DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0082
66 CERVETR1. [appendix to
Genii were distinguished from the Manes and Lares, inasmuch as these
were the deified spirits of the dead, hut the Genii were the offspring of
the great gods (Pest. vv. Genium, Tages), and the givers of life itself,
wherefore they were called Dii Genitales. This distinction, however,
was not always preserved, for the Genii were sometimes confounded with
the Manes and Lares, and supposed, after the death of their charge, to
dwell in his sepulchre. Serv. ad Mn. III. 63 ; Censorin. loc. cit.; cf.
Plin. II. 5.
A man was believed to he born under the influence of a favourable or
unlucky Genius (Pers. IV. 27—genio sinistro); and the Genius or Juno,
as the case might be, was also supposed to be pleased or offended with
the actions of the individual. Thus Quartilla, in Petronius (cap. 25),
exclaims, " Junonemmeam iratam habeam, si unquani," &c. And if a
man restrained his passions and appetites, he was thought to " defraud
his Genius," or if he gave way to them, to " indulge his Genius."
Persius, V. 151 ; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. I, 302 ; Terent. ap. eund.
As the Genius was a god he received divine honours, especially on the
birthday of the individual, when he was propitiated by libations, and
offerings of flowers (Horat. Ep. II. 1, 144 ; Tibul. I. 7, 50 ; IV. 5, 9 ;
Pers. II. 3) ; and so also the Juno of a woman (Tibul. IV. 6) ; and it
was customary to anoint the head of the image, to adorn it with chaplets,
and to bum incense before it. Tibul. I. 7, 51; II. 2, 6; Ovid. Trist. V.
5, 11. Even after death offerings were made to the Genius of the
deceased, as iEneas to that of his father (Ovid. Past. II. 545), to
whom he offered gifts—
Ille patois Genio sollemnia dona ferebat—
a custom which explains the inscription, " ivnon " (Junoni), on the vase
painted on the wall of this tomb at Cervetri.
Women were in the habit of swearing by their Juno (Tibul. III. 6, 48),
as men by their Genius ; and a lover would even swear by the Juno of his
mistress (Tibul. IV. 13, 15), exalting her above every other divinity.
Juvenal (II. 98), denouncing the effeminacy of the Romans, sets it in the
strongest light by saying that a servant swears by the Juno of his lord—
Et per Junonem domini jurante ministro.
Not only men and women, but places and things, had their Genii,
according to the Roman creed (Festus, v. Genium ; Serv. ad Georg. I.
302 ; Mn. V. 85, 95). Cities, as well as their component parts—
streets, houses, baths, fountains, &c.—had their individual Genii ; and
so also with regions, provinces, armies, nations—every portion, as well
Genii were distinguished from the Manes and Lares, inasmuch as these
were the deified spirits of the dead, hut the Genii were the offspring of
the great gods (Pest. vv. Genium, Tages), and the givers of life itself,
wherefore they were called Dii Genitales. This distinction, however,
was not always preserved, for the Genii were sometimes confounded with
the Manes and Lares, and supposed, after the death of their charge, to
dwell in his sepulchre. Serv. ad Mn. III. 63 ; Censorin. loc. cit.; cf.
Plin. II. 5.
A man was believed to he born under the influence of a favourable or
unlucky Genius (Pers. IV. 27—genio sinistro); and the Genius or Juno,
as the case might be, was also supposed to be pleased or offended with
the actions of the individual. Thus Quartilla, in Petronius (cap. 25),
exclaims, " Junonemmeam iratam habeam, si unquani," &c. And if a
man restrained his passions and appetites, he was thought to " defraud
his Genius," or if he gave way to them, to " indulge his Genius."
Persius, V. 151 ; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. I, 302 ; Terent. ap. eund.
As the Genius was a god he received divine honours, especially on the
birthday of the individual, when he was propitiated by libations, and
offerings of flowers (Horat. Ep. II. 1, 144 ; Tibul. I. 7, 50 ; IV. 5, 9 ;
Pers. II. 3) ; and so also the Juno of a woman (Tibul. IV. 6) ; and it
was customary to anoint the head of the image, to adorn it with chaplets,
and to bum incense before it. Tibul. I. 7, 51; II. 2, 6; Ovid. Trist. V.
5, 11. Even after death offerings were made to the Genius of the
deceased, as iEneas to that of his father (Ovid. Past. II. 545), to
whom he offered gifts—
Ille patois Genio sollemnia dona ferebat—
a custom which explains the inscription, " ivnon " (Junoni), on the vase
painted on the wall of this tomb at Cervetri.
Women were in the habit of swearing by their Juno (Tibul. III. 6, 48),
as men by their Genius ; and a lover would even swear by the Juno of his
mistress (Tibul. IV. 13, 15), exalting her above every other divinity.
Juvenal (II. 98), denouncing the effeminacy of the Romans, sets it in the
strongest light by saying that a servant swears by the Juno of his lord—
Et per Junonem domini jurante ministro.
Not only men and women, but places and things, had their Genii,
according to the Roman creed (Festus, v. Genium ; Serv. ad Georg. I.
302 ; Mn. V. 85, 95). Cities, as well as their component parts—
streets, houses, baths, fountains, &c.—had their individual Genii ; and
so also with regions, provinces, armies, nations—every portion, as well