were instituted in honour of them by Servius Tullius, according to the legend narrated by Dionysius1 and Pliny. This festival was celebrated annually on a day fixed by the praetor, but always soon after the Saturnalia. Augustus introduced the practice of decorating the statues of the Lares Compitales' with flowers twice a-year, in spring and in summer 3. 3. 'Lares Viales.' Probably the same with the preceding, so called because their images were erected in streets and highways: their protection was invoked by travellers when setting forth on a journey. Thus Charinus, in the Mercator of Plautus, 5. 2. 23, when about to quit his native city, 'invoco Vos, Lares Viales, ut me bene iuvetis.' 4. Lares Vicorum,' guardians of the streets. 5. Lares Praestites,' protectors of the city. Their appearance and festival is described by Ovid, Fast. 5. 129, who at the same time gives a fantastic legend regarding their parentage. A temple was 6. Lares Permarini,' worshipped by mariners. dedicated to them in the Campus Martius, 179 B. C., which had been vowed eleven years before by L. Aemilius Regillus, in a sea-fight against the captains of Antiochus 5. There can be little doubt that they are the same with the 'Lares Marini' of Varro, as quoted by Nonius". 7. Lares Grundules,' who stood under the 'grundae' or projecting eaves of houses". On reviewing what has been said above with regard to the Roman Lares, we can scarcely avoid remarking the resemblance which they bear to the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Like them the saints are believed to be the spirits of dead men, to whose protection cities, streets, roads, ships, families, and private individuals are commended: statues 1 R. A. 4. 14. 2 H. N. 36, sub fin. See also Cic. Epp. ad Att. 6. 7, and In Pison. 4, Macrob. Sat. 1. 7, A. Gell. 10. 24, Festus in voce 'Conceptivae.' 3 Suet. Octav. 31. 5 Livy 40. 52. 4 Arnob. adv. Gen. 3. 41. 7 See Müller, Die Etrusker, vol. ii. chap. 3. A very different account of the appellation is given by Nonius 2, and by Diomedes, p. 379, ed. Putsch. These Lares are mentioned by Arnobius. In addition to the 'Lares' enumerated above, we find 'Lares Civitatum' in an inscription. See Gruter. 10. 2. or pictures of saints are to be found in streets, crossways, bridges, ships, dwelling-houses, and all places of public and private resort; and these are honoured with garlands and offerings of every description, while lamps fed with perfumed oil burn before their shrines. Nor is this all: the holy books of the Etruscans described certain sacred rites, by means of which the souls of men might be changed into gods, a process somewhat analogous to canonization. These gods were called 'Di Animales,' as being formed from 'animae' or mortal spirits, and are considered by Servius the same with the 'Viales' and 'Penates 1.' 6 It remains for us to say a few words on the 'Penates.' The word 'Penates' appears to be a local adjective like 'nostras,' 'cuias,' 'Casinas,' 'Arpinas,' &c., and will naturally refer to the place where the gods so called were believed to reside. Now, the connection of 'penates' with 'penitus,' 'penetro,' 'penetralia,' is so clear, that even if we had no other evidence, we should at once arrive at the conclusion that the Penates were the deities worshipped in the 'penus 2' or innermost part of the house. But we have already pointed out, when treating of the Lares, that the focus' or hearth situated in the atrium' was considered the central part of the dwelling, and was invested with peculiar sanctity, and that close to it stood the altar for domestic sacrifices, and hence the compluvium' or reservoir which received the water that entered through the 'impluvium' or hole in the roof of the atrium, was sacred to the Penates 3. It appears, then, that 'Penates' is in fact a generic term, and, in its strict sense, comprehends all the gods worshipped at the hearth,' and will thus include the Lares, who are continually mentioned in conjunction with the Penates, and frequently in such terms as to imply that they were the same. But it is quite certain that other gods, besides the Lares, were worshipped at the hearth, especially Vesta, who was herself the Goddess of the Hearth, and to these the term 'Penates' is often applied, so as to distinguish them from the Lares. This will be sufficiently clear from a single passage in Plautus, Merc. 5. I. 5: 1 Serv. on Virg. Ae. 3. 168; Müller, Die Etrusker, vol. ii. chap. 3. 2 Nam et ipsum penetral, penus dicitur, et hodie quoque penus Vestae claudi vel aperiri dicitur.' Serv. on Virg. Ae. 3. 