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32-505: The Greek equivalent of the goddess Libertas is Eleutheria , the personification of liberty. There are many post-classical depictions of liberty as a person which often retain some of the iconography of the Roman goddess. The noun lībertās 'freedom', on which the name of the deity is based, is a derivation from Latin līber 'free', stemming from Proto-Italic *leuþero- , and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁leudʰero- 'belonging to

64-428: A pileus , the soft cap that symbolised the granting of freedom to former slaves. She also carries a rod, which formed part of the ceremony for manumission . In the 18th century, the pileus turned into the similar Phrygian cap carried on a pole by English-speaking "Liberty" figures, and then worn by Marianne and other 19th-century personifications, as the "cap of liberty". Libertas had been important under

96-526: A radiant crown with seven spikes or rays, and leans on a rudder . After a gap with the Second French Empire , a version of the 1848 design was used by the French Third Republic and under subsequent republics to the present day. The radiant crown, never used in antiquity for Libertas (but for the sun god Sol Invictus and some later emperors), was adopted by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi for

128-483: A brief career on coins of Alexandria . In Ancient Greece, Eleutheria was also an epithet for the goddess Artemis , and as such she was worshipped in Myra of Lycia . The Roman equivalent of the goddess Eleutheria is Libertas , a goddess in her own right, and a personification of liberty. For R. F. Willets, Cretan dialect 'Eleuthia' would connect Eileithyia (or perhaps the goddess "Eleutheria") to Eleusis . The name

160-405: A daughter named Libera ("Liberty/Freedom"). I. F. Stone , who taught himself Greek in his old age, wrote a book, The Trial of Socrates , pointing out that Socrates and Plato do not value eleutheria , freedom; instead were Sparta-lovers, wanting a monarch, an oligarchy, instead of a democracy, a republic. The French philosopher Michel Foucault , in lectures given at Berkeley and Boulder, made

192-511: A female classical goddess . Examples include Marianne , the national personification of the French Republic and its values of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité , and the female Liberty portrayed in artworks, on United States coins beginning in 1793 , and many other depictions. These descend from images on ancient Roman coins of the Roman goddess Libertas and from various developments from

224-579: A small statue of the goddess stood in the Roman Forum . The goddess Libertas is also depicted on the Great Seal of France , created in 1848. This is the image which later influenced French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in the creation of his statue of Liberty Enlightening the World . Libertas, along with other Roman goddesses, has served as the inspiration for many modern-day personifications , including

256-406: Is a summons to liberty, by which slaves were frequently called upon to take up arms with a promise of liberty ( Liv. XXIV.32). "The figure of Liberty on some of the coins of Antoninus Pius , struck A.D. 145, holds this cap in the right hand". Libertas was also recognized in ancient Rome by the rod ( vindicta or festuca ), used ceremonially in the act of Manumissio vindicta , Latin for 'freedom by

288-720: Is associated with the overthrow of the Tarquin kings . She was worshiped by the Junii , the family of Marcus Junius Brutus . In 238 BC, before the Second Punic War , Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus built a temple to Libertas on the Aventine Hill . Census tables were stored inside the temple's atrium. A subsequent temple was built (58–57 BC) on Palatine Hill , another of the Seven hills of Rome , by Publius Clodius Pulcher . By building and consecrating

320-542: Is probably related with a city in Crete named Eleutherna . Walter Burkert believes that Eileithyia is the Greek goddess of birth and that her name is pure-Greek. However the relation with the Greek prefix ἐλεύθ is uncertain, because the prefix appears in some Pre-Greek toponyms like Ἐλευθέρνα ( Eleutherna ). Hyginus describes Eleutheria as a daughter of Zeus and Hera . In Roman mythology , Demeter ( Ceres ) has

