Inancient Roman culture,felicitas (from theLatinadjectivefelix, "fruitful, blessed, happy, lucky") is a condition of divinely inspired productivity, blessedness, orhappiness.Felicitas could encompass both a woman's fertility and a general's luck or good fortune.[1] The divine personification ofFelicitas wascultivated as a Roman goddess, wherein she is a goddess not just of good fortune but also happiness, wealth and success.[2] Althoughfelicitas may be translated as "good luck," and the goddess Felicitas shares some characteristics and attributes withFortuna, the two were distinguished inRoman religion.[3] Fortuna was unpredictable and her effects could be negative, as the existence of an altar toMala Fortuna ("Bad Luck") acknowledges.[4] Felicitas, however, always had a positive significance. She appears withseveral epithets that focus on aspects of her divine power.
Felicitas had a temple in Rome as early as the mid-2nd century BC, and during theRepublican era was honored at twoofficial festivals ofRoman state religion, on July 1 in conjunction withJuno and October 9 asFausta Felicitas. Felicitas continued to play an important role inImperial cult, and was frequently portrayed oncoins as a symbol of the wealth and prosperity of theRoman Empire. Her primary attributes are thecaduceus andcornucopia.[5] The English word "felicity" derives fromfelicitas.
In its religious sense,felix means "blessed, under the protection or favour of the gods; happy." That which isfelix has achieved thepax divom, a state of harmony or peace with the divine world.[6] The word derives fromIndo-European*dhe(i)l, meaning "happy, fruitful, productive, full of nourishment." Related Latin words includefemina, "woman" (a person who provides nourishment or suckles);felo, "to suckle" in regard to an infant;filius, "son" (a person suckled);[7] and probablyfello, fellare, "to performfellatio", with an originally non-sexual meaning of "to suck".[8] The continued magical association of sexual potency, increase, and general good fortune in productivity is indicated by the inscriptionHic habitat Felicitas ("Felicitas dwells here")[9] on anapotropaic relief of aphallus at a bakery inPompeii.[10]
In archaic Roman culture,felicitas was a quality expressing the close bonds betweenreligion and agriculture.Felicitas was at issue when thesuovetaurilia sacrifice conducted byCato the Elder ascensor in 184 BC was challenged as having been unproductive, perhaps forvitium, ritual error.[11] In the following three years Rome had been plagued by a number of ill omens and prodigies(prodigia), such as severe storms, pestilence, and "showers of blood," which had required a series of expiations(supplicationes).[12] The speech Cato gave to justify himself is known as theOratio de lustri sui felicitate, "Speech on theFelicitas of hisLustrum", and survives only as a possible quotation by a later source.[13] Cato says that alustrum should be found to have producedfelicitas "if the crops had filled up the storehouses if the vintage had been abundant if the olive oil had flowed deliberately from the groves",[14] regardless of whatever else might have occurred. The efficacy of a ritual might be thus expressed as itsfelicitas.[15]
The ability to promotefelicitas became proof of one's excellence and divine favor.Felicitas was simultaneously a divine gift, a quality that resided within an individual, and a contagious capacity for generating productive conditions outside oneself:[16] it was a form of "charismatic authority".[17]Cicero listsfelicitas as one of the four virtues of the exemplary general, along with knowledge ofmilitary science(scientia rei militaris),virtus (both "valor" and "virtue"), andauctoritas, "authority."Virtus was a regular complement tofelicitas, which was not thought to attach to those who were unworthy.[18] Cicero attributedfelicitas particularly toPompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great"),[19] and distinguished thisfelicitas even from the divine good luck enjoyed by successful generals such asFabius Maximus,Marcellus,Scipio the Younger andMarius.[20]
The sayings(sententiae) ofPublilius Syrus are often attached to divine qualities, including Felicitas: "The people's Felicitas is powerful when she is merciful"(potens misericors publica est Felicitas).[21]
Epithets of Felicitas include:
Thecult of Felicitas is first recorded in the mid-2nd century BC, when atemple was dedicated to her byLucius Licinius Lucullus, grandfather of the famousLucullus, using booty from his military campaigns inSpain in 151–150 BC.[22] Predecessor to a noted connoisseur of art, Lucullus obtained and dedicated several statues looted byMummius fromGreece, including works byPraxiteles: theThespiades, a statue group of theMuses brought fromThespiae, and aVenus.[23] This Temple of Felicitas was among several that had a secondary function as art museums, and was recommended byCicero along with theTemple ofFortuna Huiusce Diei for those who enjoyed viewing art but lacked the means to amass private collections.[24] The temple was located in theVelabrum in theVicus Tuscus of theCampus Martius, along a route associated withtriumphs: the axle ofJulius Caesar's triumphalchariot in 46 BC is supposed to have broken in front of it.[25] The temple was destroyed by a fire during the reign ofClaudius, though the Muses were rescued.[26] It was not rebuilt at this site.[27]
