CRISPUS Constantine the Great son 317AD Ancient Roman Coin Nude JUPITER i24695

Item: i24695

 Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Crispus – Roman Caesar: 317-326 A.D. –

Bronze AE3 20mm (2.86 grams) Cyzicus mint: 321 A.D.
Reference: RIC 17 (Cyzicus)
DNFLIVLCRISPVSNOBCAES – Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
IOVICONSERVATORI Exe: X over IIΓ/SMKΓ –
Jupiter standing left, holding Victory (Nike) on globe and scepter; eagle to left,
seated captive to right.

* Numismatic Note: The emperor is
invoking Jupiter to preserve his rule.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

In
Greek mythology
,

Nike was a
goddess
who personified
victory
, also known as the Winged Goddess of
Victory. The Roman equivalent was
Victoria
. Depending upon the time of various
myths, she was described as the daughter of
Pallas
(Titan) and

Styx (Water) and the sister of
Kratos
(Strength),
Bia
(Force), and
Zelus
(Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close
companions of Zeus
, the dominant deity of the
Greek pantheon
. According to classical (later)
myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when

the
god was assembling allies for the
Titan War
against the older deities. Nike
assumed the role of the divine
charioteer
, a role in which she often is
portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the
victors with glory and fame.

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged
deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is
the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance
of Athena
, and is thought to have stood in
Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.
Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.

Names stemming from Nike include amongst others:
Nicholas
, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas,
Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.

In
ancient Roman religion
and
myth
, Jupiter (Latin:
Iuppiter) or Jove is the
king of the gods
and the
god of sky
and
thunder
. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman
state religion throughout the
Republican
and
Imperial
eras, until the Empire
came under Christian rule
. In
Roman mythology
, he negotiates with
Numa Pompilius
, the second
king of Rome
, to establish principles of Roman
religion such as sacrifice.

Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying
implement is the
thunderbolt
, and his primary sacred animal is
the eagle,
which held precedence over other birds in the taking of
auspices

and became one of the most common symbols of the
Roman army
(see
Aquila
). The two emblems were often combined to
represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt,
frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins.
As the sky-god, he was a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which
justice and good government depend. Many of his functions were focused on the
Capitoline
(“Capitol Hill”), where the
citadel
was located. He was the chief deity of
the
early Capitoline Triad
with
Mars
and
Quirinus
.
In the
later Capitoline Triad
, he was the central
guardian of the state with
Juno
and
Minerva
. His sacred tree was the oak.

The Romans regarded Jupiter as the
equivalent
of Greek

Zeus, and in
Latin literature
and
Roman art
, the myths and iconography of Zeus
are adapted under the name Iuppiter. In the Greek-influenced tradition,
Jupiter was the brother of
Neptune
and
Pluto
. Each presided over one of the three
realms of the universe: sky, the waters, and the underworld. The
Italic
Diespiter was also a sky god who
manifested himself in the daylight, usually but not always identified with
Jupiter.
The
Etruscan
counterpart was
Tinia
and
Hindu
counterpart is
Indra
.

Jupiter and the state

The Romans believed that Jupiter granted them supremacy because they had
honoured him more than any other people had. Jupiter was “the fount of the
auspices
upon which the relationship of the
city with the gods rested.”
He personified the divine authority of Rome’s highest offices, internal
organization, and external relations. His image in the
Republican
and
Imperial
Capitol bore
regalia
associated with
Rome’s ancient kings
and the highest
consular
and
Imperial honours
.

The consuls swore their oath of office in Jupiter’s name, and honoured him on
the annual
feriae
of the Capitol in September. To
thank him for his help (and to secure his continued support), they offered him a
white ox (bos mas) with gilded horns.
A similar offering was made by
triumphal generals
, who surrendered the tokens
of their victory at the feet of Jupiter’s statue in the Capitol. Some scholars
have viewed the triumphator as embodying (or impersonating) Jupiter in
the triumphal procession.

Jupiter’s association with kingship and sovereignty was reinterpreted as
Rome’s form of government changed. Originally,
Rome was ruled by kings
; after the monarchy was
abolished and the
Republic
established, religious prerogatives
were transferred to the patres, the
patrician ruling class
. Nostalgia for the
kingship (affectatio regni) was considered treasonous. Those suspected of
harbouring monarchical ambitions were punished, regardless of their service to
the state. In the 5th century BC, the triumphator
Furius Camillus
was sent into exile after he
drove a chariot with a team of four white horses (quadriga)—an
honour reserved for Jupiter himself. After the
Gallic occupation
ended and self-rule was
restored,
Manlius Capitolinus
took on regal pretensions
and was executed as a traitor by being cast from the
Tarpeian Rock
. His house on the Capitoline was
razed, and it was decreed that no patrician should ever be allowed to live
there.
Capitoline Jupiter finds himself in a delicate position: he represents a
continuity of royal power from the
Regal period
, and confers power on the
magistrates
who pay their respects to him; at
the same time he embodies that which is now forbidden, abhorred, and scorned.During the
Conflict of the Orders
, Rome’s
plebeians
demanded the right to hold political
and religious office. During their first
secessio
(similar to a
general strike
), they withdrew from the city
and threatened to found their own. When they agreed to came back to Rome they
vowed the hill where they had retreated to Jupiter as symbol and guarantor of
the unity of the Roman res publica.^[12]
Plebeians eventually became eligible for all the
magistracies
and most priesthoods, but the high
priest of Jupiter (Flamen
Dialis) remained the preserve of patricians.

Flamen and
Flaminica Dialis

Jupiter was served by the patrician Flamen Dialis, the highest-ranking member
of the flamines
, a
college
of fifteen priests in the official
public cult of Rome, each of whom was devoted to a particular deity. His wife,
the Flaminica Dialis, had her own duties, and presided over the sacrifice of a
ram to Jupiter on each of the
nundinae
, the “market” days of a calendar
cycle, comparable to a week.
The couple were required to marry by the exclusive patrician ritual
confarreatio
, which included a sacrifice of
spelt
bread to Jupiter Farreus (from far,
“wheat, grain”).

The office of Flamen Dialis was circumscribed by several unique ritual
prohibitions, some of which shed light on the sovereign nature of the god
himself.
For instance, the flamen may remove his clothes or
apex
(his pointed hat) only when under a
roof, in order to avoid showing himself naked to the sky—that is, “as if under
the eyes of Jupiter” as god of the heavens. Every time the Flaminica saw a
lightningbolt or heard a clap of thunder (Jupiter’s distinctive instrument), she
was prohibited from carrying on with her normal routine until she placated the
god.

Some privileges of the flamen of Jupiter may reflect the regal nature
of Jupiter: he had the use of the
curule chair
,
and was the only priest (sacerdos)
who was preceded by a
lictor

and had a seat in the
senate
.
Other regulations concern his ritual purity and his separation from the military
function; he was forbidden to ride a horse or see the army outside the sacred
boundary of Rome (pomerium).
Although he served the god who embodied the sanctity of the oath, it was not
religiously permissible (fas)
for the Dialis to swear an oath.
He could not have contacts with anything dead or connected with death: corpses,
funerals, funeral fires, raw meat. This set of restrictions reflects the fulness
of life and absolute freedom that are features of Jupiter.

Augurs

The augures publici,
augurs
were a college of sacerdotes who
were in charge of all inaugurations and of the performing of ceremonies known as
auguria. Their creation was traditionally ascribed to Romulus. They were
considered the only official interprets of Jupiter’s will, thence they were
essential to the very existence of the Roman State as Romans saw in Jupiter the
only source of statal authority.

Fetials

The
fetials
were a college of 20 men devoted to the
religious administration of international affairs of state.
Their task was to preserve and apply the fetial law (ius fetiale), a
complex set of procedures aimed at ensuring the protection of the gods in Rome’s
relations with foreign states.
Iuppiter Lapis
is the god under whose
protection they act, and whom the chief fetial (pater patratus) invokes
in the rite concluding a treaty.
If a
declaration of war
ensues, the fetial calls
upon Jupiter and
Quirinus
, the heavenly, earthly and
chthonic
gods as witnesses of any potential
violation of the ius. He can then declare war within 33 days.

The action of the fetials falls under Jupiter’s jurisdiction as the divine
defender of good faith. Several emblems of the fetial office pertain to Jupiter.
The silex was the stone used for the fetial sacrifice, housed in the
Temple of Iuppiter Feretrius
, as was their sceptre.
Sacred herbs (sagmina), sometimes identified as
vervain
, had to be taken from the nearby
(arx)citadel

for their ritual use.

Jupiter and religion in the secessions of the plebs

The role of Jupiter in the
conflict of the orders
is a reflection of the
religiosity of the Romans. Whereas the patricians were able to claim the support
of the supreme god quite naturally being the holders of the
auspices
of the State, the plebeians argued
that as Jupiter was the source of justice he was on their side since their cause
was just.

The first secession was caused by the excessive burden of debts that weighed
on the plebs. Because of the legal institute of the
nexum
a debtor could become a slave of his
creditor. The plebeians argued the debts had become unsustainable because of the
expenses of the wars wanted by the patricians. As the senate did not acceed to
the proposal of a total debt remission advanced by dictator and augur Manius
Valerius the plebs retired on the Mount Sacer, a hill located three Roman miles
to the North-northeast of Rome, past the the Nomentan bridge on river
Anio
. The place is windy and was usually the
site of rites of divination performed by haruspices. The senate in the end sent
a delegation composed of ten members with full powers of making a deal with the
plebs, of which were part
Menenius Agrippa
and Manius Valerius. It was
Valerius, according to the inscription found at Arezzo in 1688 and written on
the order of Augustus as well as other literary sources, that brought the plebs
down from the Mount, after the secessionists had consecrated it to Jupiter
Territor and built an altar (ara) on its summit. The fear of the
wrath of Jupiter was an important element in the solution of the crisis. The
consecration of the Mount probably referred to its summit only. The ritual
requested the participation of both an augur (presumably Manius Valerius
himself) and a pontifex.

