Clementia is the Roman personification of mercy and compassion,
worshipped in Rome as a Goddess, especially in Imperial times. Her name means
"gentleness", "mercy", "forbearance", or "mildness".
Like many other deified qualities, Clementia was used on coins as an attribute
of the current Emperor, or to celebrate the virtues of some ancestor, usually
for political gain. She was used to play up the kindliness of leaders, especially
those who had acted mercifully to defeated enemies.
Clementia had a temple jointly with Julius Caesar, called the
Aedes Clementia Caesaris ("Temple of the Clemency of Caesar")
which was decreed by the Senate in 44 BCE, in commemoration of the mercy Caesar
had shown to his many defeated foes. In this temple Clementia and Caesar may
have been depicted holding hands, as equals. The site of this temple is no longer
known, and in fact it may never even have been built. Caesar, of course, met
his abrupt end in that year about a month after the Senate voted him a God,
with a divine image and priest of his (His) own; and His assassination was a
result of His seemingly limitless power and ambition, dangerously close to (really
over the line into) hubris.
Which is no reflection on Clementia, of course, poor dear. She
was often (mis)used by Emperors who clearly wouldn't know compassion if it saved
their lives; She had an altar in Rome dedicated in 28 CE to the Clemency of
Tiberius, the 2nd Emperor of Rome who was vastly unpopular and was probably
poisoned in the end by his successor Caligula, of the infamously depraved and
violent reign. During Caligula's time as Emperor the Senate, in an act of what
must have been sheer terror and desperate grovelling on their parts, ordered
sacrifices made to his Clemency, to doubtful results.
Clementia could be shown standing up, holding a staff or spear
in Her left hand, a patera or small offering bowl in Her right. She was also
shown seated, and could hold a laurel branch, a symbol of victory but also the
peace victory brings; or an olive branch, which also symbolized peace as well
as mildness.
