Roman Public Religion

Roman Civilization – CMS 206 /History 206

During the monarchical period of Roman history, the king was responsible for the state’s public religious activity. According to Livy, when the Romans ejected the kings they created an priesthood called the rex sacrorum – “king of rites.” The holder of this priesthood would continue to perform the religious duties of the former monarchs, but was explicitly barred from holding any political office and from sitting in the Senate (so he couldn’t leverage his religious authority into political power and become a tyrant). Livy also suggests that the founders of the republic deliberately subordinated the religious authority of the rex sacrorum to that of the pontifex maximus to further guard against tyranny. Whether this was true, or whether the pontifex came gradually to replace the rex in authority, is one of the questions that can’t be answered (but scholars keep writing about). In any event, Roman religious affairs under the republic were conducted by a variety of priests organized by the kinds of rituals they performed. Unlike political offices, priesthoods tended to be lifelong appointments.  

The College of Pontiffs:

• The college of pontiffs had the most complex structure of the various groups of Roman priests. Unlike the other colleges, the pontiffs had a recognized leader, the pontifex maximus. Until the third century BCE, the college elected the pontifex maximus from their own number. Afterwards, the office was publicly elected. The college included a number of priests who were not pontiffs, but under the authority of the pontifex maximus. The rex sacrorum, the Vestal Virgins and the three major and twelve minor flamines.
• The flamines were individual priests devoted individual gods, each with his own set of religious duties and ritual calendar. The “major” flamines were devoted to Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus (these, with Juno, were the oldest gods in the Roman pantheon). The public lives of the Flamines were far more circumscribed by ritual prohibitions and requirements than those of other priests. They couldn’t ride horses, leave Rome for more than a day, or see death. They could, however, pursue a political career and these priesthoods were seen as a stepping stone to public life. Although strictly speaking, prohibitions on a flamen’s life should have inhibited his ability to perform his duty as a magistrate, there are a number of cases of flamines pursuing a political career. A strict pontifex maximus, however, could have prevented one from doing so. Scholars believe that the flamines probably survived from a very archaic period in the organization of Roman religion and were only gradually subsumed within the college of pontiffs.
• Originally, only the patricians could become pontiffs and plebians viewed the exclusive realms of expertise offered by the priesthood as a device to control their ranks. According to Livy, Gaius Valerius Flaccus, a plebian aedile, struck a blow for the people when he caused the legal formulae and calendar to be published. By the year 300 BCE, the Romans passed the lex Ogulnia which opened the college of pontiffs to the plebs. Within the next century, the office of pontifex maximus became a publicly elected office. The office was not wide open, however. The only candidates eligible to stand were those already members of the college who had been nominated by the other pontiffs. One did not become an ordinary pontiff by election, moreover, until the year 104 BCE. Instead, when a vacancy in the college opened, the pontiffs coopted (i.e., privately chose) a new member. In 104, the law changed and permitted election to major priesthoods from a list of candidates offered by the colleges of priests.
• From the lists of pontiffs that have survived it is clear that the Roman elite preserved control of this (and the other) priesthood. Names of pontiffs and augurs are typically the names of the leading politicans and generals of the day. Interestingly enough, it is clear that members of the elite discipined themselves in sharing the office. No one, as far as we can tell, ever held more than one priesthood at a time, and no family ever had more than one member in any college of priests. Furthermore, the election for pontifex maximus was not open to all Romans. Instead, 17 of the 35 voting tribes were chosen randomly and they alone voted (individual election to colleges of priests similarly were decided by 17 of the 35 tribes). Sulla repealed laws permitting the election of priests during his dictatorship, but they were restored in 63 BCE by Labienus, an ally of Julius Caesar. The effect of these reforms probably increased the importance of the office of pontifex maximus (as an elected office it was a useful line on one’s resume). Julius Caesar, for example, actively sought and won the office early in his career.
• The pontiffs were also different from other priestly colleges in that some of their areas of expertise clearly intersected with political life, while other areas of their expertise seem to have served a “catch-all” function. Whatever the other colleges didn’t do, the pontiffs would. Thus, pontiffs originally were experts in Roman law. Only they knew the proper wording for the legal formulae litigants needed to invoke in order to successfully enter the law courts. The were also responsible for maintaining the calendar, the annual record of public events in Rome. They further supervised adoptions, wills and inheritences and burials. These areas of expertise clearly intersected the daily public and private life of Romans. Additionally, the pontiffs were charged with the supervision of rituals at the ludi, rituals involving the Vestals, and rituals related to the making of vows and sacrifices.
• The pontifex maximus was charged with the supervision of other pontiffs, the Vestals and the flamines under his jurisdiction. When he felt that a priest had violated his duties, he imposed a fine (multa). Interestingly enough, however, the fined priest could appeal his ruling to the an assembly of the people – who had the authority to reverse the decision of the pontifex maximus. Even more interesting is the fact that in every case we have recorded, the people always upheld the decision of the pontifex maximus. The high priest did not have authority over priests in other colleges.

