Concordia (mythology)
Encyclopedia
Religion in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...
, Concord was the goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. Her Greek version is Harmonia, and the Harmonians and some Discordians
Discordianism
Discordianism is a religion based on the worship of Eris , the Greco-Roman goddess of strife. It was founded circa 1958–1959 after the publication of its holy book the Principia Discordia, written by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst after a series of shared hallucinations at a...
equate her with Aneris. Her opposite is Discordia (or the Greek Eris
Eris (mythology)
Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord, her name being translated into Latin as Discordia. Her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo, whose Roman counterpart is Bellona...
).
The cult of Concordia Augusta
Augusta (honorific)
Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...
("Majestic Harmony") was of special importance to the imperial household. Dedicatory inscriptions to her, on behalf of emperors and members of the imperial family, were common.
In art
In art, Concordia was depicted sitting, wearing a long cloak and holding onto a pateraPatera
A patera was a broad, shallow dish used for drinking, primarily in a ritual context such as a libation. These paterae were often used in Rome....
(sacrificial bowl), a cornucopia
Cornucopia
The cornucopia or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form...
(symbol of prosperity), or a caduceus
Caduceus
The caduceus is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings...
(symbol of peace). She was often shown in between two other figures, such as standing between two members of the Royal House shaking hands. She was associated with a pair of female deities, such as Pax
Pax (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Pax [paqs] was recognized as a goddess during the rule of Augustus. On the Campus Martius, she had a temple called the Ara Pacis, and another temple on the Forum Pacis. She was depicted in art with olive branches, a cornucopia and a scepter...
and Salus
Salus
Salus was a minor Roman goddess. She was the personification of well-being of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes erroneously associated with the Greek goddess Hygieia....
--or Securitas
Securitas
In Roman mythology, Securitas was the goddess of security and stability. especially the security of the Roman Empire. . On coinage Secuitas was usually depicted leaning on a column....
and Fortuna
Fortuna
Fortuna can mean:*Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck -Geographical:*19 Fortuna, asteroid*Fortuna, California, town located on the north coast of California*Fortuna, United States Virgin Islands...
. The latter pair of concepts (security and fortune) could also be represented by Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
.
Temples
The oldest Temple of ConcordTemple of Concord
The Temple of Concord in the ancient city of Rome was a temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Concordia at the western end of the Roman Forum. The temple was built in the 4th century BC as a promise towards peace after a long period of civil strife within the city...
, built in 367 BC
367 BC
Year 367 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Cossus, Maluginensis, Macerinus, Capitolinus, Cicurinus and Poplicola...
by Marcus Furius Camillus
Marcus Furius Camillus
Marcus Furius Camillus was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome....
, stood on the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
. Other temples and shrines in Rome dedicated to Concordia were largely geographically related to the main temple, and included (in date order):
- a bronze shrine (aedicula) of Concord erected by the aedileAedileAedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
Gnaeus Flavius in 304 BC304 BCYear 304 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sophus and Severrio...
"in GraecostasisGraecostasisThe Graecostasis was a platform in the Comitium near the Roman forum, located to the west of the Rostra. The name refers to the Greek ambassadors for whom the platform was originally built after the Roman Republic conquered Greece...
" and "in area Volcani" (placing it on the Graecostasis, close to the main temple of Concord). He vowed it in the hope of reconciling the nobility who had been outraged by his publication of the calendar, but the senate would vote no money for its construction and this thus had to be financed out of the fines of condemned usurers. It must have been destroyed when the main temple was enlarged by Opimius in 121 B.C. - one built on the arxArx (Roman)Arx is the Latin word for citadel. In the ancient city of Rome, the Arx, not always capitalized, was located on the northern spur of the Capitoline Hill, and is sometimes specified as the Arx Capitolina. Sentries were posted there to watch for a signal to be displayed on the Janiculum if an enemy...
(probably on the east side, overlooked the main temple of Concord below). It was probably vowed by the praetorPraetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
Lucius Manlius in 218 BC218 BCYear 218 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Longus...
after quelling a mutiny among his troops in Cisalpine GaulCisalpine GaulCisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
, with building work commencing in 217 and dedication occurring on 5 February 216. - a temple to Concordia Nova, marking the end Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
had brought to civil war. It was voted by the senate in 44 B.C. but was possibly never built. - a temple built by LiviaLiviaLivia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
according to Ovid's FastiFasti (poem)The Fasti is a six-book Latin poem by Ovid believed to have been left unfinished when the poet was exiled to Tomis by the emperor Augustus in the year 8...
VI.637‑638 ("te quoque magnifica, Concordia, dedicat aede Livia quam caro praestitit ipsa viro" - the only literary reference to this temple). The description of the Porticus Liviae follows immediately, and it is probable therefore that the temple was close to or within the porticus, but the small rectangular structure marked on the Marble Plan (frg. 10) can hardly have been a temple deserving of the epithet "magnifica" (HJ 316).
In Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, the high priestess Eumachia
Eumachia
Eumachia was the public priestess of Venus in Pompeii during the middle of the 1st century AD as well as the matron of the Concordia Augustus. The Concordia Augustus was an imperial cult initiated by Livia, widow of Augustus, dedicated to the Divus Augustus, the deified emperor Augustus.- Family...
dedicated a building to Concordia Augusta.