THE ALTAR OF VICTORY - PAGANISM'S LAST BATTLE

The goddess of Victory (Νίκη) appears early in Greek At first she is a symbol of complete and decisive victory, represented as being on the side of the gods in their battle with the Titans1. Later she passed from the realm of symbolism to reality and was connected with every contest, martial, athletic or musical2. As might be expected among people who the element of competition into every phase of their life and whose motto was to fight ever among the foremost and outvie all others 3, the cult of the goddess of Victory was widespread, being found in Olympia, Ilion, Tralles and elsewhere 4.

The Roman goddess of Victory, Victoria, was the counterpart of the Greek Νίκη. Her cult was popular with the army and the list of surnames applied to her shows that she had a special with various legions and later with several emperors 5. Her temple on the Palatine dates back to 294 B. C. 6 and statues were erected in her honour by victorious generals, mostly on the

Note : Unless otherwise stated, M. = J. P. Migne, Patrologiae Latinae Tomus XVI (1880). It is my agreeable duty to thank my colleague, Professor F. M. Heichelheim of University College, University of Toronto, for advice and suggestions.

1 Hesiod, Theogony, 383-384.

2 Herodotus, VIII, 121 ; Bacchylides, 11, 1 ; Pindar, Nem., 5, 42 ; Knights, 581.

3 Iliad, VI, 208 : aîèv αριστενειν και ύπείροχον εμμεναι άλλων.

4 Pausanias, 5, 14,8. Compare in general Röscher, Lexikon, s.v. Nike, III, 1, pp. 305-357 ; Oxford Classical Dictionary, s.v. Nike, pp. 608-609 ; F. Münzer, R.E., XVII, 1 (1936), 285-307.

B Alfred von Domas zewski, Rel. des röm. Heeres in Westdeutsche Zeitschrift für und Kunst, 14 (1895), pp. 1-124 : J. Gage, La Victoria Augusti et les Auspices de Tibère, in Revue Archéologique, 5th Series, 32 (1930), pp. 1-35 ; Röscher, Lexikon s.v. Victoria, 6, 294-302 ; Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. Victoria, p. 946 ; R.E., VIII A, 2 (1958), 2501-2542.

β Platner-Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 1929, p. 570.

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The Altar of Victory - Paganism's Last Battle

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