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54-456: In recent years, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists and a growing group of revisionists. In the traditional view, Sol Invictus was the second of two different sun gods in Rome. The first of these, Sol Indiges , or Sol , was believed to be an early Roman god of minor importance whose cult had petered out by the first century CE. Sol Invictus , on the other hand,

108-690: A connection between them can be created which can lead to one over taking the other. Temple of the Sun (Rome) 41°54′09″N 12°28′52″E  /  41.90256°N 12.48112°E  / 41.90256; 12.48112 The Temple of the Sun was a temple in the Campus Agrippae in Rome. It was dedicated to Sol Invictus on 25 December 274 by the emperor Aurelian to fulfill a vow he made following his successful campaign against Palmyra in 272 and funded by spoils from that campaign. A college of pontifices (Dei) Solis and annual games with circus races

162-512: A gold medallion from his reign depict the Emperor's bust in profile twinned ( jugate ) with Sol Invictus, with the legend INVICTUS CONSTANTINUS Constantine decreed (March 7, 321) DIES SOLIS  – the day of the Sun, " Sunday " – as the Roman day of rest On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In

216-619: A restoration of a portico of Sol in what is now the Trastevere area of Rome by a certain Gaius Iulius Anicetus. While he may have had in mind an allusion to his own cognomen , which is the Latinized form of the Greek equivalent of invictus , ἀνίκητος ( anikētos ), the earliest extant dated inscription that uses invictus as an epithet of Sol is from CE 158. Another, stylistically dated to

270-503: A sacrifice for Sol and Luna on August 28. Traditionally, scholars have considered Sol Indiges to represent an earlier, more agrarian form in which the Roman god Sol was worshipped, and considered him to be very different from the late Roman Sol Invictus, who they believed was a predominantly Syrian deity. Neither the epithet "indiges" (which fell out of use sometime after Caesar) nor the epithet "invictus" are used with any consistency however, making it impossible to differentiate between

324-469: A way to display imperial power. The radiate crown shown on some emperor's portraits on coins minted in the 3rd century was associated with Sol, and may have been influenced by earlier depictions of Alexander the Great . Some coins minted in the 4th century depict Sol on one side. Constantine I wore the "radiate crown" though some argue that it was intended to represent the " Holy Nails " and not Sol. Sol

378-521: A wide range of legends, only a few of which incorporated the epithet INVICTUS , such as the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI , claiming the "Unconquered Sun" as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine. Statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine . Constantine's official coinage continues to bear images of Sol until 325/326. A solidus of Constantine as well as

432-589: Is believed to originate in the Proto-Indo-European language , as a continuation of the heteroclitic * Seh 2 ul - / *Sh 2 -en- , and thus cognate to other solar deities in other Indo-European languages : Germanic Sol , Sanskrit Surya , Avestan Hvare-khshaeta , Greek Helios , Lithuanian Saulė . Also compare Latin sol to Etruscan usil . Today, Romance languages still use reflexes of sol (e.g., Italian sole, Portuguese sol, Spanish sol, Romanian soare and French soleil ) as

486-645: Is broad agreement that coin-images showing the imperial radiate crown are stylistically distinct from those of the solar crown of rays; the imperial radiate crown is depicted as a real object rather than as symbolic light. Hijmans argues that the Imperial radiate crown represents the honorary wreath awarded to Augustus , perhaps posthumously, to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Actium ; he points out that henceforth, living emperors were depicted with radiate crowns, but state divi were not. Hijmans believes this implies that

540-565: Is currently situated. It was the fourth temple dedicated to the Sun in Rome – the other three were in the Circus Maximus , on the Quirinal Hill and in Trastevere . The appearance of the temple is not described in the ancient sources. No remains of the temple have been found and no images of the temple on coins are known. Andrea Palladio in the 16th century (he visited Rome three times in

594-565: Is mentioned in an annotation of uncertain date added to a manuscript by 12th-century Syrian bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi . The scribe wrote: It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries, the Christians also took part. Accordingly, when the doctors of the Church perceived that

