The main features of the imperial domestic cult go back to the reform of the cult
of the Compitales initiated by Augustus in 7 bc. Each of the 265 city districts (vici)
was allotted a Compital shrine for which members of the collegia compitaliciawere
held responsible, slaves acting as ministriand freedmen asmagistri. The central cult
figures were statuettes of the Lares and the Genius, as is documented on several official
monuments in Rome; at the same time, they referred to the emperor himself by
transmitting the idea of the imperial cult and thus ensured loyalty toward the emperor
(Hölscher 1988: 390 – 400; Zanker 1987: 132– 40).
An equally important role was assigned to slaves on the domestic level inasmuch
as they had their own household shrines centered on the Lares and the Genius. Still,
in the Vesuvian cities interesting differentiations according to social levels can be
observed, as Thomas Fröhlich pointed out (Fröhlich 1991: 28 – 48). In the servants’
quarters the domestic shrine consisted, as in the House of the Vettii, of a painted
representation of the Lares and the Genius, eventually enlarged with some cult assist-
ants, whereas in the area of the dominusthe main focus was on three-dimensional
figures of the Lares, the Genius, and other gods, called Penates, according to his
own preferences.
While the servants’ household shrines all appear to be restricted to the Lares and
the Genius, there seem to be hardly any rules as far as the larariain the reception
rooms are concerned. Thus, for instance, in the so-called House of a Priest (V 4.3)
the household shrine of the dominusinstalled in the atriumconsisted of a niche
framed by eight painted gods – Bacchus, Venus Pompeiana with Cupid, Fortuna,
Jupiter, Mercury, Victoria, Hercules, and Minerva – while the statuettes originally
put up in the niche were, at the moment of the volcanic eruption, being stored away
in a cupboard of the adjoining room. There were a pair of Lares, a Genius(all three
of bronze), a marble Venus, and three amber figurines: Cupid, a seated woman,
and a hippopotamus (Boyce 1937: 39– 40, no. 118; Adamo Muscettola 1984: 26;
Fröhlich 1991: 271–2, L 52; Kaufmann-Heinimann 1998: 218, GFV 23). Of course,
we do not know whether all the components of this inventory had really been placed
in the aedicula, but it is not the only case where items which to our understanding
do not have any religious connotation are to be found in such a context. In any case
we must not forget the whole field of amulets and superstition undoubtedly present
in the house, too.
Some slightly different evidence is preserved in the House of the Red Walls (VIII
5.37), where, on the rear wall of theaediculainstalled in the atrium, the Genius
and the Lares are painted, whereas six bronze statuettes were set up: a pair of
Lares, two different statuettes of Mercury, Apollo, and Hercules (Boyce 1937: 77
no. 371; Adamo Muscettola 1984: 15–20; Fröhlich 1991: 291–2 L 96; Kaufmann-
Heinimann 1998: 222 GFV 37; fig. 14.5). The group illustrates some features com-
mon to many other larariumgroups: there is no unity of size, style, or number
within one specific ensemble. Actually this is not surprising if we take into account
that household shrines existed over generations. Old, venerable statuettes were pre-
served and new ones added, according to the house-owner’s needs and preferences.
If thelarariumpaintings displayed in the servants’ quarters always refer to their
religious function, things are different with regard to sculptural works like statuettes.Religion in the House 199ACTC14 26/04/2007 09:38 AM Page 199