Rex Sacrorum
Encyclopedia
In ancient Roman religion
, the rex sacrorum was a senatorial
priesthood reserved for patricians. Although in the historical era the pontifex maximus
was the head of Roman state religion
, Festus
says that in the ranking of priests, the rex sacrorum was of highest prestige, followed by the flamines maiores
. The rex was based in the Regia
.
During the Roman Republic
, the rex sacrorum was chosen by the pontifex maximus from a list of patricians submitted by the College of Pontiffs
. A further requirement was that he be born from parents married through the ritual of confarreatio
, which was also the form of marriage he himself had to enter. His wife, the regina sacrorum, also performed religious duties specific to her role. Marriage was thus such a fundamental part of the priesthood that if the regina died, the rex had to resign.
The rex sacrorum wore a toga
, the undecorated soft "shoeboot" (calceus), and carried a ceremonial ax; as a priest of archaic Roman religion, he sacrificed capite velato, with head covered. The rex held a sacrifice on the Kalends
of each month. On the Nones, he announced the dates of festivals
for the month. On March 24 and May 24, he held a sacrifice in the Comitium
.
The rex sacrorum was a feature of Italic religion and possibly also Etruscan. The title is found in Latin cities
such as Lanuvium
, Tusculum
, and Velitrae. At Rome the priesthood was deliberately depoliticized; the rex sacrorum was not elected, and the comitia
merely witnessed his inauguration. Like the flamen Dialis
but in contrast to the pontiffs and augur
s, the rex was barred from a political and military career. He was thus not a "decayed king"; rather, after the overthrow of the kings of Rome, the office of rex sacrorum fulfilled at least some of the sacral duties of kingship, with the consuls
assuming political power and military command, as well as some sacral functions. It is a matter of scholarly debate as to whether the rex sacrorum was created during the formation of the Republic, as Arnaldo Momigliano
argued, or had existed in the Regal period. Another Roman priest given the title "king" was the rex Nemorensis
.
of every month, the regina presided at the sacrifice of a sow (porca) or female lamb (agna) to Juno
. The highly public nature of these sacrifices, like the role of the Vestals in official Roman religion, contradicts the commonplace notion that women's religious activities in ancient Rome were restricted to the private or domestic sphere. Unlike the Vestals, however, the regina sacrorum and the flaminica Dialis (the wife of the flamen Dialis or high priest of Jupiter
) were complements to a male partner; these two priesthoods were gender-balanced and had shared duties.
While performing her rituals, the regina wore a headdress called the arculum, formed from a garland of pomegranate
twigs tied up with a white woolen thread. The rex and regina sacrorum were required to marry by the ritual of confarreatio
, originally reserved for patricians, but after the Lex Canuleia
of 445 BC, it is possible that the regina could have been plebeian
.
Inscriptions
record the names of a few reginae sacrorum, including Sergia Paullina, the wife of Cn. Pinarius Cornelius Severus, shortly before 112 AD, and Manlia Fadilla around the 2nd/3rd century AD.
Religion in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...
, the rex sacrorum was a senatorial
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
priesthood reserved for patricians. Although in the historical era the pontifex maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. 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...
was the head of Roman state religion
Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State...
, Festus
Sextus Pompeius Festus
Sextus Pompeius Festus was a Roman grammarian, who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo in Gaul.He made an epitome in 20 volumes of the encyclopedic treatise in many volumes De verborum significatu, of Verrius Flaccus, a celebrated grammarian who flourished in the...
says that in the ranking of priests, the rex sacrorum was of highest prestige, followed by the flamines maiores
Flamen
In ancient Roman religion, a flamen was a priest assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores , who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores...
. The rex was based in the Regia
Regia
The Regia was a structure in Ancient Rome, located in the Roman Forum. It was originally the residence of the kings of Rome or at least their main headquarters, and later the office of the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Roman religion. It occupied a triangular patch of terrain between the...
.
During the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, the rex sacrorum was chosen by the pontifex maximus from a list of patricians submitted by the College of Pontiffs
College of Pontiffs
The College of Pontiffs or Collegium Pontificum was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the polytheistic state religion. The college consisted of the Pontifex Maximus, the Vestal Virgins, the Rex Sacrorum, and the flamines...
. A further requirement was that he be born from parents married through the ritual of confarreatio
Confarreatio
In ancient Rome, confarreatio was a traditional patrician form of marriage. The ceremony involved the bride and bridegroom sharing a cake of spelt, in Latin far or panis farreus, hence the rite's name. The Flamen Dialis and Pontifex Maximus presided over the wedding, and ten witnesses had to be...
, which was also the form of marriage he himself had to enter. His wife, the regina sacrorum, also performed religious duties specific to her role. Marriage was thus such a fundamental part of the priesthood that if the regina died, the rex had to resign.
The rex sacrorum wore a toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...
