Back Felicitas Catalan Felicitas (Mythologie) German Felicitas Spanish Felicitas French Felicitas Galician Felicitas Italian Felicitas (mythologie) Dutch Felicitas Polish Фелицитас Russian Felicitas Swedish

Felicitas

This article is about the divine personification of a Roman concept. For other uses of the name, see Felicitas (disambiguation).
Felicitas Augusta holding a caduceus and a cornucopia, two symbols of health and wealth, on the reverse of an aureus issued under the emperor Valerian

In ancient Roman culture, felicitas (from the Latin adjective felix, "fruitful, blessed, happy, lucky") is a condition of divinely inspired productivity, blessedness, or happiness. Felicitas could encompass both a woman's fertility and a general's luck or good fortune.[1] The divine personification of Felicitas was cultivated as a goddess. Although felicitas may be translated as "good luck," and the goddess Felicitas shares some characteristics and attributes with Fortuna, the two were distinguished in Roman religion.[2] Fortuna was unpredictable and her effects could be negative, as the existence of an altar to Mala Fortuna ("Bad Luck") acknowledges.[3] Felicitas, however, always had a positive significance. She appears with several epithets that focus on aspects of her divine power.

Felicitas had a temple in Rome as early as the mid-2nd century BC, and during the Republican era was honored at two official festivals of Roman state religion, on July 1 in conjunction with Juno and October 9 as Fausta Felicitas. Felicitas continued to play an important role in Imperial cult, and was frequently portrayed on coins as a symbol of the wealth and prosperity of the Roman Empire. Her primary attributes are the caduceus and cornucopia.[4] The English word "felicity" derives from felicitas.

  1. ^ Anna Clark, Divine Qualities: Cult and Community in Republican Rome (Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 228, quoting G. Sauron, Quis deum? L'expression plastique des idéologies politiques et religieuses à Rome (École française de Rome, 1994), p. 287.
  2. ^ J. Rufus Fears, "The Theology of Victory at Rome: Approaches and Problem," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.17.2 (1981), pp. 747, 798.
  3. ^ Lawrence Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 156.
  4. ^ Clark, Divine Qualities, pp. 142, 146; Michael H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (Cambridge University Press, 1974), vol. 2, p. 738.

Rich TVX News Network Site

Rich TVX News Network Info

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search