Pontifex Maximus

The 'Via Labicana Augustus' sculpture of the Roman emperor Augustus as Pontifex Maximus.

Introduction

The head priest of the Roman state religion was the Pontifex Maximus, or the greatest of the college of pontifices. While an obviously important and prominent position within the ranks of the Roman system, the Pontifex Maximus was not considered a magistrate comparable to a Consul, Praetor, etc.

During the Republic, the Pontifex was elected by the Comitia Tributa and served for life, while during the Empire, the position was generally held by the Emperor himself.

Originally, the Ponifices were Patrician only, but the social conditions and changes during the late Republic allowed for Plebeian election as well. These men were responsible for the oversight of the state religious cult as a whole and didn't really oversee particular godly cults, though they could if necessary.

By the Imperial period there were 16 pontifices under the high priest, 15 flamines, who were special priests of the main deities, and the Rex Sacrorum (king of the sacrifices) who performed the religious acts that the king had usually done. Perhaps most importantly, he was he was also responsible for the 18 Vestal Virgins.

The main duty of the pontifices was to provide the pax deorum, or the 'peace with the gods'. Interpreting omens, sometimes through augures, controlling and keeping the official calendar, and the oversight of funerals all fell under the domain of the Pontifex Maximus.

He was responsible for an enormous collection of omens (annales maximi); that would be recorded and collected on a nearly constant basis. These heavenly signs would be written down along with accompanying events, and used to determine the divine favor of the gods. Doing so allowed following generations of priests and magistrates to understand the historic will of the gods and interpret future events against past patterns.

Today, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, is still called the Pontifex Maximus. It's a political or governing office that has been in existence and in perpetual use for nearly 3,000 years.

Pontifex Maximus List

Roman Office of the Pontifex Maximus
Year	Pontifex	Notes
712 BC	Numa Pompilius	The office was said to begin during the tenure of the Kings of Rome. However, very little recorded evidence exists. This name has been recorded as Numa Marcius and it is difficult to determine if it was a different person, or the actual second king of Rome.
509 BC	Papirius	Complete dates in office unknown.
449 BC	Furius	Complete dates in office unknown.
431 BC	Cornelius Cossas	Complete dates in office unknown.
420 BC	Minucius	Complete dates in office unknown.
390 BC	Follius Flaccinator	Complete dates in office unknown.
332 - 304 BC	Cornelius Callissa
304 - ? BC	Cornelius Scipio Barbatus	Complete dates in office unknown.
254 - 243 BC	Tib. Coruncanius	First Plebeian Pontifex Maximus
243 - 221 BC	Caecilius Metellus
217 - 213 BC	Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus
212 - 183 BC	Licinius Crassus Dives
183 - 180 BC	Servilius Geminus
180 - 152 BC	Aemilius Lepidus
152 -150 BC	No Pontifex Maximus
150 - 141 BC	Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum
141 - 132 BC	Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio	Described by Plutarch as the first Pontifex to break the religious law not allowing him to leave Italy.
132 - 130 BC	Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus	Also noted as the first to leave Italy, during the social disorder of the Gracchi Brothers. After which, it became increasingly common and certainly not against the law for the Pontifex to leave Italy.
? - 115 BC	P. Mucius Scaevola	Complete dates in office unknown, but assumedly shortly after his predecessor.
114 - 103 BC	Caecilius Metellus Delmaticus
103 - 89 BC	Domitius Ahenobarbus
89 - 82 BC	Q. Mucius Scaevola
81 - 63 BC	Caecilius Metellus Pius
63 - 44 BC	Gaius Julius Caesar
44 - 13 BC	Aemilius Lepidus
12 BC	Augustus	With the accession of Augustus, the election of the Pontifex Maximus ceased as each successive emperor held the office. In 382 AD, when the Eastern emperor Theodosius established Christianity as the official religion of the empire, the Western Emperor Gratian relinquished the office to the Christian Popes of Rome, who have held it since that time.

Did you know...
Julius Caesar was elected pontifex maximus in 63 BCE and kept the office until his death. The house where he spent the night before he was killed, was the domus publica.