The second secession was caused by the autocratic and arrogant behaviour of
the decemviri
who had been charged by the Roman
people with writing down the laws in use til then kept secret by the patrician
magistrates and the sacerdotes. All magistracies and the tribunes of the
plebs had resigned in advance. Their work resulted in the XII Tables, which
though concerned only private law. The plebs once again retreated to the Sacer
Mons: this act besides recalling the first secession was meant to seek the
protection of the supreme god. The secession ended with the resignation of the
decemviri and an amnesty for the rebellious soldiers who had deserted
from their camp near Mount Algidus abandoning the commanders. The amnesty was
granted by the senate and guaranteed by the pontifex maximus Quintus
Furius (Livy) (or Marcus Papirius) who also supervised the nomination of the new
tribunes of the plebs then gathered on the Aventine Hill. The role played by the
pontifex maximus in a situation of vacation of powers is a significant element
underlining the religious basis and character of the tribunicia potestas.

Myths and legends

A dominant line of scholarship has held that Rome lacked a body of myths in
its earliest period, or that this original mythology has been irrecoverably
obscured by the influence of the
Greek narrative tradition
.^[29]
After the
Hellenization
of Roman culture, Latin
literature and iconography reinterpreted the myths of Zeus in depictions and
narratives of Jupiter. In the legendary history of Rome, Jupiter is often
connected to kings and kingship.

Birth

Jupiter was depicted as the twin of Juno in a statue at
Praeneste
that showed them nursed by
Fortuna Primigenia
.
An inscription that is also from Praeneste, however, says that Fortuna
Primigenia was Jupiter’s first-born child.
Jacqueline Champeaux sees this contradiction as the result of successive
different cultural and religious phases, in which a wave of influence coming
from the Hellenic world made Fortuna the daughter of Jupiter.^[32]
The childhood of Zeus is an important theme in Greek religion, art and
literature, but there are only rare (or dubious) depictions of Jupiter as a
child.

Numa

Faced by a period of bad weather endangering the harvest during one early
spring, King
Numa
resorted to the scheme of asking the
advice of the god by evoking his presence.He succeeded through the help of Picus and Faunus, whom he had imprisoned by
making them drunk. The two gods (with a charm) evoked Jupiter, who was forced to
come down to earth at the Aventine (hence named Iuppiter Elicius,
according to Ovid). After Numa skilfully avoided the requests of the god for
human sacrifices, Jupiter agreed to his request to know how lightning bolts are
averted, asking only for the substitutions Numa had mentioned: an onion bulb,
hairs and a fish. Moreover, Jupiter promised that at the sunrise of the
following day he would give to Numa and the Roman people pawns of the
imperium. The following day, after throwing three lightning bolts across a
clear sky, Jupiter sent down from heaven a shield. Since this shield had no
angles, Numa named it ancile; because in it resided the fate of the
imperium, he had many copies made of it to disguise the real one. He asked
the smith
Mamurius Veturius
to make the copies, and gave
them to the Salii
. As his only reward, Mamurius expressed
the wish that his name be sung in the last of their carmina.^[35]
Plutarch gives a slightly different version of the story, writing that the cause
of the miraculous drop of the shield was a plague and not linking it with the
Roman imperium.

Tullus Hostilius

Throughout his reign,
King Tullus
had a scornful attitude towards
religion. His temperament was warlike, and he disregarded religious rites and
piety. After conquering the
Albans
with the duel between the
Horatii and Curiatii
, Tullus destroyed
Alba Longa
and deported its inhabitants to
Rome. As Livy
tells the story, omens (prodigia)
in the form of a rain of stones occurred on the
Alban Mount
because the deported Albans had
disregarded their ancestral rites linked to the sanctuary of Jupiter. In
addition to the omens, a voice was heard requesting that the Albans perform the
rites. A plague followed and at last the king himself fell ill. As a
consequence, the warlike character of Tullus broke down; he resorted to religion
and petty, superstitious practices. At last, he found a book by Numa recording a
secret rite on how to evoke Iuppiter Elicius. The king attempted to
perform it, but since he executed the rite improperly the god threw a lightning
bolt which burned down of the king’s house and killed Tullus.

Tarquinius the Elder

When approaching Rome (where Tarquin was heading to try his luck in politics
after unsuccessful attempts in his native
Tarquinii
), an eagle swooped down, removed his
hat, flew screaming in circles, replaced the hat on his head and flew away.
Tarquin’s wife Tanaquil
interpreted this as a sign that he
would become king based on the bird, the quadrant of the sky from which it came,
the god who had sent it and the fact it touched his hat (an item of clothing
placed on a man’s most noble part, the head).^[38]

Cult

Emperor
Marcus Aurelius
, attended by his
family, offers sacrifice outside the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus
after his victories in Germany (late 2nd century AD).
Capitoline Museum
, Rome

Sacrifices

Sacrificial victims (hostiae)
offered to Jupiter were the oxen (castrated bull), the lamb (on the Ides, the
ovis idulis) and the
wether
(on the Ides of January).The animals were required to be white. The question of the lamb’s gender is
unresolved; while a lamb is generally male, for the vintage-opening festival the
flamen Dialis sacrificed a
ewe
.^[40]
This rule seems to have had many exceptions, as the sacrifice of a ram on the
Nundinae
by the flaminica Dialis
demonstrates. During one of the crises of the
Punic Wars
, Jupiter was offered every animal
born that year.

Temples

Temple of
Capitoline Jupiter

The temple to
Jupiter Optimus Maximus
stood on the
Capitoline Hill
.^[42]
Jupiter was worshiped there as an individual deity, and with
Juno
and
Minerva
as part of the
Capitoline Triad
. The building was supposedly
begun by king
Tarquinius Priscus
, completed by the last king
(Tarquinius
Superbus) and inaugurated in the early days of the Roman Republic
(September 13, 509 BC). It was topped with the statues of four horses drawing a
quadriga
, with Jupiter as charioteer. A large
statue of Jupiter stood within; on festival days, its face was painted red.

^[43]
In (or near) this temple was the
Iuppiter Lapis: the
Jupiter Stone
, on which oaths could be sworn.

Jupiter’s Capitoline Temple probably served as the architectural model for
his provincial temples. When Hadrian built
Aelia Capitolina
on the site of
Jerusalem
, a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus was
erected in the place of the destroyed
Temple in Jerusalem
.

Other temples in Rome

There were two temples in Rome dedicated to Iuppiter Stator; the first
one was built and dedicated in 294 BC by
Marcus Atilius Regulus
after the third Samnite
War. It was located on the Via Nova, below the Porta Mugonia,
ancient entrance to the Palatine.
Legend has attributed its founding to Romulus.
There may have been an earlier shrine (fanum),
since the Jupiter’s cult is attested epigraphically.

Ovid places the temple’s dedication on June 27, but it is unclear
whether this was the original date,
or the rededication after the restoration by Augustus.

A second temple of Iuppiter Stator was built and dedicated by Quintus
Caecilus Metellus Macedonicus after his triumph in 146 BC near the
Circus Flaminius
. It was connected to the
restored temple of Iuno Regina with a
portico
(porticus Metelli).

Iuppiter Victor had a temple dedicated by
Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges
during the third
Samnite War in 295 BC. Its location is unknown, but it may be on the Quirinal,
on which an inscription reading D]iovei Victore
has been found, or on the Palatine according to the Notitia in the
Liber Regionum (regio X), which reads: aedes Iovis Victoris. Either
might have been dedicated on April 13 or June 13 (days of Iuppiter Victor
and of Iuppiter Invictus, respectively, in Ovid’s Fasti).
Inscriptions from the imperial age have revealed the existence of an
otherwise-unknown temple of Iuppiter Propugnator on the Palatine.Iuppiter
Latiaris and Feriae Latinae

The cult of Iuppiter Latiaris was the most ancient known cult of the
god:: it was practised since very remote times near the top of the Mons
Albanus on which the god was venerated as the high protector of the Latin
League under the hegemony of
Alba Longa
.

After the destruction of Alba by king Tullus Hostilius the cult was forsaken.
The god manifested his discontent through the prodigy of a rain of stones: the
commission sent by the Roman senate to inquire into it was also greeted by a
rain of stones and heard a loud voice from the grove on the summit of the mount
that requested the Albans to perform the religious service to the god according
to the rites of their country. In consequence of this event the Romans
instituted a festival of nine days (nundinae). However a plague ensued:
in the end Tullus Hostilius himself was affected and lastly killed by the god
with a lightningbolt.
The festival was reestablished on its primitive site by the last Roman king
Tarquin the Proud under the leadership of Rome.

The
feriae Latinae
, or
Latiar
as they were known originally,^[54]
were the common festival (panegyris) of the so-called Priscan Latins
and of the Albans.
Their restoration aimed at grounding Roman hegemony in this ancestral religious
tradition of the Latins. The original cult was reinstated unchanged as is
testified by some archaic features of the ritual: the exclusion of wine from the
sacrifice
the offers of milk and cheese and the ritual use of rocking among the games.
Rocking is one of the most ancient rites mimicking ascent to Heaven and is very
widespread. At the Latiar the rocking took place on a tree and the winner
was of course the one who had swung the highest. This rite was said to have been
instituted by the Albans to commemorate the disappearance of king
Latinus
, in the battle against
Mezentius
king of
Caere
: the rite symbolised a search for him
both on earth and in heaven. The rocking as well as the customary drinking of
milk was also considered to commemorate and ritually reinstate infancy.^[58]
The Romans in the last form of the rite brought the sacrificial ox from Rome and
every participant was bestowed a portion of the meat, rite known as carnem
petere.
Other games were held in every participant borough. In Rome a race of chariots (quadrigae)
was held starting from the Capitol: the winner drank a liquor made with absynth.
This competition has been compared to the Vedic rite of the
vajapeya
: in it seventeen chariots run a phoney
race which must be won by the king in order to allow him to drink a cup of
madhu, i. e. soma.
The feasting lasted for at least four days, possibly six according to
Niebuhr
, one day for each of the six Latin and
Alban decuriae.
According to different records 47 or 53 boroughs took part in the festival (the
listed names too differ in Pliny NH III 69 and Dionysius of Halicarnassus AR V
61). The Latiar became an important feature of Roman political life as
they were
feriae conceptivae
, i. e. their date varied
each year: the consuls and the highest magistrates were required to attend
shortly after the beginning of the adminitration, originally on the Ides of
March: the Feriae usually took place in early April. They could not start
campaigning before its end and if any part of the games had been neglected or
performed unritually the Latiar had to be wholly repeated. The
inscriptions from the imperial age record the festival back to the time of the
decemvirs
.
Wissowa remarks the inner linkage of the temple of the Mons Albanus with that of
the Capitol apparent in the common association with the rite of the
triumph
:
since 231 BC some triumphing commanders had triumphed there first with the same
legal features as in Rome.

