Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") or, in full, Deus Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun God") was a name used for three different religious deities in the late Roman Empire, Elagabalus, Mithras, and Sol
Unlike the previous agrarian cult of Sol Indiges ("Native Sun" or "Sun invoked"), the title Deus Sol Invictus was formed by analogy with the imperial title Invictus (Unconquered).
The cult of Sol Invictus was widespread throughout the Roman Empire, such as ritual celebrations of the birth of the Sun in Syria and Egypt were of great solemnity and provided that the celebrants retired in special sanctuaries will come out at midnight, announcing that Virgin Earth had given birth to the sun, depicted as an infant.
The title gained momentum for the first time with the emperor Heliogabalus, who attempted prematurely to impose the cult of Sol Invictus Elagabalus, God-Bolide sun of his native city Emesa in Syria.
Elagabalus built a temple dedicated to the new god on the Palatine. With the violent death of the emperor in 222 this worship ceased to be cultivated in Rome, although the emperors continued to be portrayed on the coins with the iconography of the solar corona radiata for almost a century.
In the second instance, the title was awarded to Invictus Mithras in private inscriptions of dedication by and devotees.
The term also appears associated with the god Mars.
In 272 Aurelian reunited the empire by defeating the main enemy: the United Queen Zenobia of Palmyra. The victory came thanks to the help of Providence city-state of Emesa (the army came at a time when the Roman militia were skidding).
The support of the priests of Emesa, devotees of the god Sol Invictus, bendispose the emperor who, at the beginning of the battle decisive, said he had the auspicious vision of the sun god of Emesa.
Later, in 274, Aurelian moved to Rome, the priests of the god Sol Invictus, and the formalization of the solar cult of Emesa, and build a temple on the slopes of the Quirinale and creating a new body of priests (pontifex solis invicti). However, beyond the grounds of personal gratitude, the adoption of the cult of Sol Invictus was seen by Aurelian as a strong element of cohesion, since, in various forms, the worship of the sun was present in all regions of the empire. Although
Sol Invictus Aurelian's not officially identified with Mitra, recalls many features of Mithraism, including the iconography of the god represented as a young without a beard.
Aurelian consecrated the temple of Sol Invictus on December 25 274, in a celebration called Dies Natalis Solis Invicta, "Day of birth of the Unconquered Sun," making the sun-god the chief deity of his empire and himself wearing a crown-ray . The celebration of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti became gradually more and more important as it was inserted, to conclude on the ancient Roman festival, the Saturnalia.
Constantine was Pontifex Maximus of the cult of Sol Invictus.
Before his baptism on his deathbed, the Emperor Constantine the Sol Invicuts depicted on its official currency, with the inscription ONLY INVICTA Comiti, "Al-mate Sol Invictus", then defining God as a companion of the emperor.
By a decree of March 7 321 Constantine called the day of the Sun (die solis) as that assigned to the rest:
"In the venerable day of the Sun, may rest the magistrates and city dwellers, and they leave closed all stores . In the countryside, however, people are legally free to continue their work, because it often happens that we can not postpone the harvest of grain or the planting of vineyards, so, for fear that denying the right time for such work is lost the appropriate time, determined from the sky. Justinian Code 3.12.2 "
In 330 the emperor decreed for the first time the Christian celebration of the nativity of Jesus who was made to coincide with the pagan festival of the birth of Sol Invictus. The "Christmas Unconquered" became the Christmas Day. [1]
In 337 Pope Julius I officially confirm the date of Christmas by the time the Christian Church (Catholic and Coptic).
The religion of Sol Invictus continued to be a "thorn in the side" for the Christians of Thessalonica to the popular edict of Theodosius I to 27 February 380, when the emperor declared that only the state religion was Christianity Nicaea, effectively banning all others. The same Christian cults
soon became confused with the solar cults:
"Many believe that the Christian God is the Sun because it is a known fact that we Please face the rising sun on the Day of the Sun and that we give ourselves to joy. "Tertullian, Ad nationes, Apologeticum, de animae witness.
