HOUSEHOLD RELIGION www.misterconnor.org

A Hearth Needs A Home The spiritual centre of the home was the hearth (focus). In many homes, this was part of the kitchen. It was the role of the mater familias to look after the hearth. The fire would be built up last thing at night to ensure it burned until the next morning. If a family moved house, the fire could only be extinguished with wine as part of a ritual. The majority of sacrifices in the home were made at the hearth. In the Temple of Vesta the Roman sacred fire burned as a symbol of the life of Rome.

Janus Two gods of the Roman state guarded the homes of Roman citizens. One was Janus, the god of doorways and beginnings. It was he who was seen as the chief guardian of the home. Cardea, the goddess of hinges, Forculus, god of the door leaves, and Limentius, the god of the threshold also had specific duties.

Vesta The second official deity of the home was Vesta. She was the goddess of the hearth. As the hearth was of practical importance (for cooking) and of spiritual significance (sacrifices) Vesta was of course very important to Romans. Every day prayers would be said to Vesta. During meals food would be set aside and passed into the fire as an offering to the goddess.

Household Spirits The main spirits of the household were the lares and the penates. The lares were the spirits of the family’s ancestors. The lar familiaris (the family spirit) was the most important. Every day, prayers and small offerings would be made to the lares. On sacred days (the calends, ides and nones; or weddings, births or birthdays) more elaborate rituals were held in their honour. The penates were the spirits of the larder.

Lararium/a

Lararium/a The Lararium (pl. lararia) altar is the sacred place in the home where offerings were made. In more affluent homes the main Lararium altar was usually set in the atrium. In smaller homes the Lararium was most often located near the hearth. A house could have several minor Lararia as well, indoors (especially in the bedrooms) or outdoors.

Births, Deaths, Marriages. Juno watched over the birth of a child. From conception a foetus was guarding over by many gods/ spirits. Various gods oversaw: breast feeding, the growth of bones, drinking, eating, first words, etc. The naming of a child (on the ninth day for a boy, the eighth for a girl) was watched over by the goddess Nundina. The child would then be given an amulet, the bulla, which a girl would wear until she married, and a boy would wear until he reached manhood and was given his toga virilis, at an age between 14 and 17.

How to get married. You could be recognised as married in the following ways: Simple consent on both sides, without any rituals or festivities. Live together for a year with the woman having not stayed away for more than three nights at a time. The symbolic purchase of the bride, with a holder of a pair of scales and five witnesses present. A full religious ritual in the presence of the pontifex maximus. This was a legal requirement for patrician families.

The Marriage Ritual At an official engagement ceremony the bride had a ring placed on her finger in front of gathered guests. At the wedding she would wear a bright red/orange veil, crowned by a wreath made of blossom. Animal sacrifice was made and the entrails of the animal were then examined for any omens. Then the bride and groom would exchange vows and be married.

Death and Burial If all through a Roman's life spirits watched over him, then when he died, he died without any such guardians. Once the corpse was cremated or buried its spirit joined all the other spirits of the dead - the manes. (It now also became one of the family lares). A funeral sought to help purify the living members of the surviving family. Thereafter there was a feast in honour of the deceased. To help cleanse the house of death, a pig was sacrificed to the goddess Ceres and the house was thoroughly swept.

Arpagi and Rapti The Romans referred to infants who died in the cradle as arpagi (singular arpagus). Funerals were not held for arpagi.  Their bodies were not cremated, or interred, and no monuments or epitaphs were made for them.  Eventually, infants who had lived 40 or more days and had cut teeth before their deaths were distinguished from the arpagi; they were referred to as rapti, and they were cremated.

Miniatures

The Skinny The hearth was the spiritual centre of the home. Most domestic sacrifices took place at the lararium or hearth. Ianus was the guardian of the house; Vesta the goddess of the hearth. Lares (ancestors) and penates (larder) both had prominent roles. A bulla was worn by a boy until manhood, and by a girl until marriage. Cremation was the primary ceremony for the dead. After a death, the house had to be cleansed with sacrifice. Infants who died in the cradle were not commemorated.

Sources http://www.roman-empire.net/religion/rel-home.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lares http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/object- stories/the-roman-house-at-hopkins/household-gods/ http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Lararium