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Very early in her history Rome organized her priesthoods and in due course the elaboration of ritual was completed whereby the proper ceremonial was provided for every conceivable occasion in public and private life. It was inevitable that a people gifted with a genius for organization which manifested itself in political, legal and military relations should develop the most elaborate formalism of worship. "The daily ceremonies conducted at the most important temples by flamens, the ritual of dedication of new temples, the conduct of festivals, the domestic cults observed by the father of the house and his family, these and all other religious practices required the utmost scrupulous care" on the part of the participants who obtained due training in their parts of the dramatic performance. Rome never lost sight of ritual which seemed to her the very essence of religion, and in order to preserve the right relations with her gods she depended upon the proper performance of religious obligations on the part of her priests duly instructed in the religious lore. It was the pontiffs who were in general supervision over the religious organization and its work as a whole, and the position of pontifex maximus to which even an emperor might aspire was a position of greatest responsibility and honor. Nor has the position of pontifex ceased even to this day; although the Regia has long since fallen to ruins, St. Peter's is its historical successor, the home of another great high priest. The pontiffs guarded the sacred lore, decided in cases of new dedications, were the repositories with whom rested all knowledge regarding ceremonies, determined the proper procedure in cases of omens and prodigies, and were the final court to whom all cases of dispute were referred. The statement of the great lawyer and pontifex maximus, Scaevola, shows us the difficulties that beset the priest in times of scepticism and waning religious beliefs. Denying the validity of mythologies, as the idle product of poets' fancies, this champion of the traditional and the orthodox, stoutly defended the maintenance of the statereligion for the masses and required that statesmen and citizens subscribe to dogmas that these same individuals had from

philosophers learned to be false. As Augustus became pontifex, there was a re-vitalization of the old principle of the unity of church and state; the identity of priest and king was again emphasized, to proceed on its long course of European politics and history.

The augural college is regarded as distinctly Italic in character, and the function of the augur was associated by the Romans even with the reign of the mythical Romulus who gained the credit for the original foundation of the ancient city Numa was inaugurated by an augur, who, with lituus in hand, solemnly prayed to Father Jupiter for a sign and waited until that sign was given. Divination by birds was a science of no mean consequence in determining the will of the gods, for the diviner must needs be an ornithologist in order to interpret the significance of the flight of an eagle or a vulture, or the screech of an owl, raven or crow, or the call of the woodpecker. The height, the flight and the manner of flight also came under the priest's observation, while at the time of the taking of the auspices nature was required to be attentive to his will. There could be no rustling of leaves, no creaking of chairs, no gnawing of mice, the sky had to be clear and the winds be still. The augurs also gained knowledge of the divine will and purpose by observation of the manner in which the sacred chickens ate of their food. Obviously there was abundant room for deception, and augurs are reported to have made false announcement of their observations. One admiral, impatient at the chickens' reluctance to eat of the corn thrown before them, threw them into the sea that they might at least quench their thirst.

As for the haruspices, they came to Rome from Etruria with a wealth of fictitious as well as true information about lightnings, about the manner of averting the evil consequences of prodigies and of determining the purpose of the gods from appearance of the liver. It was Cato who said that he marvelled how one haruspex upon meeting another could refrain from scornful, ironical laughter. At a later time, a wicked legacy hunter, Regulus by name, played upon the fears and

superstitions of an excellent woman, named Verania; he called in the services of an haruspex to confirm his own prognostication and to influence the poor victim to make out a will in his own favor.

Flamens went about the streets, proud in their robes, as special priests, although the flamen of Jupiter was not greatly envied in the 2d and 1st. centuries B. C. "In the year 209 B. C., a young C. Valerius Flaccus, the black sheep of a great family, was inaugurated against his will as Flamen Dialis by the pontifex maximus. It was within the power of the head of the Roman religion to use such compulsion,"—unusual as the procedure may have been. "In this case, as Livy expressly tells us, it was used because the lad was of bad character;— and it is pretty plain that the step was suggested by his elder brother and other relations, in order to keep him out of mischief. For the taboos on this ancient priesthood were numerous and strict, and among the restrictions laid on its holder was one which forbade him to leave his house a single night." The flamens were in daily attendance upon their duties and the name may refer to the building of fires upon the altars. This priest was distinguished by a particular type of cap which he wore; it was made of felt and from it there projected a small twig wound round with wool. His wife's headdress was even more picturesque, resembling in appearance the goal of the chariots in the circus; bound to her hair by a fillet, it towered on high, to the discomfiture no doubt of the wearer, but a distinguishing mark of her eminence.

