Venus in the house altar - love in the bow
A special token of love: give away the Roman goddess of love Venus, in the ornate house altar!
The goddess of love, desire and beauty stands under an arch in a house altar and holds her right hand to her chest. This love arch is reworked and added to a find from the 1st century AD in Pompeii.
- Place of discovery: Pompeii 1.Jhd.A.D.
- Dimensions of the house altar 16x9cm
- real alabaster plaster patinated
Mother of the Roman people
Besides the many forms of veneration Venus enjoyed, she has a special significance as Venus genetrix, ancestral mother of the Roman people, through her son Aeneas (mater Aeneadum). Especially the family of the Julii, who derived their descent from their grandson Iulus, son of Aeneas, venerated her as progenitor. In this sense, Julius Caesar, as Venus genetrix, erected a magnificent temple to her on the forum he had built in 46 BC, where games were celebrated every year (Saturnalia).
The philanthropist
Gaius Octavius, called Augustus, also referred to her. At the foot of the armored statue of Primaporta is depicted a dolphin, the animal associated with Venus. The dolphin was considered to represent love and philanthropy - philanthropic thinking and behavior.
As the progenitor of the entire Roman nation, the goddess Venus was dedicated, along with Hadrian's Roma, the magnificent double temple near the Colosseum (later templum Urbis), completed in 135, of which only ruins remain today.
Venus was sacred April 1, when she was worshipped by Roman matrons as Venus Verticordia (turnress of female hearts to discipline and morality), along with Fortuna Virilis (goddess of women's happiness with men) and Concordia.
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