Quindecimviri sacris faciundis in the context of "Sibylline Books"

Decimus Laelius Balbus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Augustus. He was consul in 6 BC with Gaius Antistius Vetus as his colleague. Balbus was the grandson of Decimus Laelius, plebeian tribune in 54 BC, and thus a novus homo.

Balbus was one of the Quindecimviri sacris faciundis who organized the Secular Games in 17 BC. Ronald Syme notes his membership in this prestigious Roman priesthood led to Balbus entering the consulate twelve years later. "That fact itself renders this novus homo not a little enigmatic," Syme writes, "but consecrates the value and significance of priesthoods as well as consulships."

The College of Pontiffs (Latin: Collegium Pontificum; see collegium) was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the pontifex maximus and the other pontifices, the rex sacrorum, the fifteen flamens, and the Vestals. The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges; originally their responsibility was limited to supervising both public and private sacrifices, but as time passed their responsibilities increased. The other colleges were the augures (who read omens), the quindecimviri sacris faciundis ("fifteen men who carry out the rites"), and the epulones (who set up feasts at festivals).

The title pontifex comes from the Latin for "bridge builder", a possible allusion to a very early role in placating the gods and spirits associated with the Tiber River, for instance. Also, Varro cites this position as meaning "able to do".