Elected to the priesthood between the years of six and ten, the young Vestal served a novitiate for a decennial period, after which she was competent to serve the goddess of the state-hearth. For ten years, as a young woman in her prime, approximately from eighteen to twenty-eight, she was in full service, while a period of another ten years was devoted to instruction of the newer arrivals. The Vestals could, after a devotion of thirty years to the purest and noblest religious function in the pagan city, withdraw from the sisterhood, and, leaving the nunnery, return to civil life; but as a rule they

ended their days in the sequestered calm of the House of the Vestals. Guardianship of the sacred flame, upon the maintenance of which the sempiternal power and majesty of Rome was thought to depend, was the central function in the life of these maidens, originally chosen with great care. Regard was had to their physical fitness and to the purity of the home from which they came. Offering daily prayers for the people,in case of prodigies it was their duty to offer special invocations. Their life was markedly simple and the character of their lives was symbolized by the white robes they wore. A fillet was bound about the forehead and at sacrifices they wore a white veil besides. They enjoyed exceptional privileges, as seats of honor at theatrical performances and at gladiatorial combats; a lictor attended them on the streets and even the consul yielded to them in passing on the high-way; a criminal might find refuge in the intercession of one of these pure damsels. The Vestals participated in many of the public festivals, while the special festival of Vesta fell in the month of June when there was a great cleaning of the temple and of city-homes,an ancient celebration of "clean-up" week. On the 1st. day of March, the sacred fire was renewed and the laurel wreaths that bedecked the Regia were replaced with fresh boughs. The extinction of the fire was an evil omen which terrified Rome, more than once. According to tradition, the Vestals were forced in 390 B. C. to flee from the Gauls. The life of the Vestals had all of the distinction of a charmed existence, but woe to the Vestal who proved faithless to her vows of virginity. For the Campus Sceleratus, near the Colline gate, more than once witnessed the burial, alive, of such an offender, whose criminality whether voluntary or under constraint threatened the very existence of the State she represented, in her capacity as priestess of Vesta.

In any ritualistic ceremony extreme caution was observed about every detail. The priest's head was veiled, a circumstance that seemed curious to the Greek commentators on Roman religion. Upon the altar, that regularly stood before the temple, in earlier days the simplest of offerings were made to

the gods who were thought to rejoice in first fruits, milk, beans and spelt. Wreaths were trimmed about, but in time wine and incense were added, and animal sacrifices made. The victim was adorned with fillets and was sprinkled with grains of spelt, coarsely ground and mixed with salt. It was essential that the victim proceed willingly to the sacrifice, and the sex, age and color of the victim were of importance according to the god to whom the sacrifice was to be made. Prescription with reference to the implements to be employed was also precise, as in the case of oxen, an axe was used, but for a calf, a hammer. The pig was slain with a stone, the sheep with a knife. The attendants at rituals were numerous, as details were assigned to a multitude of different officials. There were the criers who shouted "favete linguis," exhorting silence. On occaions there were flute players and players of stringed instruments. There were boys and girls who served as acolytes, assisting at the sacrifice, pouring out wine at the sacrificial meal, and singing hymns when these were required. Meantime humble attendants had prepared the temple. The sacrifice performed, haruspices examined such organs as the liver, the gall, the lungs, the heart to discover their acceptability to the god, while the flesh was part of the sacred banquet. The Salii and the Pontiffs gained repute as fastidious Epicureans, whose banquets became a by-word for prodigality.

Holding the altar with both hands, the suppliant invoked his god. Here, too, the same formalism prevailed and many types of prayers for different needs were ordained by stateauthority. These became stereotyped and we are told that in the case of the Salii they repeated from generation to generation prayers that the priests themselves were utterly unable to understand. Many prayers were, no doubt, contractual in character and as binding upon the suppliant as any legal compact. Yet other prayers represented a greater degree of humility. In still others, there appears what has been called the dynamic theory of prayer and sacrifice, which points to a belief "that a mystic current of religious force passed through the victim, from priest to deity and perhaps back again," glorifying God

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