Title: Sacral and divine kingship in Seleucid Empire and Western Han
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2023, vol. 28, iss. 2, pp. 123-138
Extent
123-138
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2023-2-8
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.79119
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 International
Rights access
open access
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This article aims to compare sacral and divine aspects of rulership in ancient China during Western Han dynasty and in the ancient Seleucid empire, with a focus on the divine origin of rulers, rulers as the chief priests, rulers as gods, and divine legitimacy. The cultural evolution involving ideas about the sacral role of rulers and their divinity will be presented, from ancient Macedonia to Seleucid empire and from Shang and Zhou dynasties through the Warring States period and Qin dynasty to the state of Western Han. The article aims to explore the above-mentioned aspects of sacral kingship to find out what forms these aspects took in both respective empires. The article aims particularly at the participation of rulers in local cults, the differences between ruler cults, celestial gods as the supreme authority, and gods connected with conquest and territory in order to contextualize our views of both Seleucid and Western Han empires, and by proxy the views on ancient China and ancient Hellenistic states.
eng
Note
The study was published within the project MUNI/A/1208/2022 Evropské proměny a konstanty: antické civilizace a jazyky v dalším evropském vývoji (European Changes and Stability: Ancient Civilizations and Languages in Later European Transformations).
References
[1] Ban, G. (1938). The History of the Former Han Dynasty (Vol. 1). Baltimore: Waverly Press.
[2] Ban, G. (1944). The History of the Former Han Dynasty (Vol. 2). Baltimore: Waverly Press.
[3] Ban, G. (1955). The History of the Former Han Dynasty (Vol. 3). Baltimore: Waverly Press.
[4] Burtt, J. O. et al. (1957). Minor Attic Orators (Vol. II). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[5] Chavannes, É. (1898). Les memoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien (Vol. 3). Paris: Ernest Leroux.
[6] Crosby, W. H. (Ed.). (1854). Quintus Curtius Rufus: Life and exploits of Alexander the Great. New York − London: D. Appleton and company.
[7] Dittenberger, W. (Ed.). (1903). Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae: Supplementum Sylloges Inscriptionum Graecarum. Leipzig: S. Hirzel.
[8] Foerster, R. (Ed.). (1903). Libanii Opera (Vol. 1). Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
[9] Geer, R. M. (Transl.). (1947). Diodorus of Sicily (Vol. 9). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[10] Godley, A. D. (Transl.). (1969). Herodotus in four volumes (Vol. 4). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[11] Karlgren, B. (Transl.). (1974). The Book of Odes. Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
[12] Kern, M. (2000). The stele inscriptions of Ch'in Shih-huang: text and ritual in early Chinese imperial representation. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
[13] Malay, H. (1983). Letter of Antiochos III to Zeuxis with Two Covering Letters (209 B.C.). Epigraphica Anatolica, 10, 7−17.
[14] Merkelbach, R., & West, M. L. (1967). Fragmenta Hesiodea. London: Oxford University Press.
[15] Müller, F. M. (1879). The sacred books of the past (Vol. 3). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[16] Murray, A. T. (Transl.). (1924). Homer: The Iliad (Vol. 1). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[17] Murray, A. T. (Transl.). (1925). Homer: The Iliad (Vol. 2). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[18] Perrin, B. (Transl.). (1967). Plutarch's Lives (Vol. 7). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[19] Robson, E. I. (Transl.). (1966). Arrian: Anabasis Alexandri (Vol. 2). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[20] Ruehl, F. (Ed.). (1886). M. Iuniani Iustini Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
[21] Sima, Q. (1971). Records of the Grand Historian (transl. B. Watson; Vol. 1). New York: Columbia University Press.
[22] Sima, Q. (1993). Records of the Grand Historian (transl. B. Watson; Vol. 2). New York: Columbia University Press.
[23] Sima, Q. (1994). The Grand Scribe's Records (Vol. 1; ed. & transl. T. Cheng, Z. Lu, W. H. Nienhauser Jr., R. Reynolds). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
[24] Sima, Q., Lomová, O., & Pokora, T. (2012). Kniha vrchních písařů: Výbor z díla čínského historika. Praha: Karolinum.
[25] Smith, C. F. (Transl.). (1956). Thucydides (Vol. 1). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[26] Spiro, F. (Ed.). (1967). Pausaniae Graeciae Descriptio. Stuttgart: Teubner.
