ancient Roman beliefs
Manes: Definition, History, and Cultural Significance
Orin Vale
The Manes were central to Roman ideas about death, honoring the deceased as divine or semi-divine spirits who received rites, offerings, and commemorative language. Their varied use in literature and inscriptions reveals a complex boundary between ancestors, ghosts, and the afterlife, inviting closer study of Roman religious thought.
Lemures: Definition, History, and Cultural Significance
Orin Vale
Lemures were feared in ancient Roman religion as restless, neglected spirits of the dead who could disturb the living when funerary rites were incomplete. This article explores their uncertain origins, their distinction from honored ancestors such as the *manes*, and the role they played in Roman beliefs about death, ritual, and social order.
