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 p246  Genius Populi Romani

Article on pp246‑247 of

Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby):
A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome,
London: Oxford University Press, 1929.

Genius Populi Romani (aedicula? νεώς, ναός, τοῦ Γενίου τοῦ δήμου Cass. Dio):

  1. a shrine dedicated to the Genius of the Roman people, near the temple of Concord in the forum, mentioned twice in connection with prodigies in the years 43 and 32 B.C. (Cass. Dio XLVII.2.3; L.8.2), and on an inscription (CIL VI.248) found between the clivus Capitolinus and  p247 the basilica Iulia. Aurelian 'genium populi Romani aureum in rostris posuit' (Chron. 148; cf. Becker, Top. 320), which probably means that the shrine was close to the rostra, and this agrees with the order in Not. (Reg. VIII; see Jord. I.2.377; DE III.467‑468; RE VII.1166).

  2. According to the calendars (Fast. Amit. Arval. ad VII Id. Oct., CIL I2 p245, 214, 331) sacrifices were offered on 9th October to the Genius populi Romani, Felicitas and Venus Victrix in Capitolio, and therefore there was probably a shrine or altar of this Genius on the Capitol also. Whether it was dedicated to the Genius alone, or to the triad, is uncertain (Jord. I.2.46; DE, RE locc. citt.; WR 179, 266; DR 142‑145).

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