Manes

Manes (Good Ones) Roman The spirits of the dead. They were greatly feared and were called "Good Ones" to placate their anger. (Similarly, the Greek Furies were called the Eumenides, "good ones" or "good-tempered ones.") Whenever a town was founded, people first dug a pit at the site and then covered the pit with a stone. The hole represented a gateway to the Underworld (2) through which the Manes could pass when the citizens removed the stone, which they did three times a year.