Sulla identified himself so closely with the quality offelicitcas that he adopted theagnomen (nickname)Felix. His domination asdictator resulted from civil war and unprecedented military violence within the city of Rome itself, but he legitimated his authority by claiming that the mere fact of his victory was proof he wasfelix and enjoyed the divine favor of the gods. Republican precedent was to regard a victory as belonging to the Roman people as a whole, as represented by thetriumphal procession at which the honored general submitted public offerings at theTemple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at theCapitol, and Sulla thus established an important theological element for the later authority of the emperor.[28] Although he established no new temple for Felicitas,[29] he venerated her with aLudi circenses to close the Sullan Victory games on the Kalends of November,[30] andOvid writes of a lavish prosperity feast day for Felicitas which he celebrated thereafter.[31][note 1]
On July 1 and October 9, Felicitas received a sacrificein Capitolio, on theCapitoline Hill, on the latter date asFausta Felicitas in conjunction with theGenius Publicus ("PublicGenius") andVenus Victrix. These observances probably took place at an altar or small shrine(aedicula), not a separatetemple precinct.[37] TheActs of the Arval Brothers (1st century AD) prescribe a cow as the sacrifice for Felicitas.[38] Pompey established a shrine for Felicitas athis new theater and temple complex, which used the steps to the Temple of Venus Victrix as seating. Felicitas was cultivated withHonor and Virtue, and she may have shared her shrine there withVictory, as she did in the Imperial era asFelicitas Caesaris (Caesar'sFelicitas) atAmeria.[39] Pompey's collocation of deities may have been intended to parallel the Capitoline grouping.[40]
A fourth cult site for Felicitas in Rome had been planned by Caesar, and possibly begun before his death. Work on the temple was finished byLepidus on the site of theCuria Hostilia, which had been restored by Sulla, destroyed by fire in 52 BC,[41] and demolished by Caesar in 44 BC.[42] This temple seems not to have existed by the time ofHadrian. Its site probably lies under the church ofSanti Luca e Martina.[43] It has been suggested that anIonic capital and atufa wall uncovered at the site are the only known remains of the temple.[44]
Felicitas was awatchword used by Julius Caesar's troops at theBattle of Thapsus,[45] the names of deities and divine personifications being often recorded for this purpose in the late Republic.[46]Felicitas Iulia ("Julian Felicitas") was the name of acolony inHispania that was refounded under Caesar and known also asOlisipo, present-dayLisbon, Portugal.[47]
During the Republic, only divine personifications known to have had a temple or public altar were featured on coins, among them Felicitas.[48] On the only extant Republican coin type, Felicitas appears as a bust and wearing adiadem.[49]
A calendar fromCumae records that asupplicatio was celebrated on April 16 for the Felicitas of the Empire, in honor of the dayAugustus was first acclaimedimperator.[50] In extant Roman coinage, Felicitas appears with acaduceus only during the Imperial period.[51] The earliest known example isFelicitas Publica on adupondius issued underGalba.[52]Felicitas Temporum ("Prosperity of the Times"), reflecting aGolden Age ideology, was among the innovative virtues that began to appear during the reigns ofTrajan andAntoninus Pius.[53]Septimius Severus, whose reign followed the exceedingly brief tenure ofPertinax and unsatisfactory conditions underCommodus, used coinage to express his efforts toward restoring thePax Romana, with themes such asFelicitas Temporum andFelicitas Saeculi, "Prosperity of the Age"(saeculum), prevalent in the years 200 to 202.[54] Some Imperial coins use these phrases with images of women and children in the emperor's family.[55]
When the Empire came under Christian rule, the personified virtues that had been cultivated as deities could be treated as abstract concepts, though the laterEmpire of Nicaea adopted many Hellenic traditions including a version of the prosperity feast day Felicitanalia allegedly described byOvid in the missing 11th book of theFasti (poem).[56]Felicitas Perpetua Saeculi ("Perpetual Blessedness of the Age") appears on a coin issued underConstantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity.[57]
Felicitas was also the basis of theRoman theology of victory adopted during Augustus' reign. The concept, which constituted the foundation of the imperial Roman propaganda, legitimized power or a claimant's right to rule through victory in the absence of traditional institutions.[58] It held that earthly authority depended on heavenly accord and that the successful conquest projectedfelicitas and excessivevirtus indicating divine sanction of sovereignty and authority.[59][60]
The Christian bishop and scholar St.Augustine of Hippo used the concept of felicitas prominently in hisCity of God, in which he claims that felicitas is the only virtue that is ultimately worth seeking. He follows that by saying that the Romans should, instead of worshipping a personified deity of this virtue, worship instead the One TrueGod who is the only deity who can truly grant felicitas.
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