Religious calendar

Ides

The
Ides
(the midpoint of the month, with a full
moon) was sacred to Jupiter, because on that day heavenly light shone day and
night.
Some (or all) Ides were
Feriae
Iovis, sacred to Jupiter.
On the Ides, a white lamb (ovis idulis) was led along Rome’s
Sacred Way
to the
Capitoline Citadel
and sacrificed to him.
Jupiter’s two
epula Iovis
festivals fell on the Ides, as
did his temple foundation rites as Optimus Maximus, Victor,
Invictus and (possibly) Stator.

Nundinae

The
nundinae
recurred every ninth day, dividing
the calendar into a market cycle analogous to a week. The market days gave the
rural people (pagi)
the opportunity to sell in town and to be informed of religious and political
edicts, which were posted publicly for three days. According to tradition, these
festival days were instituted by the king
Servius Tullius
.
The high priestess of Jupiter (Flaminica
Dialis) sanctified the days by sacrificing a ram to Jupiter.

Festivals

During the
Republican era
, more
fixed holidays
on the Roman calendar were
devoted to Jupiter than to any other deity.

Viniculture and wine

Festivals of
viniculture
and wine were devoted to
Jupiter,
since grapes were particularly susceptible to adverse weather.Dumézil
describes wine as a “kingly” drink with the power to inebriate and
exhilarate, analogous to the Vedic

Soma.

Three Roman festivals were connected with viniculture and wine.

The rustic Vinalia
altera on August 19 asked for good
weather for ripening the grapes before harvest.
When the grapes were ripe,
a sheep was sacrificed to Jupiter and the flamen Dialis cut the first of
the grape harvest.

The Meditrinalia
on October 11 marked the end of
the grape harvest; the new wine was
pressed
, tasted and mixed with old wine^[78]
to control fermentation. In the Fasti Amiternini, this festival is
assigned to Jupiter. Later Roman sources invented a goddess Meditrina,
probably to explain the name of the festival.

At the Vinalia
urbana on April 23, new wine was
offered to Jupiter
Large quantities of it were poured into a ditch near the temple of
Venus Erycina
, which was located on the
Capitol.

Regifugium and
Poplifugium

The Regifugium
(“King’s Flight”)
on February 24 has often been discussed in connection with the
Poplifugia
on July 5, a day holy to
Jupiter.
The Regifugium followed the festival of Iuppiter
Terminus
(Jupiter of Boundaries) on
February 23. Later Roman
antiquarians
misinterpreted the Regifugium
as marking the expulsion of the monarchy, but the “king” of this festival may
have been the priest known as the
rex sacrorum
who ritually enacted the
waning and renewal of power associated with the
New Year
(March 1 in the old Roman calendar).
A temporary vacancy of power (construed as a yearly “interregnum“)
occurred between the Regifugium on February 24 and the New Year on March
1 (when the lunar cycle was thought to coincide again with the solar cycle), and
the uncertainty and change during the two winter months were over.^[85]
Some scholars emphasize the traditional political significance of the day.

The Poplifugia (“Routing of Armies”),
a day sacred to Jupiter, may similarly mark the second half of the year; before
the
Julian calendar reform
, the months were named
numerically,
Quintilis
(the fifth month) to December
(the tenth month).The Poplifugia was a “primitive military ritual” for which the adult male
population assembled for purification rites, after which they ritually dispelled
foreign invaders from Rome.

Epula Iovis

There were two festivals called epulum Iovis (“Feast of Jove”). One
was held on September 13, the anniversary of the foundation of Jupiter’s
Capitoline temple. The other (and probably older) festival was part of the
Plebeian Games
(Ludi Plebei), and was
held on November 13.^[90]
In the 3rd century BC, the epulum Iovis became similar to a
lectisternium
.

Ludi

The most ancient Roman games followed after one day (considered a dies
ater, or “black day”, i. e. a day which was traditionally considered
unfortunate even though it was not nefas, see also article
Glossary of ancient Roman religion
) the two
Epula Iovis of September and November.

The games of September were named Ludi Magni; originally they were not
held every year, but later became the annual Ludi Romani  and were held in the
Circus Maximus
after a procession from the
Capitol. The games were attributed to Tarquinius Priscus,
and linked to the cult of Jupiter on the Capitol. Romans themselves acknowledged
analogies with the
triumph
, which Dumézil thinks can be explained
by their common Etruscan origin; the magistrate in charge of the games dressed
as the triumphator and the
pompa circensis
resembled a triumphal
procession. Wissowa and Mommsen argue that they were a detached part of the
triumph on the above grounds
(a conclusion which Dumézil rejects).

The Ludi Plebei took place in November in the
Circus Flaminius
.
Mommsen
argued that the epulum of the
Ludi Plebei was the model of the Ludi Romani, but Wissowa finds the evidence for
this assumption insufficient.The Ludi Plebei were probably established in 534 BC. Their association
with the cult of Jupiter is attested by Cicero.

Larentalia

The feriae of December 23 were devoted to a major ceremony in honour
of Acca Larentia
(or Larentina), in which
some of the highest religious authorities participated (probably including the
Flamen Quirinalis
and the
pontiffs
). The
Fasti Praenestini
marks the day as feriae
Iovis, as does Macrobius.
It is unclear whether the rite of parentatio was itself the reason for
the festival of Jupiter, or if this was another festival which happened to fall
on the same day. Wissowa denies their association, since Jupiter and his
flamen would not be involved with the
underworld
or the deities of death (or be
present at a funeral rite held at a gravesite).

Name and epithets

The Latin name Iuppiter originated as a
vocative compound
of the
Old Latin
vocative *Iou and pater
(“father”) and came to replace the Old Latin
nominative case
*Ious. Jove
is a less common
English
formation based on Iov-, the
stem of oblique cases of the Latin name.
Linguistic
studies identify the form *Iou-pater
as deriving from the
Indo-European
vocative compound *Dyēu-pəter
(meaning “O Father Sky-god”; nominative: *Dyēus-pətēr).

Older forms of the deity’s name in Rome were Dieus-pater
(“day/sky-father”), then Diéspiter.
The 19th-century philologist
Georg Wissowa
asserted these names are
conceptually- and linguistically-connected to Diovis and Diovis Pater;
he compares the analogous formations Vedius–Veiove and fulgur
Dium, as opposed to fulgur Summanum (nocturnal lightning bolt) and
flamen Dialis (based on Dius, dies).
The Ancient later viewed them as entities separate from Jupiter. The terms are
similar in etymology and semantics (dies, “daylight” and Dius,
“daytime sky”), but differ linguistically. Wissowa considers the epithet
Dianus noteworthy.^[105][106]
Dieus is the etymological equivalent of
ancient Greece
‘s

Zeus and of the
Teutonics’

Ziu
(genitive Ziewes). The
Indo-European deity is the god from which the names and partially the theology
of Jupiter, Zeus and the
Indo-Aryan

Vedic

Dyaus Pita
derive or have developed.

The Roman practice of swearing by Jove to witness an oath in law courts
is the origin of the expression “by Jove!”—archaic, but still in use. The name
of the god was also adopted as the name of the planet
Jupiter
; the
adjective
“jovial”
originally described those born under the planet of
Jupiter

(reputed to be jolly, optimistic, and buoyant in
temperament
).

Jove was the original namesake of Latin forms of the
weekday
now known in English as
Thursday

(originally called Iovis Dies in
Latin
). These became jeudi in
French
, jueves in
Spanish
, joi in
Romanian
, giovedì in
Italian
, dijous in
Catalan
, Xoves in
Galcian
, Joibe in
Friulian
, Dijóu in
Provençal
.

Major epithets

The epithets of a Roman god indicate his theological qualities. The study of
these epithets must consider their origins (the historical context of an
epithet’s source).

Jupiter’s most ancient attested forms of cult belong to the State cult: these
include the mount cult (see section above note n. 22). In Rome this cult
entailed the existence of particular sanctuaries the most important of which
were located on Mons Capitolinus (earlier Tarpeius). The mount had
two tops that were both destined to the discharge of acts of cult related to
Jupiter. The northern and higher top was the
arx
and on it was located the observation
place of the
augurs
(auguraculum)
and to it headed the monthly procession of the sacra Idulia.On the southern top was to be found the most ancient sanctuary of the god: the
shrine of Iuppiter Feretrius allegedly built by Romulus, restored by
Augustus. The god here had no image and was represented by the sacred flintstone
(silex).
The most ancient known rites, those of the spolia opima and of the
fetials
which connect Jupiter with Mars and
Quirinus are dedicated to Iuppiter Feretrius or Iuppiter Lapis.The concept of the sky god was already overlapped with the ethical and political
domain since this early time. According to Wissowa and Dumézi
Iuppiter Lapis seems to be inseparable from Iuppiter Feretrius in
whose tiny templet on the Capitol the stone was lodged.

