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Bollan, John Mcgrory. (2013) Pontificalis Honor: a Re-Evaluation of Priestly Auctoritas and Sacro-Political Violence in the Transition from Republic to Principate

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Bollan, John Mcgrory. (2013) Pontificalis Honor: a Re-Evaluation of Priestly Auctoritas and Sacro-Political Violence in the Transition from Republic to Principate Bollan, John McGrory. (2013) Pontificalis honor: a re-evaluation of priestly auctoritas and sacro-political violence in the transition from republic to principate. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4804/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Pontificalis Honor : A Re-evaluation of Priestly Auctoritas and Sacro-Political Violence in the Transition from Republic to Principate John McGrory Bollan Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities College of Arts University of Glasgow August 2013 2 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the transition from the Roman republic to the Principate of Augustus through the lens of the pontifex maximus , the office of the head of the pontifical college. Despite burgeoning interest in this role, current scholarship still regards the elevation of the chief pontiff to a politically significant position as a by-product of Caesar’s ambition and, subsequently, Octavian’s quest for both power and legitimacy. It is my contention that the trajectory of this priesthood’s ascendancy has been incorrectly plotted and that a proper understanding of the pontificate requires an analysis of the events surrounding the politically motivated murder of a tribune by the chief pontiff in 133 and subsequently over the next century. After a survey of literature and a summary of the key features of the office, the thesis argues that the position of chief pontiff had long since conferred a stable prominence which was unique in the Roman republic. This prominence brought with it a particular kind of power which interacted with the auctoritas of the men who occupied the priesthood: in this way, the holders of an office which was bound up with some of the most revered traditions of the city were empowered to improvise courses of action which further enhanced the standing and influence of the chief pontiffs. It was through this cycle of action and perception that the pontifex maximus became a mechanism of political change – and was itself transformed in the process. In considering this cycle, particular emphasis is placed on the phenomenon of ‘sacro-political’ violence which, as a novelty instigated by one chief pontiff, became a recurrent motif in Roman political life thereafter. 3 I argue that Scipio Nasica Serapio made deliberate use of his office to sanction an intervention which would have serious consequences for the republic and which radically altered how the Romans saw this priesthood. The thesis then explores how subsequent holders of the office either negotiated or exploited this ‘legacy’ to further their careers, to respond to unprecedented constitutional crises or simply to stay alive. Although all the pontifices maximi from 141 B.C. to 14 AD are considered, this thesis focuses on the lives and times of Nasica Serapio, Quintus Scaevola, Julius Caesar and Augustus as their tenures are particularly emblematic of the tensions between the mos maiorum and an increasingly extreme political climate. I argue that the new dispensation established by the first princeps , with all the restorationist rhetoric which accompanied it, relied decisively on Augustus’ assumption of the role. Even if Augustus had absorbed virtually all of the available priesthoods, the long wait he had to endure for the office of chief pontiff says a great deal about the nature of the pontificate and its strategic value to the heir of Caesar. Two case-study Appendices discuss the disputed pontificate of Q. Servilius Caepio and the relationship between Cicero, Clodius and the pontifical college. These studies exemplify the prosopographical challenges in reconstructing republican priesthoods (even the most prominent) and the interaction between law, religion and politics in the mid first century B.C. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Page 2 Acknowledgements Page 7 Author’s Declaration Page 8 Introduction Page 10 Methodological Considerations Page 14 (a) Prosopography Page 14 (b) Source Problems Page 17 A Conspectus of Scholarship Page 19 (a) The ‘End’ of the Republic Page 20 (b) Religion and Politics in the Republic Page 21 (c) Auctoritas Page 25 (d) Violence in the ‘Late’ Republic Page 27 Chapter One – The pontifex maximus in the Life of the City Page 33 The Etymology of pontifex maximus Page 36 The pontifices and the Pontifical College Page 39 The Development of the office of pontifex maximus Page 47 (a) The pontifex maximus and the rex sacrorum Page 49 (b) The pontifex maximus and the flamines Page 52 (c) The pontifex