Emperor+cult

From Wikipedia In the [|Roman Empire] the //Imperial cult// was the worship of the [|Roman emperor] as a god. This practice began at the start of the Empire under [|Augustus], and became a prominent element of [|Roman religion]. The cult spread over the whole Empire within a few decades, more strongly in the east than in the west. Emperor [|Diocletian] further reinforced it when he demanded the //[|proskynesis]// and adopted the adjective //sacrum// for all things pertaining to the imperial person. The deification of emperors was gradually abandoned after the emperor [|Constantine I] started supporting [|Christianity]. However, the concept of the imperial person as "sacred" carried over, in a Christianized form, into the [|Byzantine Empire]: in the context of [|Caesaropapism], the Byzantine emperor was considered "God-crowned", was called //Isapotoles//, "Equal-to-the-[|Apostles]", and regarded as God's [|vicegerent] on Earth.