Flamen Dialis

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In

rex sacrorum and before other flamines maiores (Flamen Martialis, Flamen Quirinalis) and pontifex maximus.[3]

The office of Flamen Dialis, and the offices of the other flamines maiores, were traditionally said to have been created by Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, although Numa himself performed many of the rites of the Flamen Dialis.[4](1:20)

Appointment and privileges

The Flamen Dialis enjoyed many peculiar honours. When a vacancy occurred, three persons of

Pontifex Maximus.[6][7](iv, 16)[4](xxvii, 8) The candidates also had to be married, confarreatio and to a virgin (see Flamen#Marriage).[8][9]

From that time forward he was emancipated from the control of his father, and became sui juris.

cardinals
.

Restrictions

The Flamen Dialis was subjected to many restrictions and privations,

Fabius Pictor and Masurius Sabinus
.

The object of these rules was clearly to make him literally Jovi adsiduum sacerdotem (the constant priest of

Jove / Jupiter),[23][24] to compel constant attention to the duties of the priesthood, and to leave him effectively without any temptation to neglect them.[25]

In the view of

rex sacrorum. Similar partnerships, with similar ritual restrictions, are seen reflected in other Indo-European cultures, such as that of the Vedic rajan and his purohita, and the ancient Irish rig and the chief druid.[26]

Flaminica Dialis

The Flaminica Dialis was the wife of the Flamen Dialis.

regina sacrorum were the only ones who might wear the hairdressing named (in)arculata.[clarification needed][31][27](IV, 137) The flaminica wore a dyed robe (venenato operitur) and a small square cloth with a border (rica), to which was attached a slip cut from a felix arbor, a tree under the protection of the heavenly gods.[32][33] The rica may have been a short cloak, or less likely a sort of scarf or veil thrown over the head. The restrictions imposed upon the flaminica were similar to those placed on her husband.[34] She was prohibited from mounting a staircase consisting of more than three steps,[12](x, 15) perhaps to prevent her ankles from being seen.[35]

Holders of the office

  • Publius Cornelius Sulla, probably appointed flamen by the Pontifex Maximus Publius Cornelius Calussa c. 279–270 BC. He may have been the son of Publius Cornelius Rufinus, and the first member of his family named Sulla.[36](p 644)
  • Lucius Quinctius, appointed in the middle of the 3rd century BC. He was probably a son of Caeso Quinctius Claudus, and the ancestor of the Quinctii Flaminini.[36](p 864, notes 5 & 6)[37][i]
  • Publius Cornelius Scipio, grandson of Scipio Africanus, became Flamen Dialis in 174 BC. He died soon after between 170 and 168 BC.[36](p 642)[38]
  • Lucius Cornelius Merula was likely chosen flamen at the end of the 2nd century BC.[36](p 639) He is mostly known for his death in 87 BC, during the civil war between the two consuls of 87 BC, Octavius and Cinna. Appointed suffect consul in replacement of Cinna, who had been expelled by Octavius, Merula resigned when Cinna returned to Rome with an army. Targeted by Cinna's and Marius' purge, he instead committed suicide in Dec. 87 in the Temple of Jupiter, calling down curses on his enemies with his dying breath.[39][40]
  • Gaius Julius Caesar, the future dictator, was chosen at the instigation of Cinna, his father-in-law, at the end of 87 BC, or before 13 January 86 BC, while Marius was still alive.[41] Many scholars have however debated the possibility that Caesar was never formally appointed, because of his age. The theory that religious technicalities interfered as if his mother Aurelia was not plebeian are false. Aurelia was a patrician. Caesar nonetheless lost his priesthood during the dictatorship of Sulla, in about 81, but was elected a regular pontifex in the College of Pontiffs in 77, according to Vell. 2.43.1. He was elected pontifex maximus in 63 BC. No Flamen Dialis was appointed thereafter, and the office then remained vacant for about 72 years.[36](pp734–735) until 16/15 BC (Dec. 87 BC - 72 years = 16 or 15 BC -- per Tac. Ann. 3.58.4, which has wrongly been emended by some editors to "75 years."[42] Due to inclusive counting, it is hard to be certain if this means 71 or 72 years).
  • Servius Cornelius Lentulus Maluginensis, probably a son of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Augur. Born c. 30 BC, he seems to have become flamen c. 15 BC, after the long hiatus that followed the removal of Caesar. But since the first mention of him in office appears in Tac. Ann. 3.58.1 for AD 22, it is very likely he was not the first man to hold the post after the long vacancy. Accordingly, the exact date that Maluginensis became Flamen Dialis is uncertain. Cassius Dio 54.36.1 says the post was filled about 11 BC, a date unwisely accepted by many modern scholars who forget that Tacitus is more reliable and closer to the events than Dio. Tacitus[7] 3.58.4 clearly indicates that the date was 72 years after the suicide of Cornelius Merula in Dec. 87 BC. Some modern translators have preferred Dio over Tacitus, including Penguin's Rex Warner. [43] [36]
  • Cornelius Lentulus Maluginensis, succeeded his father as flamen in AD 23, probably at a very young age.[36](p 638)
  • Terentius Gentianus is mentioned as flamen in an inscription commissioned for his sister.[44][45] The last known Flamen Dialis. Since he was also consul in AD 211 it seems the restrictions on holding political offices had been removed.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Münzer[37] thought that Caeso Quinctius Claudus was the brother of the Claudus who was consul 271 BC.

