Lares. Inferior gods at Rome, and known as domestic Lares and public Lares. There was in every house their proper sanctuary (lararium) and altar. They seem to have been viewed as the spirits of the departed ancestors, the fathers and forefathers of the family, who sought the welfare of their descendants. The Lares and the Penates are often confounded but were not the same. "The Penates were originally gods, the powers of nature personified. The Lares were originally themselves human beings, who, becoming pure spirits after death, loved still to hover round the dwelling they once inhabited; to watch over its safety, and to guard it as the faithful dog guards its master."

---