Numa Pompilius
Numa Pompilius was, by tradition, the second king of Rome, reigning from about 715 to 673 BC. He is a legendary figure known only through writers of the late republic and empire, and the traditions about him serve mainly to explain the origins of Roman religion. He is presented as a Sabine from Cures, elected by the senate after an interregnum following Romulus's disappearance, and reluctant to accept — the deliberate opposite of his warlike predecessor. The tradition has him reign forty-three years without a single war, and close the gates of the temple of Janus, which stood open whenever Rome was fighting. Essentially the whole apparatus of Roman state religion was attributed to him: the priestly colleges, the flamines dedicated to Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, the Vestal Virgins who tended the sacred fire, the Salian priests who danced with the sacred shields, and the office of pontifex maximus. He is said to have laid down the calendar of festivals and the rules of sacrifice and expiation. He is also credited with reforming the calendar to twelve lunar months, adding January and February, and with organising craftsmen into guilds to cut across the division between Romans and Sabines. The tradition explains his authority by a private relationship with the nymph Egeria, who met him in a grove at night and dictated the laws, which gave his innovations divine sanction. Books said to contain his writings were reportedly found in a chest in 181 BC and burned by order of the Senate as subversive of religion — a story that suggests later forgery. He is said to have died of old age after a peaceful reign, and to have been buried under the Janiculum.
- Lived: 753 BCE – 673 BCE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: king, religious_leader, lawgiver
