Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...

, the genius (; : ''genii'') is the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place, or thing. Much like a

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...

, the ''genius'' would follow each man from the hour of his birth until the day he died. For women, it was the Juno spirit that would accompany each of them.

Nature

Each individual place had a ''genius'' (''

genius loci In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (: ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl), or snake. Man ...

'') and so did powerful objects, such as volcanoes. The concept extended to some specifics: the ''genius'' of the theatre, of vineyards, and of festivals, which made performances successful, grapes grow, and celebrations succeed, respectively. It was extremely important in the Roman mind to propitiate the appropriate ''genii'' for the major undertakings and events of their lives.

Thus man, following the dictates of his heart, venerated something higher and more divine than he could find in his own limited individuality, and brought to "this great unknown of himself" offerings as a god; thus compensating by veneration for the indistinct knowledge of his divine origin.

The Christian theologian

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

equated the Christian

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

with the Roman ''genius'', citing

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

as attributing the rational powers and abilities of every human being to their ''genius''.

Specific genii

Although the term ''genius'' might apply to any divinity whatsoever, most of the higher-level and state ''genii'' had their own well-established names. ''Genius'' applied most often to individual places or people not generally known; that is, to the smallest units of society and settlements, families and their homes. Houses, doors, gates, streets, districts, tribes, each one had its own ''genius''. The supreme hierarchy of the Roman gods, like that of the Greeks, was modelled after a human family. It featured a father,

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, who was also the supreme divine unity, and a mother, Juno, queen of the gods. These supreme unities were subdivided into ''genii'' for each individual family; hence, the ''genius'' of each female, representing the female reproductive power, was a ''Juno''. The male power was a ''Jupiter''. The ''Juno'' was venerated under many titles: *''Iugalis'', "of marriage" *''Matronalis'', "of married women" *''Pronuba'', "of brides" *''Virginalis'', "of virginity" ''Genii'' were often viewed as protective spirits, as one would propitiate them for protection. For example, to protect infants one propitiated a number of deities concerned with birth and childrearing: ''Cuba'' ("lying down to sleep"), ''Cunina'' ("of the cradle") and ''Rumina'' ("of breast-feeding"). Certainly, if those ''genii'' did not perform their proper function well, the infant would be in danger. Hundreds of ''

lararia Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ) were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares were b ...

'', or family shrines, have been discovered at

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, typically off the atrium, kitchen or garden, where the smoke of burnt offerings could vent through the opening in the roof. Each ''lararium'' features a panel fresco containing the same theme: two peripheral figures (

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ) were Tutelary deity#Ancient Rome, guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an ama ...

) attend on a central figure (family ''genius'') or two figures (''genius'' and ''juno'') who may or may not be at an altar. In the foreground is one or two serpents crawling toward the ''genius'' through a meadow motif.

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

and

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

preserved an ancient practice of keeping a propitious house snake, here linked with the ''genius''.

History of the concept

Origin

The English term is borrowed from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

,'' "household guardian spirit"; earlier, "innate male power of a race or clan", deriving from the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

root *g̑enh₁-, "give birth, produce", which is also reflected in Latin ''gignō'', "give birth", and '' gēns, gentis'', "tribe, people". The ''genius'' appears explicitly in Roman literature as early as

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

, where one character jests that the father of another is so avaricious that he uses cheap Samian ware in sacrifices to his own ''genius'', so as not to tempt the ''genius'' to steal it. In this passage, the ''genius'' is not identical to the person, as to propitiate oneself would be absurd, and yet the ''genius'' also has the avarice of the person; that is, the same character, the implication being, like person, like ''genius''.

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, writing when the first emperor was introducing the cult of his own ''genius'', describes the ''genius'' as "the companion which controls the natal star; the god of human nature, in that he is mortal for each person, with a changing expression, white or black".

Imperial genii

Octavius Caesar on return to Rome after the final victory of the

Roman Civil War This list of Roman civil wars and revolts includes civil wars and organized civil disorder, revolts, and rebellions in ancient Rome (Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, and Roman Empire) until the fall of the Western Roman Empire (753 BC – AD 476). ...

at the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

appeared to the Senate to be a man of great power and success, clearly a mark of divinity. In recognition of the prodigy they voted that all banquets should include a libation to his ''genius''. In concession to this sentiment he chose the name

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

, capturing the numinous meaning of English "august". The household cult of the ''Genius Augusti'' dates from this period. It was propitiated at every meal along with the other household ''numina''. Thus began the tradition of the

Roman imperial cult The Roman imperial cult () identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority ('' auctoritas'') of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the ...

, in which Romans cultivated the ''genius'' of the emperor rather than the person. GenioLVIIGEM

If the ''genius'' of the ''

imperator The title of ''imperator'' ( ) originally meant the rough equivalent of ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later, it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as their praenomen. The Roman emperors generally based their autho ...

