Penates

Penates in Wikipedia

In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates or Penates were among the dii familiares, or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates.[1] They were thus associated with Vesta, the Lares, and the Genius of the paterfamilias in the "little univer...

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Penates in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

the household gods of the Romans, both in regard to a private family and to the state, as the great family of citizens : hence we shall have to distinguish between private and public Penates. The name is unquestionably connected with penus, they being the gods who were worshipped, and whose images were kept in the central part of the house, o...

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