ARCHIGALLUS. - Priest of Cybele, of a rank superior to the simple galli. From the rather abundant epigraphic material that has come down to us, it appears that, in the imperial age, the office of archigallus was not only recognized by the authorities, but also held in high esteem; and since the archigalli mentioned in these inscriptions are all Roman citizens, it is evident that they could not have undergone the castration that Roman laws declared incompatible with the enjoyment of Roman citizenship. And if, on the other hand, the writers of the imperial age reproach the archigalli with the same ignominy as the simple galli, it is necessary to conclude that they erroneously believed that one could not attain the rank of archigallus without having passed through that of gallus.
We have four figurative representations of archigalli, which, however, reduce to two, since the first three reproduce the same personage. The latter come from a tomb in the necropolis of Porto on the Isola Sacra, and are interesting above all for the large crown, which we know to have been of gold and which we find often mentioned by the writers. Even more interesting is the relief in the Capitoline Museum, on which the archigallus is depicted with all his attributes: a crown with three medallions: of Jupiter in the center and two of Attis at the sides; the pectoral with the image of Attis, the whip for flagellating himself, the tambourine, the tympana, the flute with the pastoral staff, the mystic cista.