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Inancient Roman religion,Roma was a femaledeity whopersonified the city ofRome and, more broadly, the Roman state.[1] She was created and promoted to represent and propagate certain of Rome's ideas about itself, and to justify its rule. She was portrayed on coins, sculptures, architectural designs, and at official games and festivals. Images of Roma had elements in common with other goddesses, such as Rome'sMinerva, her Greek equivalentAthena and various manifestations of GreekTyche, who protected Greek city-states; among these, Roma stands dominant, over piled weapons that represent her conquests, and promising protection to the obedient. Her"Amazonian" iconography shows her "manly virtue" (virtus) as fierce mother of a warrior race, augmenting rather than replacing local goddesses. On some coinage of the Roman Imperial era, she is shown as a serene advisor, partner and protector of ruling emperors. In Rome, the EmperorHadrian built and dedicated a gigantictemple to her asRoma Aeterna ("Eternal Rome"), and toVenus Felix ("Venus the Bringer of Good Fortune"), emphasising the sacred, universal and eternal nature of the empire.[2]
Roma's official cult served to advance the propagandist message of Imperial Rome. InRoman art and coinage, she is usually depicted in military form, with helmet and weapons. In Rome's eastern provinces, she was often shown withmural crown orcornucopia, or both.[3] Her image is rarely found in a commonplace or domestic context.[4] Roma was probably favoured by Rome's high-status Imperial representatives abroad, rather than the Roman populace at large. She was depicted on silver cups, arches, and sculptures, including the base of thecolumn of Antoninus Pius. She survived into the Christian period as a personification of the Roman state. Her depiction seated with a shield and spear later influenced that ofBritannia, personification of Britain.
A helmeted figure on Roman coins of 280–276 and 265–242 BC is sometimes interpreted as Roma but the identification is contestable.[5] Other early Roman coinage shows a warlike "Amazon" type, possibly Roma but in Mellor's opinion, more likely agenius thandea (goddess). During the lateSecond Punic War and thePyrrhic War, Rome issued coins with aPhrygian helmeted head; some are stampedRoma. In later coin issues, Roma wears varieties of theAttic helmet, the standard pattern for Roman army officers. In cases where clear coin legends are lacking, identification has been unresolved. Other female members of Rome's official pantheon were also helmeted, includingBellona, andMinerva, the latter being equivalent to GreekAthena, who is believed by some scholars to be Roma's original.[6]
The earliest, more-or-less unequivocal coin identification of Roma is a silverstater of c. 275 BC issued by Rome's ethnically Greek allies atLocri, on the Italian peninsula. It shows an enthroned woman with shield and other war-gear, clearly labelled as Roma. Another woman, labelled asPistis (Greek equivalent to RomanFides, or "good faith"), stands before Roma with a crown of leaves raised above her head. A Roman denarius of 114/115 shows Roma withRomulus,Remus and theshe-Wolf, the mythological beast who fostered them, and nourished them with her milk; the coin image implies that Roma has protected and nourished Rome since its very foundation. Her "Amazonian" appearance recalls the fierce, barbaric, bare-breasted Amazons who fought in theTrojan War alongside the Trojans, supposed ancestors of the Romans. In the late Republican and early Imperial era, Roman literature presents Roma as one of the Roman people's several "Great Mothers", who includedVenus andCybele.[4]Ennius personified the "Roman fatherland" as Roma: forCicero, she was the "Roman state", but neither of these aredea Roma.[7] Though her Roman ancestry is possible – perhaps merely her name and the ideas it evoked, according to Mellor – she emerges as a Greek deity, whose essential iconography and character were already established in Italy,Magna Graecia and Rome.[4]
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The earliest certain cult todea Roma was established atSmyrna in 195 BC, probably to mark Rome's successful alliance againstAntiochus III.[8] Mellor has proposed her cult as a form of religio-political diplomacy which adjusted traditional Graeco-Eastern divine monarchic honours to Republican mores: divine honours to the divine personification of the Roman state acknowledged the authority of its offices, Republic and city, but did not displace local, Greek cult to individual Roman benefactors.[a]
Democratic city-states such asAthens andRhodes accepted Roma as analogous to their traditional cult personifications of thedemos (ordinary people). In 189 BC,Delphi andLycia instituted festivals in her honour. Roma as "divine sponsor" of athletics and pan-Hellenic culture seems to have dovetailed neatly into a well-established and enthusiastic festival circuit, and temples to her were outnumbered by her civic statues and dedications.[9] In 133 BC,Attalus III bequeathed the people and territories ofPergamon to Rome, as to a trusted ally and protector. The Pergamene bequest became the new Roman province ofAsia, and Roma's cult spread rapidly within it.[10]
