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Aequitas (genitive aequitatis) is the Latin concept of justice, equality, conformity, symmetry, or fairness.[1] It is the origin of the English word "equity".[2][3] In ancient Rome, it could refer to either the legal concept of equity,[4] or fairness between individuals.[5]
Cicero defined aequitas as "tripartite": the first, he said, pertained to the gods above (ad superos deos) and is equivalent to pietas, religious obligation; the second, to the Manes, the underworld spirits or spirits of the dead, and was sanctitas, that which is sacred; and the third pertaining to human beings (homines) was iustitia, "justice".[6]
During the Roman Empire, Aequitas as a divine personification was part of the religious propaganda of the emperor, under the name Aequitas Augusti,[7] which also appeared on coins.[8] She is depicted on coins holding a cornucopia and a balance scale (libra),[9] which was more often a symbol of "honest measure" to the Romans than of justice.[10]
- ^ Jordan, Michael (2014-05-14). Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses. Infobase Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-4381-0985-5.
- ^ "Equity | Origin and meaning of equity by Online Etymology Dictionary". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022.
- ^ Jr, Daniel L. Rentfro (2019-10-29). The Law of Freedom: Justice and Mercy in the Practice of Law. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5326-5102-1.
- ^ Vit-Suzan, Ilan (2016-04-15). Architectural Heritage Revisited: A Holistic Engagement of its Tangible and Intangible Constituents. Routledge. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-317-17950-4.
- ^ Quentin Skinner, Visions of Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 49 online. See also George Mousourakis, The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law (Ashgate, 2003), pp. 28, 32–35.
- ^ Cicero, Topica 90, as cited by Jerzy Linderski, "Q. Scipio Imperator," in Imperium sine fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic (Franz Steiner, 1996), p. 175.
- ^ Adkins, Lesley; Adkins, Roy A.; Adkins, Both Professional Archaeologists Roy A. (2014-05-14). Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Infobase Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-8160-7482-2.
- ^ J. Rufus Fears, "The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.17.2 (1981), pp. 897–898, 900, 903–904.
- ^ McIntyre, Gwynaeth; McCallum, Sarah (2019-01-24). Uncovering Anna Perenna: A Focused Study of Roman Myth and Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-350-04844-7.
- ^ Linderski, "Q. Scipio Imperator," p. 175.