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Home , Cynegetica (Nemesianus), Diana (mythology), Diana Nemorensis, Lake Nemi, Nemi, Nemoralia

Surviving Roman Influence: The Resilience of ’s Cult at Lake in Contrast to their Neighbors.

Christopher William Kelly UVA MASTERS THESIS 2019. Amsterdam .

Statement of Originality

This document is written by Christopher William Kelly who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

Index Chapter 1: Introduction

- Part1: Objectives. - Part 2: Defining Identity. - Part 3: Meeting Diana. - Part 4: Contemporary Academic Context. - Part 5: Methodological Issues. - Part 6: & The Romanao-centric record. - Part 7: Introducing The Effects on Religious Activity.

Chapter 2: – How & Why did her Cult Survive ?

- Part 1: Diana as Tauropolos. - Part 2: Diana’s Arrival in and Her First Worshippers. - Part 3: Renunciation of the Rex. - Part 4: The Site of . - Part 5: First Inhabitant & The Landscape. - Part 6: Speculum Diana - Part 7: The & The Lamps of Nemi. - Part 8: Concluding Lake Nemi

Chapter 3: Tumultuous Sanctuaries.

- - Part 1: The Formation of Diana Aventensis on the . - Part 2 : Political Motivations of Servius. - Part 3: The Growing Roman interest in Latin Sanctuaries. 340 -180 B.C.E. - Part 4: Sanctuary abandonment after the Social Wars: 91 – 45 B.C.E. - Part 5: Augustan Intrusion on Diana Nemorensis.

Chapter 4: Conclusion.

Topography of Latium

Figure 1: TCI, 's Automobile Association, , 2019.

Figure 2: Rodney Paul: Environs of , Lidnesy Davis Publishing 2019.

Chapter I: Introduction.

Figure 3: Wilson. Etching: Landscape with Diana expelling Calisto, .1764..

Part 1: Objectives. Identity and ‘Romanisation’ are two intensely debated topics among the current academic field. However, little attention has been paid toward the relationship between these two cornerstones of religious life within the context of the region of Latium. This investigation’s primary window of study is from the beginning of the early eight century to the fall of the Republic due to the longevity of religious activity in the Latin Peninsula. The last two centuries of the republic will be analysed with special attention due to the increased rate of Roman influence throughout Italy due to the massive societal transformations that defined this time. Roman religious life and practices underwent a mass dissemination outward toward the provinces and the larger empire as part of a process widely termed ‘Romanisation’. Upon incorporation into the a pattern of religious repatriation and delocalisation ensued that often impacted the religious activity of small and rural Latin communities. Many sanctuaries in the Latin region of the Italic peninsula became shrouded with new Romanised identities or where given new sanctuaries within the religious boundary of Rome known as the

Pomerium. Over the discourse of these two centuries, the identities of local religious cults and deities became blurred and had their core characteristics altered. An outcome that was almost inevitable after prolonged centuries of Roman interest in controlling the often volatile Latin communities closest to its boundary lines. The purpose of this study is twofold, firstly I am to ascertain whether the identity of the Diana and her cult at Lake Nemi was preserved despite the intrusion of Roman culture on the surrounding Latin regions. Secondly, I will investigate whether the identity of Diana at Lake Nemi continued to draw the religiously active communities of the Latin plain despite a pattern of abandonment of rural sanctuaries elsewhere in the Latin region. I will draw particular attention to the consecration of new sanctuaries within the city of Rome to deities who previously resided in the Latin provinces. I will do this by analysing literary evidence to see if the consecration of a , within the self-proclaimed religious heart of the empire, effected the original Latin sanctuary. I have chosen to narrow the scope of this investigation to the Latin region as I feel we are best served to observe the relationship between Roman and ‘non-roman’ sanctuaries (as defined by the ) at their closest point of contact. In order to examine a large enough time frame that allows us to gain a perspective of relevant patterns and trends I shall be focusing between 800 B.C.-A.D. 161. This is because such a time frame encompasses all know religiose activity at Lake Nemi as proven by numismatic evidence found dating until the reign of Antonius Pius.1 This study should prove to be particularly interesting when we consider a larger amount of attention has been given to the identity of italic cult places post incorporation into the empire. Rather then devoting attention to evaluating their ability to retain their original character and rituals despite a strong Roman dominion. This is perhaps due to the dominant academic focus on the expansion and hegemony of Roman identity rather than the impacts on rural religious communities. The first half of this essay regards the identity of Diana Nemorensis and her conceptualisation within the Latin plain from the eight to the sixth century. Then we will be looking to see how Diana arrived in the Latin plain and how she interacted with Rome from the sixth century to the reign of . We will establish how Diana Nemorensis was represented differently to her Roman adaptation on the Aventine. In the second half of this study we will closely examine the cult site of Lake Nemi to establish if the identity of her cult changed during Roman occupation. Via examination of the political and moral context of the Republic we will establish how Diana Nemorensis survived Augustan intrusion despite often colliding with the values of the . We will then go onto to assess how the majority of Latin sanctuaries dealt with intrusion from the Roman state by studying the patterns of rural sanctuary abandonment. It will become clear through uninterrupted votive evidence at the site, that Lake Nemi remained popular as an active site of worship throughout the entirety of pagan religious worship in the italic region. The primary objective of this study is to ascertain why Lake Nemi survived throughout Roman rule when similar Latin sanctuaries either had almost all their defining characteristics changed or became lost to the of history.