352-616: The Iconologia of Cesare Ripa , showed the cap held on a pole by the 1611 edition. With the rise of nationalism and new states, many nationalist personifications included a strong element of liberty, perhaps culminating in the Statue of Liberty . The long poem Liberty by the Scottish James Thomson (1734), is a lengthy monologue spoken by the "Goddess of Liberty", "characterized as British Liberty", describing her travels through

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384-593: The Renaissance onwards. The Dutch Maiden was among the first, re-introducing the cap of liberty on a liberty pole featured in many types of image, though not using the Phrygian cap style that became conventional. The 1886 Statue of Liberty ( Liberty Enlightening the World ) by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is a well-known example in art, a gift from France to the United States. The ancient Roman goddess Libertas

416-625: The Roman Republic , and was somewhat uncomfortably co-opted by the empire; it was not seen as an innate right, but as granted to some under Roman law. Her attribute of the pileus appeared on the Ides of March coin of the assassins of Julius Caesar , defenders of the Roman republic, between two daggers with the inscription "EID MAR" ( Eidibus Martiis – on the Ides of March ). The medieval republics, mostly in Italy, greatly valued their liberty, and often use

448-667: The Statue of Liberty . This was conceived in the 1860s, under the French Second Republic, when Liberty no longer featured on the seal or in French official iconography . The Great Seal's rudder was another original borrowing from classical iconography. In Roman art it (called a gubernaculum ) was the usual attribute of Fortuna , or "Lady Luck", representing her control of the changeable fortunes of life. As well as such dignified representations, all these figures very frequently figured in

480-542: The political cartoons that were becoming extremely popular in all the countries concerned over this period. The Napoleonic Wars produced a particular outpouring of cartoons on all sides. In the 19th century various national personifications took on this form, some wearing the cap of liberty. The Dutch Maiden , accompanied by the Leo Belgicus became the official symbol of the Batavian Republic established after

512-524: The Britannia element quickly disappeared, but a classical-looking Liberty still appealed, and was now sometimes just labelled "America". In the 1790s Columbia , who had been sometimes present in literature for some decades, emerged as a common name for this figure. Her position was cemented by the popular song Hail, Columbia (1798). By the time of the French Revolution the modern type of imagery

544-553: The British copper coinage, where Britannia had first appeared in 1672, with shield but carrying the cap on a rod as a liberty pole , rather than her usual trident . In the run up to the American War of Independence , this conflated figure of Britannia/Liberty was attractive to American colonists agitating for the full set of British civil rights, and from 1770 some American newspapers adopted her for their masthead. When war broke out,

576-514: The French occupied the Netherlands . In the United States, "Liberty" is often depicted with five-pointed stars, as they appear on the American flag, usually held in a raised hand. Another hand may hold a sword which points downward. Depictions which are familiar to Americans include the following: In the early decades of the 20th century, Liberty mostly displaced Columbia , who was widely used as

608-544: The Statue of Liberty ( Liberty Enlightening the World ) in New York Harbor , and many other characters and concepts of the modern age were created, and are seen, as embodiments of Libertas. Eleutheria The Greek word "ἐλευθερία" (capitalized Ἐλευθερία; Attic Greek pronunciation: [eleu̯tʰeˈria] ), transliterated as eleutheria , is a Greek term for, and personification of, liberty . Eleutheria personified had

640-467: The Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in the United States. According to the National Park Service , the Statue's Roman robe is the main feature that invokes Libertas and the symbol of Liberty from which the statue derives its name. In addition, money throughout history has borne the name or image of Libertas. As " Liberty ", Libertas was depicted on the obverse (heads side) of most coinage in

672-514: The U.S. into the twentieth century – and the image is still used for the American Gold Eagle gold bullion coin . The University of North Carolina records two instances of private banks in its state depicting Libertas on their banknotes; Libertas is depicted on the 5, 10 and 20 Rappen denomination coins of Switzerland . The symbolic characters Columbia who represents the United States and Marianne , who represents France,

