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Consecration and inauguration of Roman temples
#1
Salvete,

I have a question that I hope someone will be able to answer.

Do we know who presided the consecration and inauguration of Roman temples? I would guess that in Rome this would be done by the flamen of an order. But seeing that (at least the flamines maiores) were not allowed to leave the city for more that 1 or 2 nights, I was wondering who would do this in the provinces.

Is anything known about this subject? Who would consecrate for example a temple in Germania Inferior, or in Britannia or...

Thank you very much in advance for your insights.

Valete,
Falco
Jef Pinceel
a.k.a.
Marcvs Mvmmivs Falco

LEG XI CPF vzw
>Q SER FEST
www.LEGIOXI.be
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#2
It would be the local temple authorities, and this was not just for local gods but even included the imperial cult. From Ephesus we have this inscription, for example:

Quote:(Tiberius Cl)audius Piso Diophantus, who was chief priest of the two temples in Ephesus, under whom the temple of the god Hadrian was consecrated, who first asked for (it) from the god Hadrian and obtained (it).

IvE 428
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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#3
Thanks David.

And do we know if such a chief priest, like Dophanus, for example, was a full time priest, or a local magistrate who also held the chief priesthood?

And another question: do we know anything about normal priests of Juppiter? We have several clear depictions of the Flamen Dialis with all his attributes and garb, but do we have a clue as to how a priest of Juppiter might have appeared in the provinces?

Also, did normal priests needed to be of high birth? I know the flamines in Rome needed to be, but is anything known for priests outside of Rome?
Jef Pinceel
a.k.a.
Marcvs Mvmmivs Falco

LEG XI CPF vzw
>Q SER FEST
www.LEGIOXI.be
Reply
#4
Ancient religion was extremely diverse, so there was no single rule. I know of some priests that were elected directly by the people to serve a one-year term. Some priesthoods were hereditary and were for life. Some were part-time, or merely figureheads, while others necessitated extreme changes in lifestyle. A few were really bizarre, like the cult of Diana in Aricia, where the head priest had to be a runaway slave who had killed his predecessor!

The cult of Diana in Aricia is a good example of syncretism, where two gods (or two aspects of a god) merged in a manner that is rather strange to us. Often this involved a well-known Greco-Roman god and some local god. In the provinces, this happened with Jupiter / Zeus, so the temples and their practices could be different from one province to another. As far as I know, a priest to Jupiter / Zeus in Spain might work completely differently to one in Syria, for example.

As a general rule, I would guess that a priest in such a position would be someone of high birth, because Jupiter / Zeus was such an important god. I presume it would be more likely to be a full-time job, but this is by no means certain. I assume that his dress would depend entirely upon local tradition.
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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