Editing Religion in ancient Rome (section)

=== Public priesthoods and religious law ===
<!--The article Titii links to this section; if changing the section subhead, please change the link in that article as well (if redistributing content as well, what the Titii article wants is just a structural description of Roman priesthoods); Sodales Augustales ditto-->[[File:Ara pacis fregio lato ovest 2 A.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|Three [[Flamen|flamines]] in their distinctive pointed headgear, grouped to the centre of a panel from the [[Ara Pacis]]]]
Rome had no separate priestly caste or class. The highest authority within a community usually sponsored its cults and sacrifices, officiated as its priest and promoted its assistants and acolytes. Specialists from the religious colleges and professionals such as [[Haruspex|''haruspices'']] and oracles were available for consultation. In household cult, the ''paterfamilias'' functioned as priest, and members of his ''familia'' as acolytes and assistants. Public cults required greater knowledge and expertise. The earliest public priesthoods were probably the ''[[Flamen|flamines]]'' (the singular is ''flamen''), attributed to king Numa: the major ''flamines'', dedicated to Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, were traditionally drawn from patrician families. Twelve lesser ''flamines'' were each dedicated to a single deity, whose archaic nature is indicated by the relative obscurity of some. ''Flamines'' were constrained by the requirements of ritual purity; Jupiter's ''flamen'' in particular had virtually no simultaneous capacity for a political or military career.<ref>Smith, in Rüpke (ed.), 39–40.</ref>

In the Regal era, a ''[[rex sacrorum]]'' (king of the sacred rites) supervised regal and state rites in conjunction with the king (''rex'') or in his absence, and announced the public festivals. He had little or no civil authority. With the abolition of monarchy, the collegial power and influence of the Republican ''pontifices'' increased. By the late Republican era, the flamines were supervised by the pontifical ''collegia''. The ''rex sacrorum'' had become a relatively obscure priesthood with an entirely symbolic title: his religious duties still included the daily, ritual announcement of festivals and priestly duties within two or three of the latter but his most important priestly role – the supervision of the [[Vestal Virgins|Vestals]] and their rites – fell to the more politically powerful and influential ''[[pontifex maximus]]''.<ref>Beard et al., Vol. 1, 18–34, 54–61: "[the underlying purpose being that] whoever bore the title ''rex'' should never again be in a position to threaten the city with tyranny." See also [[#Religion and politics|Religion and politics]] in this article.</ref>

Public priests were appointed by the ''collegia''. Once elected, a priest held permanent religious authority from the eternal divine, which offered him lifetime influence, privilege and immunity. Therefore, civil and religious law limited the number and kind of religious offices allowed an individual and his family. Religious law was collegial and traditional; it informed political decisions, could overturn them, and was difficult to exploit for personal gain.<ref>Beard et al., Vol. 1, 104–8: there can be no doubt that politicians attempted to manipulate religious law and priesthoods for gain; but were compelled to do so lawfully, and often failed.</ref>

Priesthood was a costly honour: in traditional Roman practice, a priest drew no stipend. Cult donations were the property of the deity, whose priest must provide cult regardless of shortfalls in public funding – this could mean subsidy of acolytes and all other cult maintenance from personal funds.<ref>Horster, in Rüpke (ed.), 331–2.</ref> For those who had reached their goal in the ''[[Cursus honorum]]'', permanent priesthood was best sought or granted after a lifetime's service in military or political life, or preferably both: it was a particularly honourable and active form of retirement which fulfilled an essential public duty. For a freedman or slave, promotion as one of the Compitalia ''seviri'' offered a high local profile, and opportunities in local politics; and therefore business.<ref>See Gradel, 9-15.</ref>

