ABSTRACT
Is purity mere ritual?35 According to Valerius, magistrates must have “holy hands” (sanctas manus; 2.2.8), that is, they must be virtuous in their conduct in order to participate in ritual.36 Valerius thus sets up a parallel between moral virtue and the ritual purity necessary for worship of the immortal gods:
sacrificiisque populi Romani cum deorum immortalium cultus tum etiam hominum continentia inerat.
