Ascension Day is an important Christian holiday that celebrates the return of Jesus to heaven after his resurrection. However, did you know that there are parallels between Ascension Day and an ancient Roman concept called "apotheosis"?
In Roman society, the practices of apotheosis were closely linked to power structures and political propaganda. The elevation of a ruler to divine status served to consolidate his authority and legitimacy as well as that of his potential successor. Parallels can also be found here between apotheosis in ancient Roman culture and the Christian feast of the ascension of Jesus.
Initially, the apotheosis of the early emperors still seems to have involved the witnessing of the event. The ancient authors Suetonius and Cassius Dio report witnesses who swore that they had seen the soul of the emperor Augustus ascend into heaven after his body had been burned. Witnesses are also mentioned in the Christian accounts of the Ascension.
Later, such as after the death of the emperor Antoninus Pius in 161 AD, the process of deification seems to have been formalized by resolutions of the Senate. The Historia Augusta no longer mentions any witnesses who conjure up the rise of the imperial soul. This can also be seen from the fact that the emperor is accompanied by his wife Faustina the Elder at his ascension. However, she died around 20 years before him and was also elevated to the divine status by the Senate.
Friedrich W. Brüggemann
Photo: Sergey Sosnovskiy: Depiction of the apotheosis of Antoninus Pius and Faustina at the base of the Antoninus Pius Column.
