Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the
Manes /ˈmeɪniːz/ 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
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. The theologian 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 is uncertain whether they deserve well or ill.