, as he said, and invited to cohabitation, united the Palace and the Capitol by a bridge over the temple of the deified Augustus. Here we may add a similar monstrosity, DOMITIAN, of whom the same Suetonius has noted this (Suetonius, in Domitian, chapter 13): with equally great arrogance, as he promised a form of letter in the name of his Agents, he began: OUR LORD AND GOD COMMANDS THAT IT HAPPENS SO. And these have not been the first founders of such excessive godlessness: for they had here, besides others, ALEXANDER the Great as an example, who, having been declared by the Oracle of Ammon not to be the Son of PHILIPPUS but of JUPITER, finally agreed to be considered a God, as was the custom among the Persian Kings, and to be religiously honored: as is most clearly shown not only from Curtius (Curtius, book 4, chapter 7), but also from Arrianus (Idem, book 8, chapter 5) and Plutarch (Arrianus) (Plutarch, in Alexander). When the Roman Princes now imitated this Macedonian braggart in this matter, they showed themselves to be no less foolish and reckless than their example.
§. XV.
However, what Paschalius says on the occasion of Tacitus' story, that by the most refined flattery such honor, namely of deification or Divine worship, was not given to the living Roman Princes, must also be understood with
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limitation. It is true, the most upright people grumbled against such foolishness already in the time of ALEXANDER, before the time of the Roman Emperors, and ridiculed it; as appears from what said Curtius relates of the Macedonians, and in particular Callisthenes, who with difficulty considered ALEXANDER to be a God: and Anaxarchus mockingly said of him, when he had become ill and was using medicine (Aelianus, Varia Historia, book 9, chapter 37): but our god hopes to find healing in a spoonful. The dissatisfaction of entire peoples about this is known: for the Athenians (who especially did not tolerate new Gods) punished Demades, who had proposed (Idem, book 5, chapter 12) that from now on ALEXANDER should be honored as a thirteenth God, with a fine of a hundred talents. And the Lacedaemonians, perhaps forced, decided only with reluctance (Idem, book 2, chapter 19): since Alexander wants to be a god, let him be a god. However, there were enough Flatterers, willing to bestow that honor upon him: as a witness be said Demades. And Curtius (Curtius, book 8) says bluntly: And the pernicious flattery was not lacking for him who desired such things (to be honored as a God), and so on. And thereupon he reports on the wicked Argive flatterer Agis and the Sicilian Cleo, and other stains on their cities, and shows with what a cowardly speech Cleo tried to persuade the unwilling.
And as for the Roman Princes, that is, Emperors, certainly those among them who wanted to be served with Divine honors during their lifetime, never lacked flatterers. One cannot even doubt that the high authority of AUGUSTUS moved Servants, favor
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seekers and the like to this misconduct: and especially the priests of his Divinity acquitted themselves of this with flattery, since they by virtue of their office had to call him a God and worship him as such. And as for NERO, Anicius practiced this flattery towards him enough, when Tacitus relates of him (Tacitus, Annals, book 8, chapter 74), that he had judged that the deified Nero should be built a temple as soon as possible at the expense of the state. What he certainly decided, as if he had exceeded the mortal climax and deserved the worship of men. that he had judged that the Deified Nero should be assigned a temple at the expense of the commonwealth: which he certainly justified as for him who had overcome the mortal pinnacle, and had deserved the worship of men. Although others held this flattery to be a harbinger of his death, namely because the honor of the Gods was not given to the Prince according to the usual custom, until he had ceased to live among men. Finally, as for DOMITIAN, how flattery behaved towards him is clear on the one hand from what Suetonius further notes; as he says (Suetonius, in Domitian, chapter 13): of which it was later established that he could not be addressed in writing or orally by anyone other than as OUR LORD AND GOD. And on the other hand from the flattering Poets, in particular Martial (Martial, book 5, epigram 8), who lets himself be heard as follows:
The edict of our Lord and God,
By which the seats become more certain etc.
That is:
The Emperor, our Lord and God,
Gave a strict command of the benches.
And elsewhere:
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To the Lord of lands and God of things
He promises a fourfold Pylian old age.
That is:
The Lord of Lands, and God of things
He promises to make very old.
