Religion
Private and Shared
Pompeii and Herculaneum
“The rituals practiced before the shrine
demonstrated the reliance of the familia in
its maintanence and continuity. The shrine
bound the Roman family to its past,
protected its present and provided for its
future”.
Jashemski
Religion, Dynamic and Diverse
• Most of the Roman gods and goddesses were a
blend of several religious influences. Many were
introduced via the Greek colonies of Southern
Italy. Many also had their roots in old religions of
the Etruscans or Latin tribes. The Roman
presence in Pompeii and Herculaneum,
therefore, saw no great breach in the religious
observations of the people.
• With the passing of the Roman republic into that
of the Imperial system, the nature of Roman
religion expanded to include the Emperors
themselves
Role of Religion
• To the Romans, religion was less a spiritual experience
than a contractual relationship between mankind and the
forces which were believed to control people's existence
and well-being.
The result of such religious attitudes were two things: a
state cult, the significant influence on political and
military events of which outlasted the republic, and a
private concern, in which the head of the family oversaw
the domestic rituals and prayers in the same way as the
representatives of the people performed the public
ceremonials
Function of the Lararium
• The lararium was a central part of any Roman household. It was a
household shrine located in either the house or the garden, and was
where the family prayed and offered small gifts of fruit and wine to
the spirits every morning. These would be Vesta (the goddess of the
hearth), the Lares (household spirits), the genius (a guardian spirit of
the family), the Manes (ancestral spirits) and the Penates (spirits of
the pantry). Also Janus was the spirit of doorways..
• The only way for a family to keep the pax deorum (peace of the
gods) was to follow a sacred ritual. A sacred salted cake was thrown
into the fire at the chief meal each day to appease Vesta.
• This ritual originated in the days when families still lived off the land
and preservation of the household fire was essential to farmers who
depended upon it
LARARIUM-HOUSEHOLD RELIGION
The genius, which
guaranteed many children
for the family was always
shown as a priest with
covered head and holding
a drinking horn
The Lares or spirit
protectors of the house
were shown as young
dancing men in short
tunics, who held a
drinking horn(rhyton) in
one hand and a plate (
patera ) in another
The penates protected
the food supply and
looked just like the lares.
Together with Vesta they
represented the material
prosperity of the
household
“The most sacred, the most hallowed
place on earth is the home of each and
every citizen. There are his sacred hearth
and his household gods, there the very
centre of his worship, religion and
domestic ritual.”
Cicero
Snakes represented
other guardian spirits.
They also represent the
renewal of the life of the
ancestors
Rites of Passage centred on the
shrine
• Birth. A sacrifice of incense and cake was made at the family shrine
when a new born was accepted into the family by the paterfamilia,
and on the eighth day after the birth, the baby was named in a
ceremony( lustratio )Relatives friends and clients of the paterfamilia
would gather in the atrium area to congratulate the parents and wish
the child good fortune
• Marriage. When a girl was to be married, omens and sacrifices
were taken and on the day of her marriages her father offered a
banquet
• Death . This was marked by a rite called conclamatio by which the
gathered relatives invoked the deceased’s name out loud. Usually
the body was prepared by the women and a coin was placed under
the tongue, to pay Charon the ferryman, who bore the soul to the
next life and the body was laid out in the atrium for visitors to show
their respect
Ritual Sacrifice
•
•
•
•
Praeparatio
In domestic sacrifices the preparation is easier. The sacrifice takes place in
front of the Lararium usually placed near or above an hearth or fireplace
(focus). If it is a blood sacrifice, it can be made on an outdoor Lararium or
on a focus prepared on purpose outside the house.
The sacrificer is usually the paterfamilias, but the materfamilias can also
sacrifice in some occasions (e.g. she sacrifices to her Iuno - guardian spirit
or female equivalent of the Genius - on her birthday). Other members of the
household can help to carry the offerings or other objects. In order to ensure
that the words are correctly spoken, one of the assistants may be charged
to read the words and whisper them to the sacrificer [Plinius, Naturalis
Historia, 28.3.10]. The sacrificer should also bath himself before the
sacrifice [Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, 1.45].
Once the time comes, the officiants approach the Lararium where an image
of the deity honoured in the sacrifice is placed among the Penates (deities
worshiped in the household). The sacrificer faces the Lararium, while the
assistants and audience remain on his back
Immolatio- Blood Saccrifice
• The immolation procedures are better known in the public
context than in the domestic context. Nevertheless it is very likely
that domestic sacrifices followed at least a subset (probably variable
according to the habits and possibilities of each household) of the
public sacrifices.
