LARI (LARES)

LARII (Lares). — *Lar* in the singular, *Lares* in the plural, with or without specific epithets, are deities of the most ancient Roman religion: they appear, in fact, in the *Carmen Arvale*, in ancient formulas of collective invocation and in other documents of an archaic character. They held a particularly important role in private worship, especially domestic. The *Lar familiaris*, predominantly in the singular, is like the god of the house or the family: in his honor, at every Kalends, Nones, and Ides, the domestic hearth is crowned; the *Lar* or the *L.* is sacred to every morsel of food that falls from the table; hence, in metonymic usage, the *L.* simply signify “the house.” Much has been debated whether the *L.* should be considered as divine ancestors of the family or merely as gods of the soil of the house. Besides the *L.* of the house, there are also the *Lares compitales*, venerated in the countryside at the meeting points of various farmlands, and in the city at crossroads, meeting points of buildings (*vici*). Both in the house and at the *compita*, the worship of the *L.* is attended to by slaves or freedmen. On the occasion of the festival called *Compitalia*, worship is also rendered to the *Mater Larum*. In public worship, the cult of the *Lares praestites* is found from ancient times; they are depicted as two twins dressed in dogskin, with a dog at their feet: their festival fell on May 10, and their sanctuary was on the *Via Sacra*. Also to be mentioned are the *Lares viales*, *permarini*, *militares*, etc., invested with evidently specific protective functions.