Cybele and Isis: Julio-Claudian Responses to Eastern Religions

David G, Terrell
December 1, 2009

Roman society was intimately combined with its religion. One does not see special religious

institutions and events—segregated from secular, daily life—but rather an embedding of religion in every

aspect of Rome’s political and constitutional system.1 Though Roman adherence to tradition is almost

axiomatic to the historian, innovation was a central feature of the city’s religion. New deities and rituals

were, in large measure, easily absorbed into the existing polytheistic structure through a mechanism of

identification the new deity as a manifestation of an existing one—though sometimes recognized as non-

Roman and accepted only through circumstances felt to reconcile the otherwise unacceptable: evocatio,

vows made by generals, or recommendations contained in the Sibylline Books.2 However, the

incorporation of these foreign gods set Rome on a course of change that led, eventually, to her evolution

from an oligarchic republic into a centralized state whose deified absolute head of state, surrounded by

courtiers and functionaries, ruled through an omnipotent bureaucracy, and an army of foreign

mercenaries.3

This author will examine two important oriental religions that together changed Rome; the

worship of Cybele, and that of Isis. After relating the two religions’ characteristics and the circumstances

of their introduction into Roman life; the author will examine the official response to the two religions

during the Republic that attempted to circumscribe their unacceptable aspects; and, then describe the

religions’ appeal to the Roman people. After thus setting the stage, the author will describe the actions of

the first four Julio-Claudian emperors (Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius) that, together,

1
Mary Beard, John North, and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History (Vol. I. II vols. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1998), 43.
2
Beard, 61-62.
Arthur D Nock, "Review: A History of Roman Religion by Franz Altheim by Harold Mattingly" (The American
Journal of Philology (The Johns Hopkins University Press) 61, no. 1 (1940): 90-96), 93.
3
Franz Cumont, "The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism (1911)" (Google Books. Open Court Publishing
Company. June 26, 2008. http://books.google.com/books?id=BuEoAAAAYAAJ (accessed November 14, 2009)), 4.
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David G. Terrell

represented an ineffective response to the challenges posed by the two foreign religions and resulted in a

restructuring of Roman religion that embraced the new beliefs.

The introduction and evolution of Cybele- and Isis-worship

In the last century of the republic and the first century of the empire, the foreign population of

Rome steadily and rapidly increased. The demographic changes eventually affected the whole fabric of

Roman culture and institutions. The changes began with the arrival of Latins, Italians and Greeks and

were followed by very diverse elements from the Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul and the

Danube lands. Many of these immigrants were slaves, former slaves, and their descendants.4

The Sibylline oracular books were part of the Roman religion in the late Republic, when the

Romans first came to consider unusual events in nature and the heavens (prodigies) as signs, foretelling

the future and/or providing evidences of divine ill-favor requiring propitiation. There is some fragmentary

evidence that the books had some oracular quality before the second Punic War but little is known for

sure as the oracles were only publicized in special cases and were not recorded by the pontifices.5

Dionysius of Halicarnassus lists the events worthy of referral to the Sibylline Books as: sedition; military

disaster; and, celestial prodigies or misfortunes, including, probably, famine and pestilence.6

Cybele. The Sibylline books were instrumental in Rome’s importation of the worship of Cybele,

the Great Mother of Ida (Magna Mater deum Idea), the first eastern religion accepted by Rome. The

books were consulted after the appearance of portents during the Second Punic War. The Roman’s had

the military advantage as the defeat of Hasdrubal in 207 BC and Scipio’s victories in Spain adversely

4
George La Piana, "Foreign Groups in Rome during the First Centuries of the Empire" (Harvard Theological
Review (Cambridge University Press) 20, no. 4 (October 1927): 183-403), 188.
5
Aline Abaecherli Boyce, "The Development of the Decemviri Sacris Faciundis" (Transactions and Proceedings of
the American Philological Association (Johns Hopkins University Press) 69 (1938): 161-187), 162-165.
6
Dionysius (of Halicarnassus), Edward Spelman. "The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius Halicarnassensis" (Google
Books. August 23, 2007. http://books.google.com/books?id=wwAMAAAAYAAJ (accessed November 1, 2009)),
6.17; 6.94.
Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, "An 'Inspired Message' in the Augustan Poets" (American Journal of Philology (Johns
Hopkins University Press) 39, no. 4 (1918): 341-366), 344.
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David G. Terrell

affected Hannibal's position in Italy. Nevertheless, the Romans were at a stand whether to decisively

engage Hannibal in Italy or force him to withdraw by conducting a direct assault on Carthage. The

decision was complicated in 205 BC by a meteor shower, regarded as a prodigy by the Romans.