[27] Welles, C. B. (Transl.). (1983). Diodorus of Sicily in twelve volumes (Vol. 8). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[28] White, H. (Transl.). (1912). Appian's Roman history (Vol. 2). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[29] Yardley, J. (Transl.). (1984). Quintus Curtius Rufus: The History of Alexander. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
[30] Anagnostou-Laoutides, E. (2017). In the Garden of the Gods: Models of Kingship from the Sumerians to Seleucids. London − New York: Routledge.
[31] Bilde, P. (1990). Religion and religious practice in Seleucid Kingdom. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[32] Bilde, P., Engberg-Pedersen, T., Hannestad, L., & Zahle, J. (1996). Aspects of Hellenistic kingship. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[33] Bottéro, J. (2001). Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[34] Bremmer, J. N. (2007). Greek Normative Animal Sacrifice. In D. Ogden (Ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[35] Brosius, M. (2021). A History of Ancient Persia. The Achaemenid Empire. Hoboken, New Jersey: Blackwell.
[36] Bujard, M. (2009). State and local cults in Han religion. In J. Lagerwey, & M. Kalinowski (Eds.), Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[37] Burkert, W. J. (1985). Greek Religion. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
[38] Chaniotis, A. (2005). The Divinity of Hellenistic Rulers. In A. Erskine (Ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[39] Christesen, P., & Murray, S. C. (2010). Macedonian Religion. In J. Roisman, & I. Worthington (Eds.), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[40] Cook, C. A. (2009). Ancestor worship during the Western Zhou. In J. Lagerwey, & M. Kalinowski (Eds.), Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[41] Ekroth, G. (2007). Heroes and Hero-Cults. In D. Ogden (Ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[42] Eno, R. (2009). Shang state religion. In J. Lagerwey, & M. Kalinowski (Eds.), Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[43] Erskine, A. (2005). A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[44] Felton, D. (2007). The Dead. In D. Ogden (Ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[45] Hammond, N. G. L. (1989). The Macedonian State. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[46] Hammond, N. G. L. (2000). The Continuity of Macedonian Institutions and the Macedonian Kingdoms of the Hellenistic Era. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 49(2), 141−160.
[47] Keightley, D. N. (1986). Shang: China's First Historical Dynasty. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[48] Kent, R. G. (1950). Old Persian. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriental Society.
[49] Kern, M. (1996). In praise of political legitimacy: The miao and jiao hymns of the Western Han. Oriens Extremus, 39(1), 29−67.
[50] King, C. J. (2010). Macedonian Kingship and Other Political Institutions. In J. Roisman, & I. Worthington (Eds.), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[51] Kuhrt, A. (1996). Seleucid Kings and Babylonia: New Perspectives on Seleucid Realm in the East. In P. Bilde, T. Engberg-Pedersen, L. Hannestad, & J. Zahle, Aspects of Hellenistic kingship. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[52] Lagerwey, J., & Kalinowski, M. (2009). Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[53] Lewis, M. E. (2007). The early Chinese empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
[54] Li, F. (2013). Early China: a social and cultural history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[55] Loewe, M. (1974). Crisis and conflict in Han, 104 BC to AD 9. London − New York: Routledge.
[56] Loewe, M. (1986a). The concept of sovereignty. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I; pp. 726−746). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[57] Loewe, M. (1986b). The Former Han Dynasty. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I; pp. 103−222). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[58] Loewe, M. (1986c). The religious and intellectual background. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I; pp. 649−725). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[59] Loewe, M., & Shaughnessy, E. L. (Eds.). (1999). The Cambridge history of ancient China: from the origins of civilization to 221 B.C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[60] Ma, J. (2000). Antiochos III and the cities of Western Asia Minor. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[61] Ogden, D. (2007). A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[62] Palmer, D. A. (2011). Religion in Chinese Social and Political History. In D. A. Palmer, G. Shive, & P. Wickeri, Chinese religious life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[63] Palmer, D. A., Shive, G., & Wickeri, P. (2011). Chinese religious life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[64] Pines, Y. (2014). The Messianic Emperor: A New Look at Qin's Place in China's History. In Y. Pines, G. Shelach, L. von Falkenhausen, & R. D. S. Yates (Eds.), Birth of an Empire: The State of Qin Revisited. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[65] Pines, Y., Shelach, G., Falkenhausen, L. von, & Yates, R. D. S. (2014). Birth of an Empire: The State of Qin Revisited. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[66] Puett, M. J. (2004). To become a god: cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinization in early China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[67] Roisman, J., & Worthington, I. (2010). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[68] Sachs, A., & Hunger, H. (1989). Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia (Vol. 2). Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
[69] Sherwin-White, S. & Kuhrt, A. (1991). Aspects of Seleucid Royal Ideology: The Cylinder of Antiochus I from Borsippa. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 111, 71−86.
