IUPPITER VICTOR
In the battle of Sentinum, 295 B.C., the dictator,
Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, vowed a temple (aedes) to Iuppiter Victor,
to whom he afterwards offered the spoils collected from the Samnites in
sacrifice (
Liv. x. 29. 14, 18). Livy's statement (x. 42. 7) that in 293
L. Papirius, at the battle of Aquilonia, vowed a cup of new wine to
luppiter Victor, is sometimes interpreted as meaning that Fabius' temple
had been dedicated by that time, but this is quite hypothetical. According to Ovid (
Fast. iv. 621) and Fast. Ant. ap.
NS 1921, 92, the day of
dedication of the temple (templa) was the Ides of April. Josephus states
(Ant.
Iud. xix. 4. 3) that after the murder of Caligula in 41 A.D. the consuls
summoned the senate
εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ νικηφόρου Διός; and Cassius Dio
(Ix. 35) mentions among the prodigies of 54 A.D. 17
ἡ αὐτόματος τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Νικαίου ἄνοιξις. These all seem to refer to the same temple,
presumably the same aedes Iovis Victoris that is mentioned as standing
in
Region X in the fourth century in the Notitia (Curiosum om. Victoris).
If so, the temple was on the Palatine, but this depends solely on the
Notitia (
BC 1917, 84-92, where it is maintained to be of very early origin).
Among the prodigies of 42 B.C. the striking of lightning
ἐς τὸν τοῦ Νικαίου Διὸς βωμόνες is reported (Cass.
Dio xlvii. 40. 2), evidently an
altar outside a temple or quite by itself; and in a similar list for the
preceding year the same author states (xlv. 17. 2)
κεραυνοί τε γὰρ παμπληθεῖς ἔπεσον καὶ ἐς τὸν τῷ Διὶ τῷ Καπιτωλίῳ ἐν τῷ Νικαίῳ ὄντα κατεσκηψαν. The interpretation of this last passage is
not perfectly clear (
Jord. i. 2. 50), but it is sometimes regarded as
evidence for the existence of a shrine of Iuppiter Victor on the Capitoline,
although probably wrongly. An inscription found on the Quirinal (
CIL il.
638 =vi. 438 =30767 a,
[D] Iovei victore T. Aebu[ti] M. f. iiivir [resti]tuit）
attributed
1 to T. Aebutius Carus, triumvir coloniae deducendae in 183 B.C.,
is also believed to prove the existence of a shrine of the same god
on that hill, but the whole question of the temple or temples of
Iuppiter Victor is still unsettled, and the uncertainty is increased by
Ovid's statement (
Fast. vi. 650) that on the Ides of June
invicto sunt
data templa Iovi. Invictus is a less frequent cognomen, occurring in
some inscriptions, but is probably an alternative for victor. This temple
cannot, in any case, be that referred to by Ovid in the earlier passage
(see above). No identification of the Palatine temple with any existing
remains is now tenable (HJ 50;
Rosch. ii. 679-681;
Gilb. iii. 427;
BC 1917, 84-89;
RE x. 1134-1135; TF 92-94, n. 2; WR 123).
