ABSTRACT
On J. C. Mann's view the formula numinibus Aug. can refer neither to multiple reigning emperors nor to the totality of emperors, the living with the deified dead. His argument consequently arrives at the dogmatic conclusion: 'The notion that numinibus Aug. regularly refers to more than one emperor is epigraphically quite unacceptable. Epigraphically, numinibus Aug. must refer to one emperor.' What the discussion has demonstrated is that 'the well-attested and well-established customs of epigraphy' fall short of what is claimed. The verdict that 'epigraphically numinibus Aug. must refer to one emperor' is not sustainable. A survey of the anthropological development of early Roman religion. Further confirmation of the attribution of numen to Divus Augustus has recently come to light with the discovery at various centres in Baetica of copies (in varying states of preservation) of the s.c.de Cn. Pisone patre.
