Pseudo-Dionysius’ Concept of Hierarchy and the Imperial Cult in the Early Roman Empire

Marcin  Tomasiewicz

Pseudo-Dionysius’ Concept of Hierarchy and the Imperial Cult in the Early Roman Empire

Data publikacji: 31.03.2022

Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa, Tom 15 (2022), Tom 15, Zeszyt 1, s. 1 - 15

https://doi.org/10.4467/20844131KS.22.001.15249

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Tytuły

Pseudo-Dionysius’ Concept of Hierarchy and the Imperial Cult in the Early Roman Empire

Abstrakt

This article focuses on the relationship between the imperial cult in pagan Rome and the heavenly hierarchy taught by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The latter’s thought played a significant role in the construction of the medieval image of the world. Medieval reflection on the state and law drew from it as well. Therefore, possible analogies between the imperial cult and the philosophy of Corpus Dionysiacum would indicate an indirect influence that the imperial cult of the emperor had on certain later ideas about state power, on the legitimacy of certain forms of social and constitutional organization, and on prophetic visions inspiring social and political movements.

Against this background, the article compares the emperor’s genius (as well as the imperial virtues and the emperor’s numen) with the immaterial beings described by the Areopagite. It reveals clear parallels regarding the hierarchical construction of geniuses in the imperial cult of ancient Rome and Pseudo-Dionysius’ Angels, Names of God, and divine providences. The similarities in mediation between the human world and the divine reality regarding the granting of creative power and supernatural knowledge are also associated with this structure. In both cases, the divine element (genius and heavenly beings) has a historiosophical aspect, consisting of justification of belief about care that the deity exercises over the universal history of mankind.

The conducted research constitutes an impulse for further research in the field of political aspects of medieval angelology.

Słowa kluczowe

Emperor’s genius, providence, Pseudo-Dionysius, hierarchy, daimon; geniusz cesarza, opatrzność, Pseudo-Dionizy, hierarchia, daimon

Emperor’s genius, providence, Pseudo-Dionysius, hierarchy, daimon

Bibliografia

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Informacje

Informacje: Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa, Tom 15 (2022), Tom 15, Zeszyt 1, s. 1 - 15

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/20844131KS.22.001.15249

Typ artykułu: Oryginalny artykuł naukowy

Tytuły:

Polski:

Pseudo-Dionysius’ Concept of Hierarchy and the Imperial Cult in the Early Roman Empire

Angielski:

Pseudo-Dionysius’ Concept of Hierarchy and the Imperial Cult in the Early Roman Empire

Autorzy

Marcin Tomasiewicz

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-9364

Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II, Kanonicza 9, 31-002 Kraków

Publikacja: 31.03.2022

Status artykułu: Otwarte

Licencja: CC BY-NC-ND

Udział procentowy autorów:

Marcin Tomasiewicz (Autor) - 100%

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Języki publikacji:

Angielski

Liczba wyświetleń: 970

Liczba pobrań: 1200

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