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Pontifex Maximus
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Emperor Augustus in the robes of Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus (which literally means "Greatest Bridge-maker") was the high priest of the Ancient Roman College of Pontiffs (Collegium Pontificum). This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. A distinctly religious office under the early Roman Republic, it gradually became politicized until, beginning with Augustus, it was subsumed into the Imperial office. Its last use with reference to the emperors is in inscriptions of Gratian,[1] Emperor from 375 to 383, who, however, then decided to omit the words "pontifex maximus" from his title.[2][3]
Centuries later, after the word "pontifex" had become a term used for Christian bishops,[4] including the Bishop of Rome,[5] the title of "Pontifex Maximus" was applied within the Roman Catholic Church to the Pope as its chief bishop. It is not included in the Pope's official titles,[6] but appears on buildings, monuments and coins of popes of Renaissance and modern times.
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According to the usual interpretation, the term pontifex literally means "bridge-builder" (pons + facere); "maximus" literally means "greatest". This was perhaps originally meant in a literal sense: the position of bridge-builder was indeed an important one in Rome, where the major bridges were over the Tiber, the sacred river (and a deity): only prestigious authorities with sacral functions could be allowed to "disturb" it with mechanical additions. However, it was always understood in its symbolic sense as well: the pontifices were the ones who smoothed the bridge between gods and men (Van Haeperen).
An alternative view is that pontifex means "preparer of the road", derived from the Etruscan word pont, meaning "road".[3] A minority opinion is that the word is a corruption of a similar-sounding but etymologically unrelated Etruscan word for priest.
The Pagan Pontifices
Origins during the Regal Period
The Collegium Pontificum (College of Pontiffs) was the most important priesthood of ancient Rome. The foundation of this sacred college and the office of Pontifex Maximus is attributed to the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius [7]. It is safe to say that the collegium was tasked to act as advisers of the rex (king) in all matters of religion. The collegium was headed by the pontifex maximus and all the pontifices held their office for life. Prior to its institution, all religious and administrative functions and powers were naturally exercised by the king. Very little is known about this period of Roman history regarding the pontiffs as the main historical sources are lost and some of the events from this period are regarded as semi-legendary or mythical. Most of the records of ancient Rome were destroyed when it was sacked by the Gauls in 387 BC. Accounts from this early period come from excerpts of writings made during the Republican Period.
According to Livy, King Numa assigned to the first Pontifex Maximus, Numa Marcius, the entire system of religious rites, which system was written out for him and sealed and included the manner and timing of sacrifices, the supervision of religious funds, authority over all public and private religious institutions, instruction of the populace in the celestial and funerary rites including appeasing the dead, and expiation of prodegies. The system is said to have been devised by Numa Pompilius after dedicating an altar on the Aventine Hill to Jupiter Elicius and consulting the gods by auguries [7].
Development during the Roman Republic
In the Roman Republic, the Pontifex Maximus was the highest office in the polytheistic ancient Roman religion, which was very much a state cult. He was the most important of the Pontifices (plural of Pontifex), in the main sacred college (Collegium Pontificum) which he directed. According to Livy, after the overthrow of the monarchy, the Romans also created the priesthood of the Rex Sacrorum or 'king of rites' or 'king of the sacred rites' to perform the religious duties and rituals and sacrifices previously done by the king. He was, however, explicitly prohibited from assuming any political office or sit in the Senate as a precaution to prevent the holder from becoming a tyrant. The Rex Sacrorum was further subordinated by the founders of the Roman Republic under the Pontifex Maximus as a further guard against tyranny.[8] Other members of this priesthood included the Flamines (each devoted to a major deity), and the Vestales. During the early Republic, the Pontifex Maximus selected the members to hold these posts. However, there were many other religious officials, including the Augures and Haruspices (two originally Etruscan types of reading of the will of the gods: from the flight and conduct of birds, or from the entrails of sacrificial animals, respectively), Fetiales and many other colleges and individual offices.
The official residence of the Pontifex Maximus was the Domus Publica which stood between the House of the Vestal Virgins and the Via Sacra, close to the Regia, in the Roman Forum. His religious duties were carried out from the Regia or 'house of the king'.
Unless the pontifex maximus was also a magistrate at the same time, he was not allowed to wear the toga praetexta, i.e. toga with the purple border. However, he could be recognized by the iron knife (secespita)[3] or the patera[9] and the distinctive robes or toga with part of the mantle covering the head.
The Pontifex was not simply a priest. He had both political and religious authority. It is not clear which of the two came first or had the most importance. In practice, particularly during the late Republic, the office of Pontifex Maximus was generally held by a member of a politically prominent family. It was a coveted position mainly for the great prestige it confers on the holder; Julius Caesar became pontifex in 73 BC and pontifex maximus in 63 BC. Being Pontifex Maximus was not a full-time job and did not preclude the office-holder from holding a secular magistracy or serving in the military.
The most recent general study of the pontifical college (Van Haeperen 2002), omits the earliest periods of Roman history, as too little is known. The major Roman source, Varro's book on the pontiffs, is lost: only a little of it survives in Aulus Gellius and Nonius Marcellus. More information is to be found in remarks by Cicero, Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Valerius Maximus, in Plutarch's vita of Numa Pompilius, Festus' summaries of Verrius Flaccus, and in later writers. Some of these sources present an extensive list of everyday actions that were taboo for the Pontifex Maximus; it seems difficult to reconcile these lists with evidence that many Pontifices Maximi were prominent members of society who lived normal, non-restricted lives.
Election and number of pontifices
The number of Pontifices, (s)elected by co-optatio (i.e. the remaining members nominate their new colleague) for life, was originally five, including the pontifex maximus.[1][3] The pontifices, moreover, can only come from the old nobility, the patricians. However, in 300 BC/299 BC the lex Ogulnia opened the office and admitted the plebs (plebeians) to run for the charge, so that part of the prestige of the title was lost. But it was only in 254 BC that Tiberius Coruncanius became the first plebian Pontifex Maximus.[10] The lex Ogulnia also increased the number of pontiffs to nine (the pontifex maximus included). In 104 BC the lex Domitia prescribed that the election would henceforward be voted by the comitia tributa (an assembly of the people divided into voting districts); by the same law, only 17 of the 35 tribes of the city could vote. This law was abolished in 81 BC by Sulla in lex Cornelia de Sacerdotiis, which restored to the great priestly colleges their full right of co-optatio (Liv. Epit. 89; Pseudo-Ascon. in Divinat. p102, ed. Orelli; Dion Cass. xxxvii.37). Also under Sulla, the number of pontifices was increased to fifteen, the pontifex maximus included. In 63 BC, when Julius Caesar was Pontifex Maximus, the law of Sulla was abolished and a modified form of the lex Domitia was reinstated providing for election by comitia tributa once again but Marcus Antonius later restored the right of co-optatio to the college (Dion Cass. xliv.53). Also under Julius Caesar, the number of pontifices were increased to sixteen, the pontifex maximus included. The number of pontifices varied during the empire but is believed to have been regular at fifteen.[1]