Rome's Divine Right

At the height of Roman power, during the time when Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70-19 BC) would have written the Aeneid, there was no questioning Rome’s right to rule. The Empire extended from Spain in the west eastward to the shores of the Black Sea, from the deserts of Africa north to Britain. Who could deny that the gods favored Rome above all others. Virgil addresses this divine right to rule felt by most Romans in Chapter VIII of the Aeneid.  Venus herself is depicted coming down from the heavens bearing gifts of armor for her son, Aeneas.[1] Among the armor he is given Aeneas finds a gleaming shield, the centerpiece of the amazing arms forged by Vulcan himself to aid Aeneas in battle. This shield depicts Roman history from the suckling of Romulus and Remus by the wolf to Caesar’s triumphal entry into Rome and being seated on a throne as the subjugated nations pay tribute. Aeneas knows nothing of the images engraved on the shield and takes it up, carrying the future of Rome and his descendants into battle. [2]

This divine right to rule as the gods have foretold is a central theme in Roman thought. The idea that the gods have selected Rome to lead the world strengthens their drive and ambition. Aeneas and his son Iulus also play a major role in the reign of Julius Caesar and his descendants as they claim to be descended from Iulus, and thus Aeneas and Venus.[3] Caesar enjoys his place on the throne because the gods willed it when Vulcan cast the future of Rome onto the shield of Aeneas. By being able to claim decent from the gods Caesar and those who followed him were able to exercise greater power and greater excess as well. The Roman people are more than happy to follow along with this line of thought because it helps cement their position as a world power by being a civilization founded by the gods themselves. Rome’s history as depicted on the shield is one of conquest and expansion. This entire story mirrors Greek mythology and the story of Theseus, the founding hero of Athens who is given spectacular armor forged by the gods, complete with a shield depicting the history of all of Greece. But where Greece fell, Rome continues on beyond the imagination of the gods, exceeding even their abilities to predict the future. From the ashes of a once great civilization, Rome grows to become even greater than the gods can know.

 

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[1] Virgil. Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1910). accessed April 17^th, 2014, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/ 8.603-607.

[2] Virgil. Aeneid. 8.627-729.

[3] Livy. History of Rome. English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912 accessed April 17^th, 2014, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/ 1.3.2.