The Temple of Honor and Virtue (Latin: ''Aedes Honoris et Virtutis'') was a temple in Regio I of ancient Rome dedicated to Virtus and

Honos Honos () or Honor () was the Roman god personifying honor. He was closely associated with Virtus, the goddess of manliness, or bravery, and the two are frequently depicted together. Honos is typically shown wearing a chaplet of bay leaves, whil ...

.Samuel Ball Platner & Thomas Ashby, ''Honor et Virtus'', in «A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome», London, Oxford University Press, 1929
No remains survive. It is the first entry for Regio I in the regional catalogues and was sited just outside the porta Capena, probably on the northern side of the via Appia. In front of it was the '' Ara Fortuna Redux''.

History

It was first dedicated solely to Honor on 17 July 234 BC by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus after his victory over the

Liguri The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regio ...

. After the

battle of Clastidium The Battle of Clastidium was fought in 222 BC between a Roman Republican army led by the Roman consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus and the Insubres, a Celtic people in northern Italy. Florus writes that the Insubres were led by Viridomarus, Florus. ...

in 222 BC, Marcus Claudius Marcellus vowed to dedicate a temple to Honor and Virtue, a vow he renewed after the capture of Syracuse. In 208 BC he tried to fulfil the vow by rededicating the existing temple to Honor, but the pontifical college forbade it, since one '' cella'' could not be dedicated to both gods as - if a prodigy occurred in it - they would not know which god to sacrifice to in thanks.Temple of Honor and Virtue
- on: Imperium Romanum. Marcellus instead restored the temple of Honor and built a new ''cella'' opposite it to Virtue, turning the existing temple into a double temple. This new double temple was dedicated by Marcellus' son in 205 BC. It housed several art treasures looted from

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

by Marcellus, though these had largely vanished by the time of Livy. It also housed the ''aedicula Camenarum'', the ancient bronze shrine thought to date back to the time of

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...

, which was later transferred to the temple of Hercules Musarum. The temple was later restored by Vespasian and decorated by the artists Cornelius Pinus and Attius Priscus.Pliny, '' Naturalis Historia'', XXXV.120 It is last mentioned in the 4th century, in the regional catalogues. If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the

persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church ...

References

Bibliography

* Samuel Ball Platner,
Honos et Virtus
', in: ''Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', Oxford University Press, London, 1929 (completed and revised by Thomas Ashby), on: Bill Thayer's ''LacusCurtius''.

External links

- on: Imperium Romanum 3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures Building projects of the Flavian dynasty Honour and Virtue Roman temples by deity Destroyed temples

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links