Altar of Victory

The '''Altar of Victory''' was located in the [[Roman Senate]] House (the [[Curia]]) bearing a gold statue of the goddess [[Nike (mythology)|Victory]]. The altar was established by [[Augustus|Octavian]] in 29 BC in honor of the defeat of [[Mark Antony|Antony]] and [[Cleopatra]] at [[Actium]]. The statue depicted a winged woman, holding a palm and descending to present a [[Bay laurel|laurel]] [[wreath]] to the victorious. The statue was captured by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] in 272 BC from [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]]. The altar was removed from the curia by Emperor [[Constantius II]] in 357, restored by [[Julian the Apostate]] and again removed by [[Gratian]] in 382. After Gratian's death, [[Quintus Aurelius Symmachus]], the Prefect of Rome and a Pagan, wrote to the new Emperor [[Valentinian II]] in 384 requesting the restoration of the Altar. His request was met with strong resistance from [[Ambrose]], Bishop of [[Milan]], who held a great deal of power over the young Emperor, in part due to the Imperial Court's residence in Milan. Further petitions to restore the statue were deflected in 391 by an edict of the Christian Emperor [[Theodosius I]] as part of his suppression of the old pagan religions. The altar was restored by usurper [[Eugenius]], during his short lived (392-394) rule (Paulinus of Milan, ''Vita Ambrosii''). After this it is not recorded what happened to it. It is probable that Theodosius removed the altar, but it is not clear whether he hid it or caused its destruction. ==Further reading== * Richard Klein: ''Symmachus. Eine tragische Gestalt des ausgehenden Heidentums''. Darmstadt (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft [Impulse der Forschung, Band 2]) 1971, ISBN 3-534-04928-4. * Richard Klein: ''Der Streit um den Victoriaaltar. Die dritte Relatio des Symmachus und die Briefe 17, 18 und 57 des Mailänder Bischofs Ambrosius''. Darmstadt (WBG [Texte zur Forschung Band 7]) 1972, ISBN 3-534-05169-6. {{coord missing|Italy}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Altar Of Victory}}