Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index In Roman mythology, every man had a genius and every woman a juno. Juno was also the name for the queen of the gods. Originally, the genius/juno were ancestors who guarded over their descendants. Over time, they turned into personal guardian spirits, granting intellect and prowess. Sacrifices were made to one's genius/juno on one's birthday. The juno was worshipped under many titles: Iugalis - protected marriage Matronalis - protected married women Pronuba - protected the bride Virginalis - protected virginity In addition to each genius/juno of individuals, regions, families, households and cities had a genius. The genius of the Roman race was a winged, naked youth. The genius dedicated to places were usually depicted as snakes. See also Lares, Di Penates, Genius loci This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.