Sol Invictus

For the folk music band, see Sol Invictus (band).

Sol Invictus ("the Unconquered Sun") or, more fully, Deus Sol Invictus ("the Unconquered Sun God") was a religious title applied to at least three distinct deities during the later Roman Empire: El Gabal, Mithras, and Sol.

The earlier cult of Sol Indiges ("the native sun" or "the invoked sun")the etymology and meaning of the word "indiges" is disputed was agrarian. The title Deus Sol Invictus was formed similar to the imperial titulature pius felix invictus ("dutiful, fortunate, unconquered").

The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun." The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped together, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the patron god of Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-274); and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin.""Mithraism", The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913. Emperor Elagabalus (218-222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday that was a possible inspiration of Christmas."Sol." Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago (2006).

 Notes 

Further reading
Halsberghe, L. 1972. The Cult of Sol Invictus (Leiden)

 Other websites 
Encyclopedia Britannica Online: Sol
Probus and Sol, includes images of coins 
Roman-Emperors: Aurelian 
Gibbon's Decline and Fall: Triumph of Aurelian
Gibbon's references for Aurelian's Temple of Sol Invictus 
 Clement A. Miles, Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan (1912): December 25 and the Natalis Invicti
Catholic Encyclopedia (1908): Christmas
Ancient sources

Category:Roman gods and goddesses