네오코로스(Neokoros)에 나타난 황제의례의 정치적 의미

The Political Significance of Emperor Cult in Neokoros

Emperor cult was firstly performed for Augustus, who subjugated disorder in the late period of the Roman Republic and resolutely carried through the transition to a new political system. And it showed different characters in the eastern empire and in the western. Usually the emperor cult in the eastern empire is regarded as religious, while in the western as political. Religion, however, could not be separated from politics in ancient times, especially in the eastern empire. That is to say, the emperor cult in the eastern Greece was traditionally based upon religion and at the same time appeared as strongly political in the system of neokoros. By examining the characters of neokoros, therefore, this paper intends to show that the emperor cult in the eastern empire had both religious character and political one. Thus in chapter 2, it will observe the base on which the eastern emperor cult was established, the pattern how it appeared, and its religious nature. In chapter 3, this paper will examine the meaning of the title neokoros and how its meaning changed, as well as three major duties, which neokoros was expected to carry out, such as the performance of sacrificial cult, the financial responsibilities, and the administrative ones. The title neokoros was traditionally related to temple priests. In the period of Roman empire, however, it changed to the title of the city where the emperor temple was placed. Thus cities built competitively emperor temples and struggled to receive the title neokoros. In chapter 4, this article will examine the procedures which cities followed to acquire the title. On these procedures, koinon, the senate, and the measurable figures of the city exerted their influence. In the last chapter, the competition of cities to be neokoros and the privileges which the cities would enjoyed after being titled neokoros will be examined. Finally it will show that neokoros did not play as a divine worship to revere emperor as a deity but as a political, diplomatic and economical mechanism in relation to the honour of their city.