Part 2: Defining Identity. When generic terminology such as identity are used in discussions on Roman society it is imperative to establish what factual evidence is used to define what is termed ‘identity’. Cult specific ritualistic activity, unique mythology and lineage, architectural environments, sacred natural landscapes and votive deposits are all individual components that when collectively viewed form the identity of cults and sanctuaries. It is through balanced investigation into each of these aspects that we will see how the identity of sanctuaries inside and outside the Pomerium were viewed differently to their respective worshippers despite being to deities with the same name . The region known as Latium Vetus housed the oldest sanctuaries in the Latin peninsula. It is a common tendency to think of the eastern

1 Guldager Bilde 1997, 167.

empire and Britain when discussing Roman provinces. However, the neighbouring regions of Latium and the long-intertwined history of the area with the capital allows us to best understand how the Roman elite valued the identities of local Latin cultures from Rome’s conception to its supremacy. The Pomerium played a large part in defining the value of sanctuaries during the later Republic. It was initially meant to represent the original boundary lines of the city of Rome as determined by and drawn out with an ox and cart.2 However, in later society it was widely accepted as being the spiritual boundary within which only true Roman deities could reside and outside of which the people and deities are barbarian in nature and nurture. The topic of the Pomerium and its centrality in defining Latin religious identity will be covered throughout this essay, For now, it is imperative that we understand that the religions of Latium were viewed unfavourably based on the barbarian origins of their genesis or rituals, in comparison to the exclusivity and civility of religious decorum within the Pomerium. In addition to the terms identity and Pomerium, the expressions pilgrim and pilgrimage will feature frequently in our discussion and can prove to be problematic in their application if they are not well defined. This is especially true in the context of Roman religion due to the popularity of pilgrimage as a concept during the rise of Christianity and the automatic associations of pilgrimage with the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. Alan Morinis offers us a suitable starting place to begin to understand how we define pilgrimage in a Roman context. He states: ‘A pilgrimage is a journey undertaken by a person in quest of a place or state that he or she believes to embody a sacred ideal’.3 Due to the proximity to Rome, it would be logical to assume that the composition of pilgrims in Latium Vetus would be the indigenous communities and the inhabitants of Rome. Therefore, it is my hypothesis that pilgrims would visit different sanctuaries to fulfil different religious ideals. Not all desired religious experiences, cults or rituals could be found in Rome and therefore the inhabitants of the capital during the Republic travelled to the Latin region in search of sacred spaces with alternative identities. As will become apparent, it was often the alternative and often vindicated cult identities of Latin sanctuaries that fulfilled more specific pilgrim desires. Dillon outlined the role of pilgrimage in polytheistic societies: ‘accordingly pilgrims travelled beyond their local boundaries and visited sanctuaries which for one reason or another transcended the sanctity of local cult areas’.4 A part of the explanation for this trend is because of the availability of cults within the Latin region that were open to members of Roman society who were often shunned from mainstream religious activity. For example, the cult of Diana Nemorensis at Lake Nemi had a long-established mythology and legacy of excepting women and runaway slaves from the capital who had fled from . The formation of a common bond between members is one reason that we shall return to in order to explain the continued popularity of the cult of Diana at Nemi compared to some of the other sites of Latium. Victor and Edith Turners offer an intriguing hypothesis on the definition of pilgrimage that legitimise identity as being a reason for Lake Nemi’s continued visitation. They suggest that pilgrimage is a denunciation of usual social structures and the celebration of socially undifferentiated ‘communitas’.5 The Turner’s raise the crucial factor of a rejection of societal structures as being a core principal in defining the ancient pilgrim. However they also introduce us to the notion of communitas and the adoption of a new societal framework and bond that it formed when engaging in a pilgrimage .They define communitas as a relationship that was dependent on the shared experiences and memories exchanged during a pilgrimage.6 In essence, they believed that pilgrimage formed a bond between those who partake in it

