Basileia: Les Cesars, Les Rois d'Orient Et Les Mages

From Augustus (63 BC) to Constantine (AD 272-337), Roman emperors constantly strove to legitimise their ambiguous power through a form of supernatural consecration. Remarkable continuity can be observed from Apollo - the patron saint of Octavius and of the neopythagoreans - to Aurelian’s Invincible Sun, and even to Constantine’s radiating Horns . A power endowed with something monstrous and illegal (at least when compared to traditional institutions and human rights) always needs to be justified on the grounds of divine right. The Imperial religion, with its political allegories and apotheosis-based rites, is not solely to blame with regard to this issue, which has turned out to be the most critical one to consider in attempting to fathom the reason behind the conduct of the Caesars - whether good or bad, mad or wise. In these seven chapters abounding with theories and fruitful hypotheses (regardless of whether or not all readers will instantly agree with them), Jean Gage shows that the princes - whether heirs or rulers - called upon the realms of magic and astrology to garner the prestigious crowns of a true basileia.