[70] Sherwin-White, S. & Kuhrt, A. (1993). From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to Seleucid Empire. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
[71] Skjaervo, P. O. (2013). Avesta and Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenids and Early Sasanians. In D. T. Potts, The Oxford handbook of ancient Iran. New York: Oxford University Press.
[72] Svoboda, L. (1973). Encyklopedie antiky. Praha: Academia.
[73] Zahle, J. (1990). Religious motifs on Seleucid coins. In P. Bilde (Ed.), Religion and religious practice in Seleucid Kingdom. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[74] Zaidman, L. B., & Pantel, P. S. (1989). Religion in the Ancient Greek City. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Ban, G. (1944). The History of the Former Han Dynasty (Vol. 2). Baltimore: Waverly Press.
[3] Ban, G. (1955). The History of the Former Han Dynasty (Vol. 3). Baltimore: Waverly Press.
[4] Burtt, J. O. et al. (1957). Minor Attic Orators (Vol. II). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[5] Chavannes, É. (1898). Les memoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien (Vol. 3). Paris: Ernest Leroux.
[6] Crosby, W. H. (Ed.). (1854). Quintus Curtius Rufus: Life and exploits of Alexander the Great. New York − London: D. Appleton and company.
[7] Dittenberger, W. (Ed.). (1903). Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae: Supplementum Sylloges Inscriptionum Graecarum. Leipzig: S. Hirzel.
[8] Foerster, R. (Ed.). (1903). Libanii Opera (Vol. 1). Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
[9] Geer, R. M. (Transl.). (1947). Diodorus of Sicily (Vol. 9). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[10] Godley, A. D. (Transl.). (1969). Herodotus in four volumes (Vol. 4). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[11] Karlgren, B. (Transl.). (1974). The Book of Odes. Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
[12] Kern, M. (2000). The stele inscriptions of Ch'in Shih-huang: text and ritual in early Chinese imperial representation. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
[13] Malay, H. (1983). Letter of Antiochos III to Zeuxis with Two Covering Letters (209 B.C.). Epigraphica Anatolica, 10, 7−17.
[14] Merkelbach, R., & West, M. L. (1967). Fragmenta Hesiodea. London: Oxford University Press.
[15] Müller, F. M. (1879). The sacred books of the past (Vol. 3). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[16] Murray, A. T. (Transl.). (1924). Homer: The Iliad (Vol. 1). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[17] Murray, A. T. (Transl.). (1925). Homer: The Iliad (Vol. 2). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[18] Perrin, B. (Transl.). (1967). Plutarch's Lives (Vol. 7). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[19] Robson, E. I. (Transl.). (1966). Arrian: Anabasis Alexandri (Vol. 2). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[20] Ruehl, F. (Ed.). (1886). M. Iuniani Iustini Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
[21] Sima, Q. (1971). Records of the Grand Historian (transl. B. Watson; Vol. 1). New York: Columbia University Press.
[22] Sima, Q. (1993). Records of the Grand Historian (transl. B. Watson; Vol. 2). New York: Columbia University Press.
[23] Sima, Q. (1994). The Grand Scribe's Records (Vol. 1; ed. & transl. T. Cheng, Z. Lu, W. H. Nienhauser Jr., R. Reynolds). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
[24] Sima, Q., Lomová, O., & Pokora, T. (2012). Kniha vrchních písařů: Výbor z díla čínského historika. Praha: Karolinum.
[25] Smith, C. F. (Transl.). (1956). Thucydides (Vol. 1). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[26] Spiro, F. (Ed.). (1967). Pausaniae Graeciae Descriptio. Stuttgart: Teubner.
[27] Welles, C. B. (Transl.). (1983). Diodorus of Sicily in twelve volumes (Vol. 8). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[28] White, H. (Transl.). (1912). Appian's Roman history (Vol. 2). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[29] Yardley, J. (Transl.). (1984). Quintus Curtius Rufus: The History of Alexander. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
[30] Anagnostou-Laoutides, E. (2017). In the Garden of the Gods: Models of Kingship from the Sumerians to Seleucids. London − New York: Routledge.
[31] Bilde, P. (1990). Religion and religious practice in Seleucid Kingdom. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[32] Bilde, P., Engberg-Pedersen, T., Hannestad, L., & Zahle, J. (1996). Aspects of Hellenistic kingship. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[33] Bottéro, J. (2001). Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[34] Bremmer, J. N. (2007). Greek Normative Animal Sacrifice. In D. Ogden (Ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[35] Brosius, M. (2021). A History of Ancient Persia. The Achaemenid Empire. Hoboken, New Jersey: Blackwell.
