Gaius Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther

Libertas (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the

Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...

and

personification Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the

populares Optimates (; Latin for "best ones", ) and populares (; Latin for "supporters of the people", ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic dis ...

faction, and later those of the assassins of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

. Nonetheless, she sometimes appears on coins from the imperial period, such as

Galba Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...

's "Freedom of the People" coins during his short reign after the death of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

. She is usually portrayed with two accoutrements: the rod and the soft pileus, which she holds out, rather than wears. The Greek equivalent of the goddess Libertas is

Eleutheria The Greek word "ἐλευθερία" (capitalized Ἐλευθερία; Attic Greek pronunciation: ), transliterated as eleutheria, is an Ancient Greek term for, and personification of, liberty. Eleutheria personified had a brief career on coins ...

, the personification of liberty. There are many post-classical depictions of liberty as a person which often retain some of the

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

of the Roman goddess.

Etymology

The name ''Lībertās'' ('freedom') is a derivation from Latin ''Līber'' ('free'), stemming from

Proto-Italic The Proto-Italic language is the ancestor of the Italic languages, most notably Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. It is not directly attested in writing, but has been reconstructed to some degree through the comparative method. P ...

''*leuþero'', and ultimately from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

''*h₁leudʰero'' ('belonging to the people', hence 'free').

Attributes

Libertas was associated with the pileus, commonly worn by the freed slave: Libertas was also recognized in ancient Rome by the rod (''vindicta'' or ''festuca''), used ceremonially in the act of ''Manumissio vindicta'', Latin for 'freedom by the rod' (emphasis added):

Temples

The

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

was established simultaneously with the creation of Libertas and is associated with the overthrow of the Tarquin kings. She was worshiped by the

Junii The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician (ancient Rome), patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman Kingdom, Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutu ...

, the family of

Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

. In 238 BC, before the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus built a temple to Libertas on the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the sou ...

. Census tables were stored inside the temple's atrium. A subsequent temple was built (58–57 BC) on

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...

, another of the

Seven hills of Rome The seven hills of Rome ( la, Septem colles/montes Romae, it, Sette colli di Roma ) east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the city. Hills The seven hills are: * Aventine Hill (Latin: ''Collis Aventi ...

, by

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one ...

. By building and consecrating the temple on the site of the former house of then-exiled

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

, Clodius ensured that the land was legally uninhabitable. Upon his return, Cicero successfully argued that the consecration was invalid and thus managed to reclaim the land and destroy the temple. In 46 BC, the Roman Senate voted to build and dedicate a shrine to Libertas in recognition of

, but no temple was built; instead, a small statue of the goddess stood in the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...

Post-classical

The goddess Libertas is also depicted on the

Great Seal of France The Great Seal of France (french: Grand Sceau de la République française) is the official seal (device), seal of the French Republic. After the 1792 revolution established the First French Republic, the insignia of the monarchy was removed from ...

, created in 1848. This is the image which later influenced French sculptor

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( , ; 2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculpture, sculptor and painting, painter. He is best known for designing ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Early life a ...

in the creation of his statue of '' Liberty Enlightening the World''. Libertas, along with other Roman goddesses, has served as the inspiration for many modern-day

s, including the Statue of Liberty on

Liberty Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated in ...

in the United States. According to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, the Statue's Roman robe is the main feature that invokes Libertas and the symbol of Liberty from which the statue derives its name. In addition, money throughout history has borne the name or image of Libertas. As "

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

", Libertas was depicted on the obverse (heads side) of most coinage in the U.S. into the twentieth century and the image is still used for the

American Gold Eagle The American Gold Eagle is an official gold bullion coin of the United States. Authorized under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, it was first released by the United States Mint in 1986. Because the term "eagle" also is the official United ...

gold

bullion coin Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from the ...

. The University of North Carolina records two instances of private banks in its state depicting Libertas on their banknotes; Libertas is depicted on the 5, 10 and 20

Rappen A Rappen (pl. Rappen) originally was a variant of the medieval Pfennig ("penny") coin common to the Alemannic German regions Alsace, Sundgau, northern Switzerland and south-western Germany. As with other German pennies, its half-piece was a Ha ...

denomination coins of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and on the privately issued 50

Goldback The Goldback is a family of local currencies operating in four U.S. states and launched by Goldback, Inc. in Utah in 2019. Goldbacks contain a thin layer of gold within a polymer coating. Overview Goldbacks are shaped like regular currency no ...

notes. The symbolic characters Columbia who represents the United States and

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed i ...

, who represents France, the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World'') in

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

, and many other characters and concepts of the modern age were created, and are seen, as embodiments of Libertas.

References

Bibliography

External links

David Hackett Fischer, ''Liberty and Freedom'' (2005) The many faces of Miss Liberty
{{Authority control Roman goddesses Personifications in Roman mythology Liberty symbols