Chapters
Many guardian deities were worshipped in Roman families. It was believed that good spirits surround a person from birth. There was a deity of the newborn’s first cry, special deities taught the baby to eat and drink, to lie quietly in bed. Four goddesses were watching his first steps. Each family had its own guardian deities and its own home cult.
The most original cult of the Romans was the cult of genius. As a guardian deity, he was born with a man, he guided his good and bad fortunes. He was shown as a young man in a toga, with his face, goblet and cornucopia covered. On the day of birth (dies natalis) the genius of the master of the house was honoured. Women had one collective genius, Juno, the wife of Jupiter. A deceased man’s genius looked after his family.
The most important were the deities who looked after the house, Janus who guarded the passage against the house where the private thing was in force (res privata) to the public thing (res publica). The interior of the house was guarded by West. Vesta is personified by a donkey.
Penats
The keepers of the house were also Penats (Dii Penates), keepers of the pantry and the hearth, of Etruscan origin. It was the duty of the Romans to sacrifice at the meal; only after finding that the gods had accepted the sacrifice could the supper continue. They were worshipped together with the lares, they were depicted in the form of small figures made of wood, clay, wax, silver or ivory. One day each month was dedicated to them when the statues were decorated with flowers. The penates were sacrificed with wine, incense, fruit, and sometimes also sacrifices of young sheep and goats.
house penates there were also public penates taking care of a given estate or city. The penates of the city of Rome, presented as two seated youths, were to be brought from Troy by Aeneas; the deities sometimes identified with the Dioscors were first kept in the Avalanche and then transferred to the Roman temple of Vesta.
Weddings
Many house ceremonies involved religious ceremonies. Getting married was associated with worshipping the gods of agriculture, for example. The second half of June was considered the most successful period of getting married. On the eve of the wedding, the bride offered her toys and girls’ clothes to the deities. The age limit for marriage was low: boys were 14 and girls were 12. After the wedding feast in the bride’s house, the bride was led to her husband’s house. The wedding procession was accompanied by singing, music and dancing. The young spouse had three coins with her, one of which was to help win the kindness of the local spirits, the second she gave to her chosen one, and the third were sacrificed to Lares.
repotia). The young lady made offerings to the house altar (Lararium), received guests, and finally sat down to the spindles and thus indicated that she was the hostess.
Lares
The deities of the entire family were Lares (Lares, genii loci). They were the souls of the dead, worshipped in Rome as the deities of home and happiness, protecting them from misfortunes. The annual celebration of the Lars – Compitalia was celebrated at street crossings in the city. Larom was erected at the crossroads of the shrines (sacella), which had as many entrances as there were owners lying next to the land. In the shrines (lararia) Lara was placed as doll figure. They were prayed to and sacrifices were made. On weddings, birthdays or when a boy in the family puts on a boule or toga virilis, a feast was organized, during which the doors of the chapels were opened and offerings of cake, wine, and incense were made, the whole thing was decorated with flowers. Against the good souls were evil souls (larvae).
There are many kinds of lares:
- Lares Familiares – the spirits looking after the family and home, in the beliefs of the ancient Romans they were the souls of deceased ancestors who looked after their relatives. Their images stood next to the hearth in the atrium, or in a separate room called Lararium. At the beginning of the meal, you had to make an offering of food to them, and pray to them when leaving or arriving;
- Lares Compitales and Lares Viales – keepers of roads and their crossroads;
- Lares Permarini – protectors against danger at sea;
- Lares Hostilii – defending cities from enemies;
- Lares Rurales – care in the field;
- Lares Militares – care in the army and during the trip;
- Lares Urbani – taking care of the state;
- Lares Publici – over the whole city.
Lemurs
The Romans attached great importance to the form of giving the final service to the dead. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead (lémures) were divided into good (lares) and bad – often the harmful ones were simply identified with lemurs at once. For fear of evil and harmful spirits – larvae