[36] Bujard, M. (2009). State and local cults in Han religion. In J. Lagerwey, & M. Kalinowski (Eds.), Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[37] Burkert, W. J. (1985). Greek Religion. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
[38] Chaniotis, A. (2005). The Divinity of Hellenistic Rulers. In A. Erskine (Ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[39] Christesen, P., & Murray, S. C. (2010). Macedonian Religion. In J. Roisman, & I. Worthington (Eds.), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[40] Cook, C. A. (2009). Ancestor worship during the Western Zhou. In J. Lagerwey, & M. Kalinowski (Eds.), Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[41] Ekroth, G. (2007). Heroes and Hero-Cults. In D. Ogden (Ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[42] Eno, R. (2009). Shang state religion. In J. Lagerwey, & M. Kalinowski (Eds.), Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[43] Erskine, A. (2005). A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[44] Felton, D. (2007). The Dead. In D. Ogden (Ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[45] Hammond, N. G. L. (1989). The Macedonian State. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[46] Hammond, N. G. L. (2000). The Continuity of Macedonian Institutions and the Macedonian Kingdoms of the Hellenistic Era. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 49(2), 141−160.
[47] Keightley, D. N. (1986). Shang: China's First Historical Dynasty. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[48] Kent, R. G. (1950). Old Persian. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriental Society.
[49] Kern, M. (1996). In praise of political legitimacy: The miao and jiao hymns of the Western Han. Oriens Extremus, 39(1), 29−67.
[50] King, C. J. (2010). Macedonian Kingship and Other Political Institutions. In J. Roisman, & I. Worthington (Eds.), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[51] Kuhrt, A. (1996). Seleucid Kings and Babylonia: New Perspectives on Seleucid Realm in the East. In P. Bilde, T. Engberg-Pedersen, L. Hannestad, & J. Zahle, Aspects of Hellenistic kingship. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[52] Lagerwey, J., & Kalinowski, M. (2009). Early Chinese religion, 1: Shang through Han (1250 BC − 220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
[53] Lewis, M. E. (2007). The early Chinese empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
[54] Li, F. (2013). Early China: a social and cultural history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[55] Loewe, M. (1974). Crisis and conflict in Han, 104 BC to AD 9. London − New York: Routledge.
[56] Loewe, M. (1986a). The concept of sovereignty. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I; pp. 726−746). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[57] Loewe, M. (1986b). The Former Han Dynasty. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I; pp. 103−222). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[58] Loewe, M. (1986c). The religious and intellectual background. In D. Twitchett, & M. Loewe (Eds.), The Cambridge History of China (Vol. I; pp. 649−725). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[59] Loewe, M., & Shaughnessy, E. L. (Eds.). (1999). The Cambridge history of ancient China: from the origins of civilization to 221 B.C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[60] Ma, J. (2000). Antiochos III and the cities of Western Asia Minor. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[61] Ogden, D. (2007). A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[62] Palmer, D. A. (2011). Religion in Chinese Social and Political History. In D. A. Palmer, G. Shive, & P. Wickeri, Chinese religious life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[63] Palmer, D. A., Shive, G., & Wickeri, P. (2011). Chinese religious life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[64] Pines, Y. (2014). The Messianic Emperor: A New Look at Qin's Place in China's History. In Y. Pines, G. Shelach, L. von Falkenhausen, & R. D. S. Yates (Eds.), Birth of an Empire: The State of Qin Revisited. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[65] Pines, Y., Shelach, G., Falkenhausen, L. von, & Yates, R. D. S. (2014). Birth of an Empire: The State of Qin Revisited. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[66] Puett, M. J. (2004). To become a god: cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinization in early China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
[67] Roisman, J., & Worthington, I. (2010). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
[68] Sachs, A., & Hunger, H. (1989). Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia (Vol. 2). Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
[69] Sherwin-White, S. & Kuhrt, A. (1991). Aspects of Seleucid Royal Ideology: The Cylinder of Antiochus I from Borsippa. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 111, 71−86.
[70] Sherwin-White, S. & Kuhrt, A. (1993). From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to Seleucid Empire. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
[71] Skjaervo, P. O. (2013). Avesta and Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenids and Early Sasanians. In D. T. Potts, The Oxford handbook of ancient Iran. New York: Oxford University Press.
[72] Svoboda, L. (1973). Encyklopedie antiky. Praha: Academia.
[73] Zahle, J. (1990). Religious motifs on Seleucid coins. In P. Bilde (Ed.), Religion and religious practice in Seleucid Kingdom. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
[74] Zaidman, L. B., & Pantel, P. S. (1989). Religion in the Ancient Greek City. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.