these
duties; when new worships were added to the old ones, the care of
them was in some cases committed to a special person or college; and
these priesthoods and sacred guilds of early Rome maintained their
place in the constitution for many centuries, and carried on this
part of the public service long after the words they spoke and the
acts they did had become meaningless. Beginning with the sacred
persons attached to special cults, we have, first, three flamens, one
of Mars, one of Quirinus, and one of Jovis (fl. Martialis,
Quirinalis, Dialis). Mars and Quirinus have their dancers, as we
mentioned above. Other flamens of lower rank were afterwards
instituted for the separate worships of the tribes. Very old are the
"fratres arvales," field-brothers, who served the creative goddess
(Dea Dia) in the country in the month of May, with a view to a good
growing summer, dancing to her and addressing hymns to her which may
be read now but cannot be understood, and were unintelligible to the
Romans themselves. The Luperci (wolf-men) held a shepherd's festival
in the month of February, sacrificing goats and dogs to some rustic
deity, and running naked through the streets afterwards, striking
those they met with thongs cut from the hides of the victims. The six
vestal virgins are well known, who had charge of keeping up the fire
of Vesta, the house-fire of the state. They devoted their whole lives
to this office, and enjoyed great respect. These priesthoods and
corporations, instituted to secure the continuance of special cults,
are not of a nature to bring the whole of life under the influence of
the priests and so to foster a priestly type of religion. Nor were
those other religious offices of a nature to do so, which were not
attached to special cults but served the more general purpose of
assisting and advising the state in matters connected with religion.
First among these comes the office of pontifex, a word which is
variously interpreted, either as "bridge-maker,"--that being a very
important and solemn proceeding,--or as leader in a religious
procession. There were originally five pontifices, and the number was
afterwards raised to fifteen. They exercised a great variety of
functions, and had a general oversight of all religious matters, both
public and domestic. They were experts in ritual and in canon law;
they advised the state as to the proper sacrifices to be offered for
the public, and, when consulted, would also