Accordingly, the Sibylline Books were consulted —and a promise proclaimed that the Carthaginian’s

final defeat depended on bringing the Sybil’s native religion, the worship of Cybele, to Rome. This

recommendation was confirmed by the oracle at Delphi and, in 204, an embassy to Pergamum brought the

black meteorite supposed to be the goddess’ abode to Rome; and, was honorably installed in a temporary

sanctuary in the temple of Victory, on the Palatine. Afterward, Scipio’s successful advances against

Carthage, Hannibal’s retreat from Europe, and his defeat at Zama were attributed to Cybele’s influence,

solidifying Roman respect for Cybele. She was honored with her own temple on the Palatine’s summit

and annual celebrations, formally added to the pontifical calendars.7

Worship of Cybele was a long-established religion of Asia Minor. Its early celebrants met on

pristine wooded hilltops, untouched by ax, to celebrate her feast days; they worshipped sacred stones, like

the meteorite taken to Rome; and, they venerated totemic animals like the lion, which was particularly

sacred to Cybele. She was considered the “mother of all things” who’s self-castrated husband, Attis, held

a subordinate position.8 These ancient, nature-religious concepts and the worship’s matriarchal doctrines

involved sensual and ribald ceremonies that offended the stolidly dignified, reserved and moralistic

Romans.9 The shocked authorities were torn between the respect owed to the goddess that had delivered

Rome and reverence for traditional religious sensibilities. Their solution was to completely segregate

Cybele from Roman society by forbidding citizens to join her priesthood or participate in her rituals. Days

7
Cumont, 46-47.
Beard, 80-83, 96-97.
Sander M Goldberg, "Plautus on the Palatine" (Journal of Roman Studies (Society for the Promotion of Roman
Studies) 88 (1998): 1-20), 4.
8
Cumont, 47-48.
9
Cumont, 51.
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David G. Terrell

sacred to her worship were celebrated in conformance with Roman traditions.10 Thus controlled and

encapsulated, the worship of Cybele obscurely continued until the end of the Republic—it being the first

eastern religion introduced into Rome and the last introduced though the Sibylline Books.11 It was an

accommodation that gave eastern culture a form of countenance, in spite of official disapprobation,

prohibitions and prejudices.12

After the acceptance of Cybele-worship, there was a complete freeze upon religious innovation

and a standardization of Roman religious ritual. The distinguishing doctrines and features of Cybele-

worship were successfully cloistered over the next century, as the great period of crisis was over and

Rome no longer felt the need for divine assistance. A period of strict censorship ensued that suppressed

all foreign influences including the worship of Bacchus, outlawed in 186 BC for lewd practices.13

Isis. The worship of Isis came to Rome from Egypt, via the Levant and through Sicily and the

south of Italy.14 These latter two areas were much Hellenized, having diplomatic relations with Ptolemaic

Egypt and commercial ties with Alexandria. In the century before Augustus, traces of Isis-worship appear

in Pozzuoli, in Campania, and at Pompeii where it found worshippers among the slaves of freedmen. Five

times between 59 and 48 BC, the senate proscribed the religion and had its altars and statuary destroyed.

Nevertheless, the practice of this Egyptian mystery religion continued—the first example of a popular

religious movement succeeding in spite of official governmental and religious sanction.15

10
Cumont, 51-53.
Beard, 97-8.
11
W Ward Fowler, The Religious Experience of the Roman People: From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus.
(London: Macmillan and Co, 1911), 168.
Boyce, 179.
12
Cumont, 53.
Fowler, 168.
13
Boyce. 182.
14
Grant Showerman, "Was Attis at Rome under the Republic?" (Transactions and Proceedings of the American
Philological Association (The Johns Hopkins University Press) 31 (1900): 46-59), 51.
15
Cumont, 80-81.
Showerman, Attis, 46.
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David G. Terrell

The worship of Isis suffered persecutions while that of Cybele did not, probably for two reasons.

