11-29-2007, 04:18 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->They did this by taking over the name of one of the local Hebrew religious figures namely the âmessiahââand using it as a disguise for a literary account of Caesar that lay underneath. It was exactly the same strategy that the Romans used throughout the Empire, to disguise Caesar as a local god.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Disguising the emporer as the local God - was certainly not unique or limited to Romans.
Notice the coins of Kushana-s - where emporers are shown wearing the clothes of Varuna. Rahul Sankrityayana mentions somewhere with some discussion that in many Varaha pratima-s of Chandragupta II time, the Prithvi Devi that Varaha lifts is often depicted as one of the empresses. Off hand I don't know the reliability of these instances, but these are possible.
Disguising the emporer as the local God - was certainly not unique or limited to Romans.
Notice the coins of Kushana-s - where emporers are shown wearing the clothes of Varuna. Rahul Sankrityayana mentions somewhere with some discussion that in many Varaha pratima-s of Chandragupta II time, the Prithvi Devi that Varaha lifts is often depicted as one of the empresses. Off hand I don't know the reliability of these instances, but these are possible.