A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

peace with Rome.
Guilds and Priests 339
Twice only since the reign of Numa
has this temple been closed.
He organized the people, according to their trades, in ?|g°'"^?j°g
guilds of musicians, goldsmiths, builders, dyers, shoemakers,
curriers, coppersmiths, and potters. All the other Numa, 17.
trades he united in one guild. He assigned to every guild
its especial privileges, common to all the members, and
ordained that each should have its own times of meeting
and should worship its special patron god.
Next he turned his attention to the appointment of He appoints
priests.
priests, though he himself performed many sacred rites,
Livy i. 20.
especially those which now belong to the flamen (priest) of
Jupiter.
It is a crime for the flamen of Jupiter to ride horseback
or to see the centuries under arms; for this reason he has
The priest
rarely been elected consul. He is not permitted to take Aulus Gellius
X.
, , ,, , ^
15 (quoted
an oath; the ring he wears must be hollow and of open from Fabius
work. No fire may be carried from his house but the ^^^^°'^^sacred
fire. If a man enters that house bound, he must Rome 22,
28; Ancient
.
, ,
be unbound, and the bonds must be carried through the worid, szi
f-
inner court up the roof and thrown into the street.
The
flamen has no knot about him, either on his cap, his girdle,
or any other part. If a man who is about to be beaten
with rods falls at his feet as a suppliant, the guilty one
cannot be beaten that day without sacrilege.
None but
a freeman may cut a flamen 's hair. He never touches or
names a she-goat, raw flesh, hair, or beans. He must not
clip the tendrils of the vine that climbs too high. The
feet of the bed he sleeps in must be plastered with mud.
He never quits it three consecutive nights, and no one
else has the right to sleep therein. There must not be
near the woodwork of his bed a box with sacred cakes in
it. The parings of his nails and the cuttings of his hair