Patronage in Roman Religious Associations in Italy under the Principate

Abstract

The relationships between the cultores deorum and their patrons seem to meet all the criteria of the classic definition of Roman patronage put forward by A. Wallace-Hadrill. Firstly, there is no doubt that there was a ‘reciprocal exchange of goods and services’ between the patron and the college. The exchange took place on many levels, and the economic aspect was not necessarily the most important one. Secondly, the exchange was asymmetrical and permanent. In exchange for material and non-material support, colleges bestowed honours on their patrons, which strengthened the social prestige of the latter, at the same time creating a positive image of the colleges themselves. Both sides tried to give their relationship a permanent, formalised, and public character. Traces of these attempts are left not only in the well-documented custom of displaying tabulae patronatus in the collegial seat and the patron’s house. The patron frequently included information about the corporate patronage in his cursus honorum, whereas colleges could honour their patron’s birthday with one of the official corporate celebrations. In this way, the relationships between the patron and the college took on features which clearly differentiated them from acts of euergetism, not to mention regular economic transactions. A wealthy, generous, and most importantly influential patron was not only a desirable symbol of prestige for every corporation, but also a guarantee of the efficient functioning of the organisation that could rely on his or her support not only in its daily activity but also in crisis situations. Religious associations had to reconcile themselves to the homines novi of the local elites. The patron of the cultores Herculis in Interamna Nahars, T. Flavius T.f. Isidorus, who evidently proudly emphasises his promotion to the ordo equester, which was the pinnacle of his municipal career, is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Interestingly, the cultores deorum looking for patrons for their associations clearly tried to find ingenui. Although patrons of religious colleges include some liberti, these are rare cases. Wealthy freedmen are usually benefactors of colleges, but the latter did not attach themselves in a permanent way by means of the institution of patronage. This is understandable considering the fact that one of the main tasks of a patron was to represent the college in its contacts with the local authorities. The servile background of the patron lowered not only the college’s prestige but also its chances of successfully defending its interests. The cultores deorum were certainly aware of the mechanisms operating in the public life of the community in which they lived. An analysis of how the institution of patronage functioned in religious associations reveals evidence that their members not only knew the traditional system of values, but also completely identified themselves with this system.