A pagan title repurposed to protect a Christian city

Wars & Conflicts · Published 17 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The title Salus Populi Romani—Protectress of the Roman People—didn't begin as a Christian devotion. It was originally a pagan designation for a goddess, later repurposed by the Church to shield the city from plagues and war. This transformation reveals how Rome absorbed, adapted, and ultimately sanctified its own ancient history.

The phrase Salus Populi Romani has roots in the legal systems and pagan rituals of the ancient Roman Republic. According to the historian Titus Livius, the original title was granted by imperial permission to the Praetorian guards. Imperial decree permitted the veneration of a deity known as Salus Populi Publica Romani, who appeared as a seated girl holding a snake. Theodosius I later ended this polytheistic practice via the Edict of Thessalonica.

Once Constantine the Great authorised Christianity in 313 A.D., the expression became an official designation for the Blessed Virgin Mary. The specific image associated with this title, a Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child, is believed to have arrived in Rome from Crete in 590 A.D. during the pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great. Gregory welcomed the image with a floral boat from the Tiber river and later carried it through the city in 593 to pray for an end to a plague.

The icon's history is a layering of eras. While the current surface is largely a result of medieval overpainting—with some layers dating to the 13th century—underlying features suggest a Late Antique origin, possibly as early as the 7th century. It is distinguished by its unique iconography: Mary holds her hands folded together, seeking tactile contact with the Child, rather than pointing toward him. Over the centuries, it has served as a primary symbol of Roman protection, used by Popes to seek victory in the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and to offer blessings during the cholera pandemic of 1837 and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

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