'', or commander of all troops, was to be propitiated, so was that of all the units under his command. The provincial troops expanded the idea of the ''genii'' of state; for example, from Roman Britain have been found altars to the ''genii'' of ''Roma'', ''Roma aeterna'', ''Britannia'', and to every '' legion'', ''

cohors A cohort (from the Latin ''cohors'', : ''cohortes''; see wikt:cohors for full inflection table) was a standard tactical military unit of a Roman legion. Although the standard size changed with time and situation, it was generally composed of 4 ...

'', '' ala'' and ''

centuria ''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of ...

'' in Britain, as well as to the ''

praetorium The Latin term ''praetorium'' (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman '' castrum'' (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roma ...

'' of every ''

castra ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

'' and even to the '' vexillae''. Inscriptional dedications to ''genius'' were not confined to the military. From

Gallia Cisalpina Cisalpine Gaul (, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the name given, especially during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, to a region of land inhabited by Celts (Gauls), corresponding to what is now most of northern Italy. Afte ...

under the empire are numerous dedications to the ''genii'' of persons of authority and respect; in addition to the emperor's ''genius principis'', were the ''genii'' of patrons of freedmen, owners of slaves, patrons of guilds, philanthropists, officials, villages, other divinities, relatives and friends. Sometimes the dedication is combined with other words, such as "to the genius and honor" or in the case of couples, "to the genius and Juno". Surviving from the time of the empire hundreds of dedicatory, votive and sepulchral inscriptions ranging over the entire territory testify to the flourishing of official cult ''( cultus'') of ''genius''. Stock phrases were abbreviated: GPR, ''genio populi Romani'' ("to the genius of the Roman people"); GHL, ''genio huius loci'' ("to the genius of this place"); GDN, ''genio domini nostri'' ("to the genius of our master"), and so on. In 392 AD with the final victory of Christianity

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

declared the veneration of the ''genii'',

and

Penates In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates () or Penates ( ) were among the ''dii familiares'', or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates ...

to be treason, ending their official terms. The concept, however, continued in representation and speech under different names or with accepted modifications.

Roman iconography

Coins

The ''genius'' of a corporate social body is often a cameo theme on ancient coins: a

denarius The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Ancient Rome, Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It cont ...

from Spain, 76–75 BC, featuring a bust of the ''GPR'' (''Genius Populi Romani'', "''Genius'' of the Roman People") on the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

; an

aureus The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden') was the main gold coin of ancient Rome from the 1st century BC to the early 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the ''solidus (coin), solidus''. This type of coin was sporadically issued during the Roman ...

of Siscia in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, 270–275 AD, featuring a standing image of the ''GENIUS ILLVR'' (''Genius Exercitus Illyriciani'', "''Genius'' of the Illyrian Army") on the reverse; an

of Rome, 134–138 AD, with an image of a youth holding a ''cornucopia'' and ''patera'' (sacrificial dish) and the inscription GENIOPR, ''genio populi Romani'', "to the ''genius'' of the Roman people", on the reverse.

Modern-era representations

File:Meister des Rosenromans 001.jpg, ''Genius'' of love, Meister des Rosenromans, File:Firenze.Palvecchio.500.Michelangelo2.JPG, ''Genius'' of victory,

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

, 1532–34 File:Fontana del genio.jpg, Genius of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Ignazio Marabitti Ignazio Marabitti (6 September 1719La Sicilia nel secolo XVIII e la poesia satiricoburlesca By Giuseppe Leanti, page 163. in Palermo – 1797 in Palermo) was a Sicilian sculptor of the late Baroque period. He trained in Rome in the studio of Fil ...

, File:Genius of Liberty Dumont July Column.jpg, ''Genius'' of liberty, Augustin Dumont, 1840 File:Vigée-Lebrun, Marie Louise Elisabeth - The Genius of Alexander.jpg, ''Genius'' of Alexander,

Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French composer ...

, 1814 File:Mausoleo del Marqués del Duero 03.jpg, ''Genius'' of war, Elías Martín, 19th century File:Paris Arc de Triomphe 03.jpg, ''Genius'' of the resistance, Antoine Etex, 1833–36 File:DemGeniusBeethovens.jpg, ''Genius'' of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

File:Adolphe Yvon - Genius of America.jpg, ''Genius'' of America, Adolphe Yvon, 1858 File:Kreuzbergdenkmal - Prinzessin Charlotte - Mutter Erde fec.jpg, ''Genius'' of the Peace of Paris, Chr. Dan. Rauch File:Genius sculpture by Carl Milles 2009 Stockholm (1).jpg, ''Genius'',

Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedes, Swedish sculpture, sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the ...

, 1932–40 File:Genius van de schilderkunst.jpg, alt=''Genius'' of painting by Geo Verbanck, 1912, Monument in honour of the Van Eyck brothers - backside, Ghent, Belgium, ''Genius'' of painting, Geo Verbanck, 1912, monument in honour of the Van Eyck brothers – backside, Ghent, Belgium

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Ancient Roman religion Roman deities Tutelary deities