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648-404: Is shown in floor mosaics, with the usual radiate halo, and sometimes in a quadriga , in the central roundel of a circular representation of the zodiac or the seasons. These combinations "may have represented to an agricultural Jewish community the perpetuation of the annual cycle of the universe or ... the central part of a calendar". Sol (Roman mythology) Sol is the personification of

702-456: Is some debate over the significance of the date December 21 for the cult of Sol. According to a single, late source, the Romans held a festival on December 21 of Dies Natalis Invicti , "the birthday of the unconquered one." Most scholars assume Sol Invictus was meant, although our source for this festival does not state so explicitly. December 25 was commonly indicated as the date of

756-474: The Circus Maximus according to Tacitus (56–117 CE), and this temple remained important in the first three centuries CE. There was also an old shrine for Sol on the Quirinal , where an annual sacrifice was offered to Sol Indiges on August 9 to commemorate Caesar 's victory at Pharsala (48 BCE). The Roman ritual calendars or fasti also mention a feast for Sol Indiges on December 11, and

810-517: The Sun and a god in ancient Roman religion . It was long thought that Rome actually had two different, consecutive sun gods : The first, Sol Indiges ( Latin : the deified sun ), was thought to have been unimportant, disappearing altogether at an early period. Only in the late Roman Empire , scholars argued, did the solar cult re-appear with the arrival in Rome of the Syrian Sol Invictus ( Latin :

864-475: The Tauroctony of Mithras killing the bull, and looking at Sol over his shoulder. They appear in other scenes together from Mithras ascending behind Sol's chariot, shaking hands and some depictions of Sol kneeling to Mithras. Mithras was known as Sol Invictus even though Sol is a separate deity, a paradoxical relationship where they are each other but separate. They are separate deities but due to some similarities

918-411: The winter solstice , with the first detectable lengthening of daylight hours. The Philocalian calendar of AD 354, part VI, gives a festival of NATALIS INVICTI on 25 December. There is limited evidence that this festival was celebrated before the mid-4th century. The same Philocalian calendar , part VIII, also mentions the birth of Jesus Christ , stating that the "Lord Jesus Christ

972-451: The Šams , the solar god of Palmyra on the grounds that Aurelian placed and consecrated a cult statue of the sun god looted from Palmyra in the temple of Sol Invictus. Forsythe (2012) discusses these arguments and adds a third more recent one, based on the work of Steven Hijmans. Hijmans argues that Aurelian's solar deity was simply the traditional Greco-Roman SOL INVICTUS . Emperors portrayed SOL INVICTUS on their official coinage, with

1026-500: The 1540s) drew the remains of a large complex east of the via Lata, which the German historian Christian Hülsen attributed to the Temple of the Sun. This complex consisted of a rectangular site surrounded by colonnades, which was split into two parts. A first courtyard (55m x 75m) had the short sides made up of two hemicycles and the walls were adorned with two orders of columns framing niches;

1080-573: The 2nd century, is inscribed on a Roman phalera (ornamental disk): INVENTORI LUCIS SOLI INVICTO AUGUSTO ( "I glorify the unconquerable sun, the creator of light." ) Augustus is a regular epithet linking deities to the Imperial cult . Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic mysteries , and was equated with Mithras. The relation of the Mithraic Sol Invictus to the public cult of

1134-401: The 3rd century BCE. The Roman cult to Sol is continuous from the "earliest history" of the city until the institution of Christianity as the exclusive state religion. Scholars have sometimes regarded the traditional Sol Indiges and Sol Invictus as two separate deities, but the rejection of this view by S. E. Hijmans has found supporters. An inscription of CE 102 records

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1188-463: The Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that day. Another theory is that Christmas was calculated as nine months after a date chosen as Christ's conception (the Annunciation ): March 25, the Roman date of the spring equinox . This theory was first proposed by French writer Louis Duchesne in 1889. The charioteer in