The first was a perceived need to protect traditional values. Isis-worship, compared to the strict morality

of the official Roman religion, was believed to have a corrupting influence that loosened the morals of its

adherents. The closed nature of its mysteries, open only to the faithful, excited suspicions that the religion

appealed to the baser emotions; all of which offended the gravitas Romans maintained in the presence of

the gods. The second reason was political. In these last years of the Republic, Ptolemaic Egypt was hostile

to Rome. Officials feared that this Egyptian religion, essentially a secret society whose Roman members

were drawn mostly from the lower, disaffected classes, could become a center of sedition and espionage

against the Republic. 16

The worship of Isis nearly gained official status through the personal relationship between

Antony and Cleopatra. Her increasing visibility and her embodiment as an earthly Isis-figure contributed

to the religion’s popularity. It is likely that if Cleopatra and Antony had won at Actium, Isis-worship

would have achieved official acceptance; however, they did not and Augustus, himself a leading member

of the Roman priesthood, rejected Isis-worship upon gaining power.17

Appeal of the eastern religions

At the beginning of the empire, men and women were beginning to assert themselves as

individuals, facilitated by the eastern religions’ teachings and doctrines.18 Official Roman religion was

striving to respond to the challenge to authority represented by these two eastern religions. The worship

of Cybele was contained and circumscribed while that of Isis was not. One of the edicts against Isis-

worship occurred in 48 BC; but in 43 BC, just after the murder of Julius Caesar, the triumvirate including

Octavian (later Augustus) decided to build a temple to Isis using public money. Cumont attributed this

16
Cumont, 81-83.
Showerman, Attis, 47.
17
Cumont, 82-3.
18
Fowler, 174,
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David G. Terrell

decision to a wish “to gain the favor of the masses.”19 Though never executed, this decision implied a

willingness to officially recognize the religion.

Before describing the subsequent battle for religious prominence, it is useful to consider the

religions’ appeal. Cumont enumerates three parts of the human psyche to which these eastern religions

brought satisfaction: the sensual, the rational, and the ethical.20 The eastern religions’ promise of eternal

salvation, purification and redemption were alluring and absorbing concepts that aroused strong emotions

such as admiration, terror, pity and enthusiasm. They wrought fundamental changes in world-view: that a

belief system could be independent of a body politic; that religion was a personal obligation, rather than a

public duty; and, that belief should assure one’s eternal welfare and not just celebrate one’s subordination

to the city-state.21

The eastern religions acted upon men’s physical, rational and ethical senses, appealing to the

entire person. Compared to the official Roman religion, they apparently offered a more appealing ritual,

more truthful-feeling doctrine, and higher morality. The imposing ceremonies and initiatory rituals—in

which the simple, humble and common could participate—and the progressive revelation of ancient

wisdom—inherited from the older civilizations to the east—appealed to the educated supplicant. The

emotional content of the religions, and their glorification of the sacred feminine, strongly attracted Roman

women. There were aspects of the faiths which appealed to all aspects of Roman society. On the other

hand, the official religion was a civic duty, and not an expression of personal belief. Its most intimate

connection was with one’s family and its promise was the economic and political prosperity of the

community. 22 Their professed certainty, the appearance of learned depth appealed to the intellect and the

sense of justice administered in the afterlife satisfied the adherents’ conscience.23

19
Cumont, 82,
20
Cumont, x.
21
Cumont, xxii-xxiii.
22
Cumont, 43-45.
23
Cumont, 34-35.
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David G. Terrell

Augustus – trying to put them back in their box (27 BC – 14AD)

Thus was the religious situation when Augustus became emperor in 27 BC. Rome was

experiencing a crisis of self-esteem over the perceived superiority of the Greco-Egyptian civilization’s

beauty, government, learning, and religion. Augustus was, himself, modeling fiscal reforms upon those of

the Ptolemies.24 Latin scholars were translating Egyptian works; Latin authors and artists were imitating

Egyptian styles; and, Roman Isis-worshipers were maintaining her sanctuaries on the Capital, despite

legal prohibition, holding out the acceptance of Cybele as proof of hypocrisy. Egyptian astronomers had

reformed the pontifical calendar while Julius Caesar was alive and had placed Isis’ holy days upon it.”25