"On the day that the Sun will gather in one place all those who live in cities or the countryside, reading the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets, as the weather permits it, then when the reader has finished The president tells in words and urges the imitation of these good examples. Then we get up and pray and all, as mentioned earlier, when the prayers were finished, is brought bread, wine and water, and the president offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people by his assent, saying Amen .
Then comes the distribution of and participation in what has been given with thanksgiving, and those who are absent a portion is carried by the deacons.
Those who can, and want to give what they consider could be used: the collection is filed to the president, who uses it for the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or other causes, are in need, and for those who are in chains, and for foreigners who live among us, in short for those who need it. "Justin Martyr, second century AD
Christianity adopted some of the features of the cult of Sol Invictus, as is evident in the first examples of Christian iconography depicting Christ with attributes such as solar the corona radiata, or in some cases, the sun chariot.
Sol Invicuts was adopted by the Church of Rome as a proof of identity between Christ and Apollo-Helios in a mausoleum discovered under St. Peter's Basilica and dated to around 250 [2].
beginning of the third century, "Sun of Justice" was the title given to Christ [3].
This title actually derives from the Old Testament, Chapter III of the book of Malachi: "For you, however, fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing and you will go out leaping like calves of the stall."
Constantine appointed on Sunday, previously dedicated to the sun, like the "Lord's Day [5], and day rest, instead of the Sabbath, the Sabbath jew.
yet one hundred and thirty years after the decision of Constantine, in 460, Pope Leo I sadly wrote:
"It's so much the religion of the Sun estimated that some Christians, before entering St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, after climbing the stairs, turn to the sun and bending his head gleaming bow in honor of the star. We are very distressed and we grieve for the fact that this is repeated for the pagan mentality. Christians must abstain from all appearance of allegiance to the cult of the gods. "
Pope Leo I, 7th sermon on Christmas Day 460 - XXVII-4
SOURCES 1. Treccani Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Arts and Letters, voice
Christmas
2. "Constantine the Great," New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967.
3. ibid "Christmas."
4. by Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries,
Macmullen Ramsay. Yale, 1997, p. 155
5. Treccani Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Arts and Letters, voice
Christmas
Unlike the previous agrarian cult of Sol Indiges ("Native Sun" or "Sun invoked"), the title Deus Sol Invictus was formed by analogy with the imperial title Invictus (Unconquered).
The cult of Sol Invictus was widespread throughout the Roman Empire, such as ritual celebrations of the birth of the Sun in Syria and Egypt were of great solemnity and provided that the celebrants retired in special sanctuaries will come out at midnight, announcing that Virgin Earth had given birth to the sun, depicted as an infant.
The title gained momentum for the first time with the emperor Heliogabalus, who attempted prematurely to impose the cult of Sol Invictus Elagabalus, God-Bolide sun of his native city Emesa in Syria.
Elagabalus built a temple dedicated to the new god on the Palatine. With the violent death of the emperor in 222 this worship ceased to be cultivated in Rome, although the emperors continued to be portrayed on the coins with the iconography of the solar corona radiata for almost a century.
In the second instance, the title was awarded to Invictus Mithras in private inscriptions of dedication by and devotees.
The term also appears associated with the god Mars.
In 272 Aurelian reunited the empire by defeating the main enemy: the United Queen Zenobia of Palmyra. The victory came thanks to the help of Providence city-state of Emesa (the army came at a time when the Roman militia were skidding).
The support of the priests of Emesa, devotees of the god Sol Invictus, bendispose the emperor who, at the beginning of the battle decisive, said he had the auspicious vision of the sun god of Emesa.
Later, in 274, Aurelian moved to Rome, the priests of the god Sol Invictus, and the formalization of the solar cult of Emesa, and build a temple on the slopes of the Quirinale and creating a new body of priests (pontifex solis invicti). However, beyond the grounds of personal gratitude, the adoption of the cult of Sol Invictus was seen by Aurelian as a strong element of cohesion, since, in various forms, the worship of the sun was present in all regions of the empire. Although
Sol Invictus Aurelian's not officially identified with Mitra, recalls many features of Mithraism, including the iconography of the god represented as a young without a beard.