1242-591: The East, the Emperor Aurelian thoroughly reformed the Roman cult of Sol, elevating the sun-god to one of the premier divinities of the Empire. Where previously priests of Sol had been simply sacerdotes and tended to belong to lower ranks of Roman society, they were now pontifices and members of the new college of pontifices instituted by Aurelian. Every pontifex of Sol was a member of the senatorial elite, indicating that

1296-688: The Roman Saturnalia and Calenda. A mosaic floor in Hamat Tiberias presents David as Helios surrounded by a ring with the signs of the zodiac . As well as in Hamat Tiberias, figures of Helios or Sol Invictus also appear in several of the very few surviving schemes of decoration surviving from Late Antique synagogues , including Beth Alpha , Husefa, all now in Israel , and Naaran in the West Bank. He

1350-527: The Sun has also been used in early Jewish prophecy, poetry, and art. Psalm 19 , begins "The heavens proclaim the glory of God, the firmament proclaims his handiwork", and likens the Sun to a bridegroom, to a warrior, and to the Torah . An Aggadic legend found in tractate Avodah Zarah 8a contains the talmudic hypothesis that Adam the first established the tradition of fasting before the winter solstice , and rejoicing afterward, which festival later devolved into

1404-399: The arched entrances were framed by giant columns for the courtyard's entire height. A small square room (15m x 15m) separated it from a second larger courtyard (130m x 90m), placed on the same axis, with three rectangular niches open on the long sides (the two lateral ones were wider, with two entrances each with columns and equipped with a small apse) and three other niches on the short side at

1458-473: The country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. Constantine's triumphal arch was carefully positioned to align with the colossal statue of Sol by the Colosseum , so that Sol formed

1512-580: The courtyard's end, the central niche was semicircular, while the lateral ones were rectangular, and all three possessing two-column entrances. In the centre of this space was a tholos or circular building, some 25 metres across (from the lowest of the three steps), presumed to have been the temple. There are sixteen columns outside the cella, which is some 10 metres across, and has two entrances. Justinian I took eight porphyry columns from it, 6.88 m high, for Hagia Sophia in Constantinople . However,

1566-531: The cult of Sol continued to be maintained by high-ranking pontiffs, including the renowned Vettius Agorius Praetextatus . According to the Historia Augusta , Elagabalus , the teenaged Severan heir, adopted the name of his deity and brought his cult image from Emesa to Rome. Once installed as emperor, he neglected Rome's traditional State deities and promoted his own as Rome's most powerful deity. This ended with his murder in 222. The Historia Augusta equates

1620-509: The deity Elagabalus with Jupiter and Sol: fuit autem Heliogabali vel Iovis vel Solis sacerdos , "He was also a priest of Heliogabalus, or Jove , or Sol". While this has been seen as an attempt to import the Syrian sun god to Rome, the Roman cult of Sol had existed in Rome at least since the early Republic . As the Cult of Sol grew and Sol took on attributes of other deities, Sol began to be used as

1674-401: The deity Elagabalus with Jupiter and Sol: fuit autem Heliogabali vel Iovis vel Solis sacerdos , "He was also a priest of Heliogabalus, or Jove , or Sol". While this has been seen as an attempt to import the Syrian sun god to Rome, the Roman cult of Sol had existed in Rome at least since the early Republic . The Roman gens Aurelia was associated with the cult of Sol. After his victories in

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1728-415: The deity with the same name is unclear and perhaps non-existent. According to the Historia Augusta , Elagabalus , the teenaged Severan heir, adopted the name of his deity and brought his cult image from Emesa to Rome. Once installed as emperor, he neglected Rome's traditional State deities and promoted his own as Rome's most powerful deity. This ended with his murder in 222. The Historia Augusta equates

