Aeternitas
The Roman goddess Aeternitas ( Latin = eternity ) is a personification of eternity . In contrast to the Greek deity Aion (αιον), who personifies eternity as a philosophical concept, Aeternitas symbolizes the permanence of political rule.
It was often depicted on Roman coins since the imperial time of Augustus . She was often depicted sitting, standing or driving on a cart pulled by lions or elephants. Her attributes are the uroborus , the snake biting its tail, the phoenix , the celestial sphere, as well as the sun, moon and stars.
A cult of the Aeternitas imperii , the eternal duration of Roman rule, has also been attested since Vespasian . One could also refer to the aeternitas Augusti , the duration of the reign of the emperor, according to Pliny the Younger , who refers to the aeternitas and salus of Trajan .
In mythology, she becomes the daughter of Jupiter .
literature
- Emil Aust : Aeternitas . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 694-696.
- Gian Guido Belloni: Aeternitas . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Volume I, Zurich / Munich 1981, pp. 244–249.
- Fritz Graf : Aeternitas. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , column 206 f.
- Wilhelm Köhler: Personifications of abstract concepts on Roman coins. Dissertation Königsberg 1909, p. 23 ff.
- Roscher: Aeternitas . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 88 ( digitized version ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pliny Letters 83.
- ^ Martianus Capella De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii .