Lares

• tutelar deities, Lares, belonging orig. to the Etruscan religion, and worshipped especially as the presiders over and protectors of a particular locality (cf. Otfr. Müll. Etrusc. 2, p. 90 sq.): praestites, the tutelar deities of an entire city, Ov. F. 5, 129 sq.: mille Lares geniumque ducis, qui tradidit illos, urbs habet, id. ib. 5, 145: Puteolanae civitatis, Inscr. Orell. 1670: civitatum, Inscr. ap. Grut. p. 10, 2: vicorum, Arn. 3, 41: rurales, Inscr. ap. Grut. p. 251: compitales, of cross-roads, Suet. Aug. 31; called also Lares compitalicii, Philarg. ad Verg. G. 2, 381: viales, worshipped by the road-side, Plaut. Merc. 5, 2, 24 (865): permarini, tutelar deities of the sea, Liv. 40, 52: caelipotentes, Inscr. ap. Tert. de Spect. 5.—Sing.: Lari viali, Inscr. Orell. 1762; 1894: eundem esse Genium et Larem, multi veteres memoriae prodiderunt, Censor. 3, 2.—
• II Most commonly the Lares (as familiares or domestici), the tutelar deities of a house, household gods, domestic Lares (whose images stood on the hearth in a little shrine, aedes, or in a small chapel, lararium); as the tutelar deities of each particular dwelling, also in sing.: Lar, Laris, m.
• • • • • α In plur.: rem divinam facere Laribus familiaribus, Plaut. Rud. 5, 1, 17 (1297): sanctis Penatium deorum Larumque familiarium sedibus, Cic. Rep. 5, 5, 7; id. Quint. 27 fin.: ad aedem Larum, id. N. D. 3, 25, 63: immolet aequis porcum Laribus, Hor. S. 2, 3, 164: Laribus tuum Miscet numen, id. C. 4, 5, 34. —
        • β In sing.: ego Lar sum familiaris, ex hac familia, Plaut. Aul. prol. 2: haec imponuntur in foco nostro dari, id. ib. 2, 8, 16 (386): familiae Lar pater, alium Larem persequi, id. Merc. 5, 1, 5 (834) sq.—
  • B Meton., a hearth, dwelling, home (class.; usually in sing.): larem corona nostrum decorari volo, Plaut. Trin. 1, 2, 1 (39): relinquent larem familiarem suum? Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 11, § 27: ad suum larem familiarem redire, id. ib. 2, 3, 54, § 125: nobis larem familiarem nusquam ullum esse? Sall. C. 20: paternus, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 51: patrius, id. S. 1, 2, 56; cf.: avitus apto Cum lare fundus, id. C. 1, 12, 43: gaudens lare certo, id. Ep. 1, 7, 58: parvo sub lare, id. C. 3, 29, 14: conductus, Mart. 11, 82, 2: deserere larem, to abandon one's home, Ov. F. 1, 478: pelli lare, to be driven from a place, id. ib. 6, 362: alumnus laris Antenorei, i.e. of the city of Padua, Mart. 1, 77, 2: ob eam rem tibi Lare commercioque interdico, Vet. Formul. ap. Paul. Sent. 3, 4, 7.—
  • • • • β In plur., Ov. R. Am. 302: jussa pars mutare lares, Hor. C. S. 39.—Poet., of a bird's nest: avis in ramo tecta laremque parat, Ov. F. 3, 242: cum rapit Halcyones miserae fetumque laremque, Val. Fl. 4, 45.

• a city in Numidia, Sall. J. 90 Kritz N. cr.

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.) [L.S]

LARESSee Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Biography and Mythology.

LARES (Sal. Jug. 90, where Laris is the acc. pl.: Λάρης, Ptol. 4.3.28: the abl, form LARIBUS is given, not only, as is so usual, in the Itin. Ant. p. 26, and the Tab. Peut., but also by Augustine, adv. Donat. 6.20 ; and that this ablative was used for the nominative, as is common in the Romance languages, is shown by the Greek form Λάριβος, Procop. B. V. 2.23, whence came at once the modern name, Larbuss or Lorbus). An important city of Numidia, mentioned in the Jugurthine War as the place chosen by Marius for his stores and military chest. (Sall. Jug. l. c. ) Under the Romans it became a colony, and belonged to the province of Africa and the district of Byzacena. Ptolemy places it much too far west. It lay to the E. of the Bagradas, on the road from Carthage to Theveste, 63 M. P. from the latter. In the later period of the Empire it had decayed. (Pellissier, Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie, vol. 6. p. 375.)

Gods of inferior power worshipped at Rome, of human origin and presiding over houses and families. There were various classes of them, such as Urbāni, to preside over the cities; Familiāres, over houses; Rustĭci, over the country; Compitāles, over crossways; Marīni, over the sea; Viāles, over roads, etc. The Lares were originally human beings themselves, who lived upon the earth, and, becoming pure spirits after death, loved still to hover round the dwelling which they once inhabited, to watch over its safety, and to guard it with as much care as the faithful dog does the possessions of its master. They keep off, therefore, danger from without, while the Penates (q.v.), residing in the interior of the dwelling, pour forth benefits upon its inmates. The fundamental idea, on which rests the doctrine of the Lares, is intimately connected with all the psychology and pneumatology of the ancient Italians. According to Apuleius the daemones which once had inhabited, as souls, human bodies, were called Lemures: this name therefore designated, in general, the spirit separated from the body. Such a spirit, if it adopted its posterity—if it took possession, with favourable power, of the abode of its children—was called Lar familiaris. If on the contrary, by reason of the faults committed in life, it found in the grave no resting place, it appeared to men as a phantom; inoffensive to the good, but terrible to the wicked. Its name was in that case Larva. As, however, there was no way of precisely ascertaining what had been the lot of a deceased person, whether he had become, for example, a Lar or a Larva, it was customary to give to the dead the general appellation of Manes. The mother of the Lares was called Lara or Larunda (Arnob. Adv. Gent. iii. 41; Macrob. i. 7). This conception of the Lares, as the souls of fathers and of forefathers, protectors of their children, and watching over the safety of their descendants, necessarily gave rise to the custom of burying the dead within the dwelling ( Serv. ad Verg. Aen. v. 64; vi. 152; Orig. xv. 11). Men wished to have near them these tutelary genii, in order to be certain of their assistance and support. In process of time, however, this custom was prohibited at Rome by the laws of the Twelve Tables.

