The Altar of Victory () was located in the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

House (the Curia Julia) and bore a gold statue of the goddess

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

. The altar was established by

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

(later Augustus) in 29 BC to commemorate the defeat of Antony and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

at the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

History

The statue had been captured by the Romans in 272 BC during the

Pyrrhic War The Pyrrhic War ( ; 280–275 BC) was largely fought between the Roman Republic and Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who had been asked by the people of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy to help them in their war against the Romans. A ...

and was originally a representation of Nike. It depicted a winged goddess, holding a

palm branch The palm branch, or palm frond, is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The palm ''(Phoenix (plant), Phoenix)'' was sacred in Mesopotamian religions, and in ancient E ...

and descending to present a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

. A modern historian reflects on the importance of the altar and the statue: :At this Altar of Victory senators burned incense, offered prayers annually for the welfare of the empire, took their oaths and pledged on the accession of each new emperor. Thus the statue became one of the most vital links between the Roman state and Roman religion and also a tangible reminder of Rome's great past and her hopes for the future.

Removal

The altar was removed from the curia by the emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

in 357. It was later restored by the emperor Julian, who was the only emperor after the conversion of

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

to adhere to the traditional religion of Rome. The altar was again removed by

Gratian Gratian (; ; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of ''Augustus'' as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in ...

in 382. After Gratian's death,

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Nickname, signo Eusebius (, ; c. 345 – 402) was a Roman statesman, orator, and intellectual. He held the offices of governor of proconsular Africa (province), Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and R ...

, a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and Prefect of Rome who sought to preserve Rome's religious traditions, in 384 wrote to the new emperor

Valentinian II Valentinian II (; 37115 May 392) was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman Empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his half-brother, then was sidelined by a usurper, and finally became sole ruler after 388, ...

requesting the restoration of the altar. In the imperial court in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the young emperor denied the request.

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

, Bishop of Milan successfully persuaded Valentinian to resist the request to preserve the altar. However, he was not the main person behind the resolution that removed the altar though he did participate in the debate. Further petitions to restore the altar were deflected in 391 by an edict of the emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

as part of his efforts to ensure that Christianity was the only religion practised in the Empire. The altar was restored by Eugenius during his short-lived rule (392–394), according to Paulinus of Milan in his ''Life of Ambrose.'' Writing in 403, Claudian mentioned that the statue (if not the altar) was then in the Senate House. Sheridan states "Some think that removals and restorations refer to both the Altar of Victory and the Statue of Victory. Others think that the Statue was never removed from its place. There is no statement in the ancient authors as to what happened to the Statue when the Altar was removed and certainty on this point is unattainable." Sheridan further suggests that "the fate of the Altar and Statue of Victory was finally sealed by the law of 408 against heathen statues," citing ''

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...

'' XVI,10, 19.Sheridan, p. 206.

Notes

Bibliography

* Richard Klein: ''Symmachus. Eine tragische Gestalt des ausgehenden Heidentums''. Darmstadt (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft mpulse der Forschung, Band 2 1971, . * Richard Klein: ''Der Streit um den Victoriaaltar. Die dritte Relatio des Symmachus und die Briefe 17, 18 und 57 des Mailänder Bischofs Ambrosius''. Darmstadt (WBG exte zur Forschung Band 7 1972, . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Altar Of Victory Destroyed Roman temples Gold sculptures Nike (mythology) Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire Roman altars Roman Senate Roman temples by deity Temples of the Roman Forum