The face of day itself, crossing from gate to gate of the sky.

Sol is the sun honored as a god at Rome, where an old cult of Sol Indiges was kept from early times. In the year 274 the emperor Aurelian raised the worship of Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun, to imperial prominence with a new temple and games, and the birthday of the sun was kept on the twenty-fifth of December.

Tradition distinguishes Sol Indiges, the old Roman cult, from Sol Invictus, the imperial cult promoted by Aurelian, though some scholars now argue for one continuous cult.