Hierophylakes, also known as hierodidaskaloi, hieronomoi, or hierophantai,Dionysius of Halicarnassus (translated by Earnest Cary) – The Roman Antiquities Aeterna Press 30 May 2015 [Retrieved 2015-07-13] were priests for the Eumolpidae involved in performing acts of sacrifice.Stéphanie Paul (edited by Marietta Horster, Anja Klöckner) – Cities and Priests: Cult Personnel in Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands from the Hellenistic to the Imperial Period Volume 64 of Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten, Walter de Gruyter 1 Jan 2014, 380 pages, [Retrieved 2015-07-13]
Pausanias stated that new hierophantai were elected every quadrennial, and so individuals did not maintain an existence within this role for their life-time. He also stated that they might marry if they wished to do so known as, lambanein gynaika.
They are also mentioned in the HGK 1 inscription, an important component of the state calendar created in Kos about 360 B.C. which lists the officials present at sacrifices. The Hierophylakes alongside an archeuontes are noted to make a preliminary announcement before the sacrifice of an oxen.
The Hierophylakes as a role is also mentioned during the early Roman Empire in a votive inscription to Tiberius and Livia.
See also Hierophant
References