, the undecorated soft "shoeboot" (calceus), and carried a ceremonial ax; as a priest of archaic Roman religion, he sacrificed capite velato, with head covered. The rex held a sacrifice on the Kalends
Kalends
The Calends , correspond to the first days of each month of the Roman calendar. The Romans assigned these calends to the first day of the month, signifying the start of the new moon cycle...
of each month. On the Nones, he announced the dates of festivals
Roman festivals
In ancient Roman religion, holidays were celebrated to worship and celebrate a certain god or divine event, and consisted of religious observances and festival traditions, usually with a large feast, and often featuring games . The most important festivals were the Saturnalia, the Consualia, the...
for the month. On March 24 and May 24, he held a sacrifice in the Comitium
Comitium
The Comitium in Rome is the location of the original founding of the city. The area is marked by a number of shrines, temples, altars and churches today from throughout its history. The location was lost due to the cities growth and development over a thousand years, but was excavated at the turn...
.
The rex sacrorum was a feature of Italic religion and possibly also Etruscan. The title is found in Latin cities
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
such as Lanuvium
Lanuvium
Lanuvium is an ancient city of Latium , some 32 km southeast of Rome, a little southwest of the Via Appia....
, Tusculum
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.-Location:Tusculum is one of the largest Roman cities in Alban Hills. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill—more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano...
, and Velitrae. At Rome the priesthood was deliberately depoliticized; the rex sacrorum was not elected, and the comitia
Roman assemblies
The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital...
merely witnessed his inauguration. Like the flamen Dialis
Flamen Dialis
In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Dialis was the high priest of Jupiter. There were 15 flamines, of which three were flamines maiores, serving the three gods of the Archaic Triad...
but in contrast to the pontiffs and augur
Augur
The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of...
s, the rex was barred from a political and military career. He was thus not a "decayed king"; rather, after the overthrow of the kings of Rome, the office of rex sacrorum fulfilled at least some of the sacral duties of kingship, with the consuls
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
assuming political power and military command, as well as some sacral functions. It is a matter of scholarly debate as to whether the rex sacrorum was created during the formation of the Republic, as Arnaldo Momigliano
Arnaldo Momigliano
Arnaldo Dante Momigliano KBE was an Italian historian known for his work in historiography, characterized by Donald Kagan as the "world’s leading student of the writing of history in the ancient world." He became Professor of Roman history at the University of Turin in 1936, but as a Jew soon lost...
argued, or had existed in the Regal period. Another Roman priest given the title "king" was the rex Nemorensis
Rex Nemorensis
The rex Nemorensis was a priest of the goddess Diana at Aricia in Italy, by the shores of Lake Nemi, where she was known as Diana Nemorensis. The priesthood played a major role in the mythography of J.G...
.
Regina sacrorum
As the wife of the rex sacrorum, the regina sacrorum ("queen of the sacred rites") was a high priestess who carried out ritual duties only she could perform. On the KalendsKalends
The Calends , correspond to the first days of each month of the Roman calendar. The Romans assigned these calends to the first day of the month, signifying the start of the new moon cycle...
of every month, the regina presided at the sacrifice of a sow (porca) or female lamb (agna) to Juno
Juno (mythology)
Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...
. The highly public nature of these sacrifices, like the role of the Vestals in official Roman religion, contradicts the commonplace notion that women's religious activities in ancient Rome were restricted to the private or domestic sphere. Unlike the Vestals, however, the regina sacrorum and the flaminica Dialis (the wife of the flamen Dialis or high priest of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
) were complements to a male partner; these two priesthoods were gender-balanced and had shared duties.
While performing her rituals, the regina wore a headdress called the arculum, formed from a garland of pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
twigs tied up with a white woolen thread. The rex and regina sacrorum were required to marry by the ritual of confarreatio
Confarreatio
In ancient Rome, confarreatio was a traditional patrician form of marriage. The ceremony involved the bride and bridegroom sharing a cake of spelt, in Latin far or panis farreus, hence the rite's name. The Flamen Dialis and Pontifex Maximus presided over the wedding, and ten witnesses had to be...
, originally reserved for patricians, but after the Lex Canuleia
Lex Canuleia
The Lex Canuleia is a law of the Roman Republic passed in the year 445 BC. Named after the tribune Gaius Canuleius, who proposed it, it abolished a corresponding prohibition in the Twelve Tables and allowed marriage between patricians and plebeians, with children inheriting the father's social status...
of 445 BC, it is possible that the regina could have been plebeian
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
.
Inscriptions
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
record the names of a few reginae sacrorum, including Sergia Paullina, the wife of Cn. Pinarius Cornelius Severus, shortly before 112 AD, and Manlia Fadilla around the 2nd/3rd century AD.
In popular culture
- "The King of Sacrifices" by John Maddox RobertsJohn Maddox RobertsJohn Maddox Roberts is an author who has written many science fiction and fantasy novels, including his successful historical fiction, such as the SPQR series and Hannibal's Children....
appears in The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives, edited by Michael Ashley. (Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1995) ISBN 0-7867-0214-1