1782-483: The dominant backdrop when seen from the direction of the main approach towards the arch. Berrens (2004) deals with coin-evidence of Imperial connection to the Solar cult. Sol is depicted sporadically on imperial coins in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, then more frequently from Septimius Severus onwards until AD 325–326. SOL INVICTUS appears on coin legends from AD 261, well before the reign of Aurelian. Connections between

1836-471: The early fourth century AD associates Christ's birth with the birthday of Sol Invictus: Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... the eighth before the calends of January [25 December] ... But they [the pagans] call it the ' Birthday of the Unconquered '. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, [we may say] He is the Sun of Justice. The theory

1890-666: The emperor Aurelian instituted the festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti ('birthday of the Invincible Sun') on 25 December, the date of the winter solstice in the Roman calendar. In Rome, this yearly festival was celebrated with thirty chariot races. Gary Forsythe, Professor of Ancient History, says "This celebration would have formed a welcome addition to the seven-day period of the Saturnalia (December 17–23), Rome's most joyous holiday season since Republican times, characterized by parties, banquets, and exchanges of gifts". In AD 362,

1944-602: The emperor Julian wrote in his Hymn to King Helios that the Agon Solis was a festival of the sun held at the end of the Saturnalia in late December. The festival is recorded in the Chronograph of 354 (or Filocalian calendar). Historians generally agree that this part of the text was written in Rome in AD 336. Wallraff (2001) says there is limited evidence for the festival before

1998-466: The god in Rome to (at least) four. He also instituted games in honor of the sun god, held every four years from 274 onwards. The identity of Aurelian's Sol Invictus has long been a subject of scholarly debate. Based on the Augustan History , some scholars have argued that it was based on Sol Elagablus (or Elagabla) of Emesa . Others, basing their argument on Zosimus , suggest that it was based on

2052-467: The imperial radiate crown and the cult of Sol are postulated. Augustus was posthumously depicted with radiate crown, as were living emperors from Nero (after AD 65) to Constantine . Some modern scholarship interprets the imperial radiate crown as a divine, solar association rather than an overt symbol of Sol; Bergmann calls it a pseudo-object designed to disguise the divine and solar connotations that would otherwise be politically controversial but there

2106-469: The main word for "sun". According to Roman sources, the worship of Sol was introduced by Titus Tatius shortly after the foundation of Rome. In Virgil he is the grandfather of Latinus , the son of Sol's daughter Circe who lived not far from Rome at Monte Circeo. A shrine to Sol stood on the banks of the Numicius, near many important shrines of early Latin religion. In Rome Sol had an "old" temple in

2160-460: The mid-4th century. A widely-held theory is that the Church chose December 25 as Jesus Christ's birthday ( Dies Natalis Christi ) to appropriate the festival of Sol Invictus's birthday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti , held on the same date. The early Church linked Jesus Christ to the Sun and referred to him as the 'Sun of Righteousness' ( Sol Justitiae ) prophesied by Malachi . A Christian treatise attributed to John Chrysostom and dating to

2214-481: The mosaic of Mausoleum M has been interpreted by some as Christ. Clement of Alexandria had spoken of Christ driving his chariot across the sky. This interpretation is doubted by others: "Only the cross-shaped nimbus makes the Christian significance apparent", and the figure is seen by some simply as a representation of the Sun with no explicit religious reference whatever, pagan or Christian. The traditional image of

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2268-412: The notion that Aurelian introduced a new cult of the sun ignores the abundant evidence on coins, in images, in inscriptions, and in other sources for a strong presence of the sun god in Rome throughout the imperial period. Tertullian (died 220 CE) writes that the Circus Maximus was dedicated primarily to Sol. During the reign of Aurelian, a new college of pontiffs for Sol was established. There

2322-429: The priesthood of Sol was now highly prestigious. Almost all these senators held other priesthoods as well, however, and some of these other priesthoods take precedence in the inscriptions in which they are listed, suggesting that they were considered more prestigious than the priesthood of Sol. Aurelian also built a new temple for Sol , which was dedicated on 25 December 274, and brought the total number of temples for