Another most ancient epithet is Lucetius: although the Ancient,
followed by some modern scholars as e. g. Wissowa,interpreted it as referred to sunlight, the carmen Saliare shows that it
refers to lightning.A further confirmation of this interpretation is provided by the sacred meaning
of lightning which is reflected in the sensitivity of the flaminica Dialis
to the phenomenon.
To the same atmospheric complex belongs the epithet Elicius: while the
ancient erudites thought it was connected to lightning, it is in fact related to
the opening of the rervoirs of rain, as is testified by the ceremony of the
Nudipedalia, meant to propitiate rainfall and devoted to Jupiter.
and the ritual of the
lapis manalis
, the stone which was brought
into the city through the Porta Capena and carried around in times of
draught, which was named Aquaelicium.^[119]
Other early epithets connected with the atmospheric quality of Jupiter are
Pluvius, Imbricius, Tempestas, Tonitrualis,
tempestatium divinarum potens, Serenator, Serenus
and, referred to lightning, Fulgur,
Fulgur Fulmen,
later as nomen agentis Fulgurator, Fulminator:
the high antiquity of the cult is testified by the neutre form Fulgur and
the use of the term for the bidental, the lightningwell digged on the
spot hit by a lightningbolt.

A bronze statue of Jupiter, from the territory of the
Treveri

A group of epithets has been interpreted by Wissowa (and his followers) as a
reflection of the agricultural or warring nature of the god, some of which are
also in the list of eleven preserved by Augustine.The agricultural ones include Opitulus, Almus, Ruminus,
Frugifer, Farreus, Pecunia, Dapalis,
Epulo.Augustine gives an explanation of the ones he lists which should reflect Varro’s:
Opitulus because he brings opem (means, relief) to the needy,
Almus because he nourishes everything, Ruminus because he nourishes
the living beings by breastfeeding them, Pecunia because everything
belongs to him.
Dumézil maintains the cult usage of these epithets is not documented and that
the epithet Ruminus, as Wissowa and Latte remarked, may not have the meaning
given by Augustine but it should be understood as part of a series including
Rumina, Ruminalis ficus, Iuppiter Ruminus, which bears the
name of Rome itself with an Etruscan vocalism preserved in inscriptions, series
that would be preserved in the sacred language (cf. Rumach Etruscan for
Roman). However many scholars have argued that the name of Rome, Ruma,
meant in fact woman’s breast.
Diva Rumina
, as Augustine testifies in the
cited passage, was the goddess of suckling babies: she was venerated near the
ficus ruminalis and was offered only libations of milk.
Here moreover Augustine cites the verses devoted to Jupiter by
Quintus Valerius Soranus
, while hypothesising
Iuno (more adept in his view as a breastfeeder), i. e. Rumina instead of
Ruminus, might be nothing else than Iuppiter: “Iuppiter omnipotens
regum rerumque deumque Progenitor genetrixque deum…“.

In Dumézil’s opinion Farreus should be understood as related to the
rite of the confarreatio the most sacred form of marriage, the name of
which is due to the spelt cake eaten by the spouses, rather than surmising an
agricultural quality of the god: the epithet means the god was the guarantor of
the effects of the ceremony, to which the presence of his flamen is necessary
and that he can interrupt with a clap of thunder.^[133]

The epithet Dapalis is on the other hand connected to a rite described
by Cato and mentioned by Festus.^[134]
Before the sowing of autumn or spring the peasant offered a banquet of roast
beef and a cup of wine to Jupiter : it is natural that on such occasions he
would entreat the god who has power over the weather, however Cato’ s prayer of
s one of sheer offer and no request. The language suggests another attitude:
Jupiter is invited to a banquet which is supposedly abundant and magnificent.
The god is honoured as summus. The peasant may hope he shall receive a
benefit, but he does not say it. This interpretation finds support in the
analogous urban ceremony of the epulum Iovis, from which the god derives
the epithet of Epulo and which was a magnificent feast accompanied by
flutes.^[135]

Epithets related to warring are in Wissowa’ s view Iuppiter Feretrius,
Iuppiter Stator, Iuppiter Victor and Iuppiter Invictus.^[136]
Feretrius would be connected with war by the rite of the first type of
spolia opima
which is in fact a dedication
to the god of the arms of the defeated king of the enemy that happens whenever
he has been killed by the king of Rome or his equivalent authority. Here too
Dumézil notes the dedication has to do with regality and not with war, since the
rite is in fact the offer of the arms of a king by a king: a proof of such an
assumption is provided by the fact that the arms of an enemy king captured by an
officer or a common soldier were dedicated to Mars and Quirinus respectively.

Iuppiter Stator was first attributed by tradition to Romulus, who had
prayed the god for his almighty help at a difficult time the battle with the
Sabines of king Titus Tatius.^[137]
Dumézil opines the action of Jupiter is not that of a god of war who wins
through fighting: Jupiter acts by causing an inexplicable change in the morale
of the fighters of the two sides. The same feature can be detected also in the
certainly historical record of the battle of the third Samnite War in 294 BC, in
which consul
Marcus Atilius Regulus
vowed a temple to
Iuppiter Stator if “Jupiter will stop the rout of the Roman army and if
afterwards the Samnite legions shall be be victouriously massacred…It looked
as if the gods themselves had taken side with Romans, so much easily did the
Roman arms succeed in prevailing…”.^[138][139]
in a similar manner one can explain the epithet Victor, whose cult was
founded in 295 BC on the battlefield of
Sentinum
by
Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges
and who received
another vow again in 293 by consul
Lucius Papirius Cursor
before a battle against
the Samnite legio linteata. Here too the religious meaning of the vow is
in both cases an appeal to the supreme god by the Roman chief at a time when as
a chief he needs divine help from the supreme god, even though for different
reasons: Fabius had remained the only political and military responsible of the
Roman State after the devotio of P. Decius Mus, Papirius had to face an
enemy who had acted with impious rites and vows, i. e. was religiously
reprehensible.^[140]

More recently Dario Sabbatucci has given a different interpretation of the
meaning of Stator within the frame of his structuralistic and dialectic
vision of Roman calendar, identifying oppositions, tensions and equilibria:
January is the month of
Janus
, at the beginning of the year, in the
uncertain time of winter (the most ancient calendar had only ten months, from
March to December). In this month Janus deifies kingship and defies Jupiter.
Moreover January sees also the presence of
Veiovis
who appears as an anti-Jupiter, of
Carmenta
who is the goddess of birth and like
Janus has two opposed faces, Prorsa and Postvorta (also named
Antevorta
and
Porrima
), of
Iuturna
, who as a gushing spring evokes the
process of coming into being from non-being as the god of passage and change
does. In this period the preeminence of Janus needs compensating on the Ides
through the action of Jupiter Stator, who plays the role of anti-Janus, i.
e. of moderator of the action of Janus.^[141]

Epithets
denoting functionality

Some epithets describe a particular aspect of the god, or one of his
functions:

• Jupiter Caelus, Jupiter as the sky or heavens; see also
  Caelus
  .
• Jupiter Caelestis, “Heavenly” or “Celestial Jupiter”.
• Jupiter Elicius, Jupiter “who calls forth [celestial omens]” or
  “who is called forth [by incantations]”; “sender of rain”.
• Jupiter Feretrius, who carries away the
  spoils of war
  “. Feretrius was called upon
  to witness solemn oaths.^[142]
  The epithet or “numen”
  is probably connected with the verb ferire, “to strike,” referring to
  a ritual striking of ritual as illustrated in foedus ferire, of which
  the silex, a quartz rock, is evidence in his temple on the Capitoline
  hill, which is said to have been the first temple in Rome, erected and
  dedicated by
  Romulus
  to commemorate his winning of the
  spolia opima from Acron, king of the Caeninenses, and to serve as a
  repository for them. Iuppiter Feretrius was therefore equivalent to
  Iuppiter Lapis, the latter used for a specially solemn oath^[143]
  According to Livy I 10, 5 and Plutarch Marcellus 8 though, the
  meaning of this epithet is related to the peculiar frame used to carry the
  spolia opima to the god, the feretrum, from verb fero
• Jupiter Centumpeda, literally, “he who has one hundred feet”;
  that is, “he who has the power of establishing, of rendering stable,
  bestowing stability on everything”, since he himself is the paramount of
  stability.
• Jupiter Fulgur (“Lightning Jupiter”), Fulgurator or
  Fulgens
• Jupiter Lucetius (“of the light”), an epithet almost certainly
  related to the light or flame of lightningbolts and not to daylight, as
  indicated by the Jovian verses of the
  carmen Saliare
  .^[144]
• 
  Jupiter Optimus Maximus
  (” the best and
  greatest”). Optumus^[145]
  because of the benefits he bestows, Maximus because of his strength,
  according to Cicero Pro Domo Sua.^[146]
• 
  Jupiter Pluvius
  , “sender of rain”.
• Jupiter Ruminus, “breastfeeder of every living being”, according
  to Augustine.^[147]
• Jupiter Stator, from stare, “to stand”: “he who has power
  of founding, instituting everything”, thence also he who makes people,
  soldiers, stand firm and fast^[148]
• 
  Jupiter Summanus
  , sender of nocturnal
  thunder
• 
  Jupiter Terminalus
  or Iuppiter
  Terminus, patron and defender of boundaries
• Jupiter Tigillus, “beam or shaft that supports and holds together
  the universe.”^[149]
• 
  Jupiter Tonans
  , “thunderer”
• Jupiter Victor, “he who has the power of conquering everything.”^[149]

Syncretic
or geographical epithets

Some epithets of Jupiter indicate his association with a particular place.
Epithets found in the provinces of the Roman Empire may identify Jupiter with a
local deity or site (see
syncretism
).