And he says this, looking at no one but DOMITIAN. The reader can see more of this in the very learned notes of the famous Gevartius on Statius (Gevartius on P. Statius, Silvae, book 1, chapter 6). It remains then, that Paschalius must be understood with a certain limitation, when he tries to argue that even by the most refined flattery the honor of the Gods was not given to the Prince until he had ceased to live among men. However, perhaps this has held us up for too long: we will then return to the matter at hand.
§. XVI.
Just as the Romans borrowed the Divine worship of the living from the Eastern peoples, and at the same time from the divinely worshiped Olympic victors, so they obtained from the latter, namely the deified Olympic victors, most of all the deification of the deceased Kings, Princes, and High Persons, at least so it seems to us. This (called deification by the Greeks) was called CONSECRATION by them: and was practiced on the founder of the city, ROMULUS, and with less splendor and insight on his nurse ACCA LAURENTIA; then in later times also ANNA BOVILLANA, who fed the people when they had moved to the Aventine hill, as Vossius relates from several Roman writers (Gerh. Joh. Vossius, De Idololatria Gentilium, book 1, chapter 12). ROMULUS' deification happened to appease the people, full of suspicion that they had murdered him, on the fabricated saying of JULIUS
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PROCULUS that ROMULUS had appeared to him in a greater stature, and had commanded him to be held for a God, who in heaven was called QUIRINUS. See Florus (Florus, book 1, chapter 1), Cicero (Cicero, De Legibus, book 1) and others. When Rome had come under the authority of the Princes, that is, Emperors, AUGUSTUS placed his ancestor JULIUS CAESAR among the Gods, and dedicated games, on which a comet appeared, of which the people believed that it was CAESAR's soul and thus his divinity, which is also why a star was later drawn next to his image. Thus Suetonius relates (Suetonius, in Julius, chapter 88). Furthermore, AUGUSTUS himself was deified after his death. No wonder, for NUMERIUS ATTICUS testified that he had seen him travel to heaven: which LIVIA richly rewarded, as Dio relates (Dio, book 56). The deification of these TIBERIUS had performed, as appears from Pliny the Younger among others (Plinius the Younger, in Panegyricus), who further relates (so that we may make this brief) that NERO jestingly deified CLAUDIUS, TITUS his father VESPASIAN, and DOMITIAN his brother TITUS. It is unnecessary to cite more examples, for the matter had become very common. That is why VESPASIAN said, when he began to feel the attack of his illness (Suetonius, in Vespasianus, chapter 23): I think I am becoming a god.
§ XVII.
The manner of the Roman deification in later times has been recorded and handed down to posterity not only by Dio (Dio, in the cited place), but much more clearly by Herodianus (Herodianus, book 4, chapter 2). We will (perhaps it serves as a further explanation of the way in which the Olympic victors were deified) share their story with the Reader, as Oudaan has arranged it and put it into Dutch (Oudaan, Roomsche Mogentheid, 6th conversation, p. 412): “It is the custom among the Romans to solemnly consecrate the Emperors who leave living Sons or descendants. Those who are clothed with such honor are said to be placed among the Gods. In the city there is a general sadness mixed with a solemn festive celebration, while the funeral is held over the body of the deceased, with a costly funeral procession. First, an image is made of wax, resembling the deceased in everything as he lived, except that the image is a little pale, in the form of a sick person. This is placed in the antechamber of the palace on a large, raised ivory bier, and covered with golden cloths. Around the bed sit, for the greater part of the day, on the left hand, all Senators dressed in black, and on the right hand all Women of State, who are in high regard by the dignity of their Husbands or Fathers. None of them are decorated with gold or any jewels, but dressed in fine linen, in mourning. This lasts for seven days, while the doctors come to the bed every day, as if to visit the sick person, and now and then say that it is getting worse, until it seems enough to them, and thereupon they make known his death. When he now seems to have died, some chosen young men of the noblest from the knightly and senatorial class take the bed on their shoulders, and carry it along the holy road to the old market, where the Roman authorities used to lay down their office. Here a wooden platform is built, and above it a canopy of ivory and gold, supported by columns: on which rests another such bed, with purple covers, in which many heads of sea and land animals are wrought with gold. On this the wax image of the Emperor is laid, dressed in triumph clothes, while a beautiful boy, as if the Emperor were sleeping, wards off the flies from his face with peacock feathers: while the children of the Senators sit, the sons on the one, and the daughters on the other side, who with a sad voice sing some laments and hymns about the deceased. After this, the entire funeral procession moves to the great market: first the images of all old illustrious Romans are carried, from ROMULUS until