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The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''
collegium A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their rea ...
'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other ''
pontifices A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was lat ...
'', the '' rex sacrorum'', the fifteen ''
flamen A (plural ''flamens'' or ''flamines'') was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of eighteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three (or "major priests"), who ser ...
s'', and the
Vestals In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...
. The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges; originally their responsibility was limited to supervising both public and private sacrifices, but as time passed their responsibilities increased. The other colleges were the ''
augures An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying i ...
'' (who read omens), the ''
quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw ...
'' ("fifteen men who carry out the rites"), and the ''
epulones The (Latin for "feasters"; sing. ''epulo'') arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games ''(ludi)''. They constituted one of the four great religious corporations (''quattuor amplissima collegia'') of ancient Roman priests. Esta ...
'' (who set up feasts at festivals). The title ''
pontifex A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was la ...
'' comes from the Latin for "bridge builder", a possible allusion to a very early role in placating the gods and spirits associated with the
Tiber River The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...
, for instance. Also, Varro cites this position as meaning "able to do". The ''pontifex maximus'' was the most important member of the college. Until 104 BC, the ''pontifex maximus'' held the sole power in appointing members to the other priesthoods in the college. The ''flamens'' were priests in charge of fifteen official cults of Roman religion, each assigned to a particular god. The three major ''flamens'' ('' flamines maiores'') were the ''
flamen Dialis In ancient Roman religion, the was the high priest of Jupiter. The term ''Dialis'' is related to ''Diespiter'', an Old Latin form of the name ''Jupiter''. There were 15 '' flamines'', of whom three were ''flamines maiores'', serving the thre ...
'', the high priest of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
; the ''
flamen Martialis In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Martialis was the high priest of the official state cult of Mars, the god of war. He was one of the '' flamines maiores'', the three high priests who were the most important of the fifteen flamens. The Flamen ...
'', who cultivated
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
; and the ''
flamen Quirinalis In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Quirinalis was the flamen or high priest of the god Quirinus. He was one of the three ''flamines maiores'', third in order of importance after the Flamen Dialis and the Flamen Martialis. Like the other two hi ...
'', devoted to
Quirinus In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''. Name Attestations The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman sou ...
. The deities cultivated by the twelve ''
flamines minores A (plural ''flamens'' or ''flamines'') was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of eighteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three (or "major priests"), who ser ...
'' were Carmenta,
Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...
,
Falacer Falacer, or more fully ''dīvus pater falacer'', was an ancient Italic god, according to Varro. Hartung is inclined to consider him an epithet of Jupiter, since ''falandum'', according to Festus, was the Etruscan name for "heaven." Although hi ...
,
Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
,
Furrina Furrina, also spelled Furina, was an ancient Roman goddess whose function had become obscure by the 1st century BC. Her cult dated to the earliest period of Roman religious history, since she was one of the fifteen deities who had their own flame ...
,
Palatua Palatua was a Roman goddess who was provided an official priest or flamen, the ''Flamen Palatualis'', and was the guardian deity of the Palatine Hill. Aside from this little else is known about her, and it is a safe assumption that her cult, like ...
, Pomona, Portunus,
Volcanus Vulcan ( la, Vulcanus, in archaically retained spelling also ''Volcanus'', both pronounced ) is the god of fire including the fire of volcanoes, deserts, metalworking and the forge in ancient Roman religion and myth. He is often depicted with ...
(Vulcan),
Volturnus The VolturnUS is a floating concrete structure that supports a wind turbine, designed by University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center and deployed by DeepCwind Consortium in 2013. The VolturnUS can support wind turbines in water ...
, and two whose names are lost. The Vestal Virgins were the only female members of the college. They were in charge of guarding Rome's sacred hearth, keeping the flame burning inside the
Temple of Vesta The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Aedes Vestae''; Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), is an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. The temple is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the House of the Vestal Virgins. The Temple of Vesta hou ...
. Around age 6 to 10, girls were chosen for this position and were required to perform the rites and obligations for 30 years, including remaining chaste.


