Fides was the Roman goddess of trustworthiness and good faith. Although not a major deity, she was important to the Romans, and had a temple on the Capitoline hill next to that of Jupiter, the most important Roman god and the head of the pantheon.

To honour Fides, there was an annual procession and a ceremony officiated by Jupiter's chief priest, the Flamen Dialis, with his hand wrapped in white cloth because it was regarded as sacred while taking an oath of fidelity.

On coins, Fides was sometimes shown as on the coins on the right; standing, holding a bowl of fruits in one hand, and with a couple of ears of wheat or barley trailing behind in her other hand. The denarius of Hadrian on the near right has the legend FIDES PVBLICA, the confidence of the people, which in this case clearly sends the message that no-one need worry about the harvest this year. Ironically, this particular coin is a contemporary fake, so the silver content of this coin is more of a concern than the fruitfulness of the harvest.

But most Roman coins of Fides show something more like this. This is a billon antoninianus of Victorinus which shows Fides Militum, the loyalty of the army. She is holding two military standards. A coin like this sent three different messages at the same time. The populace were reassured that they were well defended. Enemies of Rome were reminded that Rome would not be an easy target. And the army were reminded of the solemn oaths they had taken when they joined up. That makes coins like this paricularly good value as propaganda.

Interestingly, this particular coin was struck by a breakaway emperor of the Gaulish "Roman" empire, consisting of parts of Britain and France. So, the coin's message was probably aimed at the actual Roman emperor as much as anyone else. At that time, there was another breakaway empire in Palmyra in the east, as well as the actual Roman empire. Both of these mini-empires followed the Roman model in many respects, including their coinage, but neither lasted very long. They were reconquered by the armies of the emperor Aurelian in 272 and 274 CE.

Three variations of the same general type on antoniniani of the real Roman empire. On the near right is a coin of Gordian III. Fides is carrying a standard and a long sceptre. In the centre, a coin of Elagabalus, on which Fides carries a standard and a vexillum, which is the flag of a section of a legion. They both have the same legend as the previous coin, FIDES MILITVM.

On the far right is an antoninianus of Aurelian, the emperor who reunited a divided empire. Sol is standing, facing left, holding a globe which represents the whole cosmos. He is saluting a figure who holds two standards. Sometimes she is labelled as Providence because of the legend, PROVIDENTIA DEORVM, which refers to the emperor's foresight. But she is not the normal depiction of Providentia, and if you compare with the figures shown above, you can see that she is clearly Fides Militum again. So, the emperor's foresight consists of combining a loyal army with Invincible Sol, his preferred deity.

Fides Militum was sometimes shown seated. On the far left, an antoninianus of Probus, with a seated Fides Militum and three legionary standards, two being held and one apparently pushed into the earth in front. Next to that is an antoninianus of Elagabalus. This time, Fides Militum is holding one standard and a bird, with the other standard in front as on the Probus coin. The bird does not look very impressive, and in fact it has been mistaken for a dove, but actually it is supposed to be a legionary eagle.

These two coins have a Fides legend with quite different imagery. On the near right is a pair of hands clasped around a caduceus and some corn and poppy stems. These symbolise trade and the annual corn supply, respectively, and the legend FIDES PVBL refers to the confidence thst the people ought to have in the emperor's ability to provide those things.

On the far right, the legend FIDES AVG might mean the good faith of the emperor. The image is of Mercury, the god of trade and prosperity. This might refer to the sound commercial foundation of the trust between the emperor and the people.

I have a few more Fides coins on the way, which I will add to this page shortly ...