They were headed by the pontifex maximus (chief priest) who, from Augustus onwards, was always the emperor. The king of sacred things The rex sacrorum, meaning “king of sacred things” was a ...

even decided to align himself with Jupiter to legitimise his rule with divine grace and approval. The emperors used to take ...

Romans also had a set of public gods, such as Jupiter and Mars ... Augustus appointed himself as the chief priest – or Pontifex Maximus – and used the appearance of Halley’s Comet to ...