Details of Virtus personified on coins
Virtus is a male personification of courage or bravery. He is normally shown helmeted and in full armour like Mars. His attributes are also similar to Mars - a spear and shield or a spear and small figure of Victory. Virtus, however, is often shown holding a parazonium, a large dagger-like object that projects from the waist. He appears on coins between the 1st and 4th centuries AD.
Attributes
- parazonium
- helmeted
Wikipedia derived information
See Virtus (disambiguation) for other meanings.
In Roman mythology, Virtus was the deity of bravery and military strength, the personification of the Roman virtue of virtus. The Greek equivalent deity was Arete. He/she was identified with the Roman god Honos (personification of honour), and was often honoured together with him.
As reported in Valerius Maximus, this joint cult led to plans in 210 BC by Marcus Claudius Marcellus to erect a joint temple for them both. This led to objections from the pontifical college that, if a miracle should occur in such a temple, the priests would not know to which of the two gods to offer the sacrifice in thanks for it. Marcellus therefore erected a temple for Virtus alone which was the only way in to a separate temple of Honos, financing them both with the loot from his sacking of Syracuse and defeats of the Gauls.
This temple was at the Porta Capena, and later renovated by Vespasian. This deity was represented in a variety of ways - for example, on the coins of Tetricus, it can appear as a matron, an old man, or a young man, with a javelin or only clothed in a cape..
Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtus_(deity)
This data is sourced from dbpedia, and as such should be treated with caution.
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