The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

to attend to the maintenance of the cult of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and the

Julii The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families of ancient Rome. From the early decades of the Republic, members of this gens served in the highest offices of the Roman state, beginning with Gaius Julius Iulus, consul in 489 ...

. Their establishment in 14 AD is described in the ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' of

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

. Their membership and organisation was very different from that of the Augustales or ''seviri Augustales'', found throughout the cities and towns of the western Roman empire and usually selected by town councilors. Up to 95% of attested ''seviri Augustales'' were freedmen. Many were members of professional associations, not invariably wealthy but still respectable, acting as benefactors to their communities and the State by funding public gifts (''

Munera Munera is a town and municipality in the province of Albacete, Spain; part of the autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constituti ...

''), such as entertainments, new buildings and distribution of the Cura Annonae (''annona'' or grain dole). In Rome, the twenty one ''sodales'' were chosen by lot from among the aristocracy, to which were added Tiberius, Drusus,

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, and

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

, as members of the imperial family. Women might be appointed priestesses of Augustus, a practice probably originating in the appointment of

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

by a decree of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

as priestess to her deceased husband. A

flamen A (plural ''flamines'') was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three (or "major priests"), who served the importa ...

could also be a member of the Augustales. These senatorial ''sodales Augustales'' were very different from the municipal '' seviri Augustales'', as Linderski put it: “two vastly dissimilar organizations sharing a similar name”. Related to the ''sodales Augustales'' were lesser known priesthoods that maintained the cults to deceased, deified emperors, each of whom had their own dedicated sodality.

Notes

Priests from the Roman Empire Augustus {{Ancient-Rome-stub

See also

Notes