In pursuing his political plans, with their concomitant religious character, to move Roman society

towards embracing a earlier, more stable set of values, Augustus first made himself one of the Pontifices,

the Augurs and the quindecimviri. He then revived the function of the Fetialis in his declaration of war on

Cleopatra; reorganized the Sodales Titii and the Fratres Arvales; obtained the right of priesthood

nomination from the Senate; restored 82 temples of the gods; and, revived old religious ceremonies. But

all this activity was only a preparation for his attempt to rejuvenate the Roman religion by official

endorsement of the mixture of Roman rituals and Greek gestures, words, and attitudes ordained by the

Sibylline oracles and the worship of the Greek Apollo, his personal patron deity.26

Augustus became pontifex maximus in 12 BC, nineteen years after Actium, but he began his

religious reforms long before, using his membership in the religious colleges to promote temple

restoration projects, the most visible sign of his efforts to restore the pax deorum.27 He believed,

therefore, that the fall of the Republic was marked, if not caused, by indifference to official Roman

Fowler, 161.
24
Cumont, 4.
25
Cumont, 84.
26
Haight, 345.
John Scheid, "Graeco Ritu: A Typically Roman Way of Honoring the Gods" (Harvard Studies in Classical
Philology (Department of the Classics, Harvard University) 97 (1995): 15-31), 28.
27
Fowler, 219.
J Gwen Griffiths, "Isis and Agape." (Edited by University of Chicago Press. Classical Philology 80, no. 2 (April
1985): 139-141), 140.
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David G. Terrell

religion. Temples had fallen into disuse and ruin; religions offices were remaining vacant for the lack of

willing supplicants; and, the official festivals were no longer attractive to the people. Augustus attempted

to revive the withered religious traditions of the city—“Rome’s relations with its divine citizens”28 that

explained the city’s past successes and ensured its future prosperity. 29 Among his initiatives, intended

perhaps to reduce the prospects of future innovations, he eliminated unauthorized prophetic books in

favor of the Sibylline Books; and, revived old religious rites.30

Augustus, himself, was a religious conservative. Where he believed foreign religions dangerous

to Rome or its morality, he rigidly suppressed them. When deemed them harmless, like that of the

modified Cybele-worship, he cautiously accepted it.31 Suetonius tells us that he was particularly

susceptible to messages conveyed in dreams; had an absolute faith in auguries; and had “great respect

towards all ancient and long-established foreign rites,”32 while despising others.33 Cumont, however,

asserts that his reasons were more political than religious, as the religious reforms he instituted

complemented his moral legislation and the institution of his imperial dignity. Regardless, Augustus

wanted to call the people back to the practice of the ancient virtues—while also tying them to a political

order that unified throne and altar.34 Against great obstacles of neglect and apathy, he appealed to a

deeply-rooted idea in the Roman mind—that the divine inhabitants of the city, if not properly propitiated,

would not do their part in supporting the city. He deliberately used this conviction as a political lever and

both pax deorum and ius divinum regained their force and meaning.35

28
Beard, 113.
29
Cumont, 37-8.
Beard, 113.
30
Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars (Translated by Michael Grant. Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1957), 65 (Augustus
31).
31
Fowler, 177.
32
Suetonius 91 (Augustus 92).
33
Suetonius 91(Augustus 93).
34
Cumont, 37-8.
35
Fowler, 217.
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David G. Terrell

His efforts to define an official religious standard by reviving ancient rituals and institutions

never inspired enthusiasm but only increased the dry legalism of the official religion. The official worship

became solely a demonstration of political loyalty, with no hold on individual conscience or any part in a

Roman’s religious experience. Persons of high culture and education sought solace in the schools of

philosophy while the lower classes turned to private cults and mystery-religions. His efforts kept the old

religion functioning in outward form for another three centuries.36

Tiberius—half-hearted hypocrisy (14 – 37 AD)

Tiberius, though criticized for irresolution and overweening deference to the Senate, advocated

Augustus’ program of using religion to police morality but, as he demonstrated in his own behavior,

public reverence for Rome’s gods did not preclude skepticism and immorality.37 Tiberius, a member of

the pontifical college, continued the prohibition of foreign religions, particularly the worship of Isis.38 He

also “abolished all astrologers except as such as asked for his forgiveness and undertook to make no more

predictions.”39 This exemption was interesting.

