Star Power: Astral Theology, Castorian Imagery, and Dual Heirs in Imperial Rome

Today we speak of movie stars, rock stars, all-star athletes, and even academic stars. The role of “stars” in the cult of personality has a long tradition. From the time of early Egyptian and Near Eastern civilizations, man– or more precisely, royalty– aspired to dwell among the stars in heaven for all eternity as the ultimate reward after death. Greece played a key role in the transmission of ideas of astral divinity, especially in the Hellenistic period following the conquests of Alexander the Great. As Rome expanded eastward and conquered the Hellenistic kingdoms, it absorbed many aspects of Hellenistic royal ideology and astral theology. In this lecture Professor Pollini explains how astral theology and the imagery of the Greek twin gods (the Dioscuri or Castores) were adopted by the emperor Augustus to promote a system of “dual heirs” that would ensure the orderly transmission of imperial power. The lecture focuses on the Imperial period from the time of Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) to the reign of Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211).
This lecture is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. For more information, or for assistance in accommodating a disability, please call (805) 682-4711.

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