In 63 B.C.E., at the age of 36, Julius Caesar
shocked everybody by announcing that he was running for the office of Pontifex Maximus. He was still a minor political figure, he
had not yet served his term as Praetor. He took on massive debts in order to finance
this campaign, and when his political elders tried to convince him to get out of the race,
he redoubled his efforts and threw himself even further into debt. On election day, according to Plutarch, Caesar
told his mother something along the lines of "today you will either see me as Pontifex
Maximus or go into exile." He won in a close three-way race. This electoral victory would have repercussions
for centuries. So what was the Pontifex Maximus? Let's put it in the simplest possible terms:
he was the highest elected religious official in the Roman Republic, and once elected, he
served for life. You'll notice I threw a caveat in there. "Elected." Maybe it won't surprise you to learn that
it gets more complicated when you look into it. There was one person that outranked the Pontifex
Maximus. He was called the Rex Sacrorum, which is deceptively
hard to say. It means something like the King of the Sacred. Once appointed, he also served for life...kinda. The Rex Sacrorum was actually itself a split
position, consisting of a husband and wife team. The wife was called the Regina Sacrorum, and
she had duties separate from her husband. One could not exist without the other, so
if one of the two died or the couple got divorced, the position was vacant and a new couple was
appointed. The official job of the Rex and Regina Sacrorum
was to keep the gods happy. Full stop. That's it. What that meant in practice was that they
were each responsible for performing many complicated religious ceremonies, including
animal sacrifices. They also had to live a pure life, which meant
a lot of things but most importantly it meant that politics and the military were completely
off limits. The Rex Sacrorum was undeniably a powerless
figurehead. But let's put that to the side. Let's look at the Pontifex Maximus's actual
responsibilities. I'd say his most meaningful job was regulating
public morality. He was a watchdog over the Roman people, and
more importantly, over its politicians. He had the power to unilaterally hand down
fines whenever he decided somebody violated a religious custom or some cultural taboo. Along the same lines, he was also authorized
to go before the Senate and speak on legislation, representing a group called the College of
Pontiffs. What was the College of Pontiffs? This was a group of Pontiffs, or priests,
that met with the Pontifex Maximus behind closed doors to vote on new laws that would
govern religious life or public morality. It's important to note that once these laws
were agreed upon and publicly announced by the Pontifex Maximus, they had the force of
law, and the Senate had no say in the matter. In the beginning there were 5 in the College,
later 9, and by the late Republic 15. These Pontiffs had some other duties, like
serving as judges in religious court cases, although it's unclear how common this was. Their most important job was becoming experts
on Roman religious law, and guiding the Pontifex Maximus. Keep in mind these Pontiffs were expected
to have normal political careers, and their role on the College of Pontiffs was kind of
a side-gig. Just like the Pontifex Maximus, Pontiffs served
for life. When a Pontiff died, the College voted internally
to select his replacement. New Pontiffs were usually picked from prominent
families at a young age, and trained on the job by his colleagues. Briefly, in the Late Republic, new Pontiffs
were elected by the people, but that reform didn't last long. The Pontifex Maximus also oversaw a group
called the Flamen. These men were also priests, but appointed
directly by the Pontifex Maximus, for life. There were 15 of them, each the head of a
cult devoted to a different deity. The Flamen to Jupiter, Mars, and Romulus were
the three most prestigious ones, and were usually given to members of prominent families. Unlike the Pontiffs, Flamen were subject to
a litany of religious restrictions. For example, it was forbidden for them to
see a dead body, or to travel outside of Rome. This meant that while they were technically
allowed to have political careers, all of the good stuff was off limits. Also, they weren't allowed to see a table
without food on it, which might be the world's worst superpower. I can't decide if it would be more annoying
to know a Flamen, or to be a Flamen. The Pontifex Maximus was also responsible
for appointing Vestal Virgins, which was an order of women that maintained an eternal
flame in the center of the city. These were easily the most powerful women
in Rome, and could own property, vote, and even free slaves at will. Each one was appointed for 30 years, but most
chose stayed on after their time was up. The Pontifex Maximus worked right next door
to the Temple of Vesta in a building called the Regia, which once been the site of the
royal palace during the monarchy. This was where the College of Pontiffs met. It's also where Rome housed its official calendar,
which was so broken that the Pontifex Maximus needed to manually add days to the end of
every year in order for it to make sense. This was also where many of Rome's most sacred
artifacts were kept. Perhaps most famous were the Spears of Mars,
which were said to vibrate whenever Rome was about to befall some disaster. We're told that Caesar saw them vibrating
the night before his own assassination. Speaking of which, after Caesar's assassination,
one of his deputies, Lepidus, was elected the new Pontifex Maximus. This same Lepidus that became the junior member
of the Second Triumvirate, with Octavian and Marc Antony. After Octavian became the Emperor Augustus
and consolidated power, he forced Lepidus to move to the countryside, where he retained
his title but no influence. Years later, when Lepidus died of old age,
the office passed to Augustus without much fuss, and the headquarters of the Pontifex
Maximus quietly moved from the Regia to the new Imperial Palace. And for the next four hundred years, that's
where it stayed.
Always watch these videos when they show up, but never retain anything from them
Fun story: The title Pontifex Maximus became hereditary, and was retained by the Emperor for a long time. It was actually eventually given to the Catholic church after some Roman Emperor burned down a theater filled with Christian women and children within. The Church excommunicated the Emperor, who then negotiated with them to get back into the church. At this point in the Church there is no "Pope". There are, however, Bishops. At the time the most powerful Bishops were in Toledo and Milan, and being politically savvy the Emperor decided to give his title of Pontifex Maximus (which still held cultural significance throughout the empire) to the relatively weak Bishop of Rome in order to keep tabs on the growing powers of the church.
I'm having a hard ass time finding sources for all this shit so if someone familiar with this story could help me out that'd be great.
I love these videos. So much information, yet calming, and entertaining.
Jizz in my pants a new historia civilis vid
I need more input. I cannot get enough of this.