Prophets and Emperors: Human and Divine Authority from Augustus to Theodosius PDF
Preview Prophets and Emperors: Human and Divine Authority from Augustus to Theodosius
Revealing Antiquity . 7 · G. W. Bowersock, General Editor Prophets and Emperors Human and Divine Authority from Augustus to Theodosius DAVID POTTER HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 1994 Copyright © 1994 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper, and its binding materials have been chosen for strength and durability. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Potter, D. S. (David Stone), 1957- Prophets and emperors: human and divine authority from Augustus to Theodosius / David Potter, p. cm. — (Revealing antiquity; 7) Includes index. ISBN 0-674-71565-9 1. Divination—Rome. 2. Oracles, Roman. 3. Sibyls. 4. Prophets—Rome. 5. Astrology, Roman. 6. Rome—Religion. I. Title. II. Series. BF1768.P67 1994 133.3'248'0937—dc20 94-25982 CIP Acknowledgments THIS BOOK began to be formed in the delightful atmosphere pro- vided by the senior common room of New College, Oxford, during a term as visiting fellow in Michaelmas 1989. I am indebted to the Warden and Fellows for this opportunity. It was written in Ann Arbor during the academic year 1992—93 in the equally con- genial atmosphere provided by colleagues in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan. An early version of Chapter 5 was delivered at a colloquium here and at the University of Toronto in March 1993, and it is a pleasure to thank my audi- ences on both occasions for their comments. Portions of Chapter 3 have adapted earlier work on Sibylline Oracles that appeared in the Journal of Roman Archaeology and Prophecy and History in the Crisis of the Roman Empire. With some minor variations, references to ancient works follow the system in H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th rev. ed. with supplement, and P. W. Glare, Oxford Latin Dictionary. The maps were designed by Brian Harvey, to whom I am extremely thankful for his generous do- nation of much time and ingenuity. I am equally grateful to Peg Fulton for her advice on a number of problematic issues and her support for this project. Ann Hawthorne made many improve- ments through her careful editing of the manuscript. Throughout my work on this subject, I have benefited from the advice of many friends. My debts to Glen Bowersock, George Forrest, Robin Lane Fox, and John Matthews are of long standing, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge them once again. So too are the debts I owe my colleagues Sue Alcock, John Cherry, John Dillery, Ann Hanson, Sara Myers, Brian Schmidt, Traianos Gagos, and, above all, Ludwig Koenen, for the vast learning that he has put at my disposal with enormous tolerance and unfailing gener- osity. Most of all, it is a pleasure to thank my wife, Ellen, who vastly improved this book, and our daughter, Claire, who contributed in her own way. This book is dedicated to the memory of a scholar and friend whose learning was matched by his humanity in the broadest sense of the word—Antony Andrewes. vi Acknowledgments Contents 1 Prophecy and Cult 1 Active and Passive Religious Experience 4 Inductive and Subjective Prognostication 15 Oracles and Prophets: The Agents of Subjective Divination 22 The Nature of Prophetic Inspiration 47 2 Scholars, Poets, and Sibyls 58 Scholarship 61 Prophecy in Literature 64 Tradition and Transformation: The Case of the Sibylline Oracles 71 Readers and Writers of Prophetic Texts in the Roman Empire 93 3 Prophecy and the Informed Public 98 Oracular Responses to History 99 The Emperor's Message 110 Analyzing the Emperors' Messages 131 Imperial History in the Sibylline Oracles 137 4 Prophecy and Personal Power in the Roman Empire 146 The Republican Background 147 Court Politics 158 Prophecy and Political Unrest 171 5 Eastern Wisdom in Roman Prophetic Books 183 East and West in Fact and Fiction 183 Hermes Trismegistus and Julianus the Chaldean 192 The Closing of the Roman Mind 206 Epilogue: Power, Culture, and Communication 213 Notes 219 Index 273 viii Contents Prophets and Emperors
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