Editing Numa Pompilius (section)

=== Religious ===
One of Numa's first acts was the construction of a [[temple of Janus (Roman Forum)|temple of Janus]] as an indicator of peace and war. The temple was constructed at the foot of the [[Argiletum]], a road in the city. After securing peace with Rome's neighbours, the doors of the temples were shut<ref name="LivyAb_a" /> and remained so for the duration of Numa's reign, a unique case in Roman history.

Another creation attributed to Numa was the cult of [[Terminus (god)|Terminus]], a god of boundaries. Through this rite, which involved sacrifices at private properties, boundaries and landmarks, Numa reportedly sought to instill in Romans the respect of lawful property and non-violent relationships with neighbours. The cult of Terminus, preached Numa, involved absence of violence and murder. The god was a testament to justice and a keeper of peace.<ref name="PlutarchThe_a">{{cite Plutarch|Numa|16}}</ref> In a somehow comparable,<ref>[[Vegoia and Egeria]]</ref> more moral rather than legal fashion, Numa sought to associate himself with one of the roles of [[Vegoia]] in the religious system of the neighbouring Etruscans, by deciding to set the official boundaries of the territory of Rome, which Romulus had never wanted, presumably with the same concern of preserving peace.<ref name="PlutarchThe_a" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Gilman |first=Arthur |title=The Story of Rome from the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic |journal=Project Gutenberg}}</ref>

Recognizing the paramount importance of the ''[[Ancile]]'', King Numa had eleven matching shields made,<ref name="PlutarchThe_b" /> so perfect that no one, even Numa, could distinguish the original from the copies. These shields were the ''Ancilia'', the sacred shields of Jupiter, which were carried each year in a procession by the [[Salii]] priests. Numa also established the office and duties of [[Pontifex Maximus]] and instituted (Plutarch's version<ref name="PlutarchThe_c">{{cite Plutarch|Numa|7}}</ref>) the [[flamen]] of [[Quirinus]], in honour of Romulus, in addition to those of Jupiter and Mars that already existed. Numa also brought the [[Vestal Virgins]] to Rome from [[Alba Longa]].<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita libri|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#20|1:20]]</ref> Plutarch adds that they were then at the number of two, were later augmented to four by Servius Tullius, and stayed thus through the ages.

Livy and Dionysius give a largely concordant picture of the vast founding work carried out by Numa concerning Roman religion and religious institutions.

Livy begins with the priesthoods which Numa established. Numa created a residentiary flamen to Jupiter endowed with regal insignia, who could carry out the sacred functions of the royal office, which Numa usually discharged: Numa did so to avoid the neglect of the rites whenever the king went to war, for he saw the warlike attitude of the Romans. He also created the flamines of Mars and Quirinus, as well as the Vestal virgins and the twelfth [[Salii]] of [[Mars Gradivus]]. Then, he chose [[Numa Marcius]] as pontiff. To him, he bestowed all the sacred ceremonies, his books and seals. The following words of this passage have been considered a systematic summary exposition of Roman religion:

<blockquote>quibus hostiis, quibus diebus, ad quae templa sacra fierent atque unde in eos sumptus pecunia erogaretur. Cetera quoque omnia publica privataque sacra pontificis scitis subiecit, ut esset quo consultum plebes veniret, ne quid divini iuris negligendo patrios ritus peregrinosque adsciscendo turbaretur. Nec celestes modo caerimonias sed iusta quoque funebria placandosque manes ut idem pontificem edoceret, quaeque prodigia fulminibus a Iove quo visu missa susciperentur atque curarentur.

<br /><br />[translated]<br />...[showing] with what victims, upon what days, and at what temples the sacred rites were to be performed, and from what funds the money was to be taken to defray the expenses. He also placed all other religious institutions, public and private, under the control of the decrees of the pontiff, to the end that there might be some authority to whom the people should come to ask advice, to prevent any confusion in the divine worship being caused by their neglecting the ceremonies of their own country, and adopting foreign ones. He further ordained that the same pontiff should instruct the people not only in the ceremonies connected with the heavenly deities, but also in the due performance of funeral solemnities, and how to appease the shades of the dead; and what [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#prodigium|prodigies]] sent by lightning or any other phenomenon were to be attended to and expiated.<ref>{{cite book |last=Livius |first=Titus |date=1904 |title=Ab Urbe Condita |trans-title=Roman History, Books I-III |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10828/pg10828.html |access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref></blockquote>

Livy lists the ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#H|hostiae]]'', victims, as the first competence of the pontiffs: following this come the days, temples, money, other sacred ceremonies, funerals and prodigies.

Livy continues saying Numa dedicated an altar to Jupiter Elicius as the source of religious knowledge, and consulted the god by means of auguries as to what should be expiated; he instituted a yearly festival to ''[[Faith|Fides]]'' (Faith) and commanded the three major flamines to be carried to her temple in an arched chariot and to perform the service with their hands wrapped up to the fingers, meaning Faith had to be sacred as in men's right hand; among many other rites he instituted he dedicated places of the [[Argei]].

[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] devotes much more space to Numa's religious reforms. In his account the institution of eight priesthoods is attributed to Numa: ''curiones'', ''flamines'', ''celeres'', augurs, vestals, ''salii'', fetials and pontiffs. He says only a few words about the ''curiones'', who were in charge of tending the sacrifices of the ''curiae''; the ''flamines''; the ''tribuni celerum'',<ref>Fasti Praenestini II 13, 2, 123 Degrassi as cited by Capdeville. Marcus Iunius Brutus the founder of the Roman Republic was able to call the ''comitia'' exactly for the reason that his office of ''tribunus celerum'' entitled him to do so.</ref> who were the bodyguard of the king but who also took part in some religious ceremonies; and the [[augur]]s, who were in charge of official divination.

Plutarch records some of these,<ref>{{cite Plutarch|Numa|14|6|7}}</ref> such as sacrificing an uneven number of victims to the heavenly gods and an even number to the nether gods; the prohibition of making libations to the gods with wine made from the grapes of unpruned vines; the prohibition of sacrificing without flour; the necessity of making a complete turn on oneself while praying and worshiping the gods.

The ritual of the ''[[spolia opima]]'' is ascribed to Numa, too, by ancient sources.

Finally, [[Arnobius]] states the [[indigitamenta]] were attributed to him.

Numa mostly preferred bloodless and not costly sacrifices.<ref>{{Citation | last = Plutarch | author-link = Plutarch | title = The Parallel Lives : Numa, ch. 8, 15, 16 | url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Numa*.html}}</ref>

Plutarch, in like manner, tells of the early religion of the Romans, that it was imageless and spiritual. He says Numa "forbade the Romans to represent the deity in the form either of man or of beast. Nor was there among them formerly any image or statue of the Divine Being; during the first one hundred and seventy years they built temples, indeed, and other sacred domes, but placed in them no figure of any kind; persuaded that it is impious to represent things Divine by what is perishable, and that we can have no conception of God but by the understanding".