Priestly Couples
Priestly Couples
This chapter argues that priestly couples had a larger role in the Roman ritual system than modern scholars have realized. The rex sacrorum and the flamen Martialis certainly shared their offices with the regina sacrorum and the flaminica Martialis respectively. It seems very likely that the wives of the thirteen remaining flamines were flaminicae as well. Priestly couples are best understood in relation to the patterns of worship in the household, where husbands and wives fulfilled complementary religious roles. Indeed, priestly couples exemplified traditionally asymmetrical gender constructions and relationships. It is clear, however, that the structure of Roman society included a robust ritual role for both sexes. Wives and priestesses offered sacrifices at domestic hearths and public altars because the religious system was thought to function properly only when men and women served their gods together.
Keywords: priestly couples, Roman ritual system, rex sacrorum, flamen Martialis, regina sacrorum, flaminica Martialis, flamines, flaminicae, religious roles, gender constructions
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.