The Religio-Political Change in the Reign of Augustus: The Disappearance of Public Prodigies
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Graeco-Latina Brunensia |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Digitální knihovna FF MU |
| Field | Philosophy and religion |
| Keywords | public prodigies; expiation; Roman priestly collegia; disappearance of prodigies; omina imperii |
| Attached files | |
| Description | The article explores the causes which led to the final disappearance of Roman republican practice of the expiation of public prodigies, ill-ominous divinatory signs, in the beginning of the principate. After a short exposition of the system of Roman expiation of public prodigies individual theories explaining their disappearance are explored in greater detail. These theories are dismissed as either erroneous or incomplete, e.g. these operating with the general decline of Roman republican religion, philosophical criticism of superstitious religious practices, abuse of prodigies in political controversies or for self-advertisement of important noblemen, loss of their importance after the political unification of Italy, etc. In conclusion, the author of this article formulates an alternative theory explaining the reasons behind their ultimate disappearance: they were so closely connected with the values of Roman political and religious elites and played such an important role in the process of building Roman national identity that they lost their rationale after the establishment of the principate, since from that time on these values were invested into and this role played by Roman emperors and their families. |