• The sacrificed victims were always domestic animals carefully
selected according to species, sex, colour and size, in order to
match the nature of the deity to which they were offered. Male
deities received male victims (some received castrated victims,
others complete victims), while female deities received female
victims. White victims were offered to the Celestial gods, black
victims to the Underworld gods (Dii Inferi such as Dis, Proserpina,
the Manes) or of the night, red victims were offered to Volcanus and
Robigo. Pregnant sows were offered to Ceres and Tellus in some
expiatory rites. Swines and rams were usually offered in funerary
sacrifices
Redditio
•
•
•
•
In this phase the offerings are actually given to the deity. Usually, only a part
of the offerings is actually given to the deity, the rest being profanated and
consumed by the humans after the sacrifice
Parentalia - (the feast for dead parents)
The first of three related festivals in February for appeasing the dead which
started on the Ides and lasted until the 22nd. From February 13 through the
21st temples were closed, marriages were forbidden, and public officials lay
down their insignia of office. On the 22nd, Romans celebrated the Carista,
(the feast of the dear kindred).
Although the Parentalia always began with the performance of ceremonies
in honor of dead parents by a Vestal Virgin, Romans basically celebrated
the Parentalia at the family level. Families walked outside the city to visit the
family tombs and performed private sacrifices in honor of dead kin
(especially parents). The sacrifices were simple, a little wine, a little corn or
bread, perhaps some votive garlands. It was a quiet, personal, reflective
day, followed by a quiet reflective week or so to think about loved ones and
the importance of the family.
Sacrificial Offerings
Penates (domestic gods) in general, incense, wine, cakes, food, etc. ewelamb
Lar Familiaris / Lares , incense, wine, food (namely fruits and roasted meat
with mola salsa), garlands of flowers ewe-lamb, pig, ram (funeral)Flowers
are to adorn the Lararium and not to be burnt.
personal Genius ,incense, wine, cakes of boiled salted wheat (liba)twomonth old piglet (on the Saturnalia) Blood sacrifice was not recommended
on one's birthday
Evidence Excavation of House 11 by British Archaeologists
discovered a storage area containing the bones of three lambs,
seventeen cockerels, and charred remains of nuts, figs and dates,
suggesting domestic sacrifice over a number of years. The deliberate
placement of the pit and the nature of the remains supported the
interpretation as sacrificial remains.
Types of Larariums
• The shrines varied in complexity.
• Some were floor models that looked like miniature
temples with built in cupboards for holding household
objects.
• Others were flat and relatively simple with only a raised
platform or a shelf for offerings. The fresco on the front
could show the family Lares flanking the guardian spirit.
There could be a picture of a snake crawling across the
bottom, as for the Romans, the snake was a symbol of
wisdom and knowledge and was believed to have
powers over the well-being of the family.
• In larger cabinet-like larariums, the Romans sometimes
kept live snakes as pets and to protect their miniature
temple from evil spirits and misfortune.
Lararium Painting
House of the Bicentenary
Since upper floors are better preserved at Herculaneum, it is easier to
determine separate lodging function. The apartment above the House of
the Bicentenary contains another lararium, symbolizing separate worship
and family unity
Lararium insert in Wall
House of the Vetti
This Lararium was located in the second atrium
of the house and close to the kitchen
3 dimensional lararium( Aedicula )
House of the Tragic Poet& House
of Menander
Outdoor Lararium in House of the
Mosaics
Lares Compitales
Guardian spirits of crossroads. In 7 BCE
emperor Augustus had altars for the
Lares Compitales and for the Genius of
the Emperor made in each of 265 streets
of Rome, which gave rise to the name
Lares Augusti
Wine Shop Lares
In general shop decoration is limited to lararia
or signage
Necropolis near Porta Nucera
Romans believed that the deceased entered into a shadowy existence in
the underworld after death. The dead who were happy were those who
had made the successful transition from the land of the living to the land
of the dead. They joined the manes, the spirits of the dead
Attitudes to death
• In Petronius’s Satyricon
Trimalchio says” Man’s life
alas is but a span, so let us live
while we can. We’ll be like this
when dead ( silver skeleton
thrown on the table )
• Romans had no clear concept
of life after death but numerous
graffiti urge the people to live
life to the full.
• “Learn this well: while I am
alive, you are my enemy,
Death”
Examples of elaborate Tombs
Tomb of Mammia& Altar Tomb of
NaevoleiaTyche
Tomb of Vestorius Priscus
( Herculaneum)
Tombs as a reflection of Status
• Many of the earlier tombs had a box-like shape, featuring decorative
concrete ornamentation on the outside and elaborate wall paintings
and funerary offerings on the inside (Grant 57).
• However, in The Age of Augustus, a different kind of tomb, shaped
like a semicircular bench, came into fashion. This style of monument
was only built for the very highest social tier of Pompeian society.
Many of those that have been found are located within the sacred
zone around the perimiter of the city, called the pomerium, an area
that the town council only allotted to those people considered to be
deserving of great prestige and privilege (Zanker 122-123).
• This new type of tomb fit well with Augustan ideals, as it did not
mearly honor the deceased but also provided an amenity for the
town.
• Tombs as a reflection of StatusArchaeologists have interpreted the
worn steps of these monuments to mean that travelers as well as
citizens of Pompeii used these benches often as places to sit and to
rest (Zanker 124).