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tur), it alone could not, Liv. i. 55. v. 54.

Jovi ipsi regi noluit' CONCEDERE, Gell. xii. 6. which was reckoned an omen of the perpetuity of the empire, Liv. ibid.

PALES, a god or goddess who presided over flocks and herds; usually feminine. Pastoria PALES, Flor. i. 20.

HYMEN vel HYMENÆUS, the god of marriage.

LAVERNA, the goddess of thieves, Horat. Ep. i. 16. 60. VACUNA, who presided over vacation, or respite from business, Ovid. Fast. vi. 307.

AVERRUNCUS, the god who averted mischiefs, (mala averuncabat), Varr. vi. 5.-There were several of these.

FASCINUS, who prevented fascination or enchantment. ROBIGUS, the god, and RUBIGO, the goddess who preserved corn from blight, (a rubigine), Gell. v. 13.

MEPHITIS, the goddess of bad smells, Serv. in Virg. Æn. vii. 84. CLOACINA, of the cloaca, or common sewers.

Under the Semones were comprehended the NYMPHS, (nympha), female deities, who presided over all parts of the earth; over mountains, Oreădes; woods, Dryades, Hamadryades, Napaa; rivers and fountains, Naiades vel Naiades ; the sea, Nereides, Oceanitides, &c.—Each river was supposed to have a particular deity, who presided over it; as Tiberinus over the Tiber, Virg. Æn. viii. 31. and 77. Eridanus over the Po; taurino vultu, with the countenance of a bull, and horns; as all rivers were represented, (quod flumina sunt atrocia, ut tauri ;* Festus ; vel propter impetus et mugitus aquarum, Vet. Schol. in Horat. Od. iv. 14. 25. Sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus.) Virg. G. iv. 371. Ovid. Met. iv. pr. Ælian. ii. 33. Claudian. Cons. Prob. 214. &c. The sources of rivers were particularly sacred to some divinity, and cultivated with religious ceremonies, Senec. Ep. 41. Temples were erected; as to Clitumnus, Plin. Ep. viii. 8. to Ilissus, Pausan. i. 19. small pieces of money were thrown into them, to render the presiding deities propitious ;† and no person was allowed to swim near the head of the spring, because the touch of a naked body was supposed to pollute the consecrated waters, ibid. & Tacit. Annal. xiv. 22. Thus no boat was allowed to be on the lâcus Vadimonis, Plin. Ep. viii. 20. in which were several floating islands, ibid & Plin. ii. 95. s. 96. Sacrifices were also offered to fountains; as by Horace to that of Blandusia, Od. iii. 18. whence the rivulet Digentia probably flowed, Ep. i. 18. 104.

Under the SEMONES were also included the judges in the infernal regions, MINOS, Æăcus, and Rhadamanthus; CHARON, the

* Quia sonitum_tauri edebant, they roared like bullocks.

+Hence probably proceeded the practice of espousing the Adriatic sea by the Doge of Venice, by throwing into it a piece of money; a ceremony instituted by the Pope.

erryman of hell, (PORTITOR, Virg. Æn. vi. 298. PORTHMEUS, eos, Juvenal. iii. 266.) who conducted the souls of the dead in a boat over the rivers Styx and Acheron, and extracted from each his portorium or freight, (naulum,) which he gave an account of to Pluto; hence called, PORTITOR: the dog CERBERUS, a threeheaded monster, who guarded the entrance of hell.

The Romans also worshipped the virtues and affections of the mind, and the like; as, Piety, Faith, Hope, Concord, Fortune, Fame, &c. Cic. Nat. D. ii. 23. even vices and diseases, Id. legg. ii. 11. Nat. D. iii. 25. Juvenal. i. 115. and under the emperors likewise foreign deities, as, Isis, Osiris, Anubis, of the Egyptians; Lucan. viii. 831.also the winds and the tempests; Eurus, the east wind; Auster or Notus, the south wind; Zephyrus, the west wind; Boreas, the north wind; Africus, the south-west; Corus, the north-west; and EOLUS, the god of winds, who was supposed to reside in the Lipari islands, hence called Insulaæ Æoliæ; AURÆ, the air-nymphs or sylphs, &c.*

The Romans worshipped certain gods, that they might do them good, and others, that they might not hurt them; as Averruncus and Robigus. There was both a good Jupiter and a bad; the former was called DIJOVIS, (a juvando,) or Diespiter, and the latter, VEJOVIS, or VEDIUS, Gell. v. 12. But Ovid makes Vejovis the same with Jupiter parvis, or non magnus, Fast. iii. 445. &c. II. MINISTRI SACRORUM, the MINISTERS of SACRED THINGS.

THE

HE ministers of religion, among the Romans, did not form a distinct order from the other citizens. (See p. 111). They were usually chosen from the most honourable men in the

state.

