It is believed that cults of patron deities—minor gods and mythical beasts, primarily—developed in American studia during the Early Imperial period to grant protection during ritualized mock wars held in the later months. These mock wars grew into social spectacles. Bands played music. Alongside them, psalms and chants praying for victory were sung by all attendees, orchestrated by actors wearing costumes representing their patrons on earth. Dancers performed rites of what is believed to have been sacred geometry, with the arrow up being the most common and most important shape these highly-skilled and highly-exclusive groups of dancers could form as a collective, as it directed the crowds’ messages to their gods.
It is not known how these cults developed so quickly across the continent, but it appears there was no effort taken by the American Emperors to quell them. On the contrary, it did not take long for one to have to show their devotion to the patrons of local studia in order to become members of the bureaucracy, from serving as “proto-squires” to presiding over the imperial government. Possibly as a response to periods of economic decline, these studia began to elevate the cults of their patrons in their personal and social lives outside of the studium. The patrons’ names became shorthand for their clients. Former students would fill their homes with symbols of these figures. Some would even get tattoos of them, speculated to be a sacrificial gesture to these gods or simply performing devotion for their peers to earn social currency. The latter theory has grown in popularity as evidence has surfaced of a secularization of the cults—patrons were chosen anew or even granted to other studia in diplomatic negotiations. Some localities appear to have used disbelief in their studium’s patron deity as a litmus test for citizenship.
This study aims to prove, without a doubt, the invalidity of recent claims that these figures were never considered deities. Contemporary accounts report, during recorded mock-war battles, many Americans would engage in ritual practices—standing in one spot through the duration of the battles, wearing the same ceremonial outfit for battles, and traveling thousands of miles in caravans to join crowds in prayers for their patrons’ support—that clearly evince superstition. Further,
