[Opinion] Self deification of Roman Emperors like Nero

[Slytherin]

Why were there cults centered around Roman Emperors, especially the worthless Emperor Nero who has inspired "While Nero fiddles, Rome burns"? What kind of fools joined such cults! The Roman Emperors didn't even bother walking the Left Hand Path or something

 

[Xenophon]

The "cult" was simply a facet of Roman civic religion. Citizens were required to pay lip service to the "genius" of the Emperor. Something like how, in the military, one "salutes the uniform, not the man." Given how assassination became an increasingly popular way to replace Emperors from Caligula on, one surmises that Romans were not particularly awed by that individual's alleged divinity. The ancient Chinese had the notion that Heaven could "withdraw the mandate of an emperor" there. In Rome, this withdrawal was a good bit more frequent as time went on.