The Roman ‘Virtues’

Juvenal in his First Satire (vv. 115, 116) remarks on the curious fact that Pecunia, though so devoutly worshipped, yet has no temple of her ownut colitur Pax atque Fides, Victoria, Virtus, quaeque salutato crepitat Concordia nido.She is not actually like them an object of cult. The modern reader, w...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mattingly, Harold (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press 1937
In: Harvard theological review
Year: 1937, Volume: 30, Issue: 2, Pages: 103-117
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Summary:Juvenal in his First Satire (vv. 115, 116) remarks on the curious fact that Pecunia, though so devoutly worshipped, yet has no temple of her ownut colitur Pax atque Fides, Victoria, Virtus, quaeque salutato crepitat Concordia nido.She is not actually like them an object of cult. The modern reader, while relishing the bitterness of the gibe, is left vaguely wondering how the Romans could seriously worship such ‘personifications’ as Pax or Fides, and his wonder will only increase, if he follows up the subject and traces the cult of the ‘Virtues’ in literature, in inscriptions and, above all, in the imperial coinage. When we talk of ‘personifications,’ we feel ourselves at once in the realm of poetic or artistic imagery and fancy; the ancient Roman, when he spoke of similar figures, felt himself in the realm of religious fact.
ISSN:1475-4517
Contains:Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0017816000022173