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Licinius II
‘Junior’ – Roman Caesar: 317-324 A.D.
Son of Emperor Licimius I, enemy of
Constantine I the Great
Bronze AE3 17mm (2.46 grams) Struck at the mint of Nicomedia 318-320 A.D.
Reference: RIC 34
DN VAL LICIN LICINIVS NOB C, laureate bust right
PROVIDENTIAE CAESS, Jupiter standing left holding Victory, palm before,
dot & Δ
to right, SMN in ex.
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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,[1]
which held precedence over other birds in the taking of
auspices
[2]
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.[3]
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
.[4]
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.[5]
The
Etruscan
counterpart was
Tinia
and
Hindu
counterpart is
Indra
.
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]
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
.
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, Licinius II or Licinius the
Younger (approx. 315-326), was the son of Roman emperor
Licinius
.
He nominally served as
Caesar
in the eastern empire from 317 to 324 A.D while his father was
Augustus
. His mother was Licinius’ wife
Flavia Julia Constantia
, who was also the half-sister of
Constantine I
.
After his defeat by Constantine at the
Battle of Chrysopolis
, Licinius the elder was initially spared and placed in
captivity at
Thessalonica
. However, within a year Constantine seems to have regretted his
leniency and the former Emperor was hanged.
The younger Licinius, who was Constantine’s nephew, also fell victim to the
emperor’s suspicions and was killed, probably in the context of the execution of
Crispus
in
326.
Other reports relate that Licinius the younger was forced into slavery in the
imperial textile factories in Africa, where he is noted in 336. However, the
imperial rescript of 336 makes it clear that the “son of Licinianus” referred to
was not Licinius II as it directs that he be reduced to the slave status of his
birth. No son of Constantine’s sister would have been referred to in this
manner.
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