In Roman mythology, the guardian spirits of the household were called the Lares.
Domestic Lares, or Lares Familiares, protected the home and everyone living in it, including family members, dependents, and enslaved people. Their small images were commonly kept in a household shrine called a lararium, often near the hearth, dining area, or atrium. Families honored them with prayers, offerings, and attention during important events such as marriages, births, and adoptions.
The Lares are easy to confuse with the Penates. Both belonged to Roman domestic religion, but the Lares were especially tied to a particular place and its inhabitants, while the Penates were more closely associated with the household’s provisions and the welfare of the family. The genius, another figure often shown in a lararium, represented the generative spirit of the male head of household.
Not all Lares were domestic. Romans also recognized Lares of crossroads, roads, fields, cities, and the state, making them guardians of locations and communities as well as homes.