Lares in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The worship of the Lares at Rome was closely connected with
that of the Manes, and that of both was analogous to the
hero worship of the Greeks. The name Lar is Etruscan, and
signifies lord, king, or hero. The Lares may be divided into
two classes, the Lares domestici and Lares publici, and the
former were the Manes of a house raised to the dignity of
heroes. So long as the house was the place where the dead
were buried (Serv. ad Aen. 5.64, 6.152), the Manes and Lares
must have been more nearly identical than afterwards,
although the Manes were more closely connected with the
place of burial, while the Lares were more particularly the
divinities presiding over the hearth and the whole house.
According to what has here been said, it was not the spirits
of all the dead that were honoured as Lares, but only the
spirits of good men. It is not certain whether the spirits
of women could become Lares; but from the sugrundaria in
Fulgentius (De Prisc. Serm. p. xi. ed. Lersch.), it has been
inferred that children dying before they were 40 days old
might become Lares. (Comp. Nonius, p. 114; Diomed. i. p.
379.) All the domestic Lares were headed by the Lar
familiaris, who was regarded as the first originator of the
family, corresponding in some measure with the Greek ἥρως
ἐπώνυμος, whence Dionysius (4.2) calls him ὁ κατ̓ οἰκίαν
ἥρως. (Comp. Plut. De Fort. Rom. 10; and more especially
Plin. Nat. 36.70; Plant. Aulul. Prolog.) The Lar familiaris
was inseparable from the family; and when the latter changed
their abode, the Lar went with them. (Plaut. Trin. 39, &c.)
The public Lares are expressly distinguished by Pliny (Plin.
Nat. 21.8) from the domestic or private ones, and they were
worshipped not only at Rome, but in all the towns regulated
according to a Roman or Latin model. (Hertzberg, De Diis
Rom. Pair. p. 47.) Among the Lares publici we have mention
of Lares praestites and Lares compitales, who are in reality
the same, and differ only in regard to the place or occasion
of their worship. Servius Tullius is said to have instituted
their worship (Plin. Nat. 36.70); and when Augustus improved
the regulations of the city made by that king, he also
renewed the worship of the public Lares. Their name, Lares
praestites, characterises them as the protecting spirits of
the city (Ov. Fast. 5.134), in which they had a temple in
the uppermost part of the Via Sacra, that is, near a
compitum, whence they might be called compitales. (Solin. 1;
Ov. Fast. 5.128; Tac. Ann. 12.24.) This temple (Sacellum
Larum or aedes Larum) contained two images, which were
probably those of Romulus and Remus, and before them stood a
stone figure of a dog, either the symbol of watchfulness, or
because a dog was the ordinary sacrifice offered to the
Lares. Now, while these Lares were the general protectors of
the whole city, the Lares compitales must be regarded as
those who presided over the several divisions of the city,
which were marked by the compita or the points where two or
more streets crossed each other, and where small chapels
(aediculae) were erected to those Lares, the number of which
must have been very great at Rome. As Augustus wished to be
regarded as the second founder of the city, the genius
Augusti was added to the Lares praestites, just as among the
Lares of a family the genius of the paterfamilias also was
worshipped.
But besides the Lares praestites and compitales, there are
some other Lares which must be reckoned among the public
ones, viz., the Lares rurales, who were worshipped in the
country, and whose origin was probably traced to certain
heroes who had at one time benefitted the republic. (Cic. De
Leg. 2.11; Tib. 1.1. 24.) The Lares arvales probably
belonged to the same class. (Klausen, De Carm. Frat. Arval.
p. 62.) We have also mention of Lares viales, who were
worshipped on the highroads by travellers (Plaut. Merc. 5.2,
22; Serv. ad Aen. 3.302); and of the Lares marini or
permarini, to whom P. Aemilius dedicated a sanctuary in
remembrance of his naval victory over Antiochus. (Liv.
40.52.)
The worship of the Lares was likewise partly public and
partly private. The domestic Lares, like the Penates, formed
the religious elements of the Roman household (Cic. De
Repub. iv. in fin., ad Fam. 1.9, in Verr. 3.24; Cato De Re
Rust. 143); and their worship, together with that of the
Penates and Manes, constituted what are called the sacra
privata. The images of the Lares, in great houses, were
usually in a separate compartment, called aediculae or
lararia. (Juv. 8.110; Tib. 1.10. 22; Petron. 29; Ael.
Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 28; comp. Dict. of Ant. s. v. Lararium.)
The Lares were generally represented in the cinctus Gabinus
(Pers. 5.31; Ov. Fast. 2.634), and their worship was very
simple, especially in the early times and in the country.
The offerings were set before them in patellae, whence they
themselves are called patellarii (Plaut. Cistell. 2.2. 55),
and pious people e made offerings to them every day (Plaut.
Aulul. Prolog.); but they were more especially worshipped on
the calends, nones, and ides of every month. (Cato De Re
Rust. 143; Hor. Carm. 3.23. 2; Tib. 1.3. 33; Verg. Ecl.
1.43.) When the inhabitants of the house took their meals,
some portion was offered to the Lares, and on joyful family
occasions they were adorned with wreaths, and the lararia
were thrown open. (Plaut. Aulul. 2.8. 15; Ov. Fast. 2.633;
Pers. 3.24, &c., 5.31; Propert. 1.1. 132; Petron. 38.) When
the young bride entered the house of her husband, her first
duty was to offer a sacrifice to the Lares. (Macr. 1.15.)
Respecting the public worship of the Lares, and the festival
of the Larentalia, see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Larentalia,
Compitalia. (Comp. Hempel, De Diis Laribus, Zwickau, 1797;
Müller, De Diis Romanorum Laribus et Penatibus, Hafniae,
1811; Schömann, De Diis Manibus, Laribus et Geniis,
Greifswald, 1840; Hertzberg, De Diis Romanorum Patriis, sive
de Larum atque Penatium tam publicorum quam privatorum
Religione et Cultu, Halae, 1840.) - A Dictionary of Greek
and Roman biography and mythology, William Smith, Ed.
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