During the Imperial era, priesthood of the Imperial cult offered provincial elites full Roman citizenship and public prominence beyond their single year in religious office; in effect, it was the first step in a provincial ''cursus honorum''. In Rome, the same Imperial cult role was performed by the [[Arval Brethren]], once an obscure Republican priesthood dedicated to several deities, then co-opted by Augustus as part of his religious reforms. The Arvals offered prayer and sacrifice to Roman state gods at various temples for the continued welfare of the Imperial family on their birthdays, accession anniversaries and to mark extraordinary events such as the quashing of conspiracy or revolt. Every 3 January they consecrated the annual vows and rendered any sacrifice promised in the previous year, provided the gods had kept the Imperial family safe for the contracted time.<ref>Gradel, 21.</ref>

==== The Vestals ====
[[File:Chief Vestal.jpg|thumb|150px|left|A [[Roman sculpture]] depicting a [[Vestal Virgin|Vestal]]]]
The [[Vestal Virgin|Vestals]] were a public priesthood of six women devoted to the cultivation of [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]], goddess of the [[Sacred fire of Vesta|hearth of the Roman state and its vital flame]]. A girl chosen to be a Vestal achieved unique religious distinction, public status and privileges, and could exercise considerable political influence. Upon entering her office, a Vestal was emancipated from her [[paterfamilias|father's authority]]. In archaic Roman society, these priestesses were the only women not required to be under the legal guardianship of a man, instead answering directly to the Pontifex Maximus.<ref>Gary Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War'' (University of California Press, 2005, 2006), p. 141.</ref>

A Vestal's dress represented her status outside the usual categories that defined Roman women, with elements of both virgin bride and daughter, and Roman matron and wife.<ref>Beard et al., Vol. 1, 52–53.</ref> Unlike male priests, Vestals were freed of the traditional obligations of marrying and producing children, and were required to take a vow of chastity that was strictly enforced: a Vestal polluted by the loss of her chastity while in office was buried alive.<ref>Beard et al., Vol. 1, 51–54, 70–71, 297. For comparison of Vestal constraints to those of Jupiter's flamen, see Smith, in Rüpke (ed.), 39–40</ref> Thus the exceptional honor accorded a Vestal was religious rather than personal or social; her privileges required her to be fully devoted to the performance of her duties, which were considered essential to the security of Rome.<ref>Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome'', p. 141.</ref>

The Vestals embody the profound connection between domestic cult and the religious life of the community.<ref>Beard et al., Vol. 1, 50–53.</ref> Any householder could rekindle their own household fire from Vesta's flame. The Vestals cared for the [[Lares]] and [[Penates]] of the state that were the equivalent of those enshrined in each home. Besides their own festival of [[Vestalia]], they participated directly in the rites of [[Parilia]], [[Parentalia]] and [[Fordicidia]]. Indirectly, they played a role in every official sacrifice; among their duties was the preparation of the ''[[mola salsa]]'', the salted flour that was sprinkled on every [[Animal sacrifice|sacrificial victim]] as part of its immolation.<ref>Ariadne Staples, ''From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: Sex and Category in Roman Religion'' (Routledge, 1998), pp. 154–155.</ref>

One mythological tradition held that the mother of Romulus and Remus was a Vestal virgin of royal blood. A tale of miraculous birth also attended on [[Servius Tullius]], sixth king of Rome, son of a virgin slave-girl impregnated by a disembodied [[phallus]] arising mysteriously on the royal hearth; the story was connected to the ''[[fascinus]]'' that was among the cult objects under the guardianship of the Vestals.

Augustus' religious reformations raised the funding and public profile of the Vestals. They were given high-status seating at games and theatres. The emperor [[Claudius]] appointed them as priestesses to the cult of the deified [[Livia]], wife of Augustus.<ref>Beard et al., Vol. 1, 193-4.</ref> They seem to have retained their religious and social distinctions well into the 4th century, after political power within the Empire had shifted to the Christians. When the Christian emperor [[Gratian]] refused the office of ''pontifex maximus'', he took steps toward the dissolution of the order. His successor [[Theodosius I]] extinguished Vesta's sacred fire and vacated her temple.