The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner Hardcover – September 26, 2017

This book was purchased with narrowly focused expectations. The topic - the lares of Ancient Rome - seemed easily contained, and I thought I knew most of what there was to know. I was wrong.In the initial chapters, Flower addresses the lar of the home, which opens a window into the home and its relationships. Then the author takes us further: the lares of the compital shrines, casting light on the residential neighbourhood organisation of the city, and finally what the lares have to tell us about Augustus’s involvement with Roman popular religion.If you love the topics of Ancient Roman society and Roman popular culture, you owe it to yourself to read this book. To the author, I wish to express my gratitude: thank you.

Flower's analysis of the ancient Roman cults of the" lares," "penates," "genius," "juno," etc. is superb. Her investigation into these cults is thorough, insightful, and fascinating. She makes use of all available sources, i.e., art, written materials, archeological findings, and more. For the most part, Ms. Flower restricts her investigation to the late Republic and early Empire, however, she does draw attention to evidence from earlier and later periods. After finishing the book, I had a much better understanding and appreciation for these spiritual practices (the ancient Romans did not have a religion as we understand it).NOTE: The book is not really suited to the casual historian. It is a very detail investigation, and a good foundation in ancient Roman history is recommended.

An account and analysis of the extant evidence for the Roman household cult - that of the lares, penates, genius loci, genius of the pater familias, etc. Literary accounts are linked to archaeological evidence, and the synthesis of information into a more coherent picture of household religious activity (and other lares, such as those of the crossroads and sea) is insightful and brilliant at times . . .

Good read. Given the available evidence the author makes some logical conjectures and raises reasonable doubts as to the validity of several others explanations. Clear, concise delivery that even a beginner like myself could follow. I am not happy with the missing dog. I guess we all await new discoveries...

Harriet Flower is a gem of a classicist. As always, her work is insightful and engaging. An interesting read by an accomplished woman.

The author knows his archeology and history, what he does not seem to understand is spirituality - NOT religion. What the lares and the serpents meant and what they brought into the lives of the Romans seems beyond the understanding of the author. I found the book both interesting and disappointing.

At last! A book that explains all those Dancing Lares, Toga-Wearing Genii and Jolly Serpents that are so common in Pompeii (and also found in Rome). This thoroughly researched book is full of information about the function of the ubiquitous 'dancing youths' on so many private and public shrines. It also explains why we see so many hams, kebabs and other pork products along with the lares...It's a pretty fair price for such an academic book, too! I bought my own so I could doodle notes in the margins!