What does "lares" mean? To answer this question, it is necessary to turn to the beliefs of the ancient Romans. They had a number of deities who patronized the hearth. Among them were lares, the meaning of which in ancient beliefs will be revealed in this article.
Guardians of the norms
In Roman mythology, lares are deities who were originally the patrons of collectives, as well as the lands on which they lived. As a rule, they were revered as a whole. They were worshiped by both individual families and neighboring and civil communities.
It is believed that the cult of these deities was derived by the Romans from the cult of the dead. Family lares were associated with the hearth, family meals, with groves and separate trees that were dedicated to them in the estate.
They were often asked for help in various life situations. Such could be, for example, childbirth, the rite of initiation, marriage, death. People believed that they stood guard over the observance of traditional norms regarding relations between family members, and punished their violators.
Slaves believed that lares could punish masters who treat servants too harshly. Therefore, they turned to them for protection from the wrath of the owners. They prayed to him at the hearth or at a special altar of lars. The head of the family was the high priest of the cult of these deities.
For good neighborly relations
The other side of the life of the Romans, which was patronized by the Lares, is good neighborly relations - both between communities and within them. For their veneration, sanctuaries with holes were built at the crossroads. The number of these holes was equal to the number of estates that adjoined the intersection. The heads of families hung dolls and balls of wool here. The first of them depicted free members of the family, and the second - slaves.
Some researchers consider such a ritual as a transformation of the previous practice of bringing lares as chthonic (personifying the forces of the underworld) deities of human sacrifices. Here one can see their connection with Larenta, who was identified with their mother. She was offered bean porridge, poppy heads, and possibly people as sacrifices.
These chests were called comital. This name is derived from the Latin noun Compitum, which means "crossroads". When the newlywed moved into the family name and the neighboring community to which her husband belonged, she brought coins to the household and capital lares. In honor of the latter, festivities called compitalia were held.
Democratic holiday
During itcommon meals were held, accompanied by fun. These were jokes, songs, dances, competitions with prizes. Since free people and slaves took part in the entertainment, it was the most democratic of all Roman holidays. He was associated with Servius Tullius, the sixth king of ancient Rome, who was called a lover of the people. It was believed that he was the son of a lar and a slave.
The cult of the communal deities was served by colleges of plebeians and slaves. In the 12th century BC. e. it was reformed by Augustus, who united the colleges of plebeians, freedmen and slaves in every quarter of Rome and in other cities with a cult of his own genius. However, on estates and in houses, lares were still revered by the same colleges, which continued until the complete disappearance of pagan cults.
At the same time, both types of deities under consideration were often depicted in the same way: family and neighboring Lares - these were, for example, two young men in dog skins, accompanied by dogs. They symbolized the vigilant guardians of the hearth, community and land.