Along with other aspects of the Roman religion, the accepted forms of divination had lost their

appeal. Astrology, arriving with the aura of an exact science developed over centuries, made deriving

meaning from the creases and lesions of an animal’s liver, the enthusiasm of feeding hens, the directions

taken by flying birds, or even the sayings of intoxicated oracles seem most unsophisticated. Its promises

of precise, repeatable determinations based on a mystical ideal of a sympathy between celestial

phenomena and human life fit well with the “as above, so below” dualistic philosophy of Egyptian

36
La Piana, 282.
37
Cornelius Tacitus, Annals (Translated by Alfred J Church and William J Brodribb. London: Macmillian and Co.,
1906), 23.
Fowler, 217.
38
Cumont, 82-83.
Lily Ross Taylor, "Caesar's Colleagues in the Pontifical College" (American Journal of Philology (Johns Hopkins
University Press) 63, no. 4 (1942): 385-412), 408.
39
Suetonius, 119, (Tiberius 36).
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David G. Terrell

religion.40 As with all things Egyptian, it therefore had great appeal, in combination with an increasing

interest in the Roman goddess Fortuna, and astrology gradually supplanted the ancient methods of

foretelling the future. Coming from the east, astrology was already an integral part of the religions there

and astrology’s success in Rome promoted those religions.41

In spite of his official prohibitions against Isis-worship, Tiberius likewise imitated Alexander and

the Ptolemies in their self-identification as pharaoh, a politico-religious position with ties to Egyptian

religion. In the Isis temple at Philae, Tiberius is depicted as a triumphant conqueror standing before Isis

and other Egyptian gods in a scene similar to others in the same complex that promote Ptolemy XII.42

Tiberius was one of the Romans who wanted to know the future but was torn between the old and

the new methods for divining the future. On one hand, he had a strong faith in the meanings of various

signs and prodigies, being fearful of thunder. However, he lacked deep religious feelings and being

persuaded that life was ruled by fate, had made an astrologer part of his household. 43 At one point, he

refused to consult the Sibylline Books , perhaps not wanting to have his actions forced by the gods.44

As Tiberius aged, his behaviors deviated further from the Roman ideal, succumbing, in

Suetonius’ words “to all the violent passions.”45 His cruelty and perversion represented and obvious

disregard for Roman norms of behavior that contrasted with official pronouncements and undermined the

religious authority he himself represented. His failure to back up his religious pronouncements with moral

behaviors did much to discredit the Roman religion.

Gaius (Caligula)—unconditional endorsement (37 – 41 AD)

40
Fowler, 200-201.
41
Cumont, 162-163.
42
John Dillery, "Aesop, Isis, and the Heliconian Muses" (Classical Philology 94, no. 3 (July 1999): 268-280), 276-
7.
43
Tacitus, 7.
Suetonius, 109 (Tiberius 14), 131(Tiberius 69).
44
Tacitus, 38, 421.
45
Suetonius, 122 (Tiberius 42).
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David G. Terrell

Gaius (called Caligula) reigned following Tiberius. He was friendlier to the eastern religions,

particularly that of Isis, authorizing its open practice after a long resistance. This acceptance on his part

may be due to being exposed to such beliefs at an early age. During his father’s command of the armies in

Syria, where Isis was one of several dominant eastern religions, Gaius was often closely associated with

common soldiers and local persons, who likely worshipped Isis and other local deities.46

Gaius’ endorsement of Isis-worship occurred soon after his accession. He built the temple of Isis

Campensis on the Plain of Mars, probably in the year 38, which began a period of acceptance lasting

several centuries. 47

The ritual of Isis-worship, claiming to confer divine powers, came out of Egypt with a

completeness and majesty unknown to Roman religion. Its unity and precision contrasted starkly with the

shadowy myths, uncertain dogmas and arbitrary interpretations of the Roman religion. The religion was

supported by the ambiance of ancient wisdom based on sacred books whose texts extended back to the

dawn of history.48

Claudius—compromise (41 – 54 AD)

The worship of Isis, authorized by Gaius after a long resistance, presented a dilemma to Claudius,

his conservative successor. Augustus had given Claudius no religious honors except a position in the

