Classic Reads: Stephen Price on Rituals and Power

S. R. F. Price
Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

This is an old book, but still a classic read, and necessary reading for anyone wanting to gain insights into the Roman empire and the cult of the emperors.

Price shows that the imperial cult wasn’t just vanity and pretend religion, it was real religion, and it created a real network of power between the gods, the emperor, and the people.

Here’s one quote that I think sums up a lot:

The imperial cult, like other civic cults, was tied up with the political, social, and economic structures of the contemporary world, whose ideals and conflicts were articulated through it. Except for the resistance of Christians to festivals in honour of the emperor, the conflicts within the cities and between cities took place with a framework that was shared by all. The struggles of competitors to win at the imperial games, the fighting for honorific position by the local elites and the concern for the standing of one’s own city against other cities of the province all presupposed (and enhanced) the importance of the imperial cult. the cult thus helped to ensure that the energies of the subjects of Rome were not directed towards subversive activities. It was a force for order rather than disorder and consolidated the social and political hierarchies from which it arose.