Sol (Roman mythology)

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Sol
God of the Sun
Seh₂ul

Sol is the personification of the

Mithraic mysteries.[1] Publications from the mid-1990s have challenged the notion of two different sun gods in Rome, pointing to the abundant evidence for the continuity of the cult of Sol, and the lack of any clear differentiation – either in name or depiction – between the "early" and "late" Roman sun god.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

The Latin sol for "

Romance languages still use reflexes of sol (e.g., Italian sole, Portuguese sol, Spanish sol, Romanian soare and French soleil) as the main word for "sun".[a]

In the Roman Republic

According to Roman sources, the worship of Sol was introduced by Titus Tatius shortly after the foundation of Rome.[7][8] In Virgil he is the grandfather of Latinus, the son of Sol's daughter Circe who lived not far from Rome at Monte Circeo.[9] A shrine to Sol stood on the banks of the Numicius, near many important shrines of early Latin religion.[10]

In Rome Sol had an "old" temple in the

Quirinal, where an annual sacrifice was offered to Sol Indiges on August 9 to commemorate Caesar's victory at Pharsala (48 BCE).[b] The Roman ritual calendars or fasti also mention a feast for Sol Indiges on December 11, and a sacrifice for Sol and Luna on August 28. Traditionally, scholars have considered Sol Indiges[c] to represent an earlier, more agrarian form in which the Roman god Sol was worshipped, and considered him to be very different from the late Roman Sol Invictus, who they believed was a predominantly Syrian deity. Neither the epithet "indiges" (which fell out of use sometime after Caesar) nor the epithet "invictus" are used with any consistency however, making it impossible to differentiate between the two.[15]

Sol Invictus

Polychrome reproduction of the Mithraic banquet scene featuring Mithras and the Sun god (Sol Invictus) banqueting on the hide of the slaughtered bull, dating to 130 CE, Lobdengau-Museum, Ladenburg, Germany

Sol Invictus (English translated as "Unconquered Sun") was long thought to have been a foreign

college of pontiffs for Sol was established.[20] There is some debate over the significance of the date December 21 for the cult of Sol. According to a single, late source, the Romans held a festival on December 21 of Dies Natalis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered one." Most scholars assume Sol Invictus was meant, although our source for this festival does not state so explicitly.[d]

December 25 was commonly indicated as the date of the

festival of DIES NATALIS SOLIS INVICTI, but historians of late antiquity make no mention of this, and others speculate Aurelian chose December 25 to shadow early Christian celebrations already on the rise.[27] When the festival on December 25 was instituted is not clear, which makes it hard to assess what impact (if any) it had on the establishment of Christmas
.

There were also festivals on other days in December, including the 11th (mentioned above), as well as August. Gordon points out that none of these other festivals are linked to astronomical events.[17]

Throughout the 4th century the cult of Sol continued to be maintained by high-ranking pontiffs, including the renowned Vettius Agorius Praetextatus.[28]

Connection to emperors

On the left, the Roman Emperor Aurelian with a radiate crown and on the right, a depiction Sol

According to the

Jove, or Sol".[29] While this has been seen as an attempt to import the Syrian sun god to Rome,[30] the Roman cult of Sol had existed in Rome at least since the early Republic.[31][32][33][34]

As the Cult of Sol grew and Sol took on attributes of other deities, Sol began to be used as a way to display imperial power. The radiate crown shown on some emperor's portraits on coins minted in the 3rd century was associated with Sol,[35][36] and may have been influenced by earlier depictions of Alexander the Great.[37] Some coins minted in the 4th century depict Sol on one side.[35] Constantine I wore the "radiate crown" though some argue that it was intended to represent the "Holy Nails" and not Sol.[38][dubious ]

Identification with other deities

Sol was most notably identified with

Varro and Ovid. The Greek assimilation of Apollo and Helios was already established in Rome by the end of the republic.[39]

Various Roman philosophers speculated on the nature of the sun, without arriving at any consensus. A typical example is

Jana, who was Luna. As such, they were to be regarded as the highest of the gods, receiving their sacrifices before all the others.[41]
Such speculations appear to have been restricted to an erudite elite and had no impact on the well-attested cult of Sol as independent deity: No ancient source aside from Macrobius mentions the equation of Sol with Janus.

