Dii Familiares

The most characteristic aspect of the traditional [[Roman religion]] is the '''household or family cult''' of the ''[[Dii Familiares]]''. In this cult, the ''[[Lar|Lar Familiaris]]'' (guardian spirit - ''[[Genius]]'' - of the family), the ''[[Lar|Lares Loci]]'' (guardian spirits of the place where the house is built), the ''Genius'' of the ''pater familias'' (house-father), the ''[[Penates|Dii Penates]]'' (patron gods of the storeroom), the ''[[Manes|Dii Manes]]'' (spirits of the deceased) and a multitude of other domestic deities are daily worshipped by the members of the family. The [[household cult]] is so important that it even serves as the model for several practices of the state cult (e.g. there were the ''Lares Praestites'', ''Penates Publici'') Even during the Empire, the imperial cult came to be based on the household cult, now interpreted as the cult of the ''Genius'' of the emperor, ''pater familias'' of the family of all the Romans).