The priesthood
Utensils used in Roman cult: ladle, axe and apex (head-dress of the member of a priests' college). A denarius of the Roman imperator G. Julius Caesar, minted in Gaul, 49-48 BC
The Roman state had assumed, on behalf of its citizens, the task of performing all the magic rituals which guaranteed for Rome the protection of the gods. In order to fulfil this task the popular assembly elected worthy men from its ranks to be priests. The procedures for electing state officials and priests were very similar, and the circle of those from whom the candidates were taken were also largely identical. To become a priest was not a matter of personal conviction, but a political honour which counted all the more in that, unlike an office, it was valid for life. Caesar's first great step up the ladder of his political career was to be elected pontifex maximus, the head of the city's entire religious life. For a Roman priest it was not necessary to believe in the powers which he venerated in the liturgies. What remained decisive to enjoy the protection of the gods was that all ceremonies were performed as they had once been instituted many ages before.
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