• Jupiter Ammon, Jupiter equated with the Egyptian deity
  Amun
  after the
  Roman conquest of Egypt
• Jupiter Brixianus, Jupiter equated with the local god of the town
  of Brescia
  in
  Cisalpine Gaul
  (modern North
  Italy
  )
• Jupiter Capitolinus, also Jupiter Optimus Maximus, venerated
  throughout the
  Roman Empire
  at sites with a Capitol
  (Capitolium)
• 
  Jupiter Dolichenus
  , from
  Doliche
  in
  Syria
  , originally a
  Baal
  weather and war god. From the time of
  Vespasian
  , he was popular among the
  Roman legions
  as god of war and victory,
  especially on the
  Danube
  at
  Carnuntum
  . He is depicted as standing on a
  bull, with a thunderbolt in his left hand, and a double ax in the right.
• 
  Jupiter Indiges
  , “Jupiter of the
  country,” a title given to
  Aeneas
  after his death, according to
  Livy
  ^[150]
• Jupiter Ladicus, Jupiter equated with a Celtiberian mountain-god
  and worshipped as the spirit of Mount Ladicus in
  Gallaecia
  , northwest Iberia,^[151]
  preserved in the toponym Codos de Ladoco.^[152]
• Jupiter Laterius or Latiaris, the god of
  Latium
• Jupiter Parthinus or Partinus, under this name was
  worshiped on the borders of northeast
  Dalmatia
  and
  Upper Moesia
  , perhaps associated with the
  local tribe known as the
  Partheni
  .
• Jupiter Poeninus, under this name worshipped in the Alps, around
  the
  Great St Bernard Pass
  , where he had a
  sanctuary.
• Jupiter Solutorius, a local version of Jupiter worshipped in
  Spain
  ; he was syncretised with the local
  Iberian
  god
  Eacus
  .
• Jupiter Taranis, Jupiter equated with the Celtic god
  Taranis
  .
• Jupiter Uxellinus, Jupiter as a god of high mountains.

In addition, many of the epithets of Zeus can be found applied to Jupiter, by

interpretatio romana
. Thus, since the hero
Trophonius
(from
Lebadea
in Boeotia) is called Zeus Trophonius,
this can be represented in English (as it would be in Latin) as Jupiter
Trophonius. Similarly, the Greek cult of Zeus
Meilichios
appears in Pompeii as Jupiter
Meilichius. Except in representing actual cults in Italy, this is largely
19th-century usage; modern works distinguish Jupiter from Zeus.

Theology

Sources

Marcus Terentius Varro
and
Verrius Flaccus
^[153]
were the main sources on the theology of Jupiter and archaic Roman religion in
general. Varro was acquainted with the
libri pontificum
(“books of the
Pontiffs
“) and their archaic classifications.^[154]
On these two sources depend other ancient authorities, such as

Ovid,
Servius
,
Aulus Gellius
,
Macrobius
,
patristic texts
,
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
and
Plutarch
.

One of the most important sources which preserve the theology of Jupiter and
other
Roman deities
is
The City of God against the Pagans
by
Augustine of Hippo
. Augustine’s criticism of
traditional Roman religion is based on Varro’s lost work,
Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum
. Although a
work of
Christian apologetics
, The City of God
provides glimpses into Varro’s theological system and authentic Roman
theological lore in general. According to Augustine,^[155]
Varro drew on the pontiff
Mucius Scaevola
‘s tripartite theology:

• The
  mythic theology
  of the poets (useful for
  the
  theatre
  )
• The
  physical theology
  of the philosophers
  (useful for understanding the natural world)
• The civil theology of the priests (useful for the state)^[156]

Jovian theology

Georg Wissowa
stressed Jupiter’s uniqueness as
the only case among Indo-European religions in which the original god preserved
his name, his identity and his prerogatives.^[157]
In this view, Jupiter is the god of heaven and retains his identification with
the sky among the Latin poets (his name is used as a synonym for “sky”.^[158])
In this respect, he differs from his Greek equivalent Zeus (who is considered a
personal god, warden and dispenser of skylight). His name reflects this idea; it
is a derivative of the Indo-European word for “bright, shining sky”. His
residence is found atop the hills of Rome and of mountains in general; as a
result, his cult is present in Rome and throughout Italy at upper elevations.^[159]
Jupiter assumed atmospheric qualities; he is the wielder of lightning and the
master of weather. However, Wissowa acknowledges that Jupiter is not merely a
naturalistic, heavenly, supreme deity; he is in continual communication with man
by means of thunder, lightning and the flight of birds (his
auspices
). Through his vigilant watch he is
also the guardian of public oaths and compacts and the guarantor of good faith
in the State cult.^[160]
The Jovian cult was common to the
Italic people
under the names Iove,
Diove (Latin) and Iuve, Diuve (Oscan, in Umbrian only Iuve,
Iupater in the
Iguvine Tables
).

Wissowa considered Jupiter also a god of war and agriculture, in addition to
his political role as guarantor of good faith (public and private) as
Iuppiter Lapis and Dius Fidius, respectively. His view is grounded in
the sphere of action of the god (who intervenes in battle and influences the
harvest through weather).^[161]

In
Georges Dumézil
‘s view, Jovian theology (and
that of the equivalent gods in other Indo-European religions) is an evolution
from a naturalistic, supreme, celestial god identified with heaven to a
sovereign god, a wielder of lightning bolts, master and protector of the
community (in other words, of a change from a naturalistic approach to the world
of the divine to a socio-political approach).^[162]

In
Vedic religion
,
Dyaus Pitar
remained confined to his distant,
removed, passive role and the place of sovereign god was occupied by
Varuna
and
Mitra
. In Greek and Roman religion, instead,
the homonymous gods *Diou- and Δι(digamma)- evolved into
atmospheric deities; by their mastery of thunder and lightning, they expressed
themselves and made their will known to the community. In Rome, Jupiter also
sent signs to the leaders of the state in the form of
auspices
in addition to thunder. The art of
augury
was considered prestigious by ancient
Romans; by sending his signs, Jupiter (the sovereign of heaven) communicates his
advice to his terrestrial colleague: the king (rex) or his successor
magistrates. The encounter between the heavenly and political, legal aspects of
the deity are well represented by the prerogatives, privileges, functions and
taboos proper to his
flamen
(the
flamen Dialis
and his wife, the
flaminica Dialis).

Dumézil maintains that Jupiter is not himself a god of war and agriculture,
although his actions and interest may extend to these spheres of human endeavour.
His view is based on the methodological assumption that the chief criterion for
studying a god’s nature is not to consider his field of action, but the quality,
method and features of his action. Consequently, the analysis of the type of
action performed by Jupiter in the domains in which he operates indicates that
Jupiter is a sovereign god who may act in the field of politics (as well as
agriculture and war) in his capacity as such, i.e. in a way and with the
features proper to a king. Sovereignty is expressed through the two aspects of
absolute, magic power (epitomised and represented by the Vedic god
Varuna
) and lawful right (by the Vedic god
Mitra
).^[164]
However, sovereignty permits action in every field; otherwise, it would lose its
essential quality. As a further proof, Dumézil cites the story of Tullus
Hostilius (the most belligerent of the Roman kings), who was killed by Juppiter
with a lightning bolt (indicating that he did not enjoy the god’s favour).
Varro’s definition of Jupiter as the god who has under his jurisdiction the full
expression of every being (penes Iovem sunt summa) reflects the sovereign
nature of the god, as opposed to the jurisdiction of Janus (god of passages and
change) on their beginning (penes Ianum sunt prima).^[165]

Relation to other gods

Archaic Triad

The Archaic Triad is a theological structure (or system) consisting of the
gods Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus. It was first described by Wissowa,^[166]
and the concept was developed further by Dumézil. The three-function hypothesis
of
Indo-European society
advanced by Dumézil holds
that in prehistory, society was divided into three classes (priests, warriors
and craftsmen) which had as their religious counterparts the divine figures of
the sovereign god, the warrior god and the civil god. The sovereign function
(embodied by Jupiter) entailed omnipotence; thence, a domain extended over every
aspect of nature and life. The colour relating to the sovereign function is
white.

The three functions are interrelated with one another, overlapping to some
extent; the sovereign function, although essentially religious in nature, is
involved in many ways in areas pertaining to the other two. Therefore, Jupiter
is the “magic player” in the founding of the Roman state and the fields of war,
agricultural plenty, human fertility and welth.^[167]

Capitoline Triad

Capitoline Triad

The Capitoline Triad was introduced to Rome by the Tarquins. Dumézil^[168]
thinks it might have been an Etruscan (or local) creation based on Vitruvius’
treatise on architecture, in which the three deities are associated as the most
important. It is possible that the Etruscans paid particular attention to
Menrva
(Minerva) as a goddess of destiny, in
addition to the royal couple Uni (Juno) and Tinia (Jupiter).^[169]
In Rome, Minerva later assumed a military aspect under the influence of
Athena Pallas
(Polias). Dumézil argues that
with the advent of the Republic, Jupiter became the only king of Rome, no longer
merely the first of the great gods.

Jupiter and Minerva

Apart from being protectress of the arts and craft as Minerva Capta, who was
brought from Falerii, Minerva’s association to Jupiter and relevance to Roman
state religion is mainly linked to the
Palladium
, a wooden statue of Athena that could
move the eyes and wave the spear. It was stored in the penus interior,
inner penus of the aedes Vestae, temple of Vesta and considered the most
important among the
pignora imperii
, pawns of dominion, empire.^[170]
In Roman traditional lore it was brought from Troy by Aeneas. Scholars though
think it was last taken to Rome in the third or second century BC.^[171]

Juno and Fortuna

The divine couple received from Greece its matrimonial implications, thence
bestowing on Juno the role of tutelary goddess of marriage (Iuno Pronuba).

