Ancient Greece and Rome 1200 B.c.e.-476 C.e.: Religion | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

The Worship of the Roman Gods

The Priesthoods.

One remarkable feature of Roman religion was that the priests—who were all males except for the Vestal Virgins—were organized into a number of collegia and other small priestly groups, each with a special function to perform. There were four major collegia, a word usually inaccurately translated as "colleges," for they were actually clubs or associations. First there were the fifteen pontiffs, headed by the chief priest or pontifex maximus who was chosen by his colleagues in the early Roman republic. From the thirdcentury B.C.E., however, a pontiff would be elected by the Roman.....

Ancient Greece and Rome 1200 B.c.e.-476 C.e.: Religion article

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