GENIUS. - An exclusively Roman religious concept. Unlike the classical independent divine figures, the Genius always belongs to persons, collectivities, places, or even gods: all of these have their own Genius. In each individual case, however, the Genius is a divinity. The documentation is relatively late and does not allow us to establish whether originally the concept of the Genius was restricted to one of the categories mentioned and, if so, to which of them.
For the public cult of the Genius there is record of a sacrifice of animal victims in 218 B.C. The Genius populi Romani, Genius publicus, Genius Urbis Romae often appear indiscriminately in the tradition. A sanctuary of the public Genius was located near the temple of Concord; a yearly sacrifice common to the public Genius, to Fausta Felicitas and to Venus Victrix is documented for October 9. From the 4th century A.D. ludi genialici (February 11-12) are known. In the domestic cult the Genius of the head of the household predominates. Its feast is the birthday of the paterfamilias. To these Genii bloodless sacrifices are offered, particularly pure wine. The dependents swear by the Genius of the head of the household. In depictions the Genius appears as a young man, with a horn of plenty and a patera; in domestic paintings it seems to take on the features of the head of the household himself; the theriomorphic expression of the Genius is the serpent. The Genius of the emperor has a public cult.
The word Genius undoubtedly derives from the verbal root gen- (gignere, to beget): the ancient and modern interpretation, however, wavers among the various possible ways of explaining the connection. The Genius, inseparable from the person or thing to which it belongs, represents in any case that person's or thing's individual divine origin. While in some cases the Genius is found attributed also to women and goddesses, more often a distinction is made between the Genius of a man and the Iuno of a woman.
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Angelo Brelich