the most significant developments in the history of paganism in
the Roman period, seems to have originated as a spontaneous
reaction among eastern provincials to the success of imperial
government. Its roots lay in the Hellenistic period, when kings of
the eastern Mediterranean had been routinely accorded honours
as if they were gods. With the advent of Roman power, such
honours were transferred to successful Roman generals, such as
Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar in the first century BC. After the
conclusion of the late Republican civil wars, many of which had
been fought out in the Greek east, these honours were offered to
the emperor Augustus and his successors by provincials keen
to express their gratitude for the restoration of peace.
Bothso ̄ ter andeuangelia(the plural of euangelion) are
found in inscriptions (and other texts, such as papyri) relating
to emperor worship. In 9 BC, for example, the federal council of
the cities of the province of Asia adopted a new calendar that
calibrated the beginning of each new year with the birthday of
Augustus (23 September). A few extracts from their decree (found
in fragments of varying completeness at five different locations)
will illustrate the nature of the language employed:since Providence, which has divinely disposed our lives,
having employed zeal and ardour, has arranged for the most
perfect culmination for life by producing Augustus, whom
for the benefit of humankind she has filled with excellence,
as if [she had sent him as a saviour (so ̄ ter)] for us and our
descendants, [a saviour (so ̄ ter)] who brought war to an end
and set all things in order... And since the beginning of
good news (euangelia) on his account for the world was the
birthday of the god [i.e. Augustus]... for this reason, with
good luck and for our salvation (so ̄ teria), it has been decreed
by the Greeks in Asia that the New Year’s first month shall
begin for all cities on the ninth day before the Kalends
of October [i.e. 23 September], which is the birthday of
Augustus.
(Text in Sherk 1969: no. 65 D; translation
adapted from Sherk 1984: 125–6)CONTEXTS FOR THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY
138