During the
Roman Republic, the
rex sacrorum was chosen by the
pontifex maximus from a list of patricians submitted by the
College of Pontiffs. A further requirement was that he be born from parents married through the ritual of
confarreatio, which was also the form of marriage he himself had to enter. His wife, the
regina sacrorum, also performed religious duties specific to her role. Marriage was thus such a fundamental part of the priesthood that if the
regina died, the
rex had to resign. The
rex sacrorum was above the
pontifex maximus, although he was more or less a powerless figurehead. The
rex sacrorum wore a
toga, the undecorated soft "shoeboot"
(calceus), and carried a ceremonial axe; as a priest of archaic Roman religion, he sacrificed
capite velato, with head covered. The
rex held a sacrifice on the
Kalends of each month. On the
Nones, he announced the dates of
festivals for the month. On March 24 and May 24, he held a sacrifice in the
Comitium. In addition to these duties the
rex sacrorum seems to have functioned as the high priest of
Janus. The
rex sacrorum was a feature of
Italic religion and possibly also
Etruscan. The title is found in
Latin cities such as
Lanuvium,
Tusculum, and
Velitrae. At Rome the priesthood was deliberately depoliticized; the
rex sacrorum was not elected, and his inauguration was merely witnessed by a
comitia calata, an assembly called for the purpose. Like the
flamen Dialis but in contrast to the pontiffs and
augurs, the
rex was barred from a political and military career. After the overthrow of the
kings of Rome, the office of
rex sacrorum fulfilled at least some of the
sacral duties of kingship, with the
consuls assuming political power and military command, as well as some sacral functions. It is a matter of scholarly debate as to whether the
rex sacrorum was a "decayed king" and it's discussed if this figure was created during the formation of the Republic, as
Arnaldo Momigliano argued, or had existed in the
Regal period. ==Regina sacrorum==