DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0633
VENUS VICTRIX—VERMINUS
555
cf. Oros. v. 15. 22). The epithet referred to the power of the goddess to
turn the mind from lust to purity (Ov. loc. cit. ; Vai. Max. viii. 15. 12).
The day of dedication was 1st April (CIL i2. p. 314 ; Ov. Fast. iv. 133 ff. ;
Lydus, loc. cit. ; Macrob. i. 12. 15). Servius speaks of a fanum Veneris
Verticordiae in the vallis Murciae (Aen. viii. 636), but seems to be con-
fusing the shrine of this goddess with that of Venus Murcia. This may
show that the former was near the latter ; if not, there is no indication
of its location. The statue of the goddess is shown in coins of about
46 b.c. of M. Cordius Rufus (BM. Rep. i. 523· 4°37'9)·
About a century earlier Sulpicia (RE vii. 246), the wife of 0. Fulvius
Flaccus, consul for the fourth time in 209 b.c., is said to have been
selected, in accordance with the Sibylline books, as the most chaste
woman in Rome, to dedicate a simulacrum to Venus Verticordia (Vai. Max.
viii. 15. 12; Plin. NH vii. 120; Solin. i. 126), but what relation this
statue may have had to the later temple is not known (WR 290-291 ;
Pr. Myth. i. 446 ; Gilb. iii. 92).
Venus Victrix : a shrine or altar on the Capitol which is mentioned in the
calendars with Genius populi Romani and Felicitas (Fast. Amit. Arv. ad
vii Id. Oct., CIL i2. p. 214, 245, 323, 331). Whether one shrine was
dedicated to the triad, or each deity had his or her own, is perhaps
not absolutely certain, but the latter hypothesis is most probable
(Jord. i. 2. 46 ; DE iii. 467 ; RE vii. 1166 ; Gilb. iii. 101 ; Rodocanachi,
Le Capitole 43).
Venus Victrix, aedes (templum, Tert., Plin.) : a temple which, in order
to escape censure for having erected a permanent theatre (see Theatrum
Pompei), Pompeius built at the top of the central part of the cavea,
so that the rows of seats might appear to be the steps leading up to it,
and the whole structure be dedicated as a temple and not as a theatre
(Tert, de spect. 10 ; Tiro ap. Gell. x. I. 7, where the temple is called aedes
Victoriae for Veneris Victricis ; cf. Mommsen, CIL i2. p. 323). The
dedication took place in Pompeius’ second consulship in 55 b.c. (Plin.
NH viii. 20), but the inscription was not put in place until 52 (Gell.
loc. cit.). The day of dedication was 12th August (Fast. Allif. Amit.
ad prid. Id. Aug., CIL i2. p. 217, 244, 324), when Honos et Virtus and
Felicitas were joined with Venus, indicating that shrines of these deities
stood near that of Venus (cf. Suet. Claud. 21 : ludos dedicationis Pom-
peiani theatri . . . cum prius apud superiores aedes supplicaverat). The
temple is mentioned on an inscription (vi. 785),1 and in the third century
(Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. i. 2. 94; HJ 525-526; Gilb. iii. 323; WR 291).
For coins of about 44 b.c., depicting the goddess, see BM. Rep. i. pp. 543-
551·
Verminus, ara : an altar of the deity of the disease of vermina in cattle,
found in 1876 just north of the porta Viminalis, during the removal of
1 It was found among the remains of the theatre near S. Maria di Grottapinta.
555
cf. Oros. v. 15. 22). The epithet referred to the power of the goddess to
turn the mind from lust to purity (Ov. loc. cit. ; Vai. Max. viii. 15. 12).
The day of dedication was 1st April (CIL i2. p. 314 ; Ov. Fast. iv. 133 ff. ;
Lydus, loc. cit. ; Macrob. i. 12. 15). Servius speaks of a fanum Veneris
Verticordiae in the vallis Murciae (Aen. viii. 636), but seems to be con-
fusing the shrine of this goddess with that of Venus Murcia. This may
show that the former was near the latter ; if not, there is no indication
of its location. The statue of the goddess is shown in coins of about
46 b.c. of M. Cordius Rufus (BM. Rep. i. 523· 4°37'9)·
About a century earlier Sulpicia (RE vii. 246), the wife of 0. Fulvius
Flaccus, consul for the fourth time in 209 b.c., is said to have been
selected, in accordance with the Sibylline books, as the most chaste
woman in Rome, to dedicate a simulacrum to Venus Verticordia (Vai. Max.
viii. 15. 12; Plin. NH vii. 120; Solin. i. 126), but what relation this
statue may have had to the later temple is not known (WR 290-291 ;
Pr. Myth. i. 446 ; Gilb. iii. 92).
Venus Victrix : a shrine or altar on the Capitol which is mentioned in the
calendars with Genius populi Romani and Felicitas (Fast. Amit. Arv. ad
vii Id. Oct., CIL i2. p. 214, 245, 323, 331). Whether one shrine was
dedicated to the triad, or each deity had his or her own, is perhaps
not absolutely certain, but the latter hypothesis is most probable
(Jord. i. 2. 46 ; DE iii. 467 ; RE vii. 1166 ; Gilb. iii. 101 ; Rodocanachi,
Le Capitole 43).
Venus Victrix, aedes (templum, Tert., Plin.) : a temple which, in order
to escape censure for having erected a permanent theatre (see Theatrum
Pompei), Pompeius built at the top of the central part of the cavea,
so that the rows of seats might appear to be the steps leading up to it,
and the whole structure be dedicated as a temple and not as a theatre
(Tert, de spect. 10 ; Tiro ap. Gell. x. I. 7, where the temple is called aedes
Victoriae for Veneris Victricis ; cf. Mommsen, CIL i2. p. 323). The
dedication took place in Pompeius’ second consulship in 55 b.c. (Plin.
NH viii. 20), but the inscription was not put in place until 52 (Gell.
loc. cit.). The day of dedication was 12th August (Fast. Allif. Amit.
ad prid. Id. Aug., CIL i2. p. 217, 244, 324), when Honos et Virtus and
Felicitas were joined with Venus, indicating that shrines of these deities
stood near that of Venus (cf. Suet. Claud. 21 : ludos dedicationis Pom-
peiani theatri . . . cum prius apud superiores aedes supplicaverat). The
temple is mentioned on an inscription (vi. 785),1 and in the third century
(Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. i. 2. 94; HJ 525-526; Gilb. iii. 323; WR 291).
For coins of about 44 b.c., depicting the goddess, see BM. Rep. i. pp. 543-
551·
Verminus, ara : an altar of the deity of the disease of vermina in cattle,
found in 1876 just north of the porta Viminalis, during the removal of
1 It was found among the remains of the theatre near S. Maria di Grottapinta.