The Etrurians, and the Romans after them, had their Lares publĭci and Lares privāti. The Lares were supposed to assist at all gatherings of men, at all public assemblies or reunions, in all transactions of men, and in all the most important affairs of State as well as of individuals. As each individual had his Lar, his genius, his guardian spirit, even the infant at the breast, so entire families, and whole races and nations, were equally under the protection of one of these tutelar deities. Here the Lares became in some degree confounded with the Heroes, that is, with the spirits of those who, having deserved well of their country while on earth, continued to watch over and protect it. It would seem, too, that at times the worship of these public Lares, like that of the public Penates, was not without some striking resemblance to that rendered to the great national divinities.

All that the house contained was confided to the superintending care of these vigilant genii: they were set as a watch over all things large and small, and hence the name of Praestĭtes, which is sometimes given them (Ovid, Fast. v. 128, 132). Hence the dog was the natural symbol of the Lares; an image of this animal was placed by the side of their statues, or else these were covered with the skin of a dog. The ordinary altar on which sacrifices were offered to the Lares was the domestic hearth. The victims consisted of a hog (Hor. Carm. iii. 23, 4) or a fowl; sometimes, with the rich, of a young steer; to them were also presented the first fruits of the season, and libations of wine were poured out. In all the family repasts, the first thing done was to cast a portion of all the viands into the fire that burned on the hearth, in honour of the Lares. In the form of marriage, called coëmptio, the bride always threw a piece of money on the hearth to the Lares of her family, and deposited another in the neighbouring cross-road, in order to obtain admission, as it were, into the dwelling of her husband. Young persons, after their fifteenth year, consecrated to the Lares the bulla which they had worn from infancy (Pers.v. 31). Soldiers, when their time of service was once ended, dedicated to them the arms with which they had fought (Ovid, Trist. iv. 8, 21). Captives and slaves restored to freedom consecrated to the Lares the fetters from which they had just been freed (Hor. Sat. i. 5). Before undertaking a journey, or after a successful return, homage was paid to these deities, their protection was implored, or thanks were rendered for their guardian care (Ovid, Trist. i. 3, 33). The new master of a house crowned the Lares, in order to render them propitious; a custom which was of the most universal nature, and which was perpetuated to the latest times (Plaut. Trinum. i. 2, 1). The proper place for worshipping the Lares, and where their images stood, was called Lararium, a sort of domestic chapel in the atrium, where were also to be seen the images and busts of the family ancestors. The rich had often two Lararia, one large and the other small; they had also “Masters of the Lares,” and “Decuries of the Lares”—namely, slaves specially charged with the care of these domestic chapels and the images of their divinities. As to the poor, their Lares had to be content with the simple hearth, where honours not less simple were paid to them. Certain public festivals were also celebrated in honour of the Lares, called Lararia and Compitalia. The period for their celebration fell in the month of December, a little after that of the Saturnalia. The Compitalia, dedicated to the Lares Compitales, were celebrated in the open air, in the cross-roads. The day of their celebration was not fixed. They were introduced at Rome by Servius Tullius, who left to the Senate the care of determining the period when they should be held. In early times, children were immolated to the goddess Mania, the mother, according to some, of the Lares, to propitiate her favour for the protection of the family. This barbarous rite was subsequently abolished, and little balls of wool were hung up in the stead of human offerings at the gates of dwellings. Macrobius (Sat. i. 7, 34) informs us that it was Junius Brutus who, after the expulsion of the Tarquins, introduced a new form of sacrifice, by virtue of which heads of garlic and poppies were offered up in place of human heads, ut pro capitibus capitibus supplicaretur, in accordance with the oracle of Apollo.

As regards the forms under which the Lares were represented, it may be observed that it differed often but little from that of the Penates. Thus, on the coins of the Caesian family, they are represented as two young men, seated, their heads covered with helmets, and holding spears in their hands, while a dog watches at their feet. Sometimes, as has already been remarked, the heads of the Lares are represented as covered with, or their mantle as formed of, the skin of a dog. At other times we find the Lares resembling naked children, with the bulla hanging from the neck.

An extensive site 15 km SE of Le Kef on the road from Le Kef to Thala, the ancient city at several troubled periods played a strategic role. A fortified town which served as a military base for Marius against Jugurtha, it immediately became on the creation of Nova Africa an important crossroads which served in particular Sicca Veneria. It was undoubtedly a colony under Hadrian. Considered the gateway of the grain fields of the N, it again played an important role at the end of antiquity. Justinian fortified it with an encircling wall flanked by towers, round ones at the angles and square on the sides. In the interior were included numerous edifices, among them a basilica converted later into a mosque.

P. Salama in Mélanges de Carthage (1964-65) 97-115PI.