Some of them were common to all the gods, (omnium deorum sacerdotes ;) others appropriated to a particular deity, (uni aliqui numini addicti). Of the former kind were,

I. The PONTIFICES, (a posse facere, quia illis jus erat sacra faciendi; vel potius a ponte faciendo, nam ab iis sublicius est factus primùm, et restitutus sæpe cùm ideo sacra et uls et cis Tiberim fiant, Varr. L. L. iv. 15. Dionys. ii. 73. iii. 45.) were first instituted by Numa, Liv. iv. 4. Dionys. ii. 73. chosen from among the patricians; four in number, till the year of the city 454, when four

* So various indeed were the objects of Heathen worship, that in some countries, particularly in Egypt, they offered adoration to beasts, birds, herbs, and hideous rep. tiles, and did homage, in a word, to almost every thing but the true God. So prone the human heart to degenerate into the grossest and most absurd idolatry.

more were created from the plebeians, Liv. x. 6. Some think that originally there was only one Pontifex; as no more are mentioned in Livy, i. 20. ii. 2. Sylla increased their number to 15, Liv. Ep. 89. They were divided into MAJORES and MINORES, Cic. Harusp. R. 6. Liv. xxii. 57. Some suppose the 7 added by Sylla and their successors to have been called minores; and the 8 old ones, and such as were chosen in their room, MAJORES. Others think the majores were patricians, and the minores plebeians. Whatever be in this, the cause of the distinction certainly existed before the time of Sylla, Liv. ib. The whole number of the Pontifices was called COLLEGIUM, Cic. Dom. 12.

The Pontifices judged in all cases relating to sacred things; and, in cases where there was no written law, they prescribed what regulations they thought proper. Such as neglected their mandates, they could fine according to the magnitude of the offence. Dionysius says, that they were not subject to the power of any one, nor bound to give account of their conduct even to the senate, or people, ii. 73. But this must be understood with some limitations; for we learn from Cicero, that the tribunes of the commons might oblige them, even against their will, to perform certain parts of their office, Dom. 45. and an appeal could be made from their decree, as from all others, to the people, Ascon. in Cic. Mil. 12. It is certain, however, that their authority was very great, Cic. Dom. 1. 51. Harusp. R. 10. It particularly belonged to them to see that the inferior priests did their duty, Dionys. ibid. From the different parts of their office, the Greeks called them ἱεροδιδασκαλοι, ἱερονόμοι, iegopiñaxes, isgopavra, Sacrorum doctores, administratores, custodes et interpretes, ibid.

From the time of Numa, the vacant places in the number of Pontifices, were supplied by the college, Dionys. ii. 73. till the year 650; when Domitius, a tribune, transferred that right to the people, Suet. Ner. 2. Cic. Rull. ii. 7. Vell. ii. 12. Sylla abrogated this law, Ascon. in. Cic. Cæcil. 3. but it was restored by Labienus, a tribune, through the influence of Julius Cæsar, Dio. xxxvii. 37. Antony again transferred the right of election from the people to the priests, Dio. xliv. fin. thus Lepidus was chosen Pontifex M. irregularly, ibid. furto creatus, Vell. ii. 61. In confusione rerum ac tumultu, pontificatum maximum intercepit, Liv. Epit. 117. Pansa once more restored the right of election to the people, Cic. Ep. ad Brut. 5. After the battle of Actium, permission was granted to Augustus, to add to all the fraternities of priests as many above the usual number as he thought proper; which power the succeeding emperors exercised, so that the number of priests was thenceforth very uncertain, Dio. li. 20. liii. 17.

The chief of the Pontifices was called PONTIFEX MAXIMUS,

quod maximus rerum, quæ ad sacra, et religiones pertinent, judex sit, Festus: Judex atque arbiter rerum divinarum atque humanarum, Id. in ORDO SACERDOTUM); which name is first mentioned by Livy, iii. 54. He was created by the people, while the other pontifices were chosen by the college, Liv. xxv. 5. commonly from among those who had borne the first offices in the state, ibid. The first plebeian Pontifex M. was T. Coruncanius, Liv. Ep. xviii.

This was an office of great dignity and power. The Pontifex M. was supreme judge and arbiter in all religious matters, Liv. i. 20. ix. 46. He took care that sacred rites were properly performed; and, for that purpose, all the other priests were subject to him, Liv. ii. 2. He could hinder any of them from leaving the city, although invested with consular authority, Liv. Ep. xix. l. Xxxvii. 5. Tacit. Annal. iii. 58. 51. and fine such as transgressed his orders, even although they were magistrates, Liv. ibid. xl. 2. 42. Cic. Phil. xi. 8.