The College of Augurs:

• Augurs were responsible for interpreting the will of the gods through the observation of the flight of birds in a templum, and through the observation of the sacred chickens I’m not making this up. The chickens were specially chosen and when a magistrate wished to inquire about divine will, he sent an augur (a pullarius – a chicken man) to offer the chickens special grain. If they ate it hungrily, the gods approved the magistrate’s proposed action. As their appetite decreased, so too did the will of the gods. As odd as this sounds to us, this kind of divination with animals was very common in pre-modern societies and has been documented in a number of cultures around the world.
• One interesting aspect of the augurs and other priestly colleges is that, unlike the pontiffs, they had no designated or elected leader. Instead, they appear to have specialized (one man a specialist on lightening, another on chickens, etc)
• There are a number of famous stories about Romans “faking” the auspicies. According to Livy, a pullarius simply lied and encouraged the general (Papirius) to lead the troops who were bored stiff in camp, into battle against the Samnites. When word got out that the pullarius lied, the Romans placed him in the front line of battle. Of course he was immediately killed, and the gods were satisfied. The Romans won. Similarly, during the First Punic War, the admiral Publius Claudius Pulcher could not get the chickens to eat. After numerous attempts he simply tossed them overboard. He lost the battle. Finally, in Julius Caesar, consul of Rome in 58 BCE, sought to pass legislation that would distribute land to veteran soldiers. His fellow consul, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, was implacably opposed to this effort. Bibulus, following all proper procedures, announced that he had seen bad omens in the sky (which would prevent Caesar with proceeding with the legislation). Caesar’s supports got pretty peeved and took to rioting outside Bibulus’ house. Bibulus responded by locking himself in, but sending messengers out who continued to report that he was seeing bad omens. Bibulus and his supporters claimed that Caesar could not possibly move forward with the legislation, since the auspices were bad. Caesar and his supporters claimed they could, and did. At one point Clodius, Caesar’s ally, arranged for the college of augurs to meet informally with the assembly to discuss the issue. According to Cicero, the augurs unofficially opined that the legislation shouldn’t go forward. But it was not an official pronouncement and Caesar went forward with the legislation.

The duoviri sacris faciundis

• “The Two Men for Sacred Actions” ( their number was later increased to 10 and then 15) were in charge of the Sibylline Books. Romans believed that the books and the priesthood were very old. Typically, the Senate consulted the harurspices or the duoviri when prodigies and portents (montra) were reported to them. As it happens, consultation of the Sibylline Books almost always resulted in the recommendation that a a foreign god and/or cult (usually Greek) e.g., the Magna Mater,the Ludi Apollinares, the cult of Aesculapius) be brought to Rome. While the duoviri may have had some duties in establishing the new god, they had no supervisory role over the cult in Rome once it had been instituted.