maximus and the Vestals Page 55 Entering the Pontifical College Page 56 The pontifex maximus and the Other Priesthoods Page 59 (i) The College of Augurs Page 59 (ii) The viri sacris faciundis and septemviri epulonum Page 60 The pontifex maximus and the Public Life of the City Page 62 (a) The pontifex maximus as ‘Quasi Magistrate’ Page 62 5 (b) The Annales Maximi Page 65 (c) The Calendar Page 69 (d) The Law Page 71 Conclusion: The pontifex maximus in 141 B.C. Page 75 Chapter Two – Scipio Nasica Serapio: absens pontifex maximus Page 79 Life and Career of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio Page 80 The Crisis of 133: Mounting Tensions Page 87 The pontifex maximus : dux privatus Page 90 Priest and Victim Page 97 Further Analyses Page 106 Sacrum and Expiation Page 110 Spiriting Nasica from Rome Page 113 Conclusion Page 115 Chapter Three – Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex Page 118 Pontifical Predecessors Page 119 Quintus Mucius Scaevola: cursus honorum Page 127 Scaevola in Asia Page 129 Scaevola the Lawyer Page 136 Scaevola pontifex maximus Page 145 Scaevola the Target Page 152 Scaevola the Theologian Page 156 Scaevola the Martyr Page 165 Conclusion Page 172 Chapter Four – Pontiff and Dictator Page 174 Metellus Pius Page 175 Gaius Julius Caesar Page 189 Early Career, Early Priesthoods? Page 190 From Subura to Regia Page 197 6 Caesar as pontifex maximus Page 201 Pontifex maximus and Demagogue Page 205 The Civil War and its Aftermath Page 210 The Primacy of Caesar Page 214 The Cult of Caesar Page 220 Chapter Five – Lepidus and Augustus Page 226 ‘Finding’ Lepidus Page 227 A Restrained Pontificate Page 234 Pontifex maximus at Last Page 240 Conclusion: The Trajectory of Augustan Religion Page 250 Conclusion Page 252 Appendix A – Quintus Servilius Caepio: pontifex maximus ? Page 257 Appendix B – Case Study: Cicero, Clodius and the pontifices Page 260 List of References Page 264 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Any thesis undertaken on a part-time basis will inevitably display some of the tell-tale signs of its long gestation. If these are less apparent in this finished product, then the credit is mainly due to my principal supervisor at the University of Glasgow, Professor Catherine Steel. She has been a diligent and critical friend throughout and her vast knowledge of this period has ensured that my ‘big thinking’ approach to certain issues has counterbalanced by attention to the detail of events. I have been similarly fortunate to have had the invaluable contribution of Professor Matthew Fox, my second supervisor: his expertise in the literary and cultural background of the Roman republic has been of great assistance in considering the wider sources of evidence. Both supervisors have helped me remember that a thesis is not an artefact but an argument, and in the process have reined in most (if not all) of those instances of florid exposition which have threatened to obscure the essential points of the thesis. I am grateful also to Dr Costas Panayotakis and Dr Luke Houghton who have also read and offered thoughtful criticism of some of the chapters; Professor Olivia Robinson was also kind enough to review my comments on the legal activity of Scaevola pontifex . I also wish to record my gratitude and esteem for the external examiners of this thesis, Dr Federico Santangelo of Newcastle University and Dr Anna J. Clark of Christ Church, Oxford: their thorough and insightful scrutiny, informed by their renowned expertise in this field, ensured that recommendtions for refinement of this thesis – both in the short and longer term – were forthcoming. Dr Ian Ruffell of the University of Glasgow’s School of Humanities put in place all the practical arrangements for the examination of the thesis and carried these through to completion with his characteristic diligence and kindness. 8 My colleagues in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow have also been a source of encouragement. I am particularly grateful to Professor Robert Davis and Dr Stephen McKinney for their kind support; Professor James Conroy, Dr Roisin Coll, Mary Lappin, Clare Fodey, Leon Robinson, Dr Leonardo Franchi and Denise Porada have also, at various points, ‘lightened the load’ to allow me to make progress. My ecclesiastical confrères, especially have also provided a robust network of support and the community of St. Joseph’s Parish in Clarkston have been stalwart in accompanying me along this path. I would also wish to acknowledge the influence of my Latin teacher at school, Joseph Hogan. He first instilled in me a love of all things Roman and this thesis is in no small measure the fruit of his infectious enthusiasm. I was captivated by his ability to conjure an erupting Vesuvius through a schoolroom window or to impress upon a class of easily distracted teenagers the dreadful weight of Cicero’s ‘uixerunt’ (Plutarch, Cicero , 22).
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