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704-460: The ancient world, and then English and British history, before the resolution of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 confirms her position there. Thomson also wrote the lyrics for Rule Britannia , and the two personifications were often combined as a personified "British Liberty". A large monument, originally called the "Column of British Liberty", now usually just the "Column to Liberty",

736-575: The official copies of legislation, had a Marianne with Phrygian cap of liberty from 1792, until she was replaced the next year by a Hercules after Jacques-Louis David . A standing Liberty, with fasces and cap on a pole, was on the seal of Napoleon's French Consulate , before being replaced by his head. Liberty returned to the seal with the French Second Republic in 1848, seated amid symbols of agriculture and industry, designed by Jacques-Jean Barre . She carries fasces on her lap, now wears

768-474: The people', hence 'free'. Libertas was associated with the pileus , a cap commonly worn by freed slaves: Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, and wore instead of his hair an undyed pileus (πίλεον λευκόν, Diodorus Siculus Exc. Leg. 22 p625, ed. Wess.; Plaut. Amphit. I.1.306; Persius , V.82). Hence the phrase servos ad pileum vocare

800-399: The rod' (emphasis added): The master brought his slave before the magistratus , and stated the grounds ( causa ) of the intended manumission . "The lictor of the magistratus laid a rod ( festuca ) on the head of the slave, accompanied with certain formal words, in which he declared that he was a free man ex Jure Quiritium", that is, "vindicavit in libertatem". The master in the meantime held

832-468: The same argument for Socrates' failure to invoke parrhesia , freedom of speech, the obligation to speak the truth for the common good at personal risk, in his own defense at his trial, preferring to die in obedience to law as above men. Athenians held that they democratically shaped law, seeing Socrates' stance as treason. Liberty (personification) The concept of liberty has frequently been represented by personifications , often loosely shown as

864-411: The slave, and after he had pronounced the words "hunc hominem liberum volo," he turned him round (momento turbinis exit Marcus Dama, Persius, Sat. V.78) and let him go (emisit e manu, or misit manu, Plaut. Capt. II.3.48), whence the general name of the act of manumission. The magistratus then declared him to be free [...] The Roman Republic was established simultaneously with the creation of Libertas and

896-463: The temple on the site of the former house of then-exiled Cicero , Clodius ensured that the land was legally uninhabitable. Upon his return, Cicero successfully argued that the consecration was invalid and thus managed to reclaim the land and destroy the temple. In 46 BC, the Roman Senate voted to build and dedicate a shrine to Libertas in recognition of Julius Caesar , but no temple was built; instead,

928-453: The word, but produce very few direct personifications. One exception, showing just the cap of liberty between daggers, a copy of coins by the assassins of Julius Caesar , featured on a medal struck by Lorenzino de' Medici to commemorate his assassination of his cousin Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence in 1547. Liberty featured in emblem books , usually with her cap; the most popular,

960-464: Was begun in the 1750s on his Gibside estate outside Newcastle-on-Tyne by the hugely wealthy Sir George Bowes , reflecting his Whig politics. Set at the top of a steep hillock, the monument itself is taller than Nelson's Column in London, and topped by a bronze female figure, originally gilded , carrying a cap of liberty on a pole. In other images, she took the seated form already very familiar from

992-468: Was honored during the second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) by a temple erected on the Aventine Hill in Rome by the father of Tiberius Gracchus . In a highly political gesture, a temple for her was raised in 58 BC by Publius Clodius Pulcher on the site of Marcus Tullius Cicero 's house after it had been razed. When depicted as a standing figure, on the reverse of coins, she usually holds out, but never wears,

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1024-580: Was well-established, and the French figure acquired the name of Marianne from 1792. Unlike her predecessors, she normally wore the cap of Liberty on her head, rather than carrying it on a pole or lance. In 1793 the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral was turned into a " Temple of Reason " and, for a brief time, the Goddess of Liberty replaced the Virgin Mary on several altars. The Great Seal of France , applied to

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