a sacrificial priest of a particular ancient god within the Roman state religion. There were twelve (or fifteen) flaminis of twelve (or fifteen) different gods, some of whom were so obscure that their rites were cryptic even to the imperial Romans. All of the flaminis seem to have been subject to varied and sometimes elaborate taboos which could make it hard to hold political office. Being Romans, there were determined men who managed to do both things. The three most important, and thoroughly hedged-about, of the flaminis were the patrician flaminis majores, among who was numbered the flamen quirinalis (see “Quirinus” below).

A flamen was a name given to a priest assigned to a state supported god or goddess in Roman religion. There were fifteen flamines in the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores (or "major priests"), who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad.