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In the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii we see a fresco in the lararium where a shrine to Roman guardian spirits of the household was situated. Family members performed daily rituals here to guarantee their protection by these domestic spirits. The first two characters are the deeply venerated 'lares' (presumed sons of Mercury and Lara) depicted as two young men in dancing postures, holding drinking horns that guaranteed prosperity. In the centre is the 'genius'. She is another guardian and fertility spirit ensuring the family line (gens) would continue and she wears the 'toga praetexta', bordered in purple, the garment of high-ranking Roman magistrates. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius in AD79, these frescoes have been uncovered from metre-layers of volcanic ash and pumice but are now fading from moisture and cracked plaster...

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Filename: pompeii01-15-12-2007 .jpg
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In the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii we see a fresco in the lararium where a shrine to Roman guardian spirits of the household was situated. Family members performed daily rituals here to guarantee their protection by these domestic spirits. The first two characters are the deeply venerated 'lares' (presumed sons of Mercury and Lara) depicted as two young men in dancing postures, holding drinking horns that guaranteed prosperity. In the centre is the 'genius'. She is another guardian and fertility spirit ensuring the family line (gens) would continue and she wears the 'toga praetexta', bordered in purple, the garment of high-ranking Roman magistrates. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius in AD79, these frescoes have been uncovered from metre-layers of volcanic ash and pumice but are now fading from moisture and cracked plaster...