Virtus

The Roman personification of manly valor. There was a golden statue of her at Rome, which Alaricus, king of the Goths, melted down.

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Iconography

She was represented with a short tunic, her right breast uncovered, a helmet on her head, a spear in her left hand, a sword in the right, and standing with her right foot on a helmet.

References

Sources

  • Cicero. On the Nature of the Gods ii, 23.
  • Livy. The History of Rome xxvii, 25; xxix, 11.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Valerius Maximus, i, 1.8.
  • Zosimus, v, 21.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.