Numa Pompilius
The 21st of April 753 BC marked the traditional founding of Rome, and on that same day Numa Pompilius was born. He was the youngest of four sons born to Pomponius, a man whose Sabine name was actually Pompos rather than the Latinized Pomponius often cited in later texts. Plutarch records that Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines and Romulus's colleague, gave his only daughter Tatia in marriage to Numa. This union lasted thirteen years until Tatia died, prompting Numa to retire to the countryside at Cures. Ancient sources offer conflicting accounts regarding his children. Some authors credit him with a single daughter named Pompilia, while others claim he had five sons: Pompo, Pinus, Calpus, Mamercus, and Numa. These names became the roots for noble families like the Pomponii, Pinarii, and Calpurnii. Skeptical historians argue these genealogies were fictional constructs designed to elevate the status of those families. Livy notes that Numa resided at Cures immediately before being elected king, placing him far from the political center of Rome.
A one-year interregnum followed the death of Romulus, during which Senate members exercised royal power in rotation for five days each. In 715 BC, after intense bickering between the Roman faction loyal to Romulus and the Sabine faction loyal to Tatius, a compromise was reached. The Senate elected the forty-year-old Sabine Numa as the next king. At first, Numa refused the offer of kingship. He argued that Rome needed a ruler who would lead armies rather than someone living a life of piety and reflection. His father, Sabine kinsmen including Marcus, and an embassy of two senators persuaded him to accept. Before taking office, Numa requested that an augur divine the opinion of the gods on his potential reign. Jupiter provided favorable omens, allowing him to assume the position with approval from both people and heavens. Plutarch describes how Numa's first act was disbanding the personal guard of three hundred celeres, or Swift ones, that had surrounded Romulus. This gesture is interpreted variously as self-protection against questionable loyalty or as a sign of peace and moderation. Numa died of old age in 672 BC at approximately eighty-one years old after ruling for forty-three years.
Numa constructed a temple of Janus at the foot of the Argiletum road to serve as an indicator of peace and war. During his entire reign, the doors of this temple remained shut, a unique occurrence in Roman history. He established the cult of Terminus, a god of boundaries, involving sacrifices at private properties to instill respect for lawful property and non-violent relationships. Livy details how Numa created a residentiary flamen to Jupiter endowed with regal insignia to perform sacred functions when the king went to war. He also created flamines of Mars and Quirinus alongside the Vestal Virgins whom he brought from Alba Longa. Dionysius of Halicarnassus attributes eight priesthoods to Numa including curiones, augurs, vestals, salii, fetials, and pontiffs. Plutarch records specific ritual rules such as sacrificing uneven numbers of victims to heavenly gods and even numbers to nether gods. Numa forbade making libations with wine from unpruned vines and required flour for all sacrifices. He also ordered eleven matching shields made to conceal the original Ancile shield given by Jupiter during a plague. These shields became sacred relics carried annually by Salii priests. The ancient sources emphasize that Numa mostly preferred bloodless and not costly sacrifices.
Numa promulgated a calendar reform dividing the year into twelve months according to the lunar course while adjusting it to match the solstitial revolution. This reform introduced the months of January and February, making January the first month instead of March. Plutarch explains this change was intended so martial influences would yield precedence to civil and political order. Janus served as patron of civil and social order, lifting human life out of its bestial state. Numa established traditional collegia or occupational guilds comprising musicians, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners, braziers, and potters. William Blackstone suggests these societies were instituted to subdivide rival factions into smaller groups based on manual trades. He divided Rome's territory into pagi villages and distributed land among indigent people to work in agriculture. Plutarch believed agriculture fostered character rather than wealth and would reduce aggressivity and crime. Numa forbade fathers from selling their sons into slavery if the son had married with paternal consent. During Saturnalia he permitted slaves to feast with masters to admit them to enjoyment of yearly fruits. These measures aimed to eliminate poverty and consequently crime through agricultural labor.