The couple itself though cannot be reduced to a Greek apport. The association
of Juno and Jupiter is of the most ancient Latin theology.^[172]
Praeneste
offers a glimpse into original Latin
mythology: the local goddess
Fortuna
is represented as milking two infants,
one male and one female, namely Jove (Jupiter) and Juno.^[173]
It seems fairly safe to assume that from the earliest times they were identified
by their own proper names and since they got them they were never changed
through the course of history: they were called Jupiter and Juno. These gods
were the most ancient deities of every Latin town. Praeneste preserved divine
filiation and infancy as the sovereign god and his paredra Juno have a mother
who is the primordial goddess Fortuna Primigenia.^[174]
Many terracotta statuettes have been discovered which represent a woman with a
child: one of them represents exactly the scene described by Cicero of a woman
with two children of different sex who touch her breast. Two of the votive
inscriptions to Fortuna associate her and Jupiter: ” Fortunae Iovi puero…” and
“Fortunae Iovis puero…”^[175]

In 1882 though R. Mowat published an inscription in which Fortuna is called
daughter of Jupiter, raising new questions and opening new perspectives
in the theology of Latin gods.^[176]
Dumezil has elaborated an interpretative theory according to which this
aporia would be an intrinsic, fundamental feature of Indoeuropean deities of
the primordial and sovereign level, as it finds a parallel in Vedic religion.^[177]
The contradiction would put Fortuna both at the origin of time and into its
ensuing diachronic process: it is the comparison offered by Vedic deity
Aditi
, the Not-Bound or Enemy of
Bondage, that shows that there is no question of choosing one of the two
apparent options: as the mother of the
Aditya
she has the same type of relationship
with one of his sons,
Dakṣa
, the minor sovereign. who represents the
Creative Energy, being at the same time his mother and daughter, as is
true for the whole group of sovereign gods to which she belongs.^[178]
Moreover Aditi is thus one of the heirs (along with
Savitr
) of the opening god of the Indoiranians,
as she is represented with her head on her two sides, with the two faces looking
opposite directions.^[179]
The mother of the sovereign gods has thence two solidal but distinct modalities
of duplicity, i.e. of having two foreheads and a double position in the
genealogy. Angelo Brelich has interpreted this theology as the basic opposition
between the primordial absence of order (chaos) and the organisation of the
cosmos.^[180]

Janus

The relation of Jupiter to Janus is problematic. Varro defines Jupiter as the
god who has potestas (power) over the forces by which anything happens in
the world. Janus, however, has the privilege of being invoked first in rites,
since in his power are the beginnings of things (prima), the appearance
of Jupiter included.^[181]

Saturn

The
Latins
considered Saturn the predecessor of
Jupiter. Saturn reigned in
Latium
during a mythical
Golden Age
reenacted every year at the festival
of Saturnalia
. Saturn also retained primacy in
matters of agriculture and money. Unlike the Greek tradition of
Cronus
and Zeus, the usurpation of Saturn as
king of the gods by Jupiter was not viewed by the Latins as violent or hostile;
Saturn continued to be revered in his temple at the foot of the Capitol Hill,
which maintained the alternative name Saturnius into the time of Varro.^[182]
A. Pasqualini has argued that Saturn was related to Iuppiter Latiaris,
the old Jupiter of the Latins, as the original figure of this Jupiter was
superseded on the Alban Mount, whereas it preserved its gruesome character in
the ceremony held at the sanctuary of the Latiar Hill in Rome which involved a
human sacrifice and the aspersion of the statue of the god with the blood of the
victim.^[183]

Fides

The abstract
personification
Fides (“Faith, Trust”) was one
of the oldest gods associated with Jupiter. As guarantor of public faith, Fides
had her temple on the Capitol (near that of Capitoline Jupiter).^[184]

Dius Fidius

Dius Fidius is considered a
theonym
for Jupiter,^[185]
and sometimes a separate entity also known in Rome as
Semo Sancus
Dius Fidius. Wissowa argued that
while Jupiter is the god of the Fides Publica Populi Romani as
Iuppiter Lapis (by whom important oaths are sworn), Dius Fidius is a deity
established for everyday use and was charged with the protection of good faith
in private affairs. Dius Fidius would thus correspond to Zeus Pistios.^[186]
The association with Jupiter may be a matter of divine relation; some scholars
see him as a form of Hercules.^[187]
Both Jupiter and Dius Fidius were wardens of oaths and wielders of lightning
bolts; both required an opening in the roof of their temples.^[188]

The functionality of Sancus occurs consistently within the sphere of fides,
oaths and respect for contracts and of the divine-sanction guarantee against
their breach. Wissowa suggested that Semo Sancus is the
genius
of Jupiter,^[189]
but the concept of a deity’s genius is a development of the Imperial
period.^[190]

Some aspects of the oath-ritual for Dius Fidius (such as proceedings under
the open sky or in the compluvium of private residences), and the fact
the temple of Sancus had no roof, suggest that the oath sworn by Dius Fidius
predated that for Iuppiter Lapis or Iuppiter Feretrius.^[191]

Genius

Augustine quotes Varro who explains the genius as “the god who is in
charge and has the power to generate everything” and “the rational spirit of all
(therefore, everyone has their own)”. Augustine concludes that Jupiter should be
considered the genius of the universe.^[192]

G. Wissowa advanced the hypothesis that Semo
Sancus
is the genius of Jupiter.^[189]
W. W. Fowler has cautioned that this interpretation looks to be an anachronism
and it would only be acceptable to say that Sancus is a Genius Iovius, as
it appears from the Iguvine Tables.^[193]

Censorinus cites
Granius Flaccus
as saying that “the Genius was
the same entity as the Lar” in his lost work De Indigitamentis.^[194][195]
Dumézil opines that the attribution of a Genius to the gods should be earlier
than its first attestation of 58 BC, in an inscription which mentions the
Iovis Genius.^[196]

A connection between Genius and Jupiter would be apparent in
Plautus
‘ comedy
Amphitryon
, in which Jupiter takes up the
looks of Alcmena
‘s husband in order to seduce her: J.
Hubeaux sees there a reflection of the story that
Scipio Africanus
‘ mother conceived him with a
snake that was in fact Jupiter transformed.^[197]
Scipio himself claimed that only he would rise to the mansion of the gods
through the widest gate.^[198]

It is noteworthy that among the Etruscan Penates there is a Genius
Iovialis who comes after Fortuna and Ceres and before Pales .^[199]
Genius Iovialis is one of the earthly Penates and not one of the Penates
of Jupiter though, as these were located in region I of Martianus Capella’ s
division of Heaven, while Genius appear in regions V and VI along with Ceres,
Favor (possibly a Roman approximation to an Etruscan male manifestation of
Fortuna) and Pales.^[200]

Summanus

The god of nighttime lightning has been interpreted as an aspect of Jupiter,
either a chthonic
manifestation of the god or a separate
god of the underworld. A statue of Summanus stood on the roof of the Temple of
Capitoline Jupiter, and Iuppiter Summanus is one of the epithets of
Jupiter.^[201]
Dumézil sees the opposition Dius Fidius versus Summanus as complementary,
interpreting it as typical to the inherent ambiguity of the sovereign god
exemplified by that of Mitra and Varuna in Vedic religion.^[202]
The complementarity of the epithets is shown in inscriptions found on puteals
or bidentals reciting either fulgur Dium conditum^[203]
or fulgur Summanum conditum in places struck by daytime versus nighttime
lightningbolts respectively.^[204]
This is also consistent with the etymology of Summanus, deriving from
sub and mane (the time before morning).^[205]

Liber

Iuppiter was associated with
Liber
through his epithet of Liber
(association not yet been fully explained by scholars, due to the scarcity of
early documentation). In the past, it was maintained that Liber was only a
progressively-detached
hypostasis
of Jupiter; consequently, the
vintage festivals were to be attributed only to Iuppiter Liber.^[206]
Such a hypothesis was rejected as groundless by Wissowa, although he was a
supporter of Liber’s Jovian origin.^[207]
Olivier de Cazanove^[208]
contends that it is difficult to admit that Liber (who is present in the oldest
calendars—those of Numa—in the Liberalia and in the month of Liber
at Lavinium)^[209]
was derived from another deity. Such a derivation would find support only in
epigraphic documents, primarily from the Osco-Sabellic area.^[210]
Wissowa sets the position of Iuppiter Liber within the framework of an
agrarian Jupiter. The god also had a temple in this name on the Aventine in
Rome, which was restored by Augustus and dedicated on September 1. Here, the god
was sometimes named Liber^[211]
and sometimes Libertas.^[212]
Wissowa opines that the relationship existed in the concept of creative
abundance through which the supposedly-separate Liber might have been connected^[213]
to the Greek god
Dionysos
, although both deities might not have
been originally related to
viticulture
.

Other scholars assert that there was no Liber (other than a god of wine)
within historical memory.^[214]
O. de Cazanove^[215]
argues that the domain of the sovereign god Jupiter was that of sacred,
sacrificial wine (vinum inferium),^[216]
while that of Liber and Libera was confined to secular wine (vinum spurcum);^[217]
these two types were obtained through differing fermentation processes. The
offer of wine to Liber was made possible by naming the mustum (grape
juice) stored in amphoras
sacrima.^[218]
Sacred wine was obtained by the natural fermentation of juice of grapes free
from flaws of any type, religious (e. g. those struck by lightning, brought into
contact with corpses or wounded people or coming from an unfertilised grapeyard)
or secular (by “cutting” it with old wine). Secular (or “profane”) wine was
obtained through several types of manipulation (e.g. by adding honey, or
mulsum; using raisins, or passum; by boiling, or defrutum).
However, the sacrima used for the offering to the two gods for the
preservation of grapeyards, vessels and wine^[219]
was obtained only by pouring the juice into amphors after pressing.^[220]
The mustum was considered spurcum (dirty), and thus unusable in
sacrifices.^[221]
The amphor (itself not an item of sacrifice) permitted presentation of its
content on a table or could be added to a sacrifice; this happened at the
auspicatio vindamiae for the first grape^[222]
and for ears of corn of the praemetium on a dish (lanx) at the
temple of
Ceres
.^[223]

Dumézil, on the other hand, sees the relationship between Jupiter and Liber
as grounded in the social and political relevance of the two gods (who were both
considered patrons of freedom).^[224]
The Liberalia of March were, since earliest times, the occasion for the
ceremony of the donning of the toga virilis or libera (which
marked the passage into adult citizenship by young people). Augustine relates
that these festivals had a particularly obscene character: a phallus was
taken to the fields on a cart, and then back in triumph to town. In
Lavinium
they lasted a month, during which the
population enjoyed bawdy jokes. The most honest matronae were supposed to
publicly crown the phallus with flowers, to ensure a good harvest and
repeal the fascinatio (evil eye).^[209]
In Rome representations of the sex organs were placed in the temple of the
couple Liber Libera, who presided over the male and female components of
generation and the “liberation” of the semen.^[225]
This complex of rites and beliefs shows that the divine couple’s jurisdiction
extended over fertility in general, not only that of grapes. The etymology of
Liber (archaic form Loifer, Loifir) was explained by Émile Benveniste
as formed on the IE theme *leudh- plus the suffix -es-; its original meaning is
“the one of germination, he who ensures the sprouting of crops”.^[226]

