Lemŭres
The spectres or spirits of the dead. Some writers describe Lemures as the common name for
all the spirits of the dead, and divide them into two classes: the Lares, or the souls of good
men, and the Larvae, or the souls of wicked men. But the common idea was that the Lemures and
Larvae were the same. They were said to wander about at night as spectres, and to torment and
frighten the living. In order to propitiate them, the Romans celebrated the festival of the
Lemuralia or Lemuria in the month of May (the 9th, 11th, and 13th). It was said to have been
originally instituted by Romulus to appease the spirit of Remus (Ovid,
Fast, v.
473, etc.). At this festival it was the custom to appease or expel the evil spirits by walking
barefoot and throwing black beans over the shoulder at night (Ovid,
Fasti, v.
473 foll.). Because of this festival to the dead, the whole month of May was supposed to be
unlucky for marriages, whence the proverb
Mense Maio malae
nubent. See Preller,
Röm. Myth. 499.