Aurelian consecrated the temple of Sol Invictus on December 25 274, in a celebration called Dies Natalis Solis Invicta, "Day of birth of the Unconquered Sun," making the sun-god the chief deity of his empire and himself wearing a crown-ray . The celebration of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti became gradually more and more important as it was inserted, to conclude on the ancient Roman festival, the Saturnalia.
Constantine was Pontifex Maximus of the cult of Sol Invictus.
Before his baptism on his deathbed, the Emperor Constantine the Sol Invicuts depicted on its official currency, with the inscription ONLY INVICTA Comiti, "Al-mate Sol Invictus", then defining God as a companion of the emperor.
By a decree of March 7 321 Constantine called the day of the Sun (die solis) as that assigned to the rest:
"In the venerable day of the Sun, may rest the magistrates and city dwellers, and they leave closed all stores . In the countryside, however, people are legally free to continue their work, because it often happens that we can not postpone the harvest of grain or the planting of vineyards, so, for fear that denying the right time for such work is lost the appropriate time, determined from the sky. Justinian Code 3.12.2 "
In 330 the emperor decreed for the first time the Christian celebration of the nativity of Jesus who was made to coincide with the pagan festival of the birth of Sol Invictus. The "Christmas Unconquered" became the Christmas Day. [1]
In 337 Pope Julius I officially confirm the date of Christmas by the time the Christian Church (Catholic and Coptic).
The religion of Sol Invictus continued to be a "thorn in the side" for the Christians of Thessalonica to the popular edict of Theodosius I to 27 February 380, when the emperor declared that only the state religion was Christianity Nicaea, effectively banning all others. The same Christian cults
soon became confused with the solar cults:
"Many believe that the Christian God is the Sun because it is a known fact that we Please face the rising sun on the Day of the Sun and that we give ourselves to joy. "Tertullian, Ad nationes, Apologeticum, de animae witness.
"On the day that the Sun will gather in one place all those who live in cities or the countryside, reading the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets, as the weather permits it, then when the reader has finished The president tells in words and urges the imitation of these good examples. Then we get up and pray and all, as mentioned earlier, when the prayers were finished, is brought bread, wine and water, and the president offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people by his assent, saying Amen .
Then comes the distribution of and participation in what has been given with thanksgiving, and those who are absent a portion is carried by the deacons.
Those who can, and want to give what they consider could be used: the collection is filed to the president, who uses it for the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or other causes, are in need, and for those who are in chains, and for foreigners who live among us, in short for those who need it. "Justin Martyr, second century AD
Christianity adopted some of the features of the cult of Sol Invictus, as is evident in the first examples of Christian iconography depicting Christ with attributes such as solar the corona radiata, or in some cases, the sun chariot.
Sol Invicuts was adopted by the Church of Rome as a proof of identity between Christ and Apollo-Helios in a mausoleum discovered under St. Peter's Basilica and dated to around 250 [2].
beginning of the third century, "Sun of Justice" was the title given to Christ [3].
This title actually derives from the Old Testament, Chapter III of the book of Malachi: "For you, however, fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing and you will go out leaping like calves of the stall."
Constantine appointed on Sunday, previously dedicated to the sun, like the "Lord's Day [5], and day rest, instead of the Sabbath, the Sabbath jew.
yet one hundred and thirty years after the decision of Constantine, in 460, Pope Leo I sadly wrote:
"It's so much the religion of the Sun estimated that some Christians, before entering St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, after climbing the stairs, turn to the sun and bending his head gleaming bow in honor of the star. We are very distressed and we grieve for the fact that this is repeated for the pagan mentality. Christians must abstain from all appearance of allegiance to the cult of the gods. "
Pope Leo I, 7th sermon on Christmas Day 460 - XXVII-4
SOURCES 1. Treccani Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Arts and Letters, voice
Christmas
2. "Constantine the Great," New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967.
3. ibid "Christmas."
4. by Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries,
Macmullen Ramsay. Yale, 1997, p. 155
5. Treccani Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Arts and Letters, voice
Christmas
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