How much the ancient Romans respected religion and its ministers, we may judge from this; that they imposed a fine on Tremellius, a tribune of the commons, for having, in a dispute, used injurious language to Lepidus, the Pontifex M. (Sacrorumque quam magistratuum jus potentius fuit), Liv. Ep. xlvii. But the Pontifices appear, at least in the time of Cicero, to have been, in some respects, subject to the tribunes, Cic. Dom. 45.

It was particularly incumbent on the Pontifex M. to take care of the sacred rites of Vesta, Ovid. Fast. iii. 417. Gell. i. 12. Senec, Contr. i. 2. If any of the priestesses neglected their duty, he reprimanded, Liv. iv. 44. or punished them, xxviii. 11. sometimes, by a sentence of the college, capitally, Cic. Har. resp. 7. legg. ii. 9. Liv. viii. 15. xxii. 57.

The presence of the Pontifex M. was requisite in public and solemn religious acts; as when magistrates vowed games or the like, Liv. iv. 27. xxxi. 9. xxxvi. 2. made a prayer, Suet. Cl. 22. or dedicated a temple, Liv. ix. 46. also when a general devoted himself for his army, Liv. viii. 9. x. 7. 28. to repeat over before them, the form of words proper to be used, (iis verba præire, v. carmen præfari), ibid. & v. 41. which Seneca calls PONTIFICALE CARMEN, Consol. ad Marc. 13. It was of importance that he pronounced the words without hesitation, Valer. Max. viii. 13. 2. He attended at the Comi tia; especially when priests were created, that he might inaugurate them, Liv. xxvii. 8. xl. 42. likewise when adoptions or testaments were made, Tacit. Hist. i. 15. Gell. v. 19. xv. 27. Cic. Dom. 13. Plin. pan. 37. At these the other pontifices also attended: hence the comitia were said to be held, or what was decreed in them to be done, apud pontifices, vel pro collegio pontificum, in presence of, ibid. Solennia pro pontifice suscipe, to perform the due sacred

rites in the presence, or according to the direction of the Pontifex Maximus, Liv. ii. 27. Any thing done in this manner was also said Pontificio jure fieri, Cic. Dom. 14. And when the Pontifex M. pronounced any decree of the college in their presence, he was said PRO COLLEGIO RESPOndere, Cic. pro Dom. 53. The decision of the college was sometimes contrary to his own opinion. He however was bound to obey it, Liv. xxxi. 9. What only three pontifices determined was held valid, Id. resp. Har. 6. But in certain cases, as in dedicating a temple, the approbation of the senate, or of a majority of the tribunes of the commons, was requisite, Liv. ix. The people, whose power was supreme in every thing, (cujus est summa potestas omnium rerum, Cic. ibid.) might confer the dedication of a temple on whatever person they pleased, and force the Pontifex M. to officiate, even against his will; as they did in the case of Flavius, Liv. ibid. In some cases the Flamines and Rex Sacrorum seem to have judged together with the Pontifices, Cic. Dom. 49. and even to have, been reckoned of the same college, ibid. 52.

46.

It was particularly the province of the pontifices to judge concerning marriages, Tacit. Annal. i. 10. Dio. xlvii. 44.

The Pontifex Maximus and his college had the care of regulating the year, and the public calendar, Suet. Jul. 40. Aug. 31. Macrob. Sat. i. 14. called FASTI KALENDARES; because the days of each month, from kalends to kalends, or from beginning to end, were marked in them through the whole year, what days were fasti, and what nefasti, &c. Festus; the knowledge of which was confined to the pontifices and patricians, Liv. iv. 3. till C. Flavius divulged them, (fastos circa forum in albo proposuit), Liv. ix. 46. (See p. 186.) In the Fasti of each year were also marked the names of the magistrates, particularly of the consuls, Liv. ix. 18. Valer. Max. vi. 2. Cic. Sext. 14. Att. iv. 8. Pis. 13. Thus, enumeratio fastorum, quasi annorum, Cic. Fam. v. 12. Tusc. i. 28. FASTI memores, permanent records, Horat. Od. iii. 17. 4. iv. 14. 4. picti, variegated with different colours, Ovid. Fast. i. 11. signantes tempora, Id. 657. Hence a list of the consuls engraved on marble, in the time of Constantius, the son of Constantine, as it is thought, and found accidentally by some persons digging in the Forum, A. D. 1545, are called FASTI CONSULARES, or the Capitoline marbles, because beautified, and placed in the capitol, by Cardinal Alexander Farnese.

In latter times it became customary to add on particular days, after the name of the festival, some remarkable occurrence: Thus on the Lupercalia, it was marked (adscriptum est) that Antony had offered the crown to Cæsar, Cic. Phil. ii. 34.-To have one's name thus marked (ascriptum) in the Fasti, was reckoned the

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