they began to be individualised, so that the next step in emperor-worship was when the dead Julius, a particular ancestor therefore of Augustus, began to be worshipped by the whole people and officially by the state.  But also from the beginning there had been still another element in family worship, the cult paid to the Genius or divine double of the living master of the house.  There followed then correspondingly as another step toward emperor-worship, the homage paid by the whole state to the Genius of the living emperor.  These three steps:  the worship by the whole state of the gods of the emperor’s family, in its three forms, the gods of the family in general, and in particular the deified ancestor, and the Genius of the living representative, were all encouraged and officially established by Augustus.  Lastly there came from the Orient a habit of thought in distinct contradiction to Roman ideas whereby not the Genius of the living emperor but the very man himself was divine in life and in death.  Augustus fought against this concept but had to yield to it and allow himself to be worshipped directly as a god in the Orient itself and in certain coast towns of Italy which were under strong Oriental influence, but he forbade it in Rome, and thus established a precedent which was followed by all the better ones among the emperors who came after him.

This digression was necessary in order that we might appreciate the reasons for Augustus’s preferences in emphasising certain cults.  Unquestionably he did not foresee or plan for an emperor-worship such as eventually grew up out of his arrangements; he was however deeply interested in emphasising the worship of the special deities of his own family.  The four gods therefore whose names he couples with that of Juppiter in the summary of his religious activity—­Apollo, Vesta, Mars the Avenger, and the god Julius—­are all intimately connected with his family; and if we add to this the worship of his own Genius, the Genius Augusti, we shall have the real kernel of his religious restoration.  It remains for us to see in what way these deities are connected with his family, and how he managed to emphasise their cult and at the same time to bring them into close relationship to himself.

From the time of his first introduction into Rome Apollo had stood in a relation of contrast to Juppiter.  Apollo’s oracles, the Sibylline books, had brought in a host of Greek gods whose presence tended inevitably to lessen the unique position and the unparalleled prestige of Juppiter Optimus Maximus, the great representative of nationalism in Roman religion.  At first this contrast was scarcely marked, and the very oracles of Apollo which were destined to undermine Juppiter’s omnipotence were stored in Juppiter’s temple and under his protection.  The difference was felt more strongly as the priesthood of the Sibylline books began to grow in influence alongside of the pontiffs, the priests of the Juppiter cults.  This opposition