Etymology
From ᾰ̓- (a-, “not”) + νῑ́κη1 (nī́kē, “conquered”) + -τος (-tos)
Adjective
ᾰ̓νῑ́κητος • (anī́kētos) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓νῑ́κητον); second declension
- unconquered, unconquerable, invincible
- νῑ́κη
Noun
νῑ́κη • (nī́kē) f (genitive νῑ́κης); first declension [and Νίκη]
- the act of winning: victory, success [+genitive = over, in something]
- things won in victory, fruits of victory
- the upper hand, advantage
=> νικητής : nikitís m (plural νικητές, feminine νικήτρια) : victor, winner - the act of winning: victory, success [+genitive = over, in something]
"...the earliest extant dated inscription that uses invictus as an epithet of Sol is [said to be] from AD 158":
.
.SOLI INVICTO DEO
.EX VOTO SUSCEPTO
.ACCEPTA MISSIONE
.HONESTA EX NUME
.RO•EQ(UITUM)•SING(ULARIUM) AUG(USTI)•P(UBLIUS)
.AELIUS AMANDUS
.D(E)•D(ICAVIT)•TERTULLO•ET
..SACERDOTI•CO(N)S(ULIBUS)
"Publius Aelius Amandus dedicated this to the god Sol Invictus in accordance with the vow he had made, upon his honorable discharge from the equestrian guard of the emperor, during the consulship of Tertullus and Sacerdos"
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum CIL VI, 715 "CIL-VI-715 photograph"
.SOLI INVICTO DEO
.EX VOTO SUSCEPTO
.ACCEPTA MISSIONE
.HONESTA EX NUME
.RO•EQ(UITUM)•SING(ULARIUM) AUG(USTI)•P(UBLIUS)
.AELIUS AMANDUS
.D(E)•D(ICAVIT)•TERTULLO•ET
..SACERDOTI•CO(N)S(ULIBUS)
"Publius Aelius Amandus dedicated this to the god Sol Invictus in accordance with the vow he had made, upon his honorable discharge from the equestrian guard of the emperor, during the consulship of Tertullus and Sacerdos"
- Campbell, J. (1994). The Roman Army, 31—AD 337: A sourcebook. p. 43
- Halsberghe, Gaston (1972). The Cult of Sol Invictus. Leiden: Brill.
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum CIL VI, 715 "CIL-VI-715 photograph"
An inscription of AD 102 records a restoration of a portico of Sol in what is now the Trastevere area of Rome by a certain Gaius Iulius Anicetus.[11]: Chapter 5: pp.483–508 ... he may have had in mind an allusion to his own cognomen, which is the Latinized form of the Greek equivalent of invictus: ἀνίκητος (anikētos)
- 11. Hijmans, Steven Ernst (2009). 'Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome' (Thesis). Groningen, NL: University of Groningen. ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3; p.18, with citations from the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
Another, stylistically dated to the 2nd century, is inscribed on a Roman phalera (ornamental disk):
..INVENTORI LUCIS SOLI INVICTO AUGUSTO *
."I glorify the unconquerable sun, the creator of light".[16],[c]
- 16. Guarducci, M. (1957–1959). "Sol invictus Augustus". Rendiconti della Pont. 3rd series. Accademia Romana di Archeologia. 30–31: 161 ff
c. An illustration is provided in Kantorowicz, E.H. (1961) "Gods in Uniform". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 105 (4): p.383, fig.34
* Augustus [was] a regular epithet linking deities to the Imperial cult.[18]
- 18. Brill, E.J. (1993). The Imperial Cult in the Latin West: Studies in the ruler cult of the western provinces of the Roman Empire (2nd ed.), p.87
Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic mysteries, and was equated with Mithras.[19][20][21] The relation of the Mithraic Sol Invictus to the public cult of the [Roman] deity with the same name is unclear ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invic ... as_epithet