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The ''Pontifex Maximus'' (Latin, literally: "greatest pontiff" or "greatest bridge-builder") was the 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. A distinctly religious office under the early Roman Republic, it gradually became politicized until, beginning with Augustus, it was subsumed into the Imperial office. Its last use with reference to the emperors is in inscriptions of Gratian〔(Pontifex Maximus ) LacusCurtius retrieved August 15, 2006〕 (reigned 375–383) who, however, then decided to omit the words "pontifex maximus" from his title.〔"Gratian." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Feb 3, 2008 The word "pontifex" later became a term used for Christian bishops,〔"In the matter of hierarchical nomenclature, one of the most striking instances is the adoption of the term pontifex for a bishop" ((Paul Pascal: ''Medieval Uses of Antiquity'' ) in The Classical Journal, Vol. 61, No. 5 (1966 ), pp. 193–197).〕 including the Bishop of Rome,〔(Edictum Gratiani, Valentiani et Theodosii de fide catholica, 27 February 380; ) cf. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000: ) "Pontiff: 1a. The pope. b. A bishop. 2. A pontifex."〕 and the title of "Pontifex Maximus" was applied within the Roman Catholic Church to the Pope as its chief bishop. It is not included in the Pope's official titles,〔Annuario Pontificio (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2012 ISBN 978-88-209-8722-0), p. 23 *〕 but appears on buildings, monuments and coins of popes of Renaissance and modern times. ==Etymology== According to the usual interpretation, the term ''pontifex'' literally means "bridge-builder" (''pons'' + ''facere''); "maximus" literally means "greatest". This was perhaps originally meant in a literal sense: the position of bridge-builder was indeed an important one in Rome, where the major bridges were over the Tiber, the sacred river (and a deity): only prestigious authorities with sacral functions could be allowed to "disturb" it with mechanical additions. However, it was always understood in its symbolic sense as well: the pontifices were the ones who smoothed the "bridge" between gods and men (Van Haeperen). The interpretation of the word ''pontifex'' as "bridge-builder" was that of Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Marcus Terentius Varro, while Plutarch derived the word from Old Latin ''potis'' meaning a powerful or absolute master, while others took it to come from ''potis facere'' in the sense of "able to sacrifice".〔(Nathaniel Hooke, ''The Roman History'' (1830), vol. I, p. 81 )〕 The last derivation is mentioned also by Varro, who rejected it,〔(Mary Beard, John North, Simon Price (editors), ''Religions of Rome'' (Cambridge University Press 1998 ISBN 978-0-52145646-3), vol. 2, p. 195 )〕 but it was the view of Pontifex Maximus Quintus Scaevola.〔(Rodolfo Lanciani, ''New Tales of Ancient Rome'' (Kessinger Publishing 2005 (reprint) ISBN 978-1-41790821-9), p. 54 )〕 Others have held that the word was originally ''pompifex'' (leader of public processions).〔 The word ''pons'' originally meant "way" and ''pontifex'' would thus mean "maker of roads and bridges".〔 Another opinion is that the word is a corruption of a similar-sounding but etymologically unrelated Etruscan word for ''priest''. Yet another hypothesis〔First proposed by F. Ribezzo in "Pontifices 'quinionalis sacrificii effectores'", ''Rivista Indo-Greco-Italica di Filologia-Lingua-Antichità'' 15 1931 p. 56.〕 considers the word as a loan from the Sabine language, in which it would mean a member of a college of five, from Osco-Umbrian ''ponte'', five.〔Cf. Greek πέντε〕 This explanation takes into account the fact that the college was established by Sabine king Numa Pompilius and the institution is Italic: the expressions ''pontis'' and ''pomperias'' found in the Iguvine Tablets may denote a group or division of five or by five. The pontifex would thence be a member of a sacrificial college known as ''pomperia'' (Latin ''quinio'').〔For a review of the proposed hypotheses cfr. J. P. Hallet "Over Troubled Waters: The Meaning of the Title Pontifex" in ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' 101 1970 p. 219 ff.〕 The Roman title "Pontifex Maximus" was rendered in Greek inscriptions and literature of the time as "ἀρχιερεύς" (literally, "high priest"|)〔Polybius 23.1.2 and 32.22.5; ''Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum'' 3.43, 3.428 und 3.458〕 or by a more literal translation and order of words as "ἀρχιερεὺς μέγιστος" (literally, "greatest high priest".〔''Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum'' 2.2696 and 3.346; Plutarch ''Numa'' 9.4〕 The term "ἀρχιερεύς" is used in the Septuagint text of the Old Testament and in the New Testament to refer to the Jewish high priest. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pontifex Maximus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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