Connection to Mithras

Sol appears many times in depictions of Mithras, such as the Tauroctony of Mithras killing the bull, and looking at Sol over his shoulder.[42] They appear in other scenes together from Mithras ascending behind Sol's chariot, shaking hands and some depictions of Sol kneeling to Mithras.[43] Mithras was known as Sol Invictus even though Sol is a separate deity, a paradoxical relationship where they are each other but separate.[42] They are separate deities but due to some similarities a connection between them can be created which can lead to one over taking the other.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Sol, borrowed from Latin, is used in contemporary English by astronomers and many science fiction authors as the proper name of the Sun to distinguish it from other stars which may be suns for their own planetary systems.[citation needed]
  2. ^ "a.d. V Idus Augustas: Soli Indigeti in colle Quirinali Feriae quod eo die Gaius Caesar Gai filius Pharsali devicit"
    "August 9: Festival for Sol Indiges on the Quirinal Hill because on that day Gaius Caesar, son of Gaius, was victorious at Pharsala" – Quintilian.[13]
    a.d. V Idus Augustas: Solis Indigetis in colle Quirinali Sacrificium Publicum[14]
  3. ^ Sol Indiges is variously translated as "the native sun" or "the invoked sun" – the etymology and meaning of the word "indiges" is disputed.
  4. ^ The Natalis Invicti is mentioned only in the Calendar of Philocalus, which dates to 354 CE.[21]
  5. Julian Calendar
    in 45 BCE, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.
  6. ^ "An inscription of unique interest from the reign of Licinius embodies the official prescription for the annual celebration by his army of a festival of Sol Invictus on December 19".[23] The inscription[24] actually prescribes an annual offering to Sol on November 18 (DIE XIV KAL(ENDIS) DECEMB(RIBUS), i.e., on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of December).

References

  1. ^ Halsberghe, Gaston (1972). The Cult of Sol Invictus. Leiden: Brill. EPRO 223.
  2. ^ .
  3. .
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ see e.g. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, p. 556.
  7. ^ Varro, De Lingua, 5.68.
  8. ^ August, de Civ. Dei, iv. 23
  9. ^ Virgil, Aeneid, 12, 161–164.
  10. ^ Pliny, Nat. Hist., III 56.
  11. ^ Tacitus, Annals, 15, 74.
  12. ^ Tertullian, de Spect, 8.
  13. ^ Quintilian, Inst, 1,7,12; Fasti Amiternini
  14. ^ Fasti Vallensis; cf. Fasti Maffeiani, and Fasti Allifani.
  15. ^ See the wikipedia article Sol Invictus; see also Di indigetes.
  16. JSTOR 283102
    .
  17. ^ a b c Gordon, Richard L.; Wallraff, Martin (2006). Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). "Sol". Brill's New Pauly. Antiquity volumes. Bonn, DE: Brill Online. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. ^ Gordon & Wallraff (2006)[17] cite Hijmans (1996).[2]
  19. ^ Tertullian, De Spect., 8
  20. OCLC 632117190
    .
  21. ^ "Chronography of the 354-06 calendar". ccel.org.
  22. ^ Wallraff (2001) 174–177[full citation needed]
  23. ^ Hoey (1939) 480[full citation needed]
  24. ^ Dessau. Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae. 8940.[full citation needed]
  25. ^ "Online text of inscription, Parts 6 and 12". tertullian.org. Archived from the original on 2007-12-04.
  26. ^ Bishop Jacob Bar-Salabi, cited in MacMullen, Ramsay (1997). Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries. Yale. p. 155.
  27. ^ McGowan, Andrew (December 2002). "How December 25 became Christmas". Bible Review. Biblical Archeology Society. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  28. ^ CIL VI, 1778, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-11-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) and 1779."Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-12-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. , retrieved 2021-10-27
  30. .
  31. .
  32. .
  33. .
  34. .
  35. ^ a b "Biblical Artifacts Ancient Coins and Artifacts from the Holy Land". www.biblicalartifacts.com. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  36. ^ Bardill 2012, p. 114
  37. ^ Stewart 1993, p. 246
  38. , retrieved 2020-12-07
  39. ^ Hijmans, Steven (2004). "Sol and Luna in the Carmen Saeculare: An iconographic perspective". Metamorphic Reflections: Essays presented to Ben Hijmans at his 75th birthday.
  40. ^ An echo of Nigidius' views, perhaps to be found in Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 27
  41. ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia, i. 9.[40]
  42. ^ .
  43. .