LaurelWineIncenseA deed publicly acknowledgedAnother persons due named
Invocation Approach
Tone
Formal public
Address
HonosHonourThe God Beside Virtus
Relationship
The esteem that follows the deed
Warning
He is owed to the doer and not to the one who speaks
Resonance
Those receiving or refusing public honour
Symbols
The laurelThe crownThe curule chairThe palm
Mythology Summary
Honos is the Roman personification of honour in the sense of public esteem - the recognition a deed earns - and he is a god of the state rather than a figure of story. A temple was dedicated to Honos alone in 234 BCE by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus after his victory over the Ligurians (Cicero, De natura deorum 2.61), and after the vow at Clastidium in 222 BCE Marcellus' attempt to rededicate it to Honos and Virtus together was blocked by the pontiffs, who held that one cella could not be dedicated to two gods; a second cella was added and the double temple was dedicated in 205 BCE (Livy 27.25.7-9). It stood outside the Porta Capena and housed art looted from Syracuse.
Modern Practice
Honos is invoked when honour is being given and when it is being withheld: at a promotion, a prize, a public credit. The practice runs both directions - name the deed accurately, and name whose due it is, including when the due is someone else's.