inferi

Inferi is a Latin term meaning “the lower ones.” In ancient Roman religion and literature, inferi refers to the underworld and its inhabitants, encompassing both the souls of the dead and the chthonic beings associated with life beneath the earth. The phrase di inferi sometimes designated the subterranean gods collectively, withDis Pater (the Roman Pluto) and Proserpina as prominent figures; other spirits and personifications of the underworld also fall under this category. Rites and offerings to the dead, and rituals such as the Lemuria to appease malevolent shades, were connected to the wider cult of the inferi.

In Roman myth, the inferi can denote the realm itself as well as its resident beings—shades, spirits of ancestors, and various disembodied presences. The underworld is depicted as a structured afterlife with its own rulers, punishments, and destinies for souls, existing in close relation to the living through ritual memory and reverent offerings. The concept contrasts with the superi, the gods of the heavens, and with the more benevolent or ancestral aspects emphasized in other rites.

In literature, inferi appears as a stock term for the underworld or its denizens and is used in descriptions of descents to the realm of the dead or encounters with shades. Classical authors such as Virgil and Ovid employ the word to evoke the mythic geography of Hades and its inhabitants, reflecting Roman attitudes toward death, memory, and ritual.

Modern usage: In contemporary fantasy and role-playing media, inferi often denotes undead beings—reanimated corpses or controlled shades—drawing on the classical sense of beings from the underworld. The term appears in various works and games inspired by ancient myth, where necromancy or dark magic commonly summons inferi.