In contrast to her putative "Amazonian" Roman original, Greek coinage reduces the ferocity of her image, and depicts her in the "dignified and rather severe style" of a Greek goddess, often wearing amural crown, or sometimes aPhrygian helmet. She is occasionally bareheaded.[2] In this and later periods, she was often associated withZeus (as guardian of oaths) andFides (the personification of mutual trust).[b] Her Eastern cult appealed for Rome's alliance and protection. A panegyric to her survives, in fiveSapphic stanzas attributed to the Greek poetMelinno, who claims that she is the daughter ofAres and celebrates her fierce commitment to her offspring and proteges.[11]
Hail, Roma, daughter of Ares, golden-belted warlike queen, you whose earthly home is Olympus the eternally unshattered. Ancient Fate gave to you alone the unbroken glory of royal command, so that the strength to rule is in your hands. Under your strong-strapped yoke the chests of the earth and the gray sea are harnessed. You safely steer the cities of the people. And though mighty time strikes down all things and reshapes life into many different forms, for you alone the wind that blows to the uttermost ends of power does not shift. For indeed you bear the strongest great warriors of all, just like the bountiful crop yielded by Demeter's fields.[12]
At this time, her cult in Republican Rome and its Easterncoloniae was virtually non-existent.[13] In her "Amazonian" type, her usually single bare breast signifies the same boldness and fiercely maternal, nurturing virtues.[4] InHellenistic religious tradition, gods were served by priests and goddesses by priestesses but Roma's priesthood was male, perhaps in acknowledgment of the virility of Rome's military power. Priesthood of the Roma cult was competed among the highest ranking local elites.[c]
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Theassassination ofJulius Caesar led to hisapotheosis and cult as a Statedivus in Rome and her Easterncolonies. Caesar's adopted heirAugustus ended Rome's civil war and becameprinceps ("leading man") of the Republic, and in 30/29 BC, thekoina of Asia and Bithynia requested permission to honour him as a livingdivus. Republican values held monarchy in contempt, and despised Hellenic honours – Caesar had fatally courted both – but an outright refusal might offend loyal provincials and allies. A cautious formula was drawn up: non-Romans could only offer him cult asdivus jointly withdea Roma.[15] Roma had an Imperial role as consort to the emperor and mother of the entire Roman people. In Greek city-states her iconography would have merged with that of the localTyche; this usually included a mural crown andcornucopia. Roma's seated pose, seen in more than half the known depictions, was also used forAthena, the Hellenic equivalent of RomanMinerva. Like Athena, Roma represents "manly" female virtues, a personification of an empire built on conquest.[4] From here on, Roma increasingly took the attributes of an Imperial or divine consort to the Imperialdivus, but some Greek coin types show her as a seated or enthroned authority, and the Imperialdivus standing upright as if her supplicant or servant.[13][16]
In the western part of the Empire, the foundation of theImperial cult centre atLugdunum introduced Roman models for provincial and municipal assemblies and government, a Romanised lifestyle, and an opportunity for local elites to enjoy the advantages of Roman citizenship through election to Imperial cult priesthood. Itsara (altar) was dedicated to Roma and Augustus.[d] Thereafter, Roma's presence is well attested by inscriptions and coinage throughout the Western provinces. Literary sources have little to say about her, but this may reflect her ubiquity rather than neglect: in the early Augustan era, as in Greece, she may have been honoured above her living Imperial consort.[e][f][g]
Inprovincial Africa, one temple to Roma and Augustus is known atLeptis Magna and another atMactar. On the Italian peninsula, six have been proven –Latium built two, one of them privately funded. During the reign of Tiberius,Ostia built a grand municipal temple to Roma and Augustus.[19]
In the city of Rome itself, the earliest known state cult todea Roma was combined with cult to Venus at theHadrianicTemple of Venus and Roma. This was the largest temple in the city, probably dedicated to inaugurate the reformed festival ofParilia, which was known thereafter as theRomaea after the Eastern festival in Roma's honour. The temple contained the seated, fully draped, Hellenised and highly influential image ofdea Roma – thePalladium in her right hand symbolised Rome's eternity.[20][2] In Rome, this was a novel realisation. Greek interpretations of Roma as a dignified deity had transformed her from a symbol of military dominance to one of Imperial protection andgravitas.