Membership

Membership in the various colleges of priests, including the College of Pontiffs, was usually an honor offered to members of politically powerful or wealthy families. Membership was for life, except for the
Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...
s whose term was 30 years. In the early Republic, only
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
s could become priests. However, the ''
Lex Ogulnia The ''lex Ogulnia'' was a Roman law passed in 300 BC. It was a milestone in the long struggle between the patricians and plebeians. The law was carried by the brothers Quintus and Gnaeus Ogulnius, tribunes of the plebs in 300 BC. For the firs ...
'' in 300 BC granted the right to become ''pontifices'' and ''augures'' to plebeians. Nevertheless, even in the late Republic it was still believed that the auspices ultimately resided with patrician magistrates, and certain ancient priesthoods: the ''Dialis'', ''Martialis'' and ''Quirinalis flamines'', and the college of the ''Salii'' were never opened to the plebeians. The number of members in the College of Pontiffs grew over time. Originally consisting of three members, the number was increased to nine by the third century BC; Sulla increased the number to fifteen; Augustus increased the number even further, perhaps to as many as twenty-five. Until the 3rd century BC, the College elected the ''pontifex maximus'' from their own number. The right of the college to elect their own ''pontifex maximus'' was returned, but the circumstances surrounding this are unclear. This changed again after Sulla, when in response to his reforms, the election of the ''pontifex maximus'' was once again placed in the hands of an assembly of seventeen of the twenty-five tribes. However, the College still controlled which candidates the assembly voted on. During the Empire, the office was publicly elected from the candidates of existing pontiffs, until the Emperors began to automatically assume the title, following
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
’s example. The ''pontifex maximus'' was a powerful political position to hold and the candidates for office were often very active political members of the College. Many, such as Julius Caesar, went on to hold
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
ships during their time as ''pontifex maximus''. However, after 44 BC the pontiffs, as with the other official priests of Rome, lost their political influence. Martha Hoffman Lewis could only find four instances where the pontiff's advice was asked: before Augustus' marriage to Livia; in 37 BC when they ordered the removal of the body of one of the proscribed from the Campus; they made expiatory sacrifices on the day the emperor Claudius married Agrippina; and their advice was sought concerning reforms of the discipline of the
haruspices In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails ('' exta''—hence also extispicy ...
.


Role in the Roman State

During the
Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
of Roman history, the pontiffs were primarily '' concilia'' (advisers) of the kings, but after the expulsion of the last Roman King in 510 BC, the College of Pontiffs became religious advisers to the
Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
. As the most important of the four priestly colleges, the College of Pontiffs’ duties involved advising the Senate on issues pertaining to the gods, the supervision of the calendar and thus the supervision of ceremonies with their specific rituals, and the appeasement of the gods upon the appearance of prodigies. One of their most important duties was their guardianship of the '' libri pontificales'' (pontifical books). Among these were the ''acta'', ''
indigitamenta In ancient Roman religion, the ''indigitamenta'' were lists of deities kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers. These lists or books probably described the nature of the various dei ...
'' (lists of invocations or names of deities), ''ritualia'', ''commentarii'', ''fasti'', and ''annales'' (yearly records of magistrates and important events). These items were under the sole possession of the College of Pontiffs and only they were allowed to consult these items when necessary. The '' Lex Acilia de intercalando'' bestowed power on the College to manage the calendar. Thus, they determined the days which religious and political meetings could be held, when sacrifices could be offered, votes cast, and senatorial decisions brought forth. The College of Pontiffs came to occupy the
Regia The Regia ("Royal house") was a two-part structure in Ancient Rome lying along the Via Sacra at the edge of the Roman Forum that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of kings of Rome and later as the office of the ...
(the old palace of the kings) during the early Republican period. They came to replace the religious authority that was once held by the king. A position, the '' rex sacrorum'', was even created to replace the king for purposes of religious ceremonies. When
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
became the official religion of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
,
Pope Leo I Pope Leo I ( 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history." Leo was ...
began using the title ''pontifex maximus'' around 440 to emphasize the authority of the
pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. The term "chief priests" in the New Testament (e.g. Mark 15:11) is translated as ''Pontifices'' in the Latin Vulgate and "high priest" as ''Pontifex'' in Hebrews 2:17.


''Pontifex minor''

The pontiffs were assisted by pontifical clerks or scribes ''( scribae)'', a position known in the earlier Republican period as a ''scriba pontificius'' but by the Augustan period as a ''pontifex minor''. A ''pontifex minor'' assisted at the rite ''(
res divina In ancient Rome, ''res divinae'', singular ''res divina'' (Latin for "divine matters," that is, the service of the gods), were the laws that pertained to the religious duties of the state and its officials. Roman law was divided into the ''res divi ...
)'' for
Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...
performed each
Kalends The calends or kalends ( la, kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word. Use The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a n ...
, the first day of the month. He took up a position in the
Curia Calabra The Curia Calabra was a religious station or ''templum'' used for the ritual observation of the new moon in ancient Rome. Although its exact location is unclear, it was most likely a roofless enclosure in front of an augural hut ''( auguraculum)'', ...
, a sacred precinct ''(
templum The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
)'' on the
Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...
, to observe the new moon.Lawrence Richardson, ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' ( Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 102.


References


Sources

* Beard, Mary. "Roman Priesthoods", in ''Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Rome''. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1988. * Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities II''. p. lxxiii. Loeb Classical Library,
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, Cambridge Massachusetts. * Szemler, G.J., ''The Priests of the Republic: A Study of the Interactions between Priesthoods and Magistracies''. Collection Latomus. 127 (1972)


External links


Pontifex maximus and the college of pontiffs
Archived from th

on 2011-03-18. Retrieved on 2013-01-16.

{{DEFAULTSORT:College Of Pontiffs Ancient Roman religious titles