pontifex maximus
Ancient Rome's high priest
Pontifex maximus was the chief priest of ancient Rome, head of the state religion and overseer of all sacred rites.
The title literally means "greatest bridge-builder"—a bridge between gods and men.
After Rome's Christianization, the title passed to popes, who still hold it.
The term occasionally appears in discussions of religious authority: He spoke with the certainty of a pontifex maximus.
- chief priestSenior religious leader
- flamenSingle-deity Roman priest
- rex sacrorumRoman religious office
- augurOne who reads omens
- popeCatholic Church's supreme leader
hierophant · Numa Pompilius · imperium · altar · vestal · sacred rites · cardinal · sacrifice · syncretism · paganism · priest · Julius Caesar · bishop · Augustus · Roman emperor · college · liturgy · religious authority
- ancient titlesconsul, pharaoh, praetor, vizier, tribune
- Roman governmentconsul, consuls, senate, tribune, senators
- Roman societypatrician, patricians, plebeian, plebeians, citizen
- Latin TitlesAugustus, Caesar, imperator, consul, dictator
- Roman religionJupiter, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Neptune
- ancient clergyhigh priest, high priestess, priestess, flamen, pontifex
pontifex maximuslayman
Ordinary untrained person
layperson · uninitiated · acolyte · novice · neophyte
pontifex maximusconsul
Diplomat in foreign city
praetor · imperator · tribune · civil authority · dictator
pontifex maximusantipope
Illegitimate papal claimant
heretic · apostate · schismatic · false prophet · excommunicate