2 Livy I.44. 3 Alan Morinis 1992, 4. 4 Dillon 1997, 14. 5 Tuner & Turner 1978, 8. 6 Tuner & Turner 1978, 1.

because they all are unified by their absence from home and the events they attend while on the road. This is similar to Maurice Halbwachs theory that cultic identity is defined by its ability to create and to relate to a collective shared memory of share experience. He believes that the memory of shared experiences ‘creates cohesion and defines individuals as well as collective identity’.7 In its purest form the religious act of pilgrimage is a unifying experience that creates a special relationship through its unfamiliarity and the uniformity of the experience to all those who partake in it. The notion of communitas is the last jargon that must be introduced in the discussion as it too plays an important role in assessing the identity of Diana Nemorensis and her longevity in the Latin plain.

Part 3: Meeting Diana. The cult of Diana Nemorensis at Lake Nemi could be found along the Via Appia, 40km outside of the Roman pomerium from 400BC – AD 300. It was a full days walk before a pilgrim leaving Rome would reach the volcanic lands of the and the clear waters of Lake Nemi beneath them. is the nearest administrative town to the region and it remains one of our strongest case studies on the effects of Romanisation. Although Diana had existed in the dominion of Roman religion for a long time, Lake Nemi was home to a much older and darker religious identity than the capital. This is shown in ’s description of the region as ‘a lake surrounded by shady forests held sacred by a religion from the olden times’.8 The secluded and sacred nature of the landscape of Nemi plays an integral role in its longevity as a religiously active sanctuary, despite its proximity to the self-proclaimed religious epicentre of the empire. The sacred landscape will play a prominent role in our explanation of continued pilgrim activity in the Latin region after assimilation into the empire. Jane Webster argues that it is sometimes difficult to discern the original identities of Latin cults after their incorporation. She writes, ‘this part of Imperial discourse raises the question if the foreign and original elements of cults can be identified amongst the later hybrid’.9 Nevertheless, continued cult visitation to Lake Nemi until A.D.200 would suggest that the identity of the original Latin cult spot was still firmly identifiable and attractive. This is despite a temple being consecrated to Diana and a new identity bestowed on her within the Roman pomerium during the reign of King . Study into votive deposits, anatomical votives, rituals that revolve around the lake and the long mythology that ties Diana to Lake Nemi will show how Diana’s adoption as a Roman deity did not halt pilgrimage to the Latin sanctuary. Diana’s state constructed temple on the Aventine was intended to represent her new residence in the epicentre of the city and the empire. The identity that became associated with her ignored the ‘barbaric’ qualities previously despised in the capital. However, the construction of a new sanctuary to Diana did not halt religious activity at Nemi as a persistent flow of Roman pilgrims formed an affinity with the true barbarous and sacred identity of Diana. I do not aim to suggest that the sanctuaries within the Pomerium are not valued by the religiously active communities of Latium rather that the areas outside of city of Rome may have been valued more to the Latin people than is often anticipated.

