The gate of the year

Bronze statuette representing a Lar (personification of the dead), discovered in Andalusia, Spain, dating to the I century A.D. and now in the National Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España), Madrid.
The Lares of the household were the protectors of the home and were sometimes identified with the Manes. But, while the Manes were more strictly associated with the burial ground, the Lares were divinities who presided over the family hearth and the life taking place in the home. Among the domestic Lares the main role was played by the Lar familiaris, regarded as the founder of the family and inseparable from it. The Lares were furthermore considered the source of abundance and prosperity, represented by the cornucopia replete of fruits that the statuette holds in his hand. Among the divinities personifying the ancestors, there was also a female figure, the “Mother of the Lares” (Mater Larum), who was the queen of the dead and was comparable to the Greek Hecate. Among the attributes of this goddess there is also the name of Acca Larentia, the adoptive mother of the legendary twins Romulus and Remus, regarded by the Romans as the mother of the mythical founders of the city. Beside the Lares familiares, who protected the singular families, there were the Lares publici, who supervised over the entire city, while the Lares Compitales protected the various urban subdivisions marked by the compita, crossroads of two or more streets (Mastrocinque 2005).

[Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/arqueologa22/5091057434/]




World of the Dead

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Bronze statuette representing a Lar (personification of the dead), discovered in Andalusia, Spain, dating to the I century A.D. and now in the National Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España), Madrid. The Lares of the household were the protectors of the home and were sometimes identified with the Manes. But, while the Manes were more strictly associated with the burial ground, the Lares were divinities who presided over the family hearth and the life taking place in the home. Among the domestic Lares the main role was played by the Lar familiaris, regarded as the founder of the family and inseparable from it. The Lares were furthermore considered the source of abundance and prosperity, represented by the cornucopia replete of fruits that the statuette holds in his hand. Among the divinities personifying the ancestors, there was also a female figure, the “Mother of the Lares” (Mater Larum), who was the queen of the dead and was comparable to the Greek Hecate. Among the attributes of this goddess there is also the name of Acca Larentia, the adoptive mother of the legendary twins Romulus and Remus, regarded by the Romans as the mother of the mythical founders of the city. Beside the Lares familiares, who protected the singular families, there were the Lares publici, who supervised over the entire city, while the Lares Compitales protected the various urban subdivisions marked by the compita, crossroads of two or more streets (Mastrocinque 2005). [Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/arqueologa22/5091057434/]