magistrate (sella curulis) with the image of Nero had been placed. After victims had
been sacrificed king Tiridates approached this image, took the diadem from his head,
and placed it in front of the image. Afterward Tiridates traveled to Rome to receive
his appointment from Nero himself. The presence of the emperor’s image during
this ceremony has a double meaning. First of all the image had the function of sub-
stitute for the emperor, but then it also emphasized that Corbulo, the leading Roman
magistrate in the place, was licenced to act as the representative of the emperor.
As in the eyes of the people the emperor and his well-being were an indispens-
able precondition for the well-being of the empire as a whole, the subjects too had
to contribute their share so that the other gods supported and protected the
emperor. The legal aspects of the problem that we can grasp in the imperial oaths
were not sufficient.
Therefore people had to turn directly to the gods to win their assistance for the
security of the emperor. This was accomplished by regular prayers and sacrifices for
the security of the emperor, but also by collective actions, when the population
publicly offered vows (vota) for the security of the emperor. Each year on January 3
the so-called “taking of vows” (nuncupatio votorum) took place. It was a public and
collective ceremony during which the assembled population took a solemn vow in
front of the images of the gods and the emperor.
Thanks to the testimony of Pliny (Epist.10.100f.) we know quite well the words
of such a vow as it was usually made in the reign of emperor Trajan. Pliny, as the
governor of the province of Bithynia and Pontus in what today is Turkey, was obliged
to organize such a ceremony and recite the words of the vow, which were repeated
or at least confirmed by the people, who had to take part in this ceremony. To take
part in such a publicly performed ceremony did not mean that people were expected
to make an individual confession of their creed – such a problem faced only the
Christians with their very strict monotheistic creed – but they had to take part as
citizens of the Roman empire or as members of a group.
Changing Attitudes to the Emperor
From the late second centuryad we encounter more and more a peculiar religious
formula, especially in official inscriptions. This formula declared that an individual
or a group of persons had dedicated themselves to the divine power and the majesty
of the emperor (devotus numini maiestatique eius). The concept is quite revealing
for the mentality of a large part of the population. Certainly it is more than a mere
confirmation of loyalty to the emperor. It implies the old Roman concept of devotio.
Devotiomeans that an individual offered himself to the irate or still undecided gods
as a substitute to avert the evil that endangered other persons or the Roman state.
The best illustrations of this religious conviction are the famous devotionesof the
Decii Mures during the early republic (fourth/third centuriesbc). The Decii Mures
sacrificed their own lives in battle to secure the victory for the Roman state.
It is possible to identify comparable and especially spontaneous promises at a
very early point during the empire. Already in the year 27bcthe tribune of the
312 Peter Herz