«Singolari e plurali», «maschili e femminili». Alcune osservazioni sui ‘Manes’ a partire dalle fonti epigrafiche

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the way the Manes, spirits of the death, are represented in the roman funerary inscriptions. We take into consideration some examples in which they are referred to not only as a community but also as single spirits. In the second part of this paper, we review the epigraphical attestations of the word Manes as a feminine and we explain the reasons why we think they have to be considered as linguistic deviations rather than as gender characterizations.

Keywords

• death in the roman world, dis manibus, manes, mania, maniae, spirits in roman religion, supernatural vocabulary, lessico soprannaturale, morte nel mondo romano, spiriti nella religione romana