pontifex maximus

E36444

ancient Roman office priestly title religious office

The pontifex maximus was the chief high priest of ancient Rome, overseeing state religion and sacred rites at the pinnacle of the Roman religious hierarchy.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
Pontifex Maximus	12

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Roman office ⓘ priestly title ⓘ religious office ⓘ
appliesToJurisdiction	Roman Empire ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ Roman state ⓘ
country	Roman Antiquity ⓘ surface form: Ancient Rome
dateOfOrigin	Roman Kingdom ⓘ surface form: Roman Kingdom period
endOfOfficialUseAsRomanStateOffice	late 4th century CE ⓘ
etymology	Latin phrase meaning "greatest bridge-builder" ⓘ
hasDuties	authorization of certain burials and adoptions ⓘ consecration of temples ⓘ custody of sacred law ⓘ interpretation of religious law ⓘ keeping of the Annales Maximi ⓘ maintenance of the pax deorum ⓘ oversight of other Roman priests ⓘ oversight of state cults ⓘ regulation of the Roman religious calendar ⓘ supervision of public religious rites ⓘ supervision of the Vestal Virgins ⓘ
hasRank	highest priestly office in Rome ⓘ
influenced	later concepts of papal primacy ⓘ
languageOfWorkOrName	Latin ⓘ
location	Roman Forum ⓘ
memberOf	college of pontiffs ⓘ
officeHolder	Augustus ⓘ Julius Caesar ⓘ Marcus Aemilius Lepidus ⓘ Tiberius ⓘ subsequent Roman emperors ⓘ
partOf	Roman state religion ⓘ
positionInOrganization	chief high priest of Rome ⓘ head of the college of pontiffs ⓘ
relatedConcept	Roman priesthoods ⓘ House of the Vestal Virgins ⓘ surface form: Vestal Virgins pax deorum ⓘ pontiff ⓘ
religion	Roman polytheism ⓘ Roman religion ⓘ
residence	Domus Publica ⓘ
selectionMethod	election by the comitia ⓘ later held ex officio by the Roman emperor ⓘ
subordinateTo	no higher religious authority in Rome ⓘ
symbolizes	supreme authority over Roman religion ⓘ
usedBy	Roman Empire ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ

Referenced by (16)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Regia → associatedWithOffice → pontifex maximus ⓘ

Augustus → positionHeld → pontifex maximus ⓘ

Julius Caesar → positionHeld → pontifex maximus ⓘ