Mens

Mens is in Roman mythology the personification of thought and consciousness, it is also known as Bona Mens, as the personification of the human soul.

After the defeat of the consul Gaius Flaminius at the Battle of Lake Trasimeno 217 BC the praetor Titus Otacilius Crassus swore on the advice of the Sibylline books and on behalf of the Senate of the construction of a temple on the Capitol mens, two years later next to the Temple of Venus Erucina was ordained. The Romans asked the goddess to give them in the fight against Hannibal prudence and clarity of thought. On Foundation Day of the Temple, June 8, her a feast was held in honor. Mens Bona was worshiped not only in public but also in private cult. In Pliny and Cicero the cult of Mens is mentioned alongside other abstract Vergöttlichungen. While the cult in this period was not widespread, numerous dedications from the imperial period have survived. Outside of Rome the cult was widespread among slaves.

Pictures of mens are preserved on Roman coins.