References

  1. ^ Dillon, Matthew; Garland, Lynda (28 October 2013). Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook. Taylor & Francis. p. 127.
    ISBN 978-1-136-76143-0
    .
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879). "Dĭālis". A Latin Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
  3. ISBN 978-0-520-24991-2
    . Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e
    Ab urbe condita
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-470-69588-3
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-136-05850-9
    .
  7. ^ a b c d
    Annales
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-521-85692-8
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-136-76136-2
    .
  10. ^ a b Gaius. Institutes.
  11. ^ Ulpian, Frag. x.5[full citation needed]
  12. ^ a b c d e Aulus Gellius. Noctes Atticae [Attic Nights].
  13. ^ Varro,[full citation needed] ap.[clarification needed] Gellius[12](x, 15)
  14. ISBN 978-1-351-98245-0
    .
  15. ^ a b c
    Roman Questions].[full citation needed
    ]
  16. ISBN 978-0-8010-3172-4
    .
  17. ISBN 978-1-78570-675-2
    .
  18. ISBN 978-0-19-256910-3
    .
  19. ISBN 978-90-04-15389-9
    .
  20. ISBN 978-1-55635-575-2
    .
  21. ISBN 978-1-107-02240-9
    .
  22. ^ Kirchmann. De Annulis. p. 14.[full citation needed]
  23. ^
    ISBN 978-1-350-01505-0
    .
  24. ISBN 978-90-04-23229-7
    .
  25. ^ Beard, Mary; North, John; Price, S.R.F. (28 June 1998). Religions of Rome. Vol. 2 – a sourcebook. Cambridge University Press. p. 196.
    ISBN 978-0-521-45646-3
    – via Google Books.
  26. ^ a b Dumézil, G. (1977). ——, It. tr. Milan pp. 146-148 and 31-32.[full citation needed]
  27. ^ a b
    Maurus Servius Honoratus. Ad Aeneidem [On the Aeneid
    ].
  28. ^ Sebesta, Judith Lynn; Bonfante, Larissa (2001). The World of Roman Costume. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 56.
    ISBN 978-0-299-13854-7
    – via Google Books.
  29. ^ a b Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius. Saturnalia.
  30. ISBN 978-0-674-99649-6
    .
  31. ^ Paulus, ——, p 237 L 2nd.[full citation needed]
  32. Varro
    . De lingua latina. vii, 44.
  33. ^ Sextus Pompeius Festus, ——, s.v. tutulum and rica[full citation needed]
  34. ^ James, Sharon L.; Dillon, Sheila (15 June 2015). A Companion to Women in the Ancient World. John Wiley & Sons. p. 207.
    ISBN 978-1-119-02554-2
    – via Google Books.
  35. ^ Holstein, Justus Frederick (1916). Rites and Ritual Acts as Prescribed by the Roman Religion According to the Commentary of Servius on Vergil's Aeneid. New York University. p. 25 – via Google Books.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g Rüpke, Jörg; Glock, Anne (2008). Fasti Sacerdotum: A prosopography of pagan, Jewish, and Christian religious officials in the City of Rome, 300 BC to AD 499. Translated by Richardson, David. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  37. ^ a b Münzer, F. (1999) [1920]. Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families. Translated by Ridley, Thérèse. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 110, 117.
  38. ^ Etcheto, Henri (2012). Les Scipions: Famille et pouvoir à Rome à l'époque républicaine [The Scipios: Family and power in Rome during the republican era] (in French). Bordeaux, FR: Ausonius Éditions. pp. 181–182 – via archives-ouvertes.fr.
  39. ^ Valerius Maximus. Facta et dicta memorabilia. ix 12.5.
  40. ^ Velleius. Paterculus. ii, 20; ii, 22.
  41. ^ Broughton, —. (–). ——, vol II, p 52.[full citation needed]
  42. ^ Gaius Stern, “M. Aemilius Lepidus and the Four Flamines on the Ara Pacis Augustae,” in eds. Donohue, Mattusch, Brauer, Common Ground: Archaeology, Art, Science and the Humanities, Acta of the XVI International Congress of Classical Archaeology (2003 Oxbow Monograph), 293-97.
  43. ^ Anthony Woodman wisely kept Tacitus's testimony of 72 years. Gaius Stern, “M. Aemilius Lepidus and the Four Flamines on the Ara Pacis Augustae,” in eds. Donohue, Mattusch, Brauer, Common Ground: Archaeology, Art, Science and the Humanities, Acta of the XVI International Congress of Classical Archaeology (2003 Oxbow Monograph), 293-97, asserts that Tacitus is probably correct, meaning that Maluginensis or his predecessor became Flamen Dialis, while Lepidus (the triumvir, cos. 46, 42) was Pontifex Maximus (16–15 BC), so that Lepidus had to supervise his inauguration at Augustus' direction, possibly unwillingly
  44. ^ Craven, Maxwell (2019-12-08). The Imperial Families of Ancient Rome. Fonthill Media.
  45. ^ Segni, Leah Di; Arubas, Benjamin (2018). "A Flamen Dialis Recorded on a Decorated Marble Slab from Ptolemais-Acco". Jerusalem and Eretz Israel.

Bibliography

  • Henri Etcheto, Les Scipions. Famille et pouvoir à Rome à l’époque républicaine, Bordeaux, Ausonius Éditions, 2012.
  • Friedrich Münzer, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families, translated by Thérèse Ridley, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 (originally published in 1920).
  • Jörg Rüpke, Anne Glock, David Richardson (translator), Fasti Sacerdotum: A Prosopography of Pagan, Jewish, and Christian Religious Officials in the City of Rome, 300 BC to AD 499, Oxford University Press, 2008.

This article is based on a portion of the article "Flamen" from Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, in the public domain.

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