1 Earliest Rome

8. P R I E S T S A N D P R I E S T E S S E S
8.10 Pagan priesthood under attack
Priesthood and the activities of priests provided a major focus of debate in the
conflict between pagans and Christians. This was not just a matter of the supposed
immorality of pagan priests (both traditional and oriental). It was also a
matter of the definition of imperial power. For the image of the emperor had
in part been constructed around the image of the pagan priest. To present oneself
as a Christian emperor meant renegotiating that image of priesthood.
See further: Bowersock (1986).
8.10a Priests and immorality
Minucius Felix, Octavius 25.10-11
Here Minucius Felix ridicules the supposed purity of the vestal Virgins (see
8.4) and suggests that pagan priesthoods in general were little more than a
'cover' for immorality.
See further: Clarke (1974) 307.
You might choose to argue that among the pagans virgins were more chaste or that priests
were more religious. But in fact more of their virgins than not were proven guilty of
unchastity 1
- no doubt without Vesta's knowledge; and as for the rest it was not stricter
chastity but better luck in their immorality that saved them from punishment. And
where are more debaucheries arranged, where is more pimping practised, more adultery
planned than by priests at their altars and temples? Indeed the flames of lust more often
have their way in sacristans' storerooms than in actual brothels.
1. There are some recorded instances of Vestal Virgins convicted of breaking their vow of
chastity (see 6.6b; 8.4a); but it was not the regular occurrence that Minucius Felix states.
8.10b The emperor Gratian (A.D. 375-383) refuses the pontifical robe
Zosimus, New History 1V.36
The Christian emperor Gratian was the first to sever the link between the position
of Roman emperor and the office of pontifex maximus. Here the later
pagan writer Zosimus offers a disapproving account of the emperor's rejection
of the priesthood - implying that Gratian's neglect of the office brought about
his downfall. Although later emperors followed Gratian's example, the title of
pontifex maximus was eventually taken over (and is still used) by the Christian
pope.
See further: Vol. 1, 372, 374; Alan Cameron (1968); Matthews (1975)
203-5*; Geffcken (1978) 159-77; and, for the papal title, Kajanto (1981).
It was the custom for each emperor, at the same time as he took overall command, to be
offered the priestly robe by the pontifices and to be given the title pontifex maximus - in
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