Fides (deity)
Fides (
Fides embodies everything that is required for "honour and credibility, from fidelity in marriage, to contractual arrangements, and the obligation soldiers owed to Rome."[4] Fides also means reliability, "reliability between two parties, which is always reciprocal." and "bedrock of relations between people and their communities",[5] and then it was turned into a Roman deity and from which we gain the English word, 'fidelity'.[6]
Under the name Fides Publica Populi Romani ("Public Trust of the Roman People"),
Iconography
Fides is represented as a young woman crowned with an olive or laurel wreath,[2] holding in her hand a turtle-dove,[1] fruits or grain,[2] or a military ensign. She wears a white veil.[1]
Temple and ceremonies
The
According to tradition, Rome's second king, Numa Pompilius, instituted a yearly ceremony on 1 October devoted to Fides Publica, in which the three flamines maiores (major priests)—the Dialis, Martialis, and Quirinalis—were to be borne to her temple in a covered arched chariot drawn by two horses.[1] There they should conduct her services with their heads covered and right hands wrapped up to the fingers to indicate absolute devotion to her and to symbolise trust.[9]
See also
- secrets and confidentiality.
- Luck(Fortuna) – also embodied as goddesses by the Romans
- Semo Sancus– Roman god of trust, honesty, and oaths
References
- ^ a b c d e Peck, Harry Thurston (1898). "Fides (2)". Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York: Harper and Brothers.
- ^ Perseus Project, Tufts University.
- ^ Adams, John Paul (May 2009). "The Roman Concept of Fides". Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures College of Humanities, California State University Northridge.
- ^ a b Perley, Sara. "Fides Romana: Aspects of fides in Roman diplomatic relations during the conquest of Iberia" (PDF). University of Otago. Retrieved 15 May 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "God of the Month: Fides". Neptune's Dolphins. 4 October 2017.
- ^ Pfingsten, Max. "Roman Virtues and Stoicism -" (PDF). goblues.org. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Samuel Ball Platner (revised by Thomas Ashby) (1929). "Aedes Fidei". A Topography of Ancient Rome. p. 209.
- ^ a b L. Richardson, Jr., A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992).
- Ab urbe condita, 1:21