Genius

The Latin term genius can literally mean “begetter”.

In early Latin culture the union of man and woman who formed and procreated the family together as one person was considered a sacred union. Their home was sacred or separate and the law of the father ruled with his wife.

In every family there was both king and priest who held the powers of the imperium, potestas and auctoritas ^[1] as the genius of the house.

In an early meaning the term had a religious significance in society. Religion was meant to bind society together through social bonds through virtuous practices of fervent charity between families. As society grew certain people took on the responsibility to minister that charity throughout society in small groups or in private cults, the genius of the Roman housefather was extended to the most trusted men of society.

Stories like Nimrod's Babylon, Pharaoh's Egypt, or Caesar's Rome were examples of legal charity through the state. Legal charity is a form of public religion like that of the Imperial Cult of Rome where the genius, along with the potestas, imperium, and authority is vested in the Patronus of the State.

Vigellius Saturninus

Vigellius Saturninus, proconsul of Africa in 180 CE, addressed the seeming antisocial behavior of the twelve Scillitan Christian martyrs who were being persecuted because of their practice of Pure religion with the statement:

“We too are religious, and our religion is simple, and we swear by the Genius of our lord the emperor, and we apply for his benefits, as you also ought to do.”

The "genius loci", plural "genii locorum" was the protective spirit of a place but was also a symbol used to designate a location where free bread or grain was provided through the Imperial Cult of Rome.

The imperial cult or emperor worship honored the emperor during his reign or in Rome after his death often because of their welfare support through the temples. It was their genius that set the welfare tables of Rome but those tables that fed the people should have been for the welfare but were a snare.

Emperors in Rome could be declared divus or divine after their death. But they were already considered to be both Savior and Son of God.

The original "genius loci" was the tree of life in the Garden of Eden.

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Footnotes

↑ Auctoritas is a Latin word which is the origin of English "authority".

[1] Auctoritas is a Latin word which is the origin of English "authority".

[1]

Genius

Vigellius Saturninus

Footnotes

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