12. 3 Suet. Octav. 92: 'Sed et ostentis praecipue movebatur. Enatam inter iuncturas lapidum ante domum suam palmam in compluvium Deorum Penatium transtulit: utque coalesceret, magno opere curavit.' 'Di Penates meum parentum, familiaeque Lar pater, It would be vain to enquire who the Penates were, since they might be different for every family, and the statements of ancient authors upon this point are very contradictory. Varro, however, distinctly asserts that the number and names of Penates were indeterminate. In like manner as there were Public as well as Domestic Lares, so there were Public Penates, who exercised a general influence over the destinies of the whole Roman people. Thus Tacitus1 tells us that 'delubrum Vestae cum Penatibus Populi Romani' was consumed along with other very ancient temples, in the great fire during the reign of Nero. From which passage we may infer that the temple of Vesta being the common hearth or central point of the city, was the proper abode of the Public Penates. Dionysius describes a temple in the Velia (that part of the Forum immediately under the Palatine) in which were 'images of the Trojan Penates, two young men in a sitting posture, with spears in their hands, a work of ancient art,' and adds that he had seen many other effigies of these gods in ancient shrines, always represented as two young men in martial equipment. These we should naturally suppose to be the Trojan or Phrygian Penates, mentioned so often in the Aeneid, which were rescued from the flames of Troy by Aeneas, and, transported by him to Italy, were deposited at Lavinium, in the temple of Pallas, and refused to remove from thence to Alba3, but may perhaps have afterwards agreed to migrate to Rome. Those who wish to examine more deeply into the accounts given by ancient authors of the Lares and Penates, and the speculations of modern scholars, may refer to Dempster, Etruria Regalis, vol. i. p. 137; J. Müller, De Diis Romanorum Laribus et Penatibus; K. O. Müller, Die Etrusker, vol. ii. p. 90, etc.; Jaekel, De Diis Domesticis; Hartung, Die Religion der Römer. 1 Ann. 15. 41. 2 R. A. 1. 68. 3 Livy 45. 16: 'Aedes Deorum Penatium in Velia de caelo tacta erat.' Serv. Ae. 3. 148; Macrob. 3. 4. 5 See Dionys. R. A. 1. 67; Val. Max. 1. 8. 7; Serv. on Virg. Ae. 3. 12. 6 Consult Heyne, Excurs. on Virg. Ae. 2. PRAESTITIBVS Maiae Laribus videre Kalendae Aram constitui, signaque parva Deûm. Stant quoque pro nobis, et praesunt moenibus Vrbis, At canis ante pedes, saxo fabricatus eodem, Servat uterque domum, domino quoque fidus uterque, 5 ΙΟ 15 28. MERCVRIVS. FAS. V. 663. MERCURIUS, an appellation manifestly derived from the same root as the words 'merx,' 'mercari,' 'mercator,' &c., was, as the name imports, the Roman god of traffic and gain, the protector of merchants and shop-keepers, the aider and abettor of all the schemes and tricks employed by them to overreach their customers1. In this respect he corresponded to the Grecian Hermes; the resemblance indeed went no farther, but the link was enough for the poets, the two deities were at once identified, and the parentage, attributes, exploits, and insignia of 1 Hence the Gaulish god of gain is at once called Mercurius by Caesar, B. G. 6. 17: Deum maxime Mercurium colunt : huius sunt plurima simulacra, hunc omnium inventorem artium ferunt, hunc viarum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestus pecuniae mercaturasque habere vim maximam arbitrantur.' the knavish son of Zeus and Maia were assigned to Mercurius, who thus comes forth as the inventor of the lyre, the patron of the gymnasium, the teacher of eloquence, the herald of the gods, the conductor of departed spirits to the realms of Hades; while in addition to the purse, originally the proper and only symbol of his calling, he appears invested with the broad-brimmed winged hat, 'petasus,' the winged sandals, 'talaria,' and the 'caduceus,' or magic rod. It will be observed that in the following Extract Ovid commences by running over the foreign titles of the god, and then passes on to describe certain ceremonies performed by the Roman traders for the lustration of their wares, and certain prayers which they offered to their protector, prayers which indicate very clearly that the honesty of the fraternity was not rated high by their countrymen. CLARE nepos Atlantis, ades: quem montibus olim Edidit Arcadiis Pleias una Iovi. Pacis et armorum Superis imisque Deorum Laete lyrae pulsu, nitida quoque laete palaestra; Est aqua Mercurii portae vicina Capenae: Et peragit solita fallere voce preces. 5 ΙΟ 15 20 |