From civic to ritual. The ritualization of institutional offices and roles: a case study from Latin cities

Thinking about incidence of sacred in urbanism and in creation of the urban form – and therefore on a complex society organization – the analysis of some religious posts and of the role played, unavoidably, is linked to the exam of the origin and development of the civic structures and institutional offices. So, in any case the establishment of the State is the fact that make public the functions, also for ancient priesthoods, originating into a “pre-urban” dimension, with a previous role in a different social and political context. For its part, religious and ritual functions have a significant impact on political and institutional sphere. On this level, the problem of the relationship between magistracies and priesthoods arises. In comparison to this difficult issue, the reading proposed by the historian Santo Mazzarino is still important and topical; it underlined very well how the evolution of the archaic Roman magistracy and in the same way of the concept of priesthood «were two parallel aspects of a similar phenomenon» (MAZZARINO 1945). This report intends to investigate that phenomenon focusing on the topic of institutional offices “sacralization”, with a such case of study from the Latin world. There are evidences of some figures as the dictator ad sacra, the aedileses lustrales (CIL, XIV 2580; 2603; 2620; 2628; CIL, I2 3043) and the praefectus sacrorum (CIL, XIV 2580; 2620; AE 1906 79); they allow to reflect on ritualization process of some local political offices then re-formed as religious functions. Exemplary in this regard it is the case of the dictatorship, that sets better in evidence the problem of time, contents and meanings of the process of “sacralization” of political roles. Another meaningful aspect is the function and role of the rex sacrorum. This priesthood is related to the auguratio and to the exercise of the auctoritas and it is a depositary of specific sacred duties since the archaic age. Initially connected also with the ignis perpetuus guarded in the aedes Vestae, it is a figure of great importance and meaning to investigate the evidence of the ritual roles and the relation with the more ancient sacra of the cities