The relationship of Jupiter with freedom was a common belief among the Roman
people, as demonstrated by the dedication of the Mons Sacer to the god
after the first secession of the plebs. Later inscriptions also show the
unabated popular belief in Jupiter as bestower of freedom in the imperial era.^[227]

Veiove

Scholars are puzzled by Ve(d)iove (or
Veiovis
, or Vedius) and unwilling to discuss
his identity, claiming our knowledge of this god is insufficient.^[228]
Most, however, agree that Veiove is a sort of anti-Iove or an underworld
Jupiter.^[229]
This conclusion is based on information provided by Gellius,^[230]
who states his name originates by adding the prefix ve (here denoting
“deprivation” or “negation”) to Iove (whose name Gellius posits as rooted
in the verb iuvo “I benefit”). D. Sabbatucci has stressed the feature of
bearer of instability and antithesis to cosmic order of this god, who threatens
the kingly power of Jupiter as Stator and Centumpeda and whose
presence occurs side by side with Janus’ on January 1, but also his function of
helper to the growth of the young Jupiter^[231]
Preller suggests that Veiovis may be the sinister double of Jupiter.^[232]

In fact, the god (under the name Vetis) is placed in the last case
(number 16) of the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver—before Cilens (Nocturnus),
who ends (or begins in the Etruscan vision) the disposition of the gods. In
Martianus Capella
‘s division of heaven, he is
found in region XV with the dii publici; as such, he numbers among the
infernal (or antipodal) gods. The location of his two temples in Rome—near those
of Jupiter (one on the Capitoline Hill, in the low between the arx and
the Capitolium, between the two groves where the
asylum
founded by Romulus stood, the other on
the Tiber Island near that of Iuppiter Iurarius, later also known as
temple of Aesculapius)^[233]—may
be significant in this respect, along with the fact that he is considered the
father^[234]
of Apollo, perhaps because he was depicted carrying arrows. He is also
considered to be the unbearded Jupiter.^[235]
The dates of his festivals support the same conclusion: they fall on January 1,^[236]
March 7^[237]
and May 21,^[238]
the first date being the recurrence of the
Agonalia
, dedicated to Janus and celebrated by
the king with the sacrifice of a ram. The nature of the sacrifice is debated;
Gellius states capra, a female goat, although some scholars posit a ram.
This sacrifice occurred rito humano, which may mean “with the rite
appropriate for human sacrifice”.^[239]
Gellius concludes by stating that this god is one of those who receive
sacrifices to refrain from causing harm.

The arrow is an ambivalent symbol; it was used in the ritual of the
devotio
(the general who vowed had to stand on
an arrow).^[240]
It is because of the arrow that Gellius considers Veiove as a god who must
receive worship to obtain his abstention from doing harm, along with
Robigus
and
Averruncus
.^[241]

Maurice Besnier has remarked that a temple to Iuppiter was dedicated
by praetor Lucius Furius Purpureo before the
battle of Cremona
against the
Celtic Cenomani of Cisalpine Gaul
.^[242]
An inscription found at
Brescia
in 1888 shows that Iuppiter Iurarius
was worshipped there^[243]
and one found on the south tip of Tiber Island in 1854 that there was a cult to
the god on the spot too.^[244]
Besnier speculates that Lucius Furius had evoked the chief god of the enemy and
built a temple to him in Rome outside the pomerium. On January 1, the
Fasti Praenestini record the festivals of Aesculapius and Vediove on the
Island, while in the Fasti Ovid speaks of Jupiter and his
grandson.^[245]
Livy records that in 192 BC, duumvir Q. Marcus Ralla dedicated to Jupiter
on the Capitol the two temples promised by L. Furius Purpureo, one of which was
that promised during the war against the Gauls.^[246]
Besnier would accept a correction to Livy’s passage (proposed by Jordan) to read
aedes Veiovi instead of aedes duae Iovi. Such a correction
concerns the temples dedicated on the Capitol: it does not address the question
of the dedication of the temple on the Island, which is puzzling, since the
place is attested epigraphically as dedicated to the cult of Iuppiter
Iurarius and Vediove in the Fasti Praenestini and to Jupiter
according to Ovid. The two gods may have been seen as equivalent: Iuppiter
Iurarius is an awesome and vengeful god, parallel to the Greek Zeus
Orkios, the avenger of perjury.^[247]

A. Pasqualini has argued that Veiovis seems related to Iuppiter Latiaris,
as the original figure of this Jupiter would have been superseded on the Alban
Mount, whereas it preserved its gruesome character in the ceremony held on the
sanctuary of the Latiar Hill, the southernmost hilltop of the
Quirinal
in Rome, which involved a human
sacrifice. The
gens Iulia
had gentilician cults at
Bovillae
where a dedicatory inscription to
Vediove has been found in 1826 on an ara.^[248]
According to Pasqualini it was a deity similar to Vediove, wielder of
lightningbolts and chthonic, who was connected to the cult of the founders who
first inhabited the Alban Mount and built the sanctuary. Such a cult once
superseded on the Mount would have been taken up and preserved by the Iulii,
private citizens bound to the sacra Albana by their Alban origin.^[249]

Victoria

Coin with
laureate
head of Jupiter (obverse)
and (reverse) Victory, standing (“ROMA” below in
relief
)

Victoria was connected to Iuppiter Victor in his role as bestower of
military victory. Jupiter, as a sovereign god, was considered as having the
power to conquer anyone and anything in a supernatural way; his contribution to
military victory was different from that of
Mars
(god of military valour). Victoria appears
first on the reverse of coins representing Venus (driving the quadriga of
Jupiter, with her head crowned and with a palm in her hand) during the first
Punic War. Sometimes, she is represented walking and carrying a trophy.^[250]

A temple was dedicated to the goddess afterwards on the Palatine, testifying
to her high station in the Roman mind. When
Hieron of Syracuse
presented a golden statuette
of the goddess to Rome, the Senate had it placed in the temple of Capitoline
Jupiter among the greatest (and most sacred) deities.^[251]
Although Victoria played a significant role in the religious ideology of the
late Republic and the Empire, she is undocumented in earlier times. A function
similar to hers may have been played by the little-known
Vica Pota
.

Terminus

Juventas and Terminus were the gods who, according to legend,^[252]
refused to leave their sites on the Capitol when the construction of the temple
of Jupiter was undertaken. Therefore, they had to be reserved a sacellum
within the new temple. Their stubbornness was considered a good omen; it would
guarantee youth, stability and safety to Rome on its site.^[253]
This legend is generally thought by scholars to indicate their strict connection
with Jupiter. An inscription found near
Ravenna
reads Iuppiter Ter.,^[254]
indicating that Terminus is an aspect of Jupiter.

Terminus is the god of boundaries (public and private), as he is portrayed in
literature. The religious value of the
boundary marker
is documented by Plutarch,^[255]
who ascribes to king Numa the construction of temples to Fides and Terminus and
the delimitation of Roman territory. Ovid gives a vivid description of the rural
rite at a boundary of fields of neighbouring peasants on February 23 (the day of
the
Terminalia
.^[256]
On that day, Roman pontiffs and magistrates held a ceremony at the sixth mile of
the Via Laurentina
(ancient border of the Roman
ager, which maintained a religious value). This festival, however, marked
the end of the year and was linked to time more directly than to space (as
attested by Augustine’s
apologia
on the role of Janus with respect to
endings).^[257]
Dario Sabbatucci has emphasised the temporal affiliation of Terminus, a reminder
of which is found in the rite of the regifugium.^[258]
G. Dumézil, on the other hand, views the function of this god as associated with
the legalistic aspect of the sovereign function of Jupiter. Terminus would be
the counterpart of the minor Vedic god Bagha, who oversees the just and fair
division of goods among citizens.^[259]

Iuventas

Along with Terminus, Iuventas (also known as Iuventus
and Iuunta) represents an aspect of Jupiter (as the legend of her refusal
to leave the Capitol Hill demonstrates. Her name has the same root as
Juno
(from Iuu-, “young, youngster”);
the ceremonial litter bearing the sacred goose of Juno Moneta stopped before her
sacellum on the festival of the goddess. Later, she was identified with
the Greek
Hebe
. The fact that Jupiter is related to the
concept of youth is shown by his epithets Puer, Iuuentus and
Ioviste (interpreted as “the youngest” by some scholars).^[260]
Dumézil noted the presence of the two minor sovereign deities Bagha and
Aryaman
beside the Vedic sovereign gods Varuna
and Mitra (though more closely associated with Mitra); the couple would be
reflected in Rome by Terminus and Iuventas. Aryaman is the god of
young soldiers. The function of Iuventas is to protect the iuvenes
(the novi togati of the year, who are required to offer a sacrifice to
Jupiter on the Capitol)^[261]
and the Roman soldiers (a function later attributed to Juno). King Servius
Tullius, in reforming the Roman social organisation, required that every
adolescent offer a coin to the goddess of youth upon entering adulthood.^[262]

In Dumézil’s analysis, the function of Iuventas (the personification
of youth), was to control the entrance of young men into society and protect
them until they reach the age of iuvenes or iuniores (i.e. of
serving the state as soldiers).^[263]
A temple to Iuventas was promised in 207 BC by consul
Marcus Livius Salinator
and dedicated in 191
BC.^[264]

Penates

The Romans considered the Penates as the gods to whom they owed their own
existence.^[265]
As noted by Wissowa Penates is an adjective, meaning “those of or from
the penus” the innermost part, most hidden recess;^[266]
Dumézil though refuses Wissowa’s interpretation of penus as the storeroom
in a household. As a nation they honoured the Penates publici: Dionysius
calls them Trojan gods as they were absorbed into the Trojan legend. They
had a temple in Rome at the foot of the Velia, near the Palatine Hill, in which
they were represented as a couple of male youth. They were honoured every year
by the new consuls before entering office at
Lavinium
,^[267]
because the Romans believed the Penates of that town were identical to their
own.^[268]

