Fides (Latin: Fidēs) was the goddess of trust, faithfulness, and good faith (bona fides) in ancient Roman religion.[1][2] Fides was one of the original virtues to be cultivated as a divinity with ceremonies and temples.[3]
Fides embodies everything that is required for "honour and credibility, from fidelity in marriage, to contractual arrangements, and the obligation soldiers owed to Rome."[4] Fides also means reliability, "reliability between two parties, which is always reciprocal." and "bedrock of relations between people and their communities",[5] and then it was turned into a Roman deity and from which we gain the English word, 'fidelity'.[6]
Under the name Fides Publica Populi Romani ("Public Trust of the Roman People"),[7] she may be exemplified in Marcus Atilius Regulus, "who refuses to save himself at the expense of the Republic. Regulus defied his own best interests for those of his country. In this act alone, he acted with fides."[4]
Fides is represented as a young woman crowned with an olive or laurel wreath,[2] holding in her hand a turtle-dove,[1] fruits or grain,[2] or a military ensign. She wears a white veil.[1]
The Temple of Fides on the Capitoline Hill[1] was associated with the Fides PublicaorFides Publica Populi Romani.[8] Dedicated by Aulus Atilius Calatinus,[when?] and restored by Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, the structure was surrounded by a display of bronze tables of laws and treaties, and was occasionally used for Senate meetings.[8]
According to tradition, Rome's second king, Numa Pompilius, instituted a yearly ceremony on 1 October devoted to Fides Publica, in which the three flamines maiores (major priests)—the Dialis, Martialis, and Quirinalis—were to be borne to her temple in a covered arched chariot drawn by two horses.[1] There they should conduct her services with their heads covered and right hands wrapped up to the fingers to indicate absolute devotion to her and to symbolise trust.[9]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Fides". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Latin Word Study Tool, Perseus Project, Tufts University.
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