Individual Decision and Social Order
Individual Decision and Social Order
This chapter looks at examples of individual interpretations of traditional priestly roles from the third until the first century BC. There was innovative behavior not only on the part of the plebeian Pontifices Maximi; among the patricians, there were also individuals who interpret a priestly role not in the traditional way but as a specifically religious role. Both case types demonstrate highly individual behavior. It seems that the actors intended to problematize the relationship between their priestly and political offices or to privilege a specific religious obligation over a political role. In each case, they did this by asserting the obligation of perfect religious performance. Basic, however, to these individual attempts to further develop given roles was a shared conviction: the religious framework of the Roman polity was to be provided by its patrician members in particular.
Keywords: traditional priestly roles, Pontifices Maximi, patricians, religious role, individual behavior, political role, religious performance, Roman polity
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