ROMAN MYTHOLOGY AND SAGA 641with spirits of the dead, particularly of ancestors, the Lares were probably house-
hold spirits in origin who could bring prosperity and happiness to the farmer
and his farm.
This agricultural origin survived in the Compitalia (crossroads festival), a
winter feast celebrated when work on the farm had been completed. A cross-
roads in primitive communities was regularly the meeting point of the bound-
aries of four farms, and the Lares honored at the Compitalia were the protect-
ing spirits of the farms. At each crossroads was a shrine, with one opening for
each of the four properties. The farmer would hang a doll in the shrine for each
free member of his household and a ball of wool for each slave. This seems to
have been a purification ritual at the end of the farmer's labor, when substitutes
for the human beings were hung up to be purified by the air.
The Lares are basically kindly spirits, protecting the household. Transferred
from farm to city, they kept this function, and each house had its Lar familiaris
to whom offerings of incense, wine, and garlands were made. In Plautus' play
Aulularia, the Lar familiaris speaks the prologue and describes how he can bring
happiness and prosperity if he is duly worshiped; if he is neglected, the house-
hold will not prosper. Just as each household had its Lar, so the city had its Lares
(called the Lares praestites or "guardian Lares"), who were worshiped on May 1.
Augustus revived the celebration of the Compitalia in the city by instituting
shrines of the Lares Compitales in each of the 265 vici or subdivisions of the city.
In this function, according to Ovid, the Lares "protect the crossroads and are
constantly on guard in our city" (Fasti 2. 616). At the city Compitalia, the Lares
were worshiped together with the Genius of Augustus himself.
The Lares were also protectors of travelers by land (Lares viales) and by sea
(Lares permarini). In 179 B.c. a temple was dedicated to the Lares Permarini to
commemorate a naval victory over King Antiochus eleven years earlier.
The Genius represented the creative power of a man, seen most especially
in the lectus genialis, or marriage bed, symbol of the continuing life of the fam-
ily. It was associated more generally with the continued well-being of the fam-
ily. Slaves swore oaths by the Genius of the head of the family, and offerings
were made to it on his birthday. For women, the equivalent of the male Genius
was her Juno.
NON-ITALIAN GODS
HERCULES
Several foreign deities had an important place in Roman religion. In most cases,
they came from Greece or the East, and their arrival can often be dated.
The earliest newcomer was the Greek Heracles, called Hercules at Rome.
Livy says that when Romulus founded the city the cult of Hercules was the only
foreign one that he accepted. We have seen how Hercules visited Rome with the