Roman priests and priesthoods

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The unknown portrait can be seen in the Vatican Museums today. The covered head suggests that the old man could be a Roman priest performing a ritual. The features are made in a very realistic way and are typical of late Republican art of the second half of the first century BC. BC (Inv. 1751)

The priesthood in ancient Rome had state as well as private implementation, which extended to the reception of the cult in the entire state. In contrast to many other ancient religions, there was never a closed priestly caste. But here, too, sacred acts were of the utmost importance for the self-image of the Roman state . Accordingly, many magistrates not only agreed with the Senate before proceeding , but also consulted priests beforehand in order to ensure the approval of the gods. There were various sacred offices, which overlapped in many areas of responsibility, but still divided the execution of the religion in all facets among themselves.

The state priesthood

Sacerdos

The Sacerdos (plural Sacerdotes ), actually the sacerdos publicus populi Romani Quiritium ("public priest of the Roman people of the Quirites ") was the state-recognized priest in ancient Rome , who established the connection by means of a precisely regulated cult and sacrifice as well as the interpretation of the symbols of the gods between the community or the individual and the sacred sphere. The translation with “priest” is only a linguistic auxiliary construction insofar as the sacerdotes were more like public organs than clergy in today's sense. Linguistically, the term composed of the words sacer (“belonging to a deity”) and * dhe (“make”, “do”) is interpreted as “executor of a sacred act”.

The priesthood

The state priesthood, which probably arose from the transfer of sacred acts to certain families in archaic times, was organized into three main groups. In the first place belonged to it the individual priests (15 flamines , 1 rex sacrorum , 6 vestales ), who were particularly dedicated to the cult of certain gods; then the colleges of priests (originally 3, then 15, since Gaius Iulius Caesar 16 pontifices , analogous to many augures , the ordo haruspicum LX , the tresviri or septemviri epulonum and the duoviri or decemviri or quindecimviri sacris faciundis ), which are especially for administrative religious matters and the character interpretation were responsible; Finally, the urban Roman cult modalities (20 fetiales , 24 salii , luperci , 12 arvales fratres , Titii sodales ; supplemented by several Augustales sodales during the imperial period ), which instead of the actual state priests (individual priests and colleges) practiced particularly peculiar, often Etruscan rites. The only state priesthood exercised by women was that of the Vestals. But the wives of priests could also hold a priestly position ( regina sacrorum , flaminica ) .

The priesthood originally complemented itself through co-optation; the rex sacrorum , the flamines and the vestales , which were appointed by the state high priest, the pontifex maximus , were an exception . Since the end of the 3rd century BC The appointment of the pontifex maximus followed and since the lex Domitia 103 BC. That of the priestly colleges by the population organized in electoral bodies . The priesthood was generally exercised for life. As inaugoratio you during privy marks the arrival in the priesthood, exaugoratio is called. A grand ceremony is held in both cases.

The social position and role of the priests

In the Roman religion the rex (king) exercised the highest priestly functions during the monarchy , during the republic the high priest, since Augustus through the union of principate and chief pontificate in 12 BC. The princeps (emperor). The priests enjoyed special honors and privileges and were also considered to be the guardians of traditions, which they expressed in their ancient costumes ( apex , tutulus , galerus , toga praetexta ) . Physical defects prevented entry into the priesthood. The important role of the sacerdos is evident in the long-lasting exclusivity of the highest priesthoods for patricians , to which the plebeians reacted by creating their own central cult at the foot of the plebeian Aventine and thus creating a counterpart to the main Roman temple on the Capitol . It was not until the lex Ogulnia 300 BC. BC allowed plebeians to exercise pontificate and augurate.

The priests were regarded as public (publici) persons if they performed a state-recognized sacred act, but were otherwise considered homines privati - in contrast to the magistrates . The designation sacerdos publicus was generally reserved for the pontifex maximus and the flamen dialis , who also sat ex officio in the Senate, while otherwise there was a strict separation between priesthood and magistrates; the latter were even more valued than the priests during the republic. The priests were nevertheless of the greatest importance for the public, as they had a wide range of tasks: They separated the dies fasti (days with jurisdiction), dies nefasti (days without jurisdiction) and dies comitiales (days of popular assemblies), established the calendar , decided on the basis of the signs interpreted by the seers about the legal validity of resolutions of the state organs or could remove magistrates on the basis of religious misconduct. The priesthoods were therefore exposed to strong political influence during the phase of the Roman civil wars .

