According to legend, the first Pontifex Maximus was
Numa Marcius, who was appointed by his friend,
Numa Pompilius, the second
King of Rome. No other Pontifices Maximi are mentioned in surviving sources until the
overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally occurring in 509 BC. Once appointed, the Pontifex Maximus held his position for life; a new Pontifex Maximus was normally appointed following his death.
This list includes all of the Pontifices Maximi mentioned by historians and other ancient writers, down to the end of the
Roman Republic. The list prior to the time of the
First Punic War is presumably incomplete, as fewer than a dozen holders of the office are known from the first two-and-a-half centuries of the Republic. The last Pontifex Maximus of the Republican era was
Lepidus, the
triumvir. Upon his death,
Augustus assumed the office, further consolidating his authority over the Roman state.
In the
imperial era, it was customary for the
emperor to serve as Pontifex Maximus. Although
Constantine the Great reportedly converted to Christianity, and most of his successors were Christians, they continued to hold the office until the time of
Gratian (375–383), who declined it,[1] instead assuming the title of Pontifex Inclytus, which was not associated with the former pagan state religion. The title of Pontifex Maximus thereafter fell into abeyance. After the
sack of Constantinople and the end of the
Eastern Roman Empire in the fifteenth century, the title was revived by the
Popes, notwithstanding its pagan origins, and is now a part of the papacy's official titulature.
The Pontifex Maximus held his office for life, but the date of death is not known for every man who held the office, and the name of the Pontifex is not recorded for every period. Unless otherwise noted, dates and citations of primary sources are from
T.R.S. Broughton's three-volume The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (American Philological Association, 1951, 1986).
141–132:
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio (d. 132), probably succeeded his father and elected in absentia;[18] first Pontifex to leave Italy (as compelled by the
senate to escape a plot against his life), and the first to die outside Italy[citation needed]
13 BC–AD 14:
Augustus, the first emperor, assumed the title of Pontifex Maximus upon the death of Lepidus. Thereafter, the office was held by the emperors until the late fourth century.
Bowersock, G. W. (1990). "The Pontificate of Augustus", in Kurt A. Raaflaub and Mark Toher (eds.): Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and his Principate. Berkeley: University of California Press, 380–394.
ISBN0-520-08447-0.