Pontifex Maximusn.

1579 W. Fulke Refut. Rastels Confut. in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 755 So did Nero, and was Pontifex Maximus.

1590 L. Lloyd First Pt. Diall of Daies sig. C3^v After followed the religious men, the high Bishop, called Pontifex Maximus, the Priestes Flamines, & their Augures, Southsayers.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlv. 365 Pontifex Maximus..was the name of him that in the ancient Common-wealth of Rome, had the Supreme Authority under the Senate and People, of regulating all Ceremonies and Doctrines concerning their Religion.

1726 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts Europe I. 136 Many of the Roman Emperors themselves were Flames..and they all of them were proud to assume the Title of Pontifex Maximus.

1777 P. Thicknesse Year's Journey France & Spain II. xlii. 83 The consecration of the Roman Pontifex Maximus.

1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. vii. 528 It is indeed a bridge, and worthy of its builder, Trajan—a true Pontifex maximus.

1868 Harper's Mag. Aug. 395/2 The Great Annals, kept by the Pontifex Maximus.

1900 Times 13 Feb. 15/3 This sacrarium was entered on certain occasions by the Pontifex Maximus and the Vestals.

1957 F. L. Cross Oxf. Dict. Christian Church 1089/2 Pontifex Maximus,..originally a pagan title of the chief priest at Rome.

2002 Classical Philol. 97 53 A figure stands on the right whose toga is drawn up over his head in the manner of pontifex maximus.

1610 J. Donne Pseudo-martyr ix. 250 That stile of Pontifex Maximus, which either is not due to the Pope, or else is so sublime and transcendant a name, as Bellarmine could bring it within no Rule nor Predicament.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlv. 365 The Bishop of Constantinople..pretended to bee equall to the Bishop of Rome; though at last, not without contention, the Pope carryed it, and became the Pontifex Maximus.

1710 S. Ewer Answer Mr. E. Hitchin's Bk. iv. 66 Mr H. will not grant, that the Appointment of a Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest, under the Old Testament, is sufficient to authorize the setting up of a Pontifex Maximus, or Pope, under the New.

1737 W. Barrowby tr. J. Astruc Treat. Venereal Dis. II. v. 237 Cardinal Rodericus de Borgia, who was..promoted to the Arch-bishoprick by his uncle Pope Calixtus the III. in the year 1455. Chosen Pontifex Maximus 1492.

1875 Times 23 Oct. 4/2 The Pope is in no way impeded in the exercise of his office of Pontifex Maximus.

1947 H. Finer Amer. Destiny iv. 85 After his ascent in 1073 to the seat of Pontifex Maximus as Gregory VII..[Hildebrand] pressed forward the unifying influence of Christianity.

2003 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 5 Oct. 1 d If the chosen cardinal assents, he immediately becomes Pontifex Maximus, the Holy Roman Pontiff.

1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. New Test. (ed. 2) 201/1 'Tis manifest, both that Annas was not the Pontifex Maximus at this time, & that Caiaphas was.

1769 T. Smollett Hist. & Adventures Atom I. 32 He..raised the happy Bonza to the rank of Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest, in the temple of Fakku-basi.

1893 Times 10 Jan. 13/4 Upon no bed of roses..can the Emperor of China lie. The ceremonial functions of his life, whether as Supreme Ruler or as Pontifex Maximus of his people, are manifold.

1934 New Statesman 3 Nov. 614/2 Stalin has exiled Trotsky and become the Pontifex Maximus of the new Russo-Catholic Church of Communism.

1993 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 4 Nov. 58/1 In 1963, as pontifex maximus of the Old American republic, Wilson is speaking out with a Roman hardness and clarity.