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| O: draped andcuirassed bust withradiate crown | R: Roma seated left onshield, holdingVictory andscepter ROMAE AETERNAE |
| silverantoninianus struck byPhilip the Arab inRome, AD 247; ref.: RIC 44b | |
Following the defeat ofClodius Albinus and his allies bySeptimius Severus at Lugdunum, Roma was removed from the Lugdunum cultara to the temple, where along with the Augusti she was co-opted into a new formulation of Imperial cult. Fishwick interprets the reformed rites at Lugdunum as those offered anypaterfamilias by his slaves.[21] It is not known how long this phase lasted, but it appears to have been a unique development.In a later, even more turbulent era, a common coin type ofProbus shows him in the radiatesolar crown of theDominate: the reverse offers Rome's Temple of Venus and dea Roma. While Probus' image shows his monarchic Imperium, Roma displays his claims to restoration of Roman tradition and Imperial unity.[22]
Lucan's poem,Pharsalia, depicts Roma as a strong woman who represents Roman values. The poem follows the civil war betweenJulius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate, led byPompey the Great. Caesar, having repudiated Roma and her values, ends up with a mistress in Egypt (Cleopatra), having set his own destiny on a path to eventual self-destruction.[23] The poet identifies Roma (theres publica) with the idealised Roman matrona. A man who rejects either one cannot be truly Roman.[23]
Roma is represented as a major character on the silverBoscoreale cup. She stands helmeted, prepared for war, vigilant but at peace. Her foot rests on a "weapon pile"; trophies of past conflict. She converses with a young, standing male usually identified as thegenius of the Roman people, who appears to be waiting to speak with the seated emperor (probablyAugustus).[24] In theGemma Augustea sculpture by Dioscurides, Roma sits besideAugustus in military apparel.[25]
On theArch of Titus (1st-century CE), thearch of Septimius Severus and thearch of Constantine, Roma accompanies the emperor in his chariot, as his escort.
Figures of Roma are rare in a domestic context, throughout the Empire, and in the provinces they may have been associated with Roman residents. InCorinth, a statuette of Roma was found, along with those of other deities, in a domestic shrine in the Panayia Domus, tentatively dated to the 2nd or 3rd century AD. The deities were smaller than life but all were well-crafted and most had traces of gilding: the Roma figure sits on a backless chair, and wears a triple-crested war-helmet and a peplum. She has one breast exposed and wears shin-high openwork boots, based on a "draped Amazon", warlike type. Sterling speculates an official connection between the owners of this Roma figure and the nearby Corinthian Temple 1.[26][27]
In theBook of Revelation, the letter to the church in Pergamum (2:12–17) warns against Christian involvement in eating food sacrificed to idols, potentially a reference to theRoman imperial cult which was popular in Pergamum in the era and worshipped the deified Augustus and the goddess Roma.[28] Later, the book introduces a villainous character called theWhore of Babylon, generally considered a reference to Rome, the dominant power of the era, and potentially an outrightcaricature of Roma:[29]
The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations." And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. (...) The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.
— Revelation 17:4-6; 18 (NRSV)[30]
Additionally, the Whore of Babylon is described as riding a beast with seven heads, and the book says that "the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated," typically understood as theseven hills of Rome.[31][32][33] An image of Dea Roma on asestertius of EmperorVespasian shows her reclining on Rome's seven hills with various accoutrements; in this interpretation, the readers of the Book of Revelation, familiar with the iconography of Roman coins, would understand who was being referred to.[34] Rather than Roma's depiction as an elegant and regal woman bedecked in jewels and taming a wild animal in conquest in Roman art, the author of Revelation sees Roma as a corrupt and evil force "drunk with blood."[29]
While most scholars recognize that Babylon is a cipher for Rome, they also say that Babylon represents more than just the Roman city of the first century. Craig Koester writes that "the whore is Rome, yet more than Rome".[35] It "is the Roman imperial world, which in turn represents the world alienated from God".[35]
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TheAltar of theFatherland is the most famous part of theAltare della Patria inRome and is the one with which it is often identified.[36] On the top of the entrance stairway, it was designed by the Brescian sculptorAngelo Zanelli, who won a competition specially held in 1906.[37][36] It is formed from the side of theTomb of Italian Unknown Soldier that faces the outside of the building (the other side, which faces inside the Vittoriano, is in a crypt), from thesacellum of the statue of Roma (which is exactly above the tomb of the Unknown Soldier) and two vertical marblereliefs that descend from the edges of theaedicula containing the statue of the goddess Rome and which run downwards laterally to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.[37]
The statue of Roma present at the Vittoriano interrupted a custom in vogue until the 19th century, by which the representation of this subject was with exclusively warlike traits. Angelo Zanelli, in his work, decided to further characterize the statue by also providing the reference toAthena,Greek goddess ofwisdom and the arts, as well as of war.[38] The great statue of the deity emerges from a golden background.[36] The presence of the goddess Roma in the Vittoriano underlines the irremissible will of theUnification of Italy patriots to have Rome as the capital of Italy, an essential concept, according to the common feeling, from the history of the peninsula and the islands ofItalian culture.[39][40]
Ronald Mellor wrote in the introduction to his work on Roma, summing up her influence, that "As personification, as goddess or as symbol, the nameRoma stretches from classical Greece toMussolini's Fascist propaganda ...Roma has been seen as a goddess, a whore, a near-saint, and as the symbol of civilization itself. She remains the oldest continuous political-religious symbol in Western civilization."[41]
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