Source: TW
Divine Emperor
Coin commemorating the consecratio of Antoninus Pius by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
DIVUS ANTONINUS, divine Antoninus. Consecration as a divus(divine) was not done with every emperor, and cult to deceased emperors was awarded by the Senate.
DIVA FAUSTINA. CONSECRATIO. This coin is for Antoninus’ wife Faustina. She died while he was reigning, and he pushed for her inclusion in the imperial cult.
The imperial cult is something that I think is important to understand for a pagan. The main point of contention for Romans was when and how an emperor was given these honors.
A living emperor did not get them, though some were said to have claimed them(like the insane Caligula). It was not considered proper to give a living person such honors.
Scaling up
But the Romans did worship the Dii Parentes(divine ancestors/parents) and Manes(the spirits of the deceased in general). Hero cults also existed. Though the worship here was distinct from worship of the high gods.
In the ancient Roman clan structure, the family genius(clan god) was with the paterfamilias, so the clan members worshiped his genius. This is what the imperial cult was in practice, just scaled up to where the emperor was everyone’s paterfamilias and leader.
A home altar below.
Pater Patriae(father of the country) was an imperial title for a reason. It was meant to elevate the imperial family(which changed often and was not strictly by blood) to being the head of all the families in the empire.
Scandinavia
I bring this up partly because ruler cult was not unique to the Romans(who were late adopters) or Greeks or Egyptians. It existed in Scandinavia too. Multiple sources mention how past rulers that had good reigns were worshiped by the people. Olaf the Elf of Geirstad for example.
Olaf was a king in Norway who predicted a plague and prepared a burial mound for himself and members of his retinue(he knew he’d die). He also predicted the plague would end with his death. This came to pass. People later worshiped him as an elf(ancestral spirit) because of this.
King Halfdan the Black was also worshiped, and at 4 locations. Pieces of him were buried in separate mounds across his kingdom. Scandinavian cults to the ancestors and rulers were focused on burial sites and mounds.
There is also a story from a Christian source where the pagan priests in Sweden said “we don’t need a new god(Jesus) because we can worship one of our past kings.” Another source also agrees that in addition to gods, great men were given divine honors among the Norse.
At Old Uppsala in Sweden, there are many mounds. This was where the old royal seat was, and the ancient rulers were buried there. Burial mounds may have had posts with a door, and water moats, originally. These were considered gateways to Hel, the realm of the dead.
The ancient kings in Scandinavia were also vested with a religious role, much like rulers in many other lands. Keep in mind, even republics and democracies in the ancient world vested the state with religious duties. There were officials elected just to organize festivals.
King, kin
The very word “king” is from an ancient Germanic root meaning “leader of the kin.” So we see the same idea again.
Aristotle made the point that larger government forms were derived from family structures of very ancient times, far before him. It’s there in the terminology. Oaths were sworn by the gods of the people and the state. There wasn’t an idea of secular government. The closest the Romans got was religious tolerance and cosmopolitanism. Elected magistrates all over had to participate in religious ceremonies at the public and private level.
Family membership
Membership in a family meant worshiping its ancestors and clan god. Even if you were adopted, this is what finalized adoption. To the pagan mind, someone refusing to participate in public cult could not be a citizen, and without private, was a member of no kin-group. A non-entity.
This thread is yet another lead in to a bigger topic I hope to expand. Lot of those hanging around now that need expanded on. Domestic worship, ancestral cult, conceptions of what ancestors and others could do. How does a hero differ from an ancestor? Things like that.