by Jarred James Breaux

Created on: March 05, 2008   Last Updated: March 06, 2008

After Julius Caesar's coup of the Roman Republic, Caesar sought to solidify his claim as king of the Romans. Caesar claimed his family was the descendants of Venus and Jupiter. On his tour in Egypt, Caesar saw the marvelous statues dedicated to the kings of Egypt. The kings of Egypt were worshipped as gods and they ruled with a divine right. This imperial cult gave the king legitimacy to rule. Caesar needed a legitimate reason to rule Rome, but he would take slow steps before he became "dictator for life." But Caesar would not become the legitimate king of Rome, it would be his adopted son who would secure the Imperial Cult of Rome and seize the throne as the first Emperor of the Roman Empire.

Two years before Caesar's victory in Egypt, he made a pact with Venus Victrix at Pharsalus. Caesar promised to build a temple in her honor if he was victorious. After his victory, he built the temple; however, he did not dedicate it to Venus Victrix, rather he dedicated it to Venus Genetrix, the ancestral Venus of the Julian family. The temple represented Venus as the mother of Caesar and the mother of all Romans. "The significance of the new cult was brought home by the splendor of the temple and the magnificence of the ceremonies with which it was dedicated."

Before Caesar had returned from Egypt, the Senate voted to place Caesar's war chariot in front of the statue of Jupiter in Rome. An inscription on the chariot claimed Caesar as a demigod, but he had it removed.

In 45 B.C.E., Caesar's first big honor came after his victory at Munda. When news reached Rome the day before the festival of the founding of the city (Parilia), it was decided that the games be held in Caesar's honor the next day. This honor made Caesar synonymous with the founder of Rome. He was also given the title Liberator in that same session. A statue of Caesar was erected in the Temple of Quirnius with the inscription Deo Invicto, "to the unconquered god." Caesar was also given a house at the public's expense, which had the same roof as the temples. His image was also placed among the gods at the Circus Maximus and on coins. It was the first time that a living man's image was placed on coins.

At the beginning of 44 B.C.E., Caesar was given the title of parens patriae, another title like pontifix maximus, which declared him as the father of the state. It was also laid out that everyone should swear by Caesar's Genius. This was a common practice in the Hellenistic East. Statues of Caesar were placed in

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