College of Augurs, which may have indicated that, as emperor, he lacked practical experience in the

politico-religious sphere. Nevertheless, Claudius was religiously conservative, believing in the signs

presented in dreams and attending faithfully to the forms of worship. Claudius tried his own revitalization

46
Cumont, 55, 198.
47
Cumont, 84.
Clifford Herschel Moore, "The Ethical Value of Oriental Religions under the Roman Empire" (Harvard Theological
Review (Cambridge University Press) 8, no. 2 (Apr 1915): 166-181), 172.
48
Cumont, 94.
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David G. Terrell

of the state religion, attempting to transfer the Eleusinian Mysteries from Attica to Rome; expelling the

Jews from the city; and, restoring the ruined temple of Venus in Sicily at public expense.49

Excepting Cybele-worship, the foreign religions in Rome continued their practices in secret, in

response to policies created by Augustus. However, between Augustus and Claudius the situation

changed significantly. Claudius, on one hand, held truly to Augustus’ policies, citing their authority in his

decrees and provisions when precedent was called for. But on the other hand, he clearly understood that

the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of the empire required acknowledging the greater diversity of the

empire. Under Claudius, Cybele-worship’s relation to Roma was changed by Cybele’s adoption as an

ancestral deity of the Julian gens.50

During Gaius’ reign, Claudius saw, at first hand, the increased popularity of Isis-worship and its

celebratory festivities and spectacular processions. The acceptance granted to Isis, a relative newcomer to

Rome, likely aggravated the priests of Cybele, the Magna Mater, in their secluded compound on the

Palatine. Realizing that Isis-worship was thoroughly infiltrated into Rome, yet wanting to draw Romans

back to the old religion, Claudius granted similar freedoms to those who worshipped Cybele, making

dates sacred to her part of the calendar, allowing Roman citizens to become priests and priestesses, and

institutionalizing Cybele-worship as the only official eastern religion. In so doing, Claudius presented the

Romans an alternative eastern religion; one having the cachet of official approval. In providing an

alternative, Claudius slowed Isis-worship in its growth, but did not stop the infiltration of its philosophies

49
Cumont, 55.
Suetonius, 163 (Claudius 4-5).
Suetonius, 174 (Claudius 22).
Suetonius, 137 (Gaius 10).
Suetonius, 155 (Gaius 51).
Suetonius, 176 (Claudius 25.
Suetonius, 179 (Claudius 39).
50
La Piana, 295-6.
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David G. Terrell

and practices. The eastern religions were in Rome to stay and there is no indication of prohibitions afte

Claudius. 51

Assessment

It is hard to estimate the moral value of the eastern religions during the beginnings of the Roman

Empire. These religions did not aim primarily at developing individual morality, as we think of it today.

They focused on establishing good relations with the gods, to ensure security and prosperity now and

forever. The primary sources are few and our understanding limited.52

The older secondary sources used in this paper indicate that the infiltration of foreign religions

into the early Roman Empire has interested historians for many years. Their approaches to assessing their

impact have differed in particulars but all seem to agree that the new religions were a bad thing for

Roman culture. More recent analyses have begun to deviate from the older theme that spoke of the

Roman religion becoming contaminated by foreign influences. The general view, emerging in recent

years, is based on an assumption that the principal attractive element in a religion, especially in those

entering Rome from the east, was belief and emotion, and not the form of their ritual.53

Nevertheless, ritual was significant. To the Romans, ritual (ritus) was not equivalent to our

modern word, religion, or even to ceremony, but related rather to mos, “the way of doing something”.54

The differences in these religions were not necessarily based on the content of the doctrine but rather in

the way the ceremonies were celebrated. The adherents of all these religions built temples, made

sacrifices, said prayers, and made vows; but it was the small details which made each system original, or

perverse, in the eye of the beholder. The followers of Isis were not considered superstitious because they

worshiped the wrong deity, or for the ridiculousness of their ritual, but because they worshipped in the

