Roman Household Religion

Roman household religion connected family, slaves, clients, ancestors, hearth and protective household gods. Unlike public temples, it was built into everyday life: family meals, age transitions, departure, return, marriage, ancestral memory and concern for the prosperity of the household.

The main concepts of this sphere are Lares, Penates, the genius of the head of the family, Vesta and the lararium. They did not replace major gods such as Jupiter or Mars, but showed another level of Roman religion: close, domestic and repeated.

Lares, Penates and genius

Lares protected place and household, Penates were tied to stores and family prosperity, and the genius expressed the life force of the head of the family. Pompeian frescoes often show them together in the lararium.

Material traces

Pompeii is especially important for studying domestic cult: wall lararia, niches, frescoes with serpents, Lares and genius, and traces of small sacrificial actions inside the house have survived there.

Additional sources and visual checks

Roman household religion should rest on lararia, frescoes, domestic altars, Pompeian houses and the distinction between Lares, Penates and the genius of the household head. The gallery shows domestic cult rather than the state pantheon.

For source checks: - Archaeological Park of Pompeii - Archaeological Park of Herculaneum - Arachne database, German Archaeological Institute

Related topics

• Lares
• Lararium
• Penates
• Genius
• Roman Religion

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