Numa Pompilius was the second king of Rome, after Romulus. He probably reigned from 715 to 673 B.C. Numa was from the Sabine tribe. The Sabines were a people of ancient Italy. They lived northeast of Rome in present-day Umbria.
Numa established many of Rome’s religious and political customs. He created priesthoods, which included a special priest for Jupiter; the tradition of the Vestal Virgins, who tended a sacred flame at the temple of Vesta; and the position of pontifex maximus, a chief priest who looked after all of Rome’s sacred books and ceremonies. Numa also built a temple to Janus, the god of war and peace. According to Roman tradition, Numa created a calendar that was used until the time of the Roman statesman Julius Caesar (d. 44 B.C.). It was said that Numa learned about religious matters and how to tell the future from the nymph Egeria, a minor water goddess.
