Editing College of Pontiffs

{{short description|High priests of ancient Rome}}
{{Priesthoods of ancient Rome}}
The '''College of Pontiffs''' ({{langx|la|Collegium Pontificum}}; see ''[[collegium]]'') was a body of the [[ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the [[Religion in ancient Rome|state religion]].  The college consisted of the ''[[pontifex maximus]]'' and the other ''[[Pontiff|pontifices]]'', the ''[[rex sacrorum]]'', the fifteen ''[[flamen]]s'', and the [[Vestals]].<ref>[[Jörg Rüpke]], "Communicating with the Gods," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', (Blackwell, 2010), p. 226; [[John A. North]], "The Constitution of the Roman Republic," in the same volume, p. 268 (a table showing priestly roles of Roman religion, including assignment to colleges).</ref> 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.<ref>Martha W. Hoffman Lewis, ''The Official Priests of Rome under the Julio-Claudians'' (Rome: American Academy, 1955), p. 7</ref> The other colleges were the ''[[Augur|augures]]'' (who read omens), the ''[[quindecimviri sacris faciundis]] '' ("fifteen men who carry out the rites"), and the ''[[epulones]]'' (who set up feasts at festivals).

The title ''[[pontiff|pontifex]]'' 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]], for instance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/7Cnuma.asp |title=Internet History Sourcebooks |website=fordham.edu}}</ref> Also, Varro cites this position as meaning "able to do".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQd82l39KX4C&pg=PA195|title=Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook |first1=Mary |last1=Beard |first2=John |last2=North |first3=Simon|last3=Price |date=June 28, 1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |via=Google Books}}</ref>

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]]'', the high priest of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]; the ''[[flamen Martialis]]'', who cultivated [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]; and the ''[[flamen Quirinalis]]'', devoted to [[Quirinus]]. The deities cultivated by the twelve ''[[flamines minores]]'' were [[Carmenta]], [[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]], [[Falacer]], [[Flora (mythology)|Flora]], [[Furrina]], [[Palatua]], [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]], [[Portunus (mythology)|Portunus]], [[Vulcan (mythology)|Volcanus]] (Vulcan), [[Volturnus]], 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]].  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]]s whose term was 30 years.  In the early Republic, only [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]]s could become priests.  However, the ''[[Lex Ogulnia]]'' in 300 BC granted the right to become ''pontifices'' and ''augures'' to [[plebeian]]s. 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.<ref>Hoffman Lewis, ''The Official Priests of Rome'', pp. 8f</ref>

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.<ref>Hoffman Lewis, ''The Official Priests of Rome'', pp. 9f, 12</ref>

[[File:Coin Julius Caesar Pontifex Maximus.PNG|thumb|left|[[Denarius]] depicting [[Julius Caesar]] as ''pontifex maximus'']]
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 [[Roman tribes|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]]’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]]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]].<ref>Hoffman Lewis, ''The Official Priests of Rome'', p. 17 n. 51</ref>

==Role in the Roman State==
During the [[Roman Kingdom|Kingdom]] of Roman history, the pontiffs were primarily ''[[concilia]]'' (advisers) of the kings, but after the expulsion of [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|the last Roman King]] in 510 BC, the College of Pontiffs became religious advisers to the [[Roman Senate]].  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 [[Omen|prodigies]].

One of their most important duties was their guardianship of the ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#libri pontificales|libri pontificales]]'' (pontifical books). Among these were the ''acta'', ''[[indigitamenta]]'' (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 old palace of the kings) during the early [[Roman Republic|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]] became the official religion of the [[Roman Empire]], [[Pope Leo I]] began using the title ''pontifex maximus'' around 440 to emphasize the authority of the [[pope]]. 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 ''([[scriba (ancient Rome)|scribae]])'', a position known in the earlier Republican period as a ''scriba pontificius'' but by the [[Augustus|Augustan]] period as a ''pontifex minor''.<ref>[[Livy]] 22.57; [[Jörg Rüpke]], ''The Roman Calendar from Numa to Constantine: Time, History, and the Fasti'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), p. 24.</ref> A ''pontifex minor'' assisted at the rite ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#res divina|res divina]])'' for [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] performed each [[Kalends]], the first day of the month. He took up a position in the [[Curia Calabra]], a sacred precinct ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#templum|templum]])'' on the [[Capitoline Hill]], to observe the [[new moon]].<ref>Lawrence Richardson, ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' ([[Johns Hopkins University Press]], 1992), p. 102.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==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]], 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==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110318050320/http://abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/public.relig.htm Pontifex maximus and the college of pontiffs]. Archived from the [http://abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/public.relig.htm original] on 2011-03-18. Retrieved on 2013-01-16.
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Pontifex.html Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, article "Pontifex"]

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[[Category:Ancient Roman religious titles]]
[[Category:Pontifices|*]]