Divi et Divae

Some emperors of the past have performed feats so exceptional that they undoubtedly revealed a divine nature. Once they had passed, they were therefore proclaimed "divi," deities. The legitimacy of this deification was always acknowleged by the gods through unmistakable signs, prodigies that manifested at the moment of their deaths. The first Divus was the great Romulus, who disappeared during an eclipse, shrouded in a mysterious cloud, and who was then deified with the name Quirinus. Many centuries later, the next was Julius Caesar, whose soul was seen taking flight from his funeral pyre in the form of an eagle. After these venerable characters, others earned the title of "divus" or "diva." The first woman to have this honor was Augustus' wife, Livia. The Divi and Divae have their own temples and priests, the Flamines and Flaminicae Imperiales, in every provincal capital of the Empire.