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{{Short description|Roman legal concept}}
{{about|the legal concept|the Canadian stock exchange|Aequitas Neo}}

[[Image:Antoninianus Claudius II-RIC 0137.jpg|thumb|279x279px|Aequitas on the reverse of this ''[[antoninianus]]'' struck under [[Claudius II]]. The goddess is holding her symbols, the balance and the cornucopia.]]

'''''Aequitas''''' ([[genitive]] ''aequitatis'') is the [[Roman virtues|Latin concept]] of justice, equality, conformity, symmetry, or fairness.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jordan |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqDC5bwx4_wC |title=Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses |date=2014-05-14 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0985-5 |pages=6 |language=en}}</ref> It is the origin of the English word "equity".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Equity &#124; Origin and meaning of equity by Online Etymology Dictionary |url=https://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=equity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929145030/https://www.etymonline.com/word/equity |archive-date=September 29, 2022 |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher= |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jr |first=Daniel L. Rentfro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O6DBDwAAQBAJ |title=The Law of Freedom: Justice and Mercy in the Practice of Law |date=2019-10-29 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-5326-5102-1 |language=en}}</ref> In [[ancient Rome]], it could refer to either the legal concept of [[Equity (law)|equity]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vit-Suzan |first=Ilan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQYHDAAAQBAJ |title=Architectural Heritage Revisited: A Holistic Engagement of its Tangible and Intangible Constituents |date=2016-04-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-17950-4 |pages=54 |language=en}}</ref> or fairness between individuals.<ref>[[Quentin Skinner]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=OKMicP_RRn8C&dq=Cicero%2C+aequitas&pg=PA49 Visions of Politics]'' ([[Cambridge University Press]], 2002), p. 49 [https://books.google.com/books?id=OKMicP_RRn8C&dq=Cicero%2C+aequitas&pg=PA49 online.] See also George Mousourakis, ''The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law'' ([[Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate]], 2003), pp. 28, 32–35.</ref>

[[Cicero]] defined ''aequitas'' as "tripartite": the first, he said, pertained to the gods above ''(ad superos deos)'' and is equivalent to ''[[pietas (virtue)|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".<ref>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.</ref>

During the [[Roman Empire]], Aequitas as a divine [[personification]] was part of the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|religious propaganda]] of the  [[Roman Emperor|emperor]], under the name ''Aequitas [[Augustus (title)|Augusti]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zGY1Sqjwf8kC |title=Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy A. |last3=Adkins |first3=Both Professional Archaeologists Roy A. |date=2014-05-14 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7482-2 |pages=281 |language=en}}</ref> which also appeared on coins.<ref>[[J. Rufus Fears]], "[https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110850680-007/html?lang=en The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology]," ''[[Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt]]'' II.17.2 (1981), pp. 897–898, 900, 903–904.</ref> She is depicted on coins holding a [[cornucopia]] and a [[balance scale]] ''(libra)'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McIntyre |first1=Gwynaeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JqkDwAAQBAJ |title=Uncovering Anna Perenna: A Focused Study of Roman Myth and Culture |last2=McCallum |first2=Sarah |date=2019-01-24 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-04844-7 |pages=120 |language=en}}</ref> which was more often a symbol of "honest measure" to the Romans than of justice.<ref>Linderski, "[https://www.academia.edu/8442285/J_Linderski_Q_Scipio_Imperator_RQ_II_2007 Q. Scipio Imperator]," p. 175.</ref>

==References==
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{{Roman religion}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Roman goddesses]]
[[Category:Commerce goddesses]]
[[Category:Equity (law)]]
[[Category:Personifications in Roman mythology]]


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