Victoria (mythology)

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Victoria on top of the Berlin Victory Column. Cast by Gladenbeck, Berlin)[1]

Victoria in ancient Roman religion was the personified goddess of victory.[2] She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike, and was associated with Bellona. She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine Hill. The goddess Vica Pota was also sometimes identified with Victoria. Victoria is often described as a daughter of Pallas and Styx, and as a sister of Zelus, Kratos, and Bia.[3]

Arch of Trajan (Benevento), with a pair of winged victories in the spandrels

Unlike the Greek Nike, the goddess Victoria (Latin for "victory") was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected in her honor. When her statue was removed in 382 CE by Emperor Gratianus there was much anger in Rome.[4][5] She was normally worshiped by triumphant generals returning from war.[2]

Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such as chariot races, Victoria was a symbol of victory over death and determined who would be successful during war.[2]

Victoria appears widely on Roman coins,[6] jewelry, architecture, and other arts. She is often seen with or in a chariot, as in the late 18th-century sculpture representing Victory in a quadriga on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany; "Il Vittoriano" in Rome has two. Nike or Victoria was the charioteer for Zeus in his battle to overtake Mount Olympus.

Iconography[]

Winged figures, very often in pairs, representing victory and referred to as winged victories, were common in Roman official iconography, typically hovering high in a composition, and often filling spaces in spandrels or other gaps in architecture.[7] These represent the spirit of victory rather than the goddess herself. They continued to appear after Christianization of the Empire and gradually evolved into depictions of Christian angels.[8] A pair, facing inwards, fitted very conveniently into the spandrels of arches, and have been very common in Triumphal arches and similar designs where a circular element is framed by a rectangle.

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Oscar Gladenbeck (1850–1921)". ISSUU.com. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Victoria". talesbeyondbelief.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Nike". theoi.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  4. ^ Sheridan, J. J., "The Altar of Victory – Paganism's Last Battle." L'Antiquite Classique 35 (1966): 187.
  5. ^ Ambrose Epistles 17–18; Symmachus Relationes 1–3.
  6. ^ "All About Gold". numismaclub.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Winged Victoria Spandrels". google.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ^ Doyle, Chris (2015). 'Declaring Victory, Concealing Defeat: Continuity and Change in Imperial Coinage of the Roman West, c. 383 – c. 408', in G. Greatrex, H. Elton (eds.) Shifting Genres in Late Antiquity. With the assistance of Lucas McMahon. Pp. xvi + 341, ills. Farnham, United Kingdom: Ashgate. pp. 157–71. ISBN 978-1-4724-4348-9.

External links[]

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