The priesthood and the judiciary

The ancient Roman jurisprudence was based on an unstructured custom and sacral law, which regulated religious matters affecting the civil community on the one hand and private legal disputes in individual judicial decisions on the other. The decision of the law was incumbent on the king and a college of priests, which advised the royal high priest in his decisions. The old jurisprudence of the Roman royal period , based on religious and moral principles, developed continuously in the Roman Republic into a factual and juridical jurisdiction, which reached its climax in the Roman imperial period . The archaic sacral law system with its statutes, regulations and religious crimes, such as the crimen incesti , remained in the jurisdiction of the priestly college under the presidency of the pontifex maximus .

The four high quorums of priests

Since the late republic, four colleges of priests have been considered the most respected (quattuor amplissima collegia) . Their appointment was by election . It was a great honor for a Roman to hold such an office and many important politicians held one of these offices at least once during their careers as magistrates. Due to their great importance, their number was subject to constant fluctuations (as under Sulla , Caesar and Augustus ), even if their name actually provided a fixed number.

Pontifices

Main article: Pontifex

This college was in charge of all executions of the ancient Roman religion . The name is derived from pontem facere ("to build a bridge"), which is a reference to their old function of reclaiming the land. The Flamines and Vestal Virgins are also counted in their ranks . At their head was the pontifex maximus , who organized the college, maintained the calendar and, if necessary, punished fellow priests. Formally he stood under the Rex sacrorum , who performed the ritual acts. After the death of Augustus , the office of pontifex maximus was hereditary tied to the respective emperor.

Augures

Main article: Augur

Your area of ​​responsibility extends to performing ritual acts that should determine the approval or rejection of a deity, including above all bird's eye view and the interpretation of natural events such as B. lightning is to be understood.

Quindecimviri Sacris Faciundis

Main article: Quindecimviri sacris faciundis

This college developed from the commission for the survey of the Sibylline books . Her area of ​​responsibility also included the ritus Graecus , roughly what religion was adopted by the Greeks and possibly adapted to the Roman idea. They had a special role in the secular celebrations .

Septemviri Epulonum

Main article: Septemviri epulonum

They developed from the pontifices as the youngest college. Their job was to organize the festive banquet for the Ludi Romani and Ludi plebei .

Priestly sodalities

In addition to the individual priests and colleges, there were cult associations. The so-called sodales or sodalities were priestly associations that were mostly organized as cooperatives. They cultivated the old cults and rites for which the state priests were not responsible and which often seemed incomprehensible even to contemporaries. During the imperial era, the Augustales , which were dedicated to the imperial cult , emerged as new cult associations . There were also cult associations outside the capital that were not subject to any state restrictions.

Fetials

Main article: fetials

The fetials (fetiales) were responsible for religious ceremonies in connection with Rome's external relations, in particular treaties and declarations of war. In the course of the republic they lost their importance.

Salier

Main article: Salier

They performed dances in full riot gear in frozen cult acts, the meaning of which was no longer fully understood even in antiquity. In this context stands the Salierlied , which is one of the oldest testimonies of ancient Rome. They performed dances for gods of war. Even in the imperial era , patrician sex was a prerequisite for admission to the group.

Fratres arvales

Main article: Fratres arvales

They carried out ceremonial bypasses in honor of Dea Dia and Mars , as their cult song carmen arvale suggests. During the imperial era there was a strong affinity for the imperial cult .

Sodales titii

Main article: Sodales titii

The priesthood of the Sodales Titii allegedly went back to Titus Tatius , who set it up for the cultivation of Sabine cults. It was renewed by Augustus, who himself became a member.

Luperci

Main article: Luperci

The Luperci played a role especially at the Lupercalia Festival on February 15th. They consisted of two colleges, the fabiani and the quinctiani , each with 12 members. The names indicate originally gentile cults, which were looked after by the patrician families of the Fabier and Quinctier. They sacrificed goats and dogs at the Lupercalia, smeared themselves with the blood of the sacrificed animals and then danced half-naked around the Palatine Hill. Mark Antony founded a third college, the juliani , in honor of Caesar . The meaning of the dance and the ritual remains obscure. Probably it was originally a rite in honor of Mars, whose symbol was the wolf and whose benevolence was to be bought to protect the herds from the wolves.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Krefeld, H. (Ed.): Res Romanae ; Cornelsen; Berlin 2005; P. 73 f.
  2. Tacitus, Annalen 1,54,1.