FLAMEN, from flare, "to blow up" the altar fire, a Roman sacrificial priest. The flamens were subject to the pontifex maxi mus and were consecrated to the service of some particular deity. The highest in rank were the flamen Dialis, flamen martialis and flamen quirinalis, who were always patricians. When the number of flamens was raised from three to 15, those already mentioned were entitled maiores; the other 12, called ininores, were chosen from the plebs. Towards the end of the republic the number of the lesser flamens diminished. The flamens were elected for life, but they might be compelled to resign for neglect of duty, or on the occurrence of some ill-omened event during the performance of their rites. The characteristic dress of the flamens was the apex, a white conical cap, the laena or mantle, and a laurel wreath. The official insignia of the flamen Dialis (of Jupiter), the highest of these priests, were the white cap (pileus, albogalerus), at the top of which was an olive branch and a woollen thread ; the laena, a thick woollen toga praetexta woven by his wife ; the sacrificial knife ; and a rod to keep the people from him when on his way to offer sacrifice. He was entitled to a seat in the senate and a curule chair. The sight of fetters being forbidden him, his house was a sanctuary for a prisoner, and a criminal who met him in the street was respited. He was not allowed to leave the city for a single night, to ride or even touch a horse, to swear an oath, to look at an army, to touch anything unclean, or to look upon people working. His marriage, performed with the ceremonies of con f arreatio (q.v.) , was dissoluble only by death, and on the death of his wife (called flaminica Dialis) he was obliged to re sign his office. The flaminica Dialis assisted her husband at the sacrifices and other religious duties which he performed. The main duty of the flamens was the offering of daily sacrifices; on Oct. a the three maiores drove to the Capitol and sacrificed to Fides Publica (the Honour of the People).
Distinct from the above were the flamen curialis, who assisted the curio with the religious affairs of each curia (q.v.), the flamens of various sacerdotal corporations, such as the Arval Brothers (q.v.), and the flamen Augustalis, who superintended the worship of the emperor in the provinces.
See the exhaustive article by C. Jullian in Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites; also J. E. Sandys, Companion to Latin Studies (1921) .