The practice of apotheosis involves the emperor ascending into the heavens and becoming a god after their death. This person shows divine characteristics during their life that lead others to believe they are not fully mortal. The emperor cult worships the emperors as divine, and honors them in a way that rivals the gods of Olympus. Augustus was spoken of as the “son of god,” and temples were built for him as well as an attempt to create a new calendar based on his birthday. However, this emperor cult did not go without opposition. Romulus was skeptical of the idea that a mortal could become a god after death., and wanted to do away with the religious practice.

The traditions of divine kingship could have been appealing to Augustus through his father. The tradition was a crucial part of Egyptian life in the times leading up to Julius Caesar. The Romans adopted this ideology when Caesar and Rome took over Egypt. This happened in the days of Cleopatra VII, who at the time was the lover of Julius Caesar. I would venture a guess to say that Augustus would have wanted to continue on with the traditions brought to Rome by his father.

Living in the first century if I were to come across Luke’s writings I would feel as though he wanted me to believe that we were being ruled under a false emperor. That he was not divine, but the true king and messiah was a child yet to come. Luke wants to create doubt in the readers mind about their rulers and open a door for the true God to be revealed. This story would have probably angered and embarrassed the emperors; that a child born in a manger was the true son of God. They might have even been filled with fear in case there was any truth to this story and they could be overthrown. I would even go as far as to say there was some fear in the majority of the people because this would mean everything they thought they knew was false. That there is one God who’s son has come to set them free, and the divine emperors they served were a lie.