According to pagan beliefs, everyone at birth was assigned an attendant spirit called a Genius (also referred to as a genie or guardian angel) who governed their fortunes in life.  The historians reported that when Mark Antony and Augustus Caesar were vying for control of the Roman empire after Julius Caesar's death, Anthony feared that his genie would be overpowered by Caesar's.

The Guardian Angel, Pietro da Cortona, c. 1656.