7 Halbwachs 1950, 78-84. 8 Ovid, . 3.259-275. 9 Webster 2001, 209.

Part 4: Contemporary Academic Context. Before we begin to apply questions of cultic identity and the Roman pomerium to archaeological research it is imperative to outline the place of this investigation within contemporary academic argumentation. Professor Tesse Stek, in his work ‘Cult places and cultural change in Republican Italy’, highlights the drastic need for new approaches toward Roman religious action in the provinces, especially in the Latin region. He suggests that many studies on Italic religion have focused on the similarities, and not their differences and alternate reactions of Italic religions to Roman control.10 He writes: ’Diversity in response to Roman dominion is an important possibility for entire communities…Romanisation does not necessarily mean the new order was always accepted’.11 The dogmatic attention granted to Roman religious identity and its spread has left little room for the examination of local provincial sanctuaries whose identities were rebranded as Roman upon incorporation despite many differentiating origins. If we consider the bibliographical depth of study dedicated to Eastern and Hellenic provincial Romanisation in juxtaposition to Italic and Latin sanctuaries, the need for further scholarly notice becomes stark. Revel states that there is a ‘trend of polarising Roman and foreign cultic worship, one that is exacerbated by separate personnel looking at Roman religion and in the provinces’.12 It is therefore evident that a cross examination of the relationship between sanctuaries within the walls of Rome and those in the Italic provinces is needed. The likes of Scheid 1999, Webster 1995 & Frankfurter 1998 have extensively pondered the relationship between the pomerium and the pilgrim from a purely Roman perspective. In Rome itself, ‘sanctuaries were the symbol par excellence for the whole community’.13 Whilst I shall return to the perception of Roman sanctuaries in a moment it is important to take away from the current academic debate that there is void that must be filled when it comes to identity and pilgrimage to Latin cult sites. Green submits a strong criticism of this intellectual void stating, ‘The historical and archaeological testimonial has demonstrated that the sanctuary of Diana at Lake Nemi was a centre of vital Latin religion from the early Iron age on through the second century’. She adds, ‘That fact has been known for a hundred years or so and yet it has never yet been properly integrated into our understanding of and in Latium’.14 Contemporary debate is continuing Rome’s dominance in the nexus of religious discussion. For inland Italic sanctuaries, Steck states: ‘the situation is rather different and only few attempts have been made to theorise the identity or activity of italic sanctuaries’.15 Scholarly neglect of Italic sanctuaries is reflected in the studies of Elsner and Rutherford who suggest ‘pilgrimage plays a smaller role in Roman society due to the appropriation of deities and the process of evocatio’.16 In essence they are theorising that the process of ritualistic deity repatriation to Rome known as evocatio dwindled the need for pilgrimage to the original Latin sanctuaries. This thinking echoes Eric Orlin hypothesis that evocatio of a Latin deity to Rome ‘left little reason to worship the weaker god’.17 It has been assumed as factual that evocation to Rome makes pilgrimage to original sanctuaries redundant in the following centuries because the majority of our evidence has made us falsely assume that the masses agreed with the elite in recognising the spiritual supremacy of land within the pomerium. In the joint publication of Beard, North and Price a valuable summation of the migration of religion from the capital outward and their changes in identity can be found. It reads ‘imitation of the religion of the capital must in practice always have been a creative process, involving adaptation and

10 Stek 2008, 14-15. 11 Stek 2008, 16. 12 Revell 2009: 112. 13 Stek 2009, 30. 14 Green 2007, 292. 15 Stek 2008, 21. 16 Elsner & Rutherford 2010. 3. 17 Orlin 2010, 32.

change”.18 Steck cross examines this summation with the archaeological evidence presented by Price to suggest that ‘two altars of Augustan date, where elements of Roman monuments are adapted, shows how the Colonia of was “expressing its own version of Roman identity”, adding “different Colonia were Roman in very different ways’.19 It is clear that adaption and change of Roman religion presents a different religious experience and therefore a different perceived identity to pilgrims and local residents of provinces. However, what has not been given due attention is the adaption of provincial religions by Rome and how core characteristics of deities and their cuts were changed to fit the Roman way of life. The evocation of Magna Mater by the senate during the prelude to the Carthaginian Wars resulted in a complete change of her identity. Her Anatolian ancestry was cloaked by the and presented to the public as being of Trojan origin. For the purpose of this study, I shall largely be analysing the goddess Diana and her home in Lake Nemi. However, the evocation of Magna Mater presents some intriguing parallels. records her earliest physical depiction at a cultic site in Lydian as being ‘carved into a rock-spur of Mount Sipylus’, now in modern day Turkey.20 Magna Mater, once a local cult deity firmly etched into the Turkish landscape, became unrecognisable from the original. It will become clear that this was not a rare occurrence within the Roman discourse for the perception and base characteristics of a deity to change once within the Pomerium. The notion that deities can be relocated and have their identities transformed undermines the fixity of sacred land and the cultural identities surrounding them. Despite persistent Roman intrusion and full adoption and reinterpretation of Diana by Rome, Lake Nemi continued to draw a steady pilgrim attendance from its earliest beginnings in eight century to its fall at the hands of Christianity in the third century AD.

Part 5: Methodological Issues. There are several paths of investigation that will guide us through this study. Firstly, we must establish if the identity of a sanctuary is perceived differently once its patron deity has been incorporated into the Roman Pantheon. One of the potential methodological problems that must be addressed is how we measure change in reference to identity. The Latin plain is relatively unique in that through the archaeological record we can see a remarkable level of continuity in ritual practice at cultic sanctuaries. Professor Herman’s comments on the plentiful archaeological record stating, ‘After the Roman takeover of the region and reconstructions in the second and first centuries B.C., Latin sanctuaries continued to flourish, surviving well into the second and third century AD’.21 Such a long window of operation is synonymous with leaving behind large amount of archeologically and literary evidence. The accounts of Livy, and Ovid will be cross examines with our archaeological record of Latin cults to ground our understanding of changes in identity. Professor Herman’s study of the cultic sites of the Alban mount in the oldest part of Latium known as Latium Vetus is an irreplaceable compendium to this study of Latin religion. However, there is one key omission from her comprehensive study that I hope to explore in this thesis. Her study is introduced stating that the aim is