The concept of di Penates is more defined in Etruria:
Arnobius
(citing a Caesius) states that the
Etruscan Penates were named Fortuna, Ceres, Genius Iovialis and Pales; according
to
Nigidius Figulus
, they included those of
Jupiter, of Neptune, of the infernal gods and of mortal men.^[269]
This complex concept is reflected in Martianus Capella’s division of heaven,
found in Book I of his De Nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae, which places
the Di Consentes Penates in region I with the Favores Opertanei;
Ceres and Genius in region V; Pales in region VI; Favor
and Genius (again) in region VII; Secundanus Pales, Fortuna
and Favor Pastor in region XI. The disposition of these divine entities
and their repetition in different locations may be due to the fact that
Penates belonging to different categories (heavenly in region I, earthly in
region V) are intended. Favor(es) may be the
Etruscan
masculine equivalent of Fortuna.^[270]

In

Roman mythology

,

Jupiter
or

Jove was the

king of the gods

, and the god of

sky and

thunder
. He

is

the equivalent of Zeus

in the

Greek pantheon

. He was called Iuppiter (or Diespiter)

Optimus Maximus (“Father God the Best and Greatest”). As the patron deity of

ancient

Rome
, he ruled over laws and social order. He was the chief god of the

Capitoline Triad

, with sister/wife

Juno

. Jupiter is also the father of the god

Mars

with Juno. Therefore, Jupiter is the grandfather of

Romulus and Remus

, the legendary founders of Rome. Jupiter was venerated in

ancient Roman religion

, and is still venerated in

Roman Neopaganism

. He is a son of

Saturn

, along with brothers

Neptune

and

Pluto

.

He is also the brother/husband of

Ceres

(daughter of Saturn and mother of

Proserpina
),

brother of Veritas

(daughter of Saturn), and father of

Mercury

.

Flavius Julius Crispus, also known as Flavius

Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus was a

Caesar

of the

Roman

Empire
. He was the first-born son of

Constantine I

and

Minervina
.

Birth

Crispus’ year and place of birth are uncertain. He is

considered likely to have been born between 299 and 305, somewhere in the

Eastern Roman Empire

. His mother

Minervina

was either a

concubine

or a first wife to Constantine. Nothing else is known about

Minervina. His father served as a hostage in the court of

Eastern Roman Emperor

Diocletian

in Nicomedia
.

Thus securing the loyalty of Caesar of the

Western Roman Empire

Constantius Chlorus

, father of Constantine and grandfather of Crispus.

In 307, Constantine allied to the Italian

Augusti

, and this alliance was sealed with the marriage of Constantine to

Fausta
,

daughter of Maximian and sister of Maxentius.

The marriage of Constantine to Fausta has caused modern

historians to question the status of his relation to

Minervina

and Crispus. If Minervina was his legitimate wife, Constantine would have needed

to secure a divorce

before marrying Fausta. This would have required an official written

order signed by Constantine himself, but no such order is mentioned by

contemporary sources.

This silence in the sources has led many historians to

conclude that the relationship between Constantine and Minervina was informal

and to assume her to have been an unofficial lover. However, Minervina may have

already been dead by 307. A widowed Constantine would need no divorce order.

Neither the true nature of the relationship between

Constantine and Minervina nor the reason Crispus came under the protection of

his father will ever probably be known. The offspring of an illegitimate affair

could have caused dynastical problems and would likely be dismissed, but Crispus

was raised by his father in

Gaul. This can be

seen as evidence of a loving and public relationship between Constantine and

Minervina which gave him a reason to protect her son.

The story of Minervina is quite similar to that of

Constantine’s mother

Helena

. Constantine’s father later had to divorce her for political reasons,

specifically, to marry

Flavia Maximiana Theodora

, the daughter of

Maximian
,

in order to secure his alliance with his new father-in-law. Constantine in turn

may have had to put aside Minervina in order to secure an alliance with the same

man. Constantius

did not however dismiss

Constantine

as his son, and perhaps Constantine chose to follow the example

of his father.

Education

Whatever the reason, Constantine kept Crispus at his side.

Surviving sources are unanimous in declaring him a loving, trusting and

protective father to his first son. Constantine even entrusted his education to

Lactantius
,

among the most important

Christian

teachers
of

that time, who probably started teaching Crispus before 317.

Career

By 317, there were two remaining Augusti in control of the

Roman Empire. Constantine reigned as an

Western Roman Emperor

and his brother-in-law

Licinius
as

an

Eastern Roman Emperor

.

On

1 March

317, the two co-reigning Augusti jointly proclaimed three new Caesars. Crispus

alongside his younger half-brother

Constantine II

and his first cousin

Licinius

iunior
. Constantine II was the older son of Fausta but was probably about a

month old at the time of his proclamation. Thus only Crispus assumed actual

duties.

Constantine apparently believed in the abilities of his son

and appointed Crispus as Commander of Gaul. The new Caesar soon held residence

in Augusta Treverorum (modern

Trier
), regional

capital of Germania

.

In January 322, Crispus was married to a young woman called

Helena. Helena bore him a son in October, 322. There is no surviving account of

the name or later fate of the son.

Eusebius of Caesarea

reported that Constantine was proud of his son and very

pleased to become a grandfather.

Crispus was leader in victorious military operations against

the Franks
and

the Alamanni

in 318, 320 and 323. Thus he secured the continued Roman presence in the areas

of Gaul and Germania. Crispus joined his father in visiting Rome during 322, and

received the warmest and most enthusiastic welcome by the crowds. The soldiers

adored him thanks to his strategic abilities and the victories to which he had

led the Roman legions

.

Crispus spent the following years assisting Constantine in

the war against by then hostile Licinius. In 324, Constantine appointed Crispus

as the commander of his fleet which left the port of

Piraeus
to

confront the rival fleet of Licinius. The subsequent

Battle of Hellespont

was fought in at the straits of

Bosporus

. The 200 ships under the command of Crispus managed to utterly beat

the enemy forces which were at least double in number. Thus Crispus achieved his

most important and difficult victory which further established his reputation as

a brilliant soldier and general.

Following his navy activities, Crispus was assigned part of

the legions loyal to his father. The other part was commanded by Constantine

himself. Crispus led the legions assigned to him in another victorious

battle outside Chrysopolis

against the armies of Licinius.

The two victories were his contribution to the final triumph

of his father over Licinius. Constantine was the only Augustus left in the

Empire. He honoured his son for his support and success by depicting his face in

imperial coins, statues, mosaics, cameos, etc. Eusebius of Caesaria wrote for

Crispus that he is “an

Imperator

most dear to God
and

in all regards comparable to his father.”

Crispus was the most likely choice for an heir to the throne

at the time. His siblings

Constantine II

,

Constantius II

and

Constans

were far too young and inexperienced.

Execution

In 326, Crispus life came to a sudden end: on his father’s

orders, he was tried by a local court at

Pola,

Istria
,

condemned to death and executed. Soon afterwards, Constantine had his own wife,

Fausta
, killed;

she was suffocated in an over-heated bath.^[1]

The reason for this act remains unclear and historians have

long debated Constantine’s motivation:

• Zosimus

  in the 5th century and

  Joannes Zonaras

  in the 12th century both reported that Fausta,

  stepmother of Crispus, was extremely jealous of him. She was reportedly

  afraid that Constantine would put aside the sons she bore him. So, in order

  to get rid of Crispus, Fausta set him up. She reportedly told the young

  Caesar that she was in love with him and suggested an illegitimate love

  affair. Crispus denied the immoral wishes of Fausta and left the palace in a

  state of a shock. Then Fausta said to Constantine that Crispus had no

  respect for his father, since the Caesar was in love with his father’s own

  wife. She reported to Constantine that she dismissed him after his attempt

  to rape her. Constantine believed her and, true to his strong personality

  and short temper, executed his beloved son. A few months later, Constantine

  reportedly found out the whole truth and then killed Fausta.

This version of events has become the most widely accepted,

since all other reports are even less satisfactory.

• That Fausta and Crispus could have plotted treason

  against Constantine is rejected by most historians. as they would have

  nothing to gain considering their positions as favourites of Constantine. In

  any case, such a case would not have been tried by a local court as Crispus’

  case clearly was.

• Another view suggests that Constantine killed Crispus

  because as an supposedly illegitimate son, he would cause a crisis in the

  order of succession to the throne. However, Constantine had kept him at his

  side for twenty years without any such decision. Constantine also had the

  authority to appoint his younger, legitimate sons as his heirs.

• Some reports claimed that Constantine was envious of the

  success of his son and afraid of him. This seems improbable, given that

  Constantine had twenty years of experience as emperor while Crispus was

  still a young Caesar. Similarly, there seems to be no evidence that Crispus

  had any ambitions to harm or displace his father.

So while the story of Zosimus and Zonaras seems the most

believable one, there are also problems relating to their version of events:

• Constantine’s reaction suggests that he suspected Crispus

  of a crime so terrible that death was not enough. Crispus also suffered

  damnatio memoriae

  , meaning his name was never mentioned again and was

  deleted from all official documents and monuments. Crispus, his wife Helena

  and their son were never to be mentioned again in historical records. The

  eventual fate of Helena and her son is a mystery.

• Constantine did not restore his son’s innocence and name,

  as he probably would have on learning of his son’s innocence. Perhaps

  Constantine’s pride, or shame at having executed his son, prevented him from

  publicly admitting having made a mistake.

It is beyond doubt that there was a connection between the

deaths of Crispus and Fausta. Such agreement among different sources connecting

two deaths is extremely rare in itself. A number of modern historians have

suggested that Crispus and Fausta really did have an illegitimate affair. When

Constantine found out, his reaction was to have both of them killed. What

delayed the death of Fausta may have been a

pregnancy
.

Since the years of birth for the two known daughters of Constantine and Fausta

remain unknown, one of their births may have delayed their mother’s execution.

The story of Zosimus and Zonaras listed above is suspiciously

similar to both the legend of

Hippolytus

of Athens

(casting Crispus in the role of the youth, Constantine in the role of

Theseus
and

Fausta in the role of

Phaedra

) as well as the Biblical account of

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife

.