The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (singularSodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), [1] or simply Augustales, [2] [3] were an order ( sodalitas ) of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of the cult of Augustus and the Julii. [4] [5] [6] Their establishment in 14 AD is described in the Annales of Tacitus. [7] [8] Their membership and organisation was very different from that of the Augustales or seviri Augustales, found throughout the cities and towns of the western Roman empire and usually selected by town councilors. Up to 95% of attested Augustales were freedmen. Many were members of professional associations, not invariably wealthy but still respectable, acting as benefactors to their communities and the State by funding public gifts ( Munera ), such as entertainments, new buildings and distribution of the Cura Annonae (annona or grain dole). [9]
In Rome, the twenty one sodales were chosen by lot from among the aristocracy, to which were added Tiberius, Drusus, Claudius, and Germanicus, as members of the imperial family. [2] Women might be appointed priestesses of Augustus, a practice probably originating in the appointment of Livia by a decree of the Senate as priestess to her deceased husband. [10] A flamen could also be a member of the Augustales. [11] These senatorial sodales Augustales were very different from the municipal seviri Augustales , as Linderski put it: “two vastly dissimilar organizations sharing a similar name”. [12] Related to the sodales Augustales were lesser known priesthoods that maintained the cults to deceased, deified emperors, each of whom had their own dedicated sodality. [13]
Germanicus Julius Caesar was an ancient Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the patrician gens Claudia. The agnomen Germanicus was added to his full name in 9 BC when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honor of his victories in Germania. In AD 4, he was adopted by his paternal uncle Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus as Roman emperor a decade later. As a result, Germanicus became an official member of the gens Julia, another prominent family, to which he was related on his mother's side. His connection to the Julii Caesares was further consolidated through a marriage between himself and Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus. He was also the father of Caligula, the maternal grandfather of Nero, and the older brother of Claudius.
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father was the politician Tiberius Claudius Nero and his mother was Livia Drusilla, who would eventually divorce his father, and marry the future-emperor Augustus in 38 BC. Following the untimely deaths of Augustus' two grandsons and adopted heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius was designated Augustus' successor. Prior to this, Tiberius had proved himself an able diplomat, and one of the most successful Roman generals: his conquests of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and (temporarily) parts of Germania laid the foundations for the empire's northern frontier.
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The College of Pontiffs was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the pontifex maximus and the other pontifices, the rex sacrorum, the fifteen flamens, and the Vestals. The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges; originally their responsibility was limited to supervising both public and private sacrifices, but as time passed their responsibilities increased. The other colleges were the augures, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis , and the epulones.
Drusus Julius Caesar, was the son of Emperor Tiberius, and heir to the Roman Empire following the death of his adoptive brother Germanicus in AD 19.
Publius Cornelius Dolabella was a Roman senator active during the Principate. He was consul in AD 10 with Gaius Junius Silanus as his colleague. Dolabella is known for having reconstructed the Arch of Dolabella in Rome in AD 10, together with his co-consul Junius Silanus. Later, Nero used it for his aqueduct to the Caelian Hill.
The Augustalia, also known as the Ludi Augustales, was a festival celebrated October 12 in honor of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. It was established in conjunction with an altar to Fortuna Redux to mark the return of Augustus from Asia Minor to Rome in 19 BC. The pontiffs and Vestals conducted sacrifices, and the date became a holiday (feria) on the official religious calendar of Rome.
The Annals by Roman historian and senator Tacitus is a history of the Roman Empire from the reign of Tiberius to that of Nero, the years AD 14–68. The Annals are an important source for modern understanding of the history of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD; it is Tacitus' final work, and modern historians generally consider it his greatest writing. Historian Ronald Mellor calls it "Tacitus's crowning achievement", which represents the "pinnacle of Roman historical writing".
In ancient Rome, the principle of private association was recognized very early by the state. Sodalitates for religious purposes are mentioned in the Twelve Tables, and collegia opificum, or trade guilds, were believed to have been instituted by Numa Pompilius, which probably means that they were regulated by the jus divinum as being associated with particular cults.
The Roman imperial cult identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (auctoritas) of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the early Principate of Augustus. It was rapidly established throughout the Empire and its provinces, with marked local variations in its reception and expression.
Lucius Volusius Saturninus was a Roman senator from the powerful plebeian Volusia gens, or family. He held several offices in the emperor's service. Saturninus attracted the attention of his contemporaries for his long life: he died at the age of 93, and having sired a son at the age of 62.
The Titii was a college (sodalitas) of Roman priests.
Quintus Volusius Saturninus was a Roman Senator who lived in the Roman Empire during the Principate. He was consul in the year 56 with Publius Cornelius Scipio as his colleague.
Gaius Memmius Regulus was a first-century Roman senator. He was ordinary consul in AD 63, with Lucius Verginius Rufus as his colleague.
Titus Clodius Eprius Marcellus was a Roman senator, twice consul, best known for his prosecution of the Stoic senator Thrasea Paetus and his bitter quarrel with Helvidius Priscus. Eprius was also notorious for his ability to ingratiate himself with the reigning Emperors – especially Nero and Vespasian – and his hostility to any senatorial opposition, but in the last year of Vespasian, in circumstances that remain obscure, he was accused of treason and committed suicide.
Publius Memmius Regulus was a Roman senator active during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He served as consul suffectus from October to December AD 31 with Lucius Fulcinius Trio as his colleague, governor of Achaea from AD 35 to 44, and governor of Asia possibly in AD 48-49.
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on later juridical and religious vocabulary in Europe, particularly of the Western Church. This glossary provides explanations of concepts as they were expressed in Latin pertaining to religious practices and beliefs, with links to articles on major topics such as priesthoods, forms of divination, and rituals.
LuciusFulcinius Trio was a Roman senator who came from a plebeian family. Trio was an active prosecutor (delator) during the reign of Tiberius who developed a reputation for making accusations. He was governor of Lusitania from about 21 to 31, before returning to Rome to hold the office of consul suffect with Publius Memmius Regulus in 31. His friendship with Sejanus would lead to allegations that ended with his suicide in early 35.
The gens Seia was a minor plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and a few of them held various magistracies under the late Republic and into imperial times.
