Pontifex Maximus (Chief Pontiff = Pope)?

 Pontifex Maximus (Chief Pontiff = Pope)?

Origins

Augustus as pontifex Maximus

Proof that it is a Pagan Title transferred by Catholic hierarchy to the Bishop of Rome.

"The pontifex maximus (Latin, "greatest priest" was the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs (Collegium Pontificum) in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. Although in fact the most powerful office of Roman priesthood, the pontifex maximus was officially ranked fifth in the ranking of the highest Roman priests (ordo sacerdotum), behind the rex sacrorum and the flamines maiores (Flamen Dialis, Flamen Martialis, Flamen Quirinalis).

A distinctly religious office under the early Roman Republic, it gradually became politicized until, beginning with Augustus (r. 27 BC – 14 AD), it was subsumed into the position of emperor in the Roman imperial period. Subsequent emperors were styled Pontifex Maximus well into Late Antiquity, including Gratian (r. 367–383), but during Gratian's reign the phrase was replaced in imperial titulature with the Latin phrase: Pontifex Inclytus, an example followed by Gratian's junior co-emperor Theodosius the Great and which was used by emperors thereafter including the co-augusti Valentinian III (r. 425–455) and Marcian (r. 450–457) and the Augustus Anastasius Dicorus (r. 491–518). The first to adopt the Inclytus alternative to Maximus may have been the rebel Augustus Magnus Maximus (r. 383–388).

The word pontifex and its derivative "pontiff" became terms used for Christian bishops, including the Bishop of Rome, and the title of pontifex maximus was applied to the Catholic Church for the pope as its chief bishop and appears on buildings, monuments and coins of popes of Renaissance and modern times. The official list of titles of the pope given in the Annuario Pontificio includes "supreme pontiff" (Latin: summus pontifex) as the fourth title, the first being "bishop of Rome""

Source Wiki

Note:

The Bishop of Rome at the time, Damasus (4th century ce) took over the pagan title "Pontifex Maximus" from the Emperor Gratian, who thought it inappropriate for a Christian Emperor to have such a pagan title and threw it out; Damasus, still Bishop of Rome, had no scruples in appropriating such a pagan title as "Pontifex Maximus" (Chief, High or Great Priest); *NO* Bishop of Rome prior to Damasus was ever called "Pontifex Maximus", thus, there was no one Bishop ever called "Pope" in the traditional sense, all Bishops of the various "sees" (Regional Districts, such as Syria, Jerusalem, Greece, Egypt, Rome and so on), each Bishop was called "papa", all Bishops of the various regional Sees were called "pope", as a mark of respect for their high positions.

The history of the "Pontifex Maximus" (Pope) goes all the way back to the founding of ancient Rome!

The Catholic Church merely adopted things (as it commonly did with other matters) taken from the pagan Roman Priesthood and then made such its own!

List of pagan Roman Pontifex Maximus's:

712 BC Numa Pompilius

509 BC Papirius

449 BC Furius

431 BC Cornelius Cossas

420 BC Minucius

...63 - 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar

...12 BC Augustus

See below for more details:

"The head priest of the Roman state religion was the Pontifex Maximus, or the greatest of the college of pontifices. While an obviously important and prominent position within the ranks of the Roman system, the Pontifex Maximus was not considered a magistrate comparable to a Consul, Praetor, etc.

During the Republic, the Pontifex was elected by the Comitia Tributa and served for life, while during the Empire, the position was generally held by the Emperor himself.

Originally, the Ponifices were Patrician only, but the social conditions and changes during the late Republic allowed for Plebeian election as well. These men were responsible for the oversight of the state religious cult as a whole and didn't really oversee particular godly cults, though they could if necessary.

By the Imperial period there were 16 pontifices under the high priest, 15 flamines, who were special priests of the main deities, and the Rex Sacrorum (king of the sacrifices) who performed the religious acts that the king had usually done. Perhaps most importantly, he was he was also responsible for the 18 Vestal Virgins.

The main duty of the pontifices was to provide the pax deorum, or the 'peace with the gods'. Interpreting omens, sometimes through augures, controlling and keeping the official calendar, and the oversight of funerals all fell under the domain of the Pontifex Maximus.

He was responsible for an enormous collection of omens (annales maximi); that would be recorded and collected on a nearly constant basis. These heavenly signs would be written down along with accompanying events, and used to determine the divine favor of the gods. Doing so allowed following generations of priests and magistrates to understand the historic will of the gods and interpret future events against past patterns.

Today, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, is still called the Pontifex Maximus. It's a political or governing office that has been in existence and in perpetual use for nearly 3,000 years."

Pontifex Maximus List

Roman Office of the Pontifex Maximus
Year	Pontifex	Notes
712 BC	Numa Pompilius	The office was said to begin during the tenure of the Kings of Rome. However, very little recorded evidence exists. This name has been recorded as Numa Marcius and it is difficult to determine if it was a different person, or the actual second king of Rome.
509 BC	Papirius	Complete dates in office unknown.
449 BC	Furius	Complete dates in office unknown.
431 BC	Cornelius Cossas	Complete dates in office unknown.
420 BC	Minucius	Complete dates in office unknown.
390 BC	Follius Flaccinator	Complete dates in office unknown.
332 - 304 BC	Cornelius Callissa
304 - ? BC	Cornelius Scipio Barbatus	Complete dates in office unknown.
254 - 243 BC	Tib. Coruncanius	First Plebeian Pontifex Maximus
243 - 221 BC	Caecilius Metellus
217 - 213 BC	Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus
212 - 183 BC	Licinius Crassus Dives
183 - 180 BC	Servilius Geminus
180 - 152 BC	Aemilius Lepidus
152 -150 BC	No Pontifex Maximus
150 - 141 BC	Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum
141 - 132 BC	Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio	Described by Plutarch as the first Pontifex to break the religious law not allowing him to leave Italy.
132 - 130 BC	Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus	Also noted as the first to leave Italy, during the social disorder of the Gracchi Brothers. After which, it became increasingly common and certainly not against the law for the Pontifex to leave Italy.
? - 115 BC	P. Mucius Scaevola	Complete dates in office unknown, but assumedly shortly after his predecessor.
114 - 103 BC	Caecilius Metellus Delmaticus
103 - 89 BC	Domitius Ahenobarbus
89 - 82 BC	Q. Mucius Scaevola
81 - 63 BC	Caecilius Metellus Pius
63 - 44 BC	Gaius Julius Caesar
44 - 13 BC	Aemilius Lepidus
12 BC	Augustus	With the accession of Augustus, the election of the Pontifex Maximus ceased as each successive emperor held the office. In 382 AD, when the Eastern emperor Theodosius established Christianity as the official religion of the empire, the Western Emperor Gratian relinquished the office to the Christian Popes of Rome, who have held it since that time.

Source: Pontifex Maximus | UNRV.com Roman History 

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