Fides (mythology)
Fides ( Latin fidēs "trust, loyalty, faith") was the personification of trust , loyalty and the oath in the Roman religion . She was also venerated under the name Fides Publica Populi Romani (about "general trustworthiness of the Roman people").
Your 254 BC The temple in Rome , consecrated by the consul Aulus Atilius Caiatinus , was on the Capitol near the Temple of Jupiter. Here the Roman Senate signed and kept treaties with other states, thereby entrusting them to Fides' protection.
Fides is represented as a young woman - occasionally crowned with an olive branch - wearing a veil or stole . In her hands she holds a cornucopia , bowl, ears of corn or fruit basket as her attributes , or even a military standard . Their priests wore white clothing, showing Fides' connection to the highest gods of heaven, Jupiter and Dius Fidius .
Tradition has it that Rome's second king Numa Pompilius founded annual festivals in honor of Fides and instituted that the higher priests (the three flamines maiores ) were brought to the temple in a roofed, vaulted chariot drawn by two horses. There they were supposed to lead Fides' church services with their heads covered and their right hands wrapped up to the fingers, thus showing absolute devotion to Fides and symbolizing trust.
Its Greek equivalent is Pistis (Πίστις).
literature
- Francesca Prescendi: Fides I. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 4, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01474-6 , column 506 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Titus Livius , Ab urbe condita 1, 21.