Inancient Roman religion,Aeternitas was the divinepersonification ofeternity. She was particularly associated withImperial cult as avirtue[1] of the deifiedemperor(divus). The religious maintenance of abstract deities such as Aeternitas was characteristic of official Roman cult from the time of theJulio-Claudians to theSeverans.[2]
Like the more familiaranthropomorphicdeities, Aeternitas and other abstractions were cultivated with sacrifices andtemples, both in Rome and in theprovinces. The temple ofAeternitasAugusta at Tarraco inRoman Spain was pictured on a coin.[3][4]
The divinity sometimes appears asAeternitas Imperii (the "Eternity of Roman rule"),[5] where the Latin wordimperium ("command, power") points toward the meaning "empire," the English word derived from it.Aeternitas Imperii was among the deities who received sacrifices from theArval Brethren in a thanksgiving whenNero survivedconspiracy and attempted assassination. New bronze coinage was issued at this time, on which various virtues were represented.[6] Aeternitas was among the many virtues depicted on coinage issued underVespasian,Titus,Trajan,Hadrian,Antoninus Pius, andSeptimius Severus.[7]
The coins issued 75–79 AD under Vespasian show Aeternitas holding a head in each hand representingSol andLuna.[8] On the coins of Titus (80–81 AD), Aeternitas holds acornucopia, leans on ascepter, and has one foot placed on a globe, imagery that links the concepts of eternity, prosperity, and world dominion. From the 2nd to the mid-3rd century, the iconography of Aeternitas includes the globe, celestial bodies (stars, or sun and moon), and thephoenix, a symbol of cyclical time, since the phoenix was reborn every 500 years.[9] Aeternitas sometimes holds the globe on which the phoenix perches.[10]
InThe Marriage of Philology and Mercury,Martianus Capella says that Aeternitas is among the more honored ofJupiter's daughters. He mentions herdiadem, the circular shape of which represents eternity.[11]
The male equivalent of Aeternitas isAion, the god of unbound time, the celestial spheres, and the Zodiac.[12]
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