What was a Genius according to the ancient Romans?

Luke

April 25, 2020

Genius of Augustus
(Source: Wikipedia)

What is a Genius? I know, you will say, someone exceptionally intelligent, such as an Albert Einstein or a Leonardo Da Vinci. Well, according to modern usage you would be right. However, to the ancient Romans, a Genius meant something quite different. One was not said to be a Genius so much as to have one, whether that person be an ordinary citizen or the emperor of Rome.

So what did a ‘Genius‘ mean to the ancient Romans?

What’s in a Word?
The word ‘Genius‘ is a good place to start. Words are interesting things, they are like trees that have many branches stretching in all directions, anchored to the ground by deep linguistic roots, that stretch back over millennia. Those branches tell a fascinating story, however it is the roots that reveal the real meaning of words.

One of those branches is our English word, genius, which arrived courtesy of the late 14th century. Its root is Latin, Genius singular; Genii, plural. It comes from ‘gignere‘ which means ‘begetter‘ – in the sense of generator, as in life, beget, produce. It therefore has the sense of that which generates life, and originally meant, “generative power” or “inborn nature” (Online Etymological Dictionary), whether of the human being, animal or tree.

Now that we have the word out of the way, what of the actual Genius? If it’s not a person as such, what is it exactly?

For that answer we have to turn to Roman religion.
The Genius in Roman Religion

Dea Roma holding Victory facing an altar (Source: Wikipedia)


In the classical era of the ancient Romans, before the coming of Christianity, the Romans had many religious and cultural practices unique to them.

One of these was the Genius.

The Genius referred to the protective or guardian spirit of an individual person, place or thing. It was said to be present at an individuals birth and would watch over them throughout their life until they died. A Genius principally referred to a male’s protector spirit, as for a female’s, this was referred to as a Juno, but otherwise they had the same function.

Statuette of a Genius, Macon France, about 150-220 CE (Source: My own picture)


The Genius of an individual was often depicted as a statue of an attractive youth dressed in robes, to whom offerings were made. People often implored their Genii, or those of other people who it was thought could influence and guide people as a kind of higher spiritual self.

There were different kinds of Genii, Genius Loci, the Genius of a specific location such as a house or river. The Genii of a location was often depicted as a snake in art and sculpture as this represented transformation and fertility. Even ordinary objects could be said to have a Genii, to which offerings were given.

 
A Genius Loci, often depicted as a snake in art (Source: Wkilipedia)


There was also the Genius of a particular group, such as a tribe or people. The Roman people had their own Genius which was worshipped on certain important occasions. 

The Genii were not confined to mankind alone. The whole living world was believed to have a Genii for, “every living thing, animal as well as man, and also every place, had its genius, or protecting spirit.” (Mary Ann Dwight).

The word ‘Genius’ is still with us, but what of the ancient Roman Genii?

Guardian Angel by Pietro da Cortona , 1656
(Wikipedia)

Although the ancient Romans and their religion have long since vanished, leaving only their monumental ruins and words behind, nevertheless, like one of those remaining words, ‘Genius‘, might the Genii still remain – silently watching over us in the 21st century?

It is worth noting that a belief in something akin to the ancient Genius still persists in the Roman Catholic Church. The Guardian Angel may well be a descendent of that ancient Genius that watched over Roman men and women from birth. It shares many of the same characteristics and features of its more ancient predecessor, such as a being guardian and protector of mortal people. Concerning the existence of the guardian angel in the Roman Church, Saint Jerome stated:

 
“how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it.” (Comm. in Matt., xviii, lib. II).  

The practice and belief of the Genius persisted well into the Christian era, and is mentioned in the Theodosian Code of 438 AD.

 The Ancient Roman writer and scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, according to Saint Augustine, believed that:
 
“a genius is the rational soul of each person, that there is therefore an individual genius for each individual.” (Augustine, City of God, p. 220)

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/genius-Roman-religion
Dwight, Mary Ann, Grecian and Roman Mythology, p.253
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=genius
Saint Augustine (Of Hippo), City of God, Part 1, Vol 6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_(mythology)
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07049c.htm (Saint Jerome)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_angel