Styx, daughter of Ocean and Thetis, was the mother of Victory. This deity
attended at the conquests of all countries and of all heroes. At Italy and
Greece, temples were elevated to her; at Greece she was named Nice, and
Sylla instituted festivals in her honour at the former place. In the temple
of Jupiter, on the Capitoline hill, a golden statue of the goddess was
placed, weighing three hundred and twenty pounds.
A thunderbolt having fallen on the statue and broken its wings, Pompey
restored the courage of the people, who were dejected at the accident, by
crying,
"Romans! the gods have broken the wings of Victory; henceforth she cannot
escape from us." {251}
Victory, by the commands of her mother, aided Jupiter in his battle with
the Titans; and the monarch of Olympus to reward her powerful services,
decreed that the Gods should swear by her, and that those who violated the
oath, should be exiled ten years from the celestial court, and deprived of
the nectar and ambrosia of Olympus.