PONTIFEX. 237 PONTMABTIN. of the collective body of pontifices, and possessed over the other members of the great college an authority which preserves plain traces of orig- inal absolutism. The pontifices filled vacancies b' tlieir own vote, but the rex and ftaniines were appointed, even against their will, by the pontifex niaxinius, though in later times his choice was limited by a list of nominations. The vestals also were originally chosen by him, though later the lot decided from twenty names of his choos- in". He had the power to fine his colleagues, and even to remove the re.K and flamines. To the vestals he .stood in the position of a father, and could use corporal punishment, though the death penalty for unchastity could only be inflicted by the eoilege. In the time of the Empire this office regular!}' belonged to the prince, and a proma- gislcr was named to preside over the college. The pontifices are among the oldest Roman officials, evidently belonging to the regal period, as a council of the monarch. Their importance is shown by the fact that with the augurs they are the only priests regularly provided for the col- onies. Originally all the pontifices were patri- cians, but iu B.C. 300 the Lex Ogulnia provided that five of the nine pontifices and of the nine augurs should be plebeians. Later, when the numliers were increased, the majority seem to have been drawn from patrician families. Even ■with the growth of Christianity the pontifices and vestals continued to exist, though the Em- peror Gratian resigned the title of pontifex maxi- mus, and it was not till the end of the fourth century that the edicts of Theodosius put an end to the forms of the old Roman religion. Con- sult: Mommsen, Rontisches Staatsrecht (Leip- zig. 1887-88); Marquardt. Riimische Slnaisver- waUuttfi (2d ed., ib., 1884) ; Bouche-Leclercq, Les pontifes de Vancienne Rome (Paris, 1871) ; Bardt. Die Priester der vier grossen CoUegien (Berlin. 1871); Habel, De Poiitificitin Roman- orum iiide ab Augusta usque ad Aurelianum Condicioiw Publica (Breslau, 1888) ; Wissowa, Religion uiid Kulfus der Ronier (Munich, lOO^i). PONTIFICAL (JIL. pontificale, book of of- fices, from Lat. ponti/ictilis, relating to a pontiff, from pontifex. high priest). The name in Roman Catholic usage of the book containing the several services, whether in the administration of sacra- ments, or the performance of public worship, in which the bishop exclusively, or at least a priest delegated by the bisliop, officiates. There were many such collections for the various national churches: but that which is now in universal use throughout the Western Church is the Pontificale Roniaiium. edited by the Papal master of cere- monies Burchard and published at Rome in 1485. It was revised by Clement VIII. and its use ex- tended to the whole Latin Cliurch in 1506. The current edition is that published at Regensburg in 1888 by authority of Leo Xlll. Another of the service books of bishops is called the Cere- moninle Efiiseoporum. but it is chiefly confined to a description of the peculiar ceremonial with which bishops are required to celebrate solemnly those offices, as of the mass, vespers, and the funeral office, which are common to them with priests. PONTIFICAL STATES. See V.kv-l St.tes. PONTIGNY, pf.x'tenye'. A village in the Department of Yonne, France, 32 miles south- west of Troves (Map: France, K 3). Popula- tion, in 1901, 778. It is noted for its extensive Cistercian abbey, founded by Count Thibaud of Champagne in 1150, and frequently the asylum of the Archbishops of Canterbury when at vari- ance with the English kings. Thomas i Becket found refuge there in 1104, Stephen Langton in 1208, and Edmund Rich in 1239. The abbey and church were much damaged by the incen- diarism of the Huguenots in 1508. It has been restored, is now a national monument and a pil- grimage resort, especially of British Roman Catholics. The church is one of the most per- fect survivals of unadorned early CJothic. Us length is 360 feet ; width of nave, 73 feet ; length of transepts, 150 feet; interior height, 70 feet. Some of its distinctive features are a small open narthex ard the narrow lancet-shaped windows. PONTINE MARSHES (Lat. Pomptinw Paludes ) . A low-lying district, forming the southern part of the Campagna di Roma (q.v. ), and extending in a southeasterly direction from Cisterna to the sea at Terracina. Its greatest length is about thirty-one miles, and its breadth from five to eight miles. It does not reach the seacoast on the west, being separated from it by a broad sandy tract covered with forest: but even this barrier partakes to some extent of the character of the marshes them.selves, being quite as flat, and largely intermixed with swamp and lagoon. The Pontine Marshes have undoubtedly been formed by the stagnation of the streams that take their rise in the Volscian hills, and by the accumulation of sand along the shore from Astura to the Circeian promontory, but this formation undoubtedly belongs to prehistoric ages. The first attempt to drain the Pontine Marshes in ancient times was made in B.C. 100 by the consul Comelitis Cethegus ; but his ef- forts were only partially successful. .Julius Caesar projected the drainage of this pestilential district, but his murder prevented the complete realization of his project. Augustus also appears to have done something ; but in the time of .Juve- nal it was a mere haunt of robbers. Theodoric the Goth likewise tried to reclaim it ; but the des- olations of succeeding reigns soon reduced it to a hopeless condition, and it remained an tininhabitable region. The first in modern times to resume the labors of the ancients was Pope Boniface VIII., who drained the district about Sezze and Sermoneta by means of a large canal. Several subsequent efforts were made, but nothing was really accomplished till the time of Pope Pius VI., who, in 1778, com- menced to drain the marshes, and completed the drainage in ten years. The reclamation of the land, however, has been foind possible only in part. Though much is under cultivation and in pasturage, a great portion is hopelessly ir- reclaimable, and the whole region is so un- healthy that during the summer months the inhabitants are obliged to remove to the neigh- boring mountains. Consult: Prony. Descrip- tion, hgdrographique et historique des Marais Pontin.i (Paris, 1823) : De la Blanch&re, La ma- tririd de Rome et le drainage antique (ib., 1884) ; Berti. Le Paludi Pontine (Rome, 1884) ; Donat, Le Paludi Pontine ed il loro prosciuga- tnento (ib., 1887). PONTMAETIN, pox'mar'tax'. Armaxd Fer- RANU, Count de (1811-90). A French author, bom at Avignon, and educated in Paris. He en-