The College of Fetiales

•  The fetiales had one job and one job only: to make sure Romans declared war properly when they did it. In its very early days, Rome responded to what it perceived to be a warlike act by a neighbor by sending four fetiales (there were 20 in the college) to demand restitution and promise war within a month if it were not made. One of the fetiales (the verbenarius – the herb man) carried soil and herbs that had been collected in Rome to protect the embassy on its dangerous mission to enemy territory. If the month passed and the neighbor did not make amends, the Senate ordered the fetiales to declare war. They sacrificed a pig , which had been killed with a stone flint and then returned to the border of the neighbor’s land where they hurled a spear into its territory. Romans believed that they only engaged in just wars (bellum pium or bellum iustum) and the rituals of the fetiales ensured, at least in theory, that this was so.
• This process worked only for so long as Rome’s enemies were easily accessible. By the beginning of the third century BCE, it was no longer practical for fetiales to throw their spears. Rather than give up the practice, beginning with the war with Pyrrhus in 280 BCE, the Romans decided that they would deem the temple of Bellona (the goddess of war) to be “enemy territory.” The fetiales then threw their spears into a strip of land in front of the temple.

The Haruspices

• The Romans believed that the haruspices were original Etruscan in origin and unlike other priesthoods, did not formally organize them into a college. Rome actively encouraged the cultivation of the art in formally Etruscan cities during the second century BCE. By the end of the Republic, the haruspices achieved a level of respect and authority in Rome comparable to the augurs and had some semblance of organization order. There were 60 in number and led by a summus haruspex. There were however many “unofficial” haruspices outside the official ordo.

The Triumviri Epulones

• During the second century BCE, the Romans created a new college of priests charged with supervising the rituals associated with the epulum Iovis (feast of Jupiter) held in conjunction with the Roman games and the Plebeian games. The institution seems to have been created by the Assembly, although we have no information about whether the Senators and existing priests opposed or welcomed the innovation.
• The epulum Iovis had been part of the ludi for at least a century (and perhaps from the very beginning), so the Epulones took over functions and duties that had previously been excercised by pontiffs. The actual conduct of the games was the responsiblity of aediles, so the role of the Epulones would have been limited to one of advice on details of the ritual sacrifices involved in the the ludi. Some scholars speculate that the plebs insisted on the priesthood in order to have some way of monitoring and perhaps checking the activities of the aediles, who had figured out that throwing elaborate games was a good way to boost a political career. Eventually the number of Epulones was increased to seven.

The Sodales

• In addition to the “major” Roman priesthoods, there were a number of minor priesthoods and “lesser” pontiffs and flamines about which we tend to know very little. The fetiales, for example, were considered a “minor” college of priests. Some of these priesthoods were associated with important festivals and as a consequence, we know more about them.
• The Luperci consisted of two colleges of priests, the Luperci Quintilii (founded by Romulus) and the Luperci Fabii (founded by Remus). The priests of these college were increasingly drawn from the class of equites and by the early empire, equites proudly erected statues to themselves in the Lupercal dress. The Salii were similarly considered a “lesser” priesthood, organized into two groups of twelve each.
• There were twelve Fratres Arvales (Arval Brethern) were responsible for the festival to Dea Dia held in May. The festival was an old agricultural celebration at which the Arval Brethern sang a carmen that was so old the Romans of Cicero’s day had long since ceased to understand its meaning. As it happens we have a a fairly extensive record of the priesthood dating from 21 BCE on, and fragments of their hymn. Augustus became a member of the Fratres Arvales which assumed the duties of celebrating rituals in honor of the imperial family.