In 181 BC peasants digging in the field of scriba L. Petilius at the foot of the Ianiculum uncovered two stone coffers eight feet long and four feet wide. One coffer contained an inscription stating that Numa Pompilus, son of Pompon, king of Romans was buried there while the other held his books. Inside the second coffer were two bundles each containing seven books written in Latin regarding pontifical law and seven in Greek concerning philosophy. Praetor Q. Petilius declared the books dangerous to religion and requested they be burned. The senate deliberated that the offer of oath by the praetor was sufficient grounds for burning the books on the Comitium as soon as possible. An indemnity fixed by the praetor and tribunes was offered but declined by L. Petilius. The victimarii ultimately destroyed the texts. Some annalists showed no doubt about authenticity while others remained critical. Francophone scholars A. Delatte and J. Carcopino believed the incident resulted from a real initiative of the Pythagorean sect in Rome. The doctrines likely contained physikòs lógos, a partly moral and cosmological interpretation contradicting fulgural art beliefs. Livy notes that half these books covered priesthoods like flamines, pontifices, Salii, and fetiales while the rest dealt with philosophy.
Christian philosopher Clement of Alexandria claimed King Numa Pompilius was influenced by Mosaic law and refrained from making human images in sculpture due to this influence. 6th-century Emperor Justinian I recalled Numa alongside Romulus as two founders of the Roman state who organized and enhanced the city through laws. Coptic monophysite bishop John of Nikiû likened Empress Theodora to four prominent figures including Numa citing her reforms aimed at eradicating prostitution. Michael Psellos wrote his Chronographia in the 11th century providing pedagogical models for Emperor Michael VII Doukas. He lauded Numa as pious, peaceable, and equipped with mental virtues and love of wisdom. Plutarch contrasts Numa's peaceful policies with predecessors and successors noting four kings after him were killed or expelled. Any conflicts were excluded not only from Rome but from all Italy during his reign. Roads became safe and feasts prevailed while no one tried to hurt Numa or take his place. People friendly to Rome came from many places to honor him when he died from natural causes. This legacy persisted into later centuries of the Eastern Roman Empire where he remained a model of piety and legal reform.
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Common questions
When was Numa Pompilius born and who were his parents?
Numa Pompilius was born on the 21st of April 753 BC to Pomponius, a man whose Sabine name was actually Pompos. He was the youngest of four sons in this family.
How did Numa Pompilius become king of Rome after Romulus died?
The Senate elected the forty-year-old Sabine Numa as the next king in 715 BC following a one-year interregnum. He initially refused the offer but accepted after persuasion from his father, Sabine kinsmen including Marcus, and an embassy of two senators.
What religious institutions and reforms did Numa Pompilius establish during his reign?
Numa created a residentiary flamen to Jupiter, flamines of Mars and Quirinus, and brought the Vestal Virgins from Alba Longa. He also established eight priesthoods including curiones, augurs, vestals, salii, fetials, and pontiffs while constructing a temple of Janus with doors that remained shut throughout his entire reign.
Why were the books found in Numa Pompilius's stone coffers burned in 181 BC?
Praetor Q. Petilius declared the books dangerous to religion and requested they be burned on the Comitium. The senate deliberated that the praetor's oath was sufficient grounds for destroying the texts which contained seven books in Latin regarding pontifical law and seven in Greek concerning philosophy.
How long did Numa Pompilius rule Rome and when did he die?
Numa ruled for forty-three years until he died of old age in 672 BC at approximately eighty-one years old. His peaceful policies ensured no conflicts occurred within Rome or all Italy during his reign.
All sources
10 references cited across the entry
- 3journalThe Significance of Numa's Religious ReformsEdna M. Hooker — 1963
- 4journalThe Philosopher-King and the City in Plutarch's Life of NumaJohn Colman — 2015
- 5journalThe History of Rome, Books 01 to 08Livy
- 6journalThe Story of Rome from the Earliest Times to the End of the RepublicArthur Gilman
- 7bookAb Urbe ConditaTitus Livius — 1904
- 8citationThe Parallel Lives : Numa, ch. 8, 15, 16Plutarch
- 9journalThe Roman Calendar from Numa to ConstantineJörg Rüpke — 2011