2376-526: The radiate crown of living emperors is a symbolic link to Augustus. His successors automatically inherited (or sometimes acquired) the same offices and honours due to Octavian as "saviour of the Republic" through his victory at Actium, piously attributed to Apollo - Helios . Furthermore, radiate crowns were not solely worn by emperors: The wreaths awarded to victors at the Actian Games were radiate. In AD 274,

2430-429: The revisionist view, there was only one cult of Sol in Rome, continuous from the monarchy to the end of antiquity . There were at least three temples of Sol in Rome, all active during the Empire and all dating from the earlier Republic. Invictus ("unconquered, invincible") was an epithet utilized for several Roman deities , including Jupiter , Mars , Hercules , Apollo , and Silvanus . It had been in use from

2484-453: The rise. When the festival on December 25 was instituted is not clear, which makes it hard to assess what impact (if any) it had on the establishment of Christmas . There were also festivals on other days in December, including the 11th (mentioned above), as well as August. Gordon points out that none of these other festivals are linked to astronomical events. Throughout the 4th century

2538-450: The two. Sol Invictus (English translated as "Unconquered Sun") was long thought to have been a foreign state-supported sun god introduced from either Emesa or Palmyra in Syria by the emperor Aurelian in 274 and overshadowing other Eastern cults in importance, until the abolition of classical Roman religion under Theodosius I . However the evidence for this is meager at best, and

2592-401: The unconquered sun ), perhaps under the influence of the Mithraic mysteries . Publications from the mid-1990s have challenged the notion of two different sun gods in Rome, pointing to the abundant evidence for the continuity of the cult of Sol, and the lack of any clear differentiation – either in name or depiction – between the "early" and "late" Roman sun god. The Latin sol for " Sun "

2646-404: Was believed to be a Syrian sun god whose cult was first promoted in Rome under Elagabalus , without success. Some fifty years later, in 274 CE, Aurelian established the cult of Sol Invictus as an official religion. There has never been consensus on which Syrian sun god he might have been: some scholars opted for the sky god of Emesa, Elagabal , while others preferred Malakbel of Palmyra . In

2700-459: Was born eight days before the calends of January" (that is, on December 25). Since the 12th century, there have been speculations that the near-solstice date of 25 December for Christmas was selected because it was the date of the festival of DIES NATALIS SOLIS INVICTI , but historians of late antiquity make no mention of this, and others speculate Aurelian chose December 25 to shadow early Christian celebrations already on

2754-472: Was established for the cult, as well as four-year games ( agon Solis ) to be held at the end of the Saturnalia . The temple was located in the Regio VII Via Lata . It was decorated with the spoils of war taken from Palmyra and was praised in the ancient sources for its beauty. Although it stood to the east of the via Lata , its exact location is not certain. Near the temple was a porticus where wine

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2808-552: Was most notably identified with Phoebus Apollo ; such equation famously occurs in Varro and Ovid . The Greek assimilation of Apollo and Helios was already established in Rome by the end of the republic. Various Roman philosophers speculated on the nature of the sun, without arriving at any consensus. A typical example is Nigidius , a scholar of the 1st century BCE. His works have not survived, but writing five centuries later, Macrobius reports that Nigidius argued that Sol

2862-558: Was stored. Aurelian had decided that in the future the Roman citizens would also receive free wine and pork from the state in addition to bread and other foodstuffs. This suggests that the temple must have stood in the immediate vicinity of the Castra Urbana built by Aurelian and the Forum Suarium (the wine market), and this location coincides with where the church of San Silvestro in Capite

2916-482: Was to be identified with Janus and that he had a counterpart, Jana , who was Luna . As such, they were to be regarded as the highest of the gods, receiving their sacrifices before all the others. Such speculations appear to have been restricted to an erudite elite and had no impact on the well-attested cult of Sol as independent deity: No ancient source aside from Macrobius mentions the equation of Sol with Janus. Sol appears many times in depictions of Mithras, such as

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