The Gods of the Roman Family: Domestic Religion and Imperial Literature at Rome

Abstract

This thesis addresses the deities of domestic Roman religion, i.e. the lares, penates, and genii, and how references to these deities in Latin literature evolved during the first century CE. I chart how domestic religion became discursive as a consequence of Augustan religious reforms and how subsequent Latin authors engage the language of domestic religion to participate in contemporary social discourses. I focus my analysis on key texts from the Neronian and Flavian periods, namely Seneca, Lucan, Valerius Flaccus, and Statius. By exploring how these authors engage with domestic religion, this thesis aims to elucidate the cultural and literary importance of the gods of domestic religion and enhance our incomplete understanding of the importance of domestic religion.