that time, both those related to the Emperor's lineage, and all others who have ever held any Roman High Office, which amounts to an unimaginable number. These were followed by the bronze images of all landscapes and peoples that are subject to the Roman Empire, distinguished by each's national character and custom with various equipment. Then come many kinds of citizens, bodyguards, writers, heralds and similar people. Here again the images of various famous men who have done something praiseworthy, or thought, or excelled in some science. These follow armed riders and foot soldiers, and war horses, and everything that can serve to complete the ceremony, which is sent and paid for by the Princes, the Priests, and their Wives, the most prominent Knights, the landscapes and the common citizenry, for the completion of the funeral ceremony. Finally, a gilded altar, decorated with ivory and Indian stones, is carried. After all this has preceded, the succeeding Emperor steps onto the speaker's platform, and holds a discourse in praise of the deceased, in between which the surrounding Senators often exclaim, sometimes praising the dead, sometimes crying out loudly, but most of all when the speech has ended and preparations are now made to take up the bier, when a general cry is heard. This cry, having been held for a while, the Priests and Authorities, not only those who are then in service, but also those who have been elected for the coming year, take up the bed, and give it again to the young men from the Knightly class to carry, while a part of the Senators, who sing laments or pretend to weep in a controlled manner, walk in front of the bier, where the new Emperor follows with the other Senators, and so they go outside the city to the Field of MARS, where, where it is the widest, another square building stands, rising like a military tent, with four equal sides, wrought together with heavy woodwork: inside it is filled with all kinds of dry and flammable material, and on the outside covered with gold-embroidered tapestries, and decorated with various ivory images and paintings: on top of that stands, towards the inside, another building, a little smaller, but in all respects equal in make and ornament, with open gates and doors: and so on the third and fourth, each a little more retracted, until one comes to the last, which is the smallest of all. On top of this is the gilded hearse, which the deceased Emperor used to use, with a team of four horses. One can compare the state of this building with the towers that stand on the seaports and at night carry fire, to
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guide the ships to a safe harbor, which are commonly called lighthouses. Having arrived here, after the Emperor and the friends of the deceased have kissed his image, everyone is placed according to his dignity, the Emperor on a raised seat, and the Senators accordingly. The bed then having been hoisted to the second floor, an immeasurable pile of spices, incense, herbs and fluids of various kinds, all of which are very sweet and strong in scent, is poured over it: for every landscape and city, yes every person who excels in honor and dignity above others, strives to bring these last gifts in honor of the deceased Prince. When a very large pile of spices has been poured over it, so that all floors are filled inside and out and run off as an ascending peak, a horse race is set up by the entire Knightly class, around this building, at a set measure and movement: there are also carriages driven around by coachmen dressed in purple, carrying the images of all the Roman Field Commanders and most illustrious Princes: after all this has been solemnly completed, the Emperor takes a burning torch, and sticks it into the building, whereupon all others from all sides throw fire into it, so that everything, filled with very flammable substances and dry spices, is in a moment caught by a more powerful fire. At the same time with the ignited fire, from the top and smallest hut, from some elevation, an Eagle is released, which is believed to carry the soul of the Emperor to heaven, and from that time on the Prince is honored by the Romans together with the other Gods.”
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§. XVIII.
And this was the splendor of deification among the Romans. The image of the pyre serving for it, or structures built on top of each other, can further clarify the reader's understanding by eye from the coins found in Oudaan's Mogentheid Tab. 101. num. 4. 5. 6. As well as the released and sent out Eagle from num. 7. 8. 9. which Eagle, as the soul of the Emperor flying heavenward, is more clearly depicted when he is shown carrying someone on his back. See this shown in the coin num. 12. We will only add now that at the deification of the Empresses (for they were also deified, as we can prove with LIVIA, FAUSTINA and others) in place of an Eagle a Peacock, bird of JUNO, was released; on the coins in memory of the deification either depicted alone, as can be seen on tab. 102. num. 1. 2. 3., or carrying the deified Empress on its back, to thus represent her departure to heaven more powerfully, as num. 4. 5. Just as in place of the Peacock an Eagle is also seen, which, carrying the Empress on its back, takes her among the stars. See num. 6.