Flamen

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Flamen

A flamen was a name given to a priest

Priest

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities....
assigned to a state-supported god or goddess in Roman religion

Roman religion

The term Roman religion may refer to:*Religion in ancient Rome*religions of the Roman Empire period **Imperial cult *** Sol Invictus**Mithraism...
. There were fifteen flamines in the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores (or "major priests"), who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad

Capitoline Triad

The Capitoline Triad was a group of three supreme deities in Roman religion who were worshipped in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill, the Capitolium....
.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Flamen'

Start a new discussion about 'Flamen'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A flamen was a name given to a priest

Priest

Roman religion

Capitoline Triad

The Capitoline Triad was a group of three supreme deities in Roman religion who were worshipped in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill, the Capitolium....
. The remaining twelve, two of whom are unknown, were the flamines minores ("lesser priests").

The fifteen flamines were part of the Pontificial College

College of Pontiffs

The College of Pontiffs or Collegium Pontificum was a body of the ancient Rome state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the polytheism Religion in ancient Rome....
which administered state sponsored religion in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
. When the office of flamen was vacant, a pontifex

College of Pontiffs

The College of Pontiffs or Collegium Pontificum was a body of the ancient Rome state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the polytheism Religion in ancient Rome....
could serve as a temporary replacement, although only the Pontifex Maximus

Pontifex Maximus

The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the Ancient Rome College of Pontiffs. This was the most important position in the Ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post....
is known to have substituted for the Flamen Dialis

Flamen Dialis

The Flamen Dialis was an important position in Ancient Rome religion. There were 15 flamen , including the wiktionary:High priest of Jupiter , and, according to tradition, they were forbidden to touch metal, ride a horse, or see a corpse....
.

The official costume of a flamen, of great antiquity, was a hat called an apex and a heavy woollen cloak called a laena. The laena was a double-thick wool cloak with a fringed edge, and was worn over the flamen's toga with a clasp holding it around his throat. The apex was a leather skull-cap with a chin-strap and a point of olive wood on its top, like a spindle, with a little fluff of wool at the base of the spindle.

History and etymology

By the time of the religious reformation of Augustus, the origins and functions of many of the long-neglected gods resident in Rome was confusing even to the Romans themselves. The obscurity of some of the deities assigned flamines (for example Falacer

Falacer

Falacer was a Roman god who, though provided a Flamen we know nothing else about. He was probably a republican god who fell out of favor during the late republic and early empire....
, Palatua

Palatua

Palatua was a Roman Goddess who was provided an official priest or flamen, the Flamen Palatualis, and was charged with guarding the Palatine Hill....
, Quirinus

Quirinus

In Roman mythology, Quirinus was an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus , as Janus Quirinus....
and Volturnus

Volturnus

In Roman mythology, Volturnus was a god of the waters, probably derived from a local Samnites cult. His festival, Volturnalia, was held on August 27....
) suggests that the office was ancient. Many scholars assume that the flamines existed at least from the time of the early Roman kings, before the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
. This scholarly opinion is in agreement with the belief of the Romans themselves, who credited the foundation of their priesthood to Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius , according to legend, was the second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. After Romulus died, Romans in the city elected a Sabine man to be king, so as to make him loyal to both tribes in Rome....
, the second king of Rome.

The origin of the word flamen is as obscure as are some of the assigned gods. Indo-Europeanist

Indo-European studies

Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. Its goal is to amass information about the hypothetical proto-language from which all of these languages are descended, a language dubbed Proto-Indo-European language , and its speakers, the Proto-Indo-Europeans, including their soc...
Georges Dumezil

Georges Dumézil

Georges Dum?zil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and Proto-Indo-European society....
attempted to link it to the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
word brahman
Brahman

Brahman is a concept of Hinduism. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, Immanence, and transcendence reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe....
, but this etymology is controversial. Sophus Bugge

Sophus Bugge

Sophus Bugge was a Norway philologist, known for his theories, and work on the runic alphabet, and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. In his 1880 work Studies about the origin of Nordic mythological and heroic tales, Bugge theorized that nearly all myths in Old Norse literature derive from Christianity and late classical antiquity c...
suggested in 1879 that flamen is from an older *fladmen and related to the Germanic blót

Blot

A blot can refer to several different things.*In biology, a Blot is a method of transferring proteins, DNA, RNA or a protein onto a carrier....
. Both would be derived from a Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, linguistic reconstruction common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans....
word *bhlad(s)men. The flamines were circumscribed by many taboo

Taboo

A taboo is a strong social prohibition against words, objects, actions, or discussions that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group, culture, society, or community....
s: see Smith.

