Pontifices

Pontifices, or the Collegium Pontificum, were a college of priests in ancient Rome responsible for the regulation of religious law (ius pontificium), the Roman calendar, and the performance of public rites. The head of the college was the pontifex maximus, traditionally the most senior priest and, at various times, the most influential religious figure in the state.

Membership and history: The college was founded in the early monarchy and grew to include a variable number of members, generally patricians at first, with later inclusion of plebeians. The exact size fluctuated, often described as several at a time (roughly a dozen to twenty). Members were selected by election, and the pontifex maximus was chosen from among the pontifices.

Powers and duties: The college maintained the annales and regulated sacred law, including rites, sacrifices, and the calendar discipline, thereby shaping political life through religion. It supervised other priestly colleges and their faculties and declared which days were religiously permissible (dies fasti and dies nefasti).

Decline and legacy: Under the Republic and into the Empire, the political influence of the Pontifices waned as imperial authority extended, yet the college remained a formal guardian of Roman religious protocol. In later periods, the term pontifex became a general title for senior Christian bishops, notably the pope, whose Latin designation historically derived from this office.