51
Cumont, 55.
La Piana, 297-8.
52
Moore, 166.
53
Scheid, 15-16.
54
Scheid, 18.
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David G. Terrell

wrong way. The nature of the rites, celebrated with the precision and dignity becoming a Roman, made a

religion acceptable.55

Many historical conceptions of the eastern religions infiltrating Rome portray them as coming

from corrupt and decayed civilizations and whose influence corrupted morals until the redeeming advent

of Christianity. However, the civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean were wealthy centers of high

culture whose religions were one aspect of her influence upon the Empire—along with emperor-worship,

personal luxury, the organization of imperial bureaucracy, and the removal of the capital to the east. 56

The collateral view of those portraying the eastern religions in a negative light do not consider

that the objectionable aspects of the religions were often cumbersome holdovers from ancient traditions in

the most archaic periods of eastern cultures—kept alive by the same conservatism seen in the official

roman religion. Once the eastern religions became naturalized in the Empire, the austere morals of Rome

tempered them. The rites that initially shocked the Roman mind were found to be invested with

spirituality that changed the Roman perception of deity and man’s relationship with the divine.57

The reforms intended to renew Roman religion and suppress those invading from the east—begun

by Augustus, moderately continued by Tiberius, and rejected outright by Gaius—were half-heartedly

compromised by Claudius. Augustus’ attempt at restoration was characteristic of the Roman religious

temperament and its demand that religion must support morality and the state.58

Roman religion was inseparably bound up with the state’s dignity and gravitas. It stood against

the eastern religions’ sense of ancient traditions; their appearance of scientific logic and high culture;

sophisticated rituals open to any who would qualify themselves; the ecstatic feelings engendered by

mysterious communion with their passionate gods; fraternal bonds made in the shared experience of their

55
Scheid, 18-19.
56
Grant Showerman, "The Ancient Religions in Universal History" (The American Journal of Philology (Johns
Hopkins University Press) 29, no. 2 (1908): 156-171), 166.
57
Showerman, Ancient, 166-7.
58
Cumont, 38.
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David G. Terrell

initiations; their appeal to individual conscience; and, promises of eternal exaltation. These were all

characteristics that appealed to personal nature, rather than civic responsibility, and which fulfilled the

individual’s longing for belief and belonging, satisfying the soul.59

The worship of Cybele was favored, in light of its official acceptance. This gave it a privileged

position at the beginning of the Empire in relation to Isis-worship. Though restricted in the visibility and

scope of its practices and eligibility for its priesthoods, Cybele-worship enjoyed unrestricted toleration,

freedom from arbitrary official persecution, dissolution and coercion—its holidays being marked upon the

pontiffs’ calendars.60

Given this official acceptance of Cybele, other foreign religions sought an alliance with this

acceptable religion. This was likely Claudius’ intent in eliminating the restrictions on Cybele-worship

vice attempting to re-impose Augustus’ restrictions upon Isis-worship. As years passed, Cybele-worship

agreed to several such absorptions and compromises, gaining both material advantages and moral

authority over other religions entering Rome from beyond Greece. Eventually, Cybele-worship expanded

to evidence a complexity capable of accommodating the beliefs of people of every class of society

emigrating from Asia Minor.61

These new religions changed Rome and Romans by reorienting their ideal away from civic

success and towards an inner goal of illuminating the individual soul. Balancing the importance of ritual

and belief, adherents were less mindful of ideals that emphasized material happiness, economic issues and

political goals; and more inclined to experience and exemplify the intense emotions that characterize a

spiritual life.

Rome evolved. Augustus opposed the forces affecting Roman spiritual life. Tiberius made half-

hearted efforts to suppress the gross manifestations of the religions while adopting astrology, a major

59
Cumont, x-xi.
60
Cumont, 60.
61
Cumont, 60.
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David G. Terrell

philosophical adjunct to those same religions. Gaius, perhaps exposed to the religions as a child,

embraced their passionate intensity and, projecting his semi-divine status into their ethos, officially

recognized Isis-worship. Claudius, convinced of the impossibility of reversing Gaius’ actions, sought

rather to co-opt the eastern religions into the previously-accepted worship of Cybele, which was

accustomed to official oversight. The result was a cosmopolitan paganism with all the characteristics

needed to allow the early Empire to evolve into the eastern-style, monarchical empire of later centuries—

whose absolute ruler was worshipped, surrounded by a huge body of functionaries, served by a equally

substantial professional military.62

David G. Terrell
Herndon, VA

62
Cumont, 4.
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David G. Terrell

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