Votum

These are regularly marked with the letters V.S.L.M., votum solvit libens merito, noting that the person making the dedication "He has fulfilled his vow, willingly, as it should."

William Warde Fowler found in these offerings "expressions of … religious feeling" and a gratitude for blessings received that go deeper than contractual formalism.

[4] A general who faced an uncertain outcome in battle might make a votum in the field promising to build a temple out of gratitude for divine aid in a victory.

[9][8] These vows for the well-being of the emperor (vota pro salute imperatoris, principis,[10] or Augusti)[11] were moved to 3 January—the usual date of the Compitalia—under Caligula in AD 38.

[13] For the vota for the emperor and his family, the people of the capital were assembled to offer collective vows;[14] it was refusal to take part in these events and similar rituals that sometimes led to persecution of Christians.

Incomplete records have led scholars to debate whether particular quinquennalia and decennalia were celebrated at the beginning of the year, on the dies imperii, or at some other time for specific reasons in each case.