In ancient Roman religion , the Manes ( / ˈ m eɪ n iː z / , Latin : mānēs , Classical Latin : [ˈmaː.neːs̠] ) or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares , Lemures , Genii , and Di Penates as deities ( di ) that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult. They belonged broadly to the category of di inferi , "those who dwell below", the undifferentiated collective of divine dead. The Manes were honored during the Parentalia and Feralia in February.
9-1240: Manis (" spirit ") is a genus of South Asian and East Asian pangolins , the Asiatic pangolins , from subfamily Maninae, within family Manidae . Carl Linnaeus (1758) invented the Neo-Latin generic name Manis apparently as a feminine singular form of the Latin masculine plural Manes , the Ancient Roman name for a type of spirit, after the animal's strange appearance. Phylogenetic position of genus Manis within family Manidae. † Palaeanodonta [REDACTED] † Euromanis †Pholidota sp. ( BC 16’08 ) † Eurotamanduidae † Eomanoidea † Patriomanidae † Necromanis Phatagininae [REDACTED] Smutsiinae ( sensu stricto ) [REDACTED] † Manidae sp. ( DPC 3972 & DPC 4364 ) Manis pentadactyla [REDACTED] † Manis hungarica Manis crassicaudata † Manis lydekkeri Manis sp. ( Scale_H4 & Scale_H8 ) Manis culionensis Manis javanica [REDACTED] † Manis palaeojavanica This article about
18-441: A mammal is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Manes The theologian St. Augustine , writing about the subject a few centuries after most of the Latin pagan references to such spirits, differentiated Manes from other types of Roman spirits: Apuleius "says, indeed, that the souls of men are demons, and that men become Lares if they are good, Lemures or Larvae if they are bad, and Manes if it
27-450: A terse overview, mainly focused on military and political conflicts. It is estimated to be a work of very low quality. He is often identified with Festus of Tridentum , magister memoriae (secretary) to Valens and notoriously severe proconsul of Asia , where he was sent to punish those implicated in the conspiracy of Theodorus. The work itself is divided into two parts, one geographical and other historical. Festus appears to have used
36-562: Is mainly known as the author of an epitome titled Breviarium rerum gestarum populi Romani ("Summary of the accomplishments of the Romans"), written around AD 370 and commissioned by the Eastern emperor Valens in preparation for his war against Persia . The Breviarium covers the entire history of the Roman state from the foundation of the city . The book consists of 30 chapters treating Roman events in
45-549: Is uncertain whether they deserve well or ill... He also states that the blessed are called in Greek εὐδαίμονες [ eudaimones ], because they are good souls, that is to say, good demons, confirming his opinion that the souls of men are demons." Latin spells of antiquity were often addressed to the Manes. Manes may be derived from "an archaic adjective manus— good —which was the opposite of immanis (monstrous)". Roman tombstones often included
54-445: The analogy of other primitive cults and the sacred title of the stone ( lapis manalis ), it is practically certain that the original ritual was the purely imitative process of pouring water over the stone. Festus (historian) Festus (died 3 January 380) was a Late Roman historian. His name appears in some manuscripts as Rufius Festus , Rufus Festus , Sextus Rufus or Sextus Festus , but they appear to be corruptions. He
63-431: The caves near Lake Avernus . When a new town was founded, a round hole would be dug and a stone called a lapis manalis would be placed in the foundations, representing a gate to the underworld . Due to similar names, the lapis manalis is often confused with the lapis manilis in commentaries even in antiquity: "The 'flowing stone' … must not be confused with the stone of the same name which, according to Festus ,
72-510: The letters D.M. , which stood for Dis Manibus , literally "to the Manes", or figuratively, "to the spirits of the dead", an abbreviation that continued to appear even in Christian inscriptions. The Manes were offered blood sacrifices. The gladiatorial games , originally held at funerals, may have been instituted in the honor of the Manes. According to Cicero , the Manes could be called forth from
81-516: Was the gateway to the underworld." Of this we have a characteristic example in the ceremony of the aquaelicium , designed to produce rain after a long drought. In classical times the ceremony consisted in a procession headed by the pontifices , which bore the sacred rain-stone from its resting-place by the Porta Capena to the Capitol , where offerings were made to the sky-deity, Iuppiter, but from
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