Triumphal Chariots, Emperor Worship and Dio Cassius:Declined Triumphal Honours

This article sets out to identify the links between triumphal chariots and emperor worship during the reign of Augustus. The triumphal chariot became part of substitute-honours replacing the triumph proper, simultaneously becoming associated with the worship of the living princeps. Dio Cassius, our main source for emperor worship under Augustus, deliberately falsified his historical narrative on the matter. His claim that there was no cult in Italy to the living Augustus has already been proven wrong by Gradel (1992; 2002). This article offers an explanation as to why that is: Dio Cassius claims that during the reign of Augustus no Roman citizen took part in worship of the living emperor (51.20.6-8). This is untrue, but essential to his purpose, because he required a model emperor with which he could construct a historical consensus on the issue of worship of the living emperor