Flamines maiores

The three flamines maiores were required to be patrician

Patrician

The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elitism citizens in ancient Rome, including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high council officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West....
s.

The Flamen Dialis
Flamen Dialis

The Flamen Dialis was an important position in Ancient Rome religion. There were 15 flamen , including the wiktionary:High priest of Jupiter , and, according to tradition, they were forbidden to touch metal, ride a horse, or see a corpse....
oversaw the cult of Jupiter

Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
, the sky deity and ruler of the gods.

The Flamen Martialis
Flamen Martialis

The Flamen Martialis, who was always a patrician, oversaw the cult of Mars , the god of war, leading public rites on the days sacred to Mars. The sacred spears of Mars were ritually shaken by the Flamen Martialis when the Roman legion were preparing for war....
oversaw the cult of Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman mythology warrior God , the son of Juno and Jupiter , husband of Bellona , and the lover of Venus . He was the most prominent of the military gods that were worshipped by the Roman legions....
, the god of war, leading public rites on the days sacred to Mars. The sacred spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
s of Mars were ritually shaken by the Flamen Martialis when the legions

Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
were preparing for war.

The Flamen Quirinalis oversaw the cult of Quirinus

Quirinus

In Roman mythology, Quirinus was an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus , as Janus Quirinus....
, who presided over organized Roman social life and was related to the peaceful aspect of Mars. The Flamen Quirinalis led public rites on the days sacred to Quirinus.

A fourth flamen maior was added after 44 BC dedicated to Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. When the imperial cult

Imperial cult (Ancient Rome)

The imperial cult in ancient Rome was the worship of a few select Roman Emperors as Roman godss once they were deceased; the only emperor to declare himself a god while still living was Domitian which caused outrage....
got underway, further flamines were appointed to worship the divine Roman emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
s.

Flamines minores

The twelve flamines minores could be plebeians

Plebs

The Plebs was the general body of Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher class of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian ....
. Some of the deities they worshipped were rather obscure, and only ten are known by name:

Flamen Carmentalis, who worshipped Carmentis
Flamen Cerialis, who worshipped Ceres
Flamen Falacer, who worshipped Falacer
Falacer

Falacer was a Roman god who, though provided a Flamen we know nothing else about. He was probably a republican god who fell out of favor during the late republic and early empire....
Flamen Floralis, who worshipped Flora
Flamen Furrialis, who worshipped Furrina
Furrina

Furrina was a Roman goddess dating from the Republican era. Her function in the Roman pantheon is mostly unknown, even during the time of Cicero....
Flamen Palatualis, who worshipped Palatua
Palatua

Palatua was a Roman Goddess who was provided an official priest or flamen, the Flamen Palatualis, and was charged with guarding the Palatine Hill....
Flamen Pomonalis, who worshipped Pomona
Pomona

In Roman mythology, Pomona was the goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards. Her name comes from the Latin word, pomun, which translates to "fruit." She scorned the love of Silvanus and Picus but married Vertumnus after he tricked her, disguised as an old woman....
Flamen Portunalis, who worshipped Portunes
Portunes

In Roman mythology, Portunes was a god of keys and doors and livestock. He protected the warehouses where grain was stored. Probably because of folk associations between porta "gate, door" and portus "harbor", the "gateway" to the sea, Portunus later became conflated with Palaemon and evolved into a god primarily of ports and harbor...
Flamen Volcanalis, who worshipped Vulcan
Flamen Volturnalis, who worshipped Volturnus
Volturnus

In Roman mythology, Volturnus was a god of the waters, probably derived from a local Samnites cult. His festival, Volturnalia, was held on August 27....

There were two other flamines minores during republican times, but the gods or goddesses whom they worshipped are not known. The obscurity of the gods worshipped by the ten flamines minores makes any speculation about the gods of the remaining two doubtful.

External links

: "Flamen"