Salus

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Salus" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve it to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Salus (Latin: salus, "safety", "salvation", "welfare")^[1] was the Roman goddess of safety and well-being (welfare, health and prosperity) of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes equated with the Greek goddess Hygieia, though their functions differ considerably.

Salus is one of the oldest Roman goddesses: she has also been referred to as Salus Semonia,^[2] a fact that might hint at her belonging to the category of the Semones (gods such as Semo Sancus Dius Fidius). The two gods had temples in Rome on the Collis Salutaris and Mucialis respectively,^[3] two adjacent hilltops of the Quirinal located in the regio Alta Semita. The temple of Salus, as Salus Publica Populi Romani, was voted in 304 BC, during the Samnite Wars, by dictator Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus,^[4] dedicated on 5 August 302, and adorned with frescos at the order of Gaius Fabius Pictor.^[5]

The high antiquity and importance of the cult of Salus is testified by the little-known ceremony of the Augurium Salutis, held every year on August 5 for the preservation of the Roman state.^[6] Her cult was spread over all Italy.^[7] Literary sources record relationships with Fortuna^[8] and Spes.^[9] She started to be increasingly associated with Valetudo, the Goddess of Personal Health and the romanized name of Hygieia.

Later Salus also become a protector of personal health. Around 180 BCE sacrificial rites in honor of Apollo, Aesculapius, and Salus took place (Livius XL, 37). There was a statue to Salus in the temple of Concordia. She is first known to be associated with the snake of Aesculapius from a coin of 55 BC minted by M. Acilius.^[10] Her festival was celebrated on March 30.