Augusti

Imperial honorific

Augustus' religious reforms extended or affirmed Augusti as a near ubiquitous title or honour for various minor local deities, including the Lares Augusti of local communities, and obscure provincial deities such as the North AfricanMarazgu Augustus. This extension of an Imperial honorific to major and minor deities of Rome and her provinces is considered a ground-level feature of Imperial cult, which continued until the official replacement of Rome's traditional religions by Christianity. The religious ambiguity of the title allowed for this kind of deification throughout the empire as subjects – beginning from Asia and Bithynia – adopted the worship of the genius or soul of Augustus, establishing a ruler-cult.