Editing Fides (deity)

{{short description|Roman goddess of trust}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
[[File:Plotina - sestertius - RIC 0740.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Sestertius]] struck ca. 112&nbsp;AD, depicting [[Pompeia Plotina]], the [[Augusta (honorific)|Augusta]] of the emperor [[Trajan]], with Fides on the reverse]]

'''Fides''' ({{langx|la|Fidēs}}) was the goddess of [[Trust (social sciences)|trust]], [[faithfulness]], and [[good faith]] (''[[Good faith#Bona fides|bona fides]]'') in [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]].<ref name="peck"/><ref name="smith">{{DGRBM|author=LS |title=Fides |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=fides&la=la&prior=quoniam|publisher=Latin Word Study Tool, [[Perseus Project]], [[Tufts University]]}}</ref> Fides was one of the original virtues to be [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#cultus|cultivated as a divinity]] with ceremonies and temples.<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams |first=John Paul |title=The Roman Concept of Fides|publisher=Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures College of Humanities, California State University Northridge |date=May 2009 |url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/fides.html}}</ref>

[[File:LMW Dupondius RIC 1210 Rückseite Bildarchiv 79628.jpg|thumb|upright|Fides Publica holding a [[cornucopia]] and extending a [[patera|libation bowl]] on the [[reverse (coin)|reverse]] of a [[dupondius]] issued by [[Vespasian]] 77–78&nbsp;AD]]
Fides embodies everything that is required for "honour and credibility, from  fidelity  in  marriage, to  contractual  arrangements, and the obligation soldiers owed to Rome."<ref name=Perley>{{cite web |last1=Perley |first1=Sara |title=Fides Romana: Aspects of fides in Roman diplomatic relations during the conquest of Iberia. |url=https://otago.ourarchive.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/2352/PerleySaraM2012MA.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |website=University of Otago |access-date=15 May 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Fides also means reliability, "reliability between two parties, which is always reciprocal." and "bedrock of relations between people and their communities",<ref>{{cite web |title=God of the Month: Fides | website= Neptune's Dolphins | date= 4 October 2017 |url=https://neptunesdolphins.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/god-of-the-month-fides/}}</ref> and then it was turned into a Roman deity and from which we gain the English word, '[[fidelity]]'.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pfingsten |first1=Max |title=Roman Virtues and Stoicism - |url=http://goblues.org/faculty/rogersb/files/2014/10/Pfingsten-1-Roman-Virtues.pdf |website=goblues.org |access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref> 

Under the name ''Fides Publica Populi Romani'' ("Public Trust of the Roman People"),<ref name="Samuel">{{cite book|author=Samuel Ball Platner (revised by Thomas Ashby) |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Aedes_Fidei.html |title=A Topography of Ancient Rome |chapter=Aedes Fidei |date=1929 |page=209 }}</ref> she may be exemplified in [[Marcus Atilius Regulus]], "who refuses to save  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  [[Roman Republic|Republic]]. Regulus  defied  his  own  best  interests  for those of his country. In this act alone, he acted with fides."<ref name=Perley />

==Iconography==
Fides is represented as a young woman crowned with an olive or [[laurel wreath]],<ref name="smith"/> holding in her hand a [[European turtle dove|turtle-dove]],<ref name="peck"/> fruits or grain,<ref name="smith"/> or a military ensign. She wears a white veil.<ref name="peck"/>

[[File:INC-1854-r Ауреус Элагабал ок. 218-219 гг. (реверс).png|thumb|upright|Reverse of an [[aureus]] issued ca. 218-219 under [[Elagabalus]], with the legend FIDES EXERCITVS ("loyalty of the army"); Fides, enthroned, regards a [[Roman military standards|military standard]]<!--info at Commons identifies the bird in her right hand as an eagle, but it's a pretty scrawny eagle; and the thing in her left hand as a military standard, though it looks more like a torch-->]]
==Temple and ceremonies==
The [[Temple of Fides]] on the [[Capitoline Hill]]<ref name="peck"/> was associated with the ''Fides Publica'' or ''Fides Publica Populi Romani''.<ref name="Richardson">L. Richardson, Jr., ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992).</ref> Dedicated by [[Aulus Atilius Calatinus]],{{when|date=March 2024}} and restored by [[Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (consul 115 BC)|Marcus Aemilius Scaurus]], the structure was surrounded by a display of [[bronze]] tables of laws and treaties, and was occasionally used for [[Roman Senate|Senate]] meetings.<ref name="Richardson"/>

According to tradition, Rome's second king, [[Numa Pompilius]], instituted a yearly ceremony on 1 October devoted to Fides Publica, in which the three ''[[Flamen#Flamines maiores|flamines maiores]]'' (major priests)—the [[Flamen Dialis|Dialis]], [[Flamen Martialis|Martialis]], and [[Flamen Quirinalis|Quirinalis]]—were to be borne to her temple in a covered arched chariot drawn by two horses.<ref name="peck">{{cite book|first=Harry Thurston|last= Peck |date=1898 |title=Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities |chapter=Fides (2) |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DF%3Aentry+group%3D3%3Aentry%3Dfides2-harpers |location=New York |publisher=Harper and Brothers}}</ref> 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.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', 1:21</ref>

==See also==
* [[Harpocrates]] – [[Greece|Greek]] [[god]] of [[silence]], [[secret]]s and [[confidentiality]].  
* [[Pietas (goddess)|Piety]] ({{lang|la|Pietas}}), [[Spes (goddess)|Hope]] ({{lang|la|Spes}}), and [[Fortuna (goddess)|Luck]] ({{lang|la|Fortuna}}) – also embodied as goddesses by the Romans
* {{annotated link|[[Semo Sancus]]}}

==References==
{{commons category|Fides}}
<references/>

{{Roman religion}}
{{Virtues}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fides (deity)}}

[[Category:Personifications in Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman virtues]]
[[Category:Roman goddesses]]