The Cult of the Emperor

• The Romans began the practice of deifying their dead rulers with Julius Caesar. This was not as bizarre as it sounds to us. Ruler cult had been an instrumental part of Hellenistic religion and rule since Alexander the Great and a number of cultures in the world believe that their temporal rulers have a special relationship with the divine. Before he died Ceasar received the right to have a flamen for a cult in his honor, to mark his house like a temple and to place his imago in the procession of the gods that featured in Roman parades and festivals. After he died, the Senate passed a decree formally deifying Ceasar, and altars and tempes were erected to him.
• Scholars have shed much ink and Romans some blood on how to understand Caesar’s deification. While his assimilation to divine status would have seemed ordinary to inhabitants of the eastern parts of Roman empire, accustomed to Hellenistic ruler cults, it was a novel (and therefore frightening) and foreign (and therefore bad) gesture from the point of view of ordinary Roman citizens in the western part of the empire. Romans, nevertheless, did not draw as sharp a distinction between the mortal and divine as we do. They clearly believed, for example, that Romulus had become a god. Roman rites in honor of the dead clearly ascribed divine attributes to their dead ancestors. The Roman triumph clearly elevated the successful general to almost divine status.
• By the third century BCE, moreover, prominent Roman politicians and generals had begun to claim that their families were descended from the gods (Scipio Africanus, Aemilius Paullus and Julius Caesar). Similarly, by the end of the Republic dominant figures like Marius and Pompey received honors “like those received by the gods.” In the eastern part of the Roman empire, conquering Roman governors and generals since the second century BCE had been honored by the defeated with divine honors (again a normal gesture in the context of Hellenistic ruler cult).
• In a sense, the only innovation that Caesar’s deification represents, is that divine honors were paid to him in Rome. The distinction the honor provided, moreover, coincided with the fall of the Roman republic, whose political structure was premised on an ideal of libertas (or equality, at least among members of the political elite). Divine status indicated that, at least in ideological terms, the power of the princeps (a son of a god who would be deified upon his death) was distinct and better than that enjoyed by members of the senatorial elite. Augustus, the first successful sole ruler of Rome since the days of the monarchy, moreover, consciously associated himself with the authority Romans granted to religion. He became (as Julius Caesar had) pontifex maximus. Augustus was brilliant in the way he aligned religious authority with political. While there were numerous rites and cult activities associated with the emperor, there was no single ceremony that clearly marked his special status or in which he participated as the dominant actor (e.g. a coronation). Instead, worship of the emperor was incorporated into the pre-existing structures of Roman religion (e.g., the assumption of duties by the Fratres Arvales in imperial cults).
• Augustus, moreover, never personally claimed divine status within his lifetime. Rather, he permitted the worship of his genius and numen. For the Romans, everyone (and every being) had a genius. It was the vital energy and generative power inherent in life. When Romans celebrated their birthdays, for example, they celebrated their genius. Augustus also instituted public worship of his family’s Lares and of his numen. The nod that Jupiter gave assenting to an action was his numen. The term signifies divine will. It is the immortal equivalent to genius. Unlike genius, most folks don’t have a numen. By organizing cult worship of his numen Augustus walked a fine line. On the one hand, the worship signalled that there wasn’t much difference between himself and a god. On the other hand, Augustus wasn’t explicitly saying he was a god.
• After Augustus died, his successor and adopted son, Tiberius, arranged to have him deified. A senator announced (and took an oath) that he had seen Augustus ascend into heaven. The senate ordered a temple built, designated a flamen and instituted a college of priests. It became the practice of Rome to deify its emperors after their death. The rhetoric of these actions always suggested that the emperor, because of his achievements in his lifetime, had earned the recognition. Occassionally a “bad” emperor didn’t follow the rules. Caligula, for example, claimed to be a god while he was alive. The Roman historians and biographers of Caligula found this outrageous and proof of Caligula’s dementia.
• The imperial cult became a useful way for Rome to integrate the increasingly large numbers of different types of peoples within its empire into a single cultural identity. Outside of Italy, for example, worship of the emperor was usually linked to worship of the goddess, Roma. Members of local elites could be recognized by their nomination to membership in the college of priests devoted to Augustus and Rome. Men of newfound wealth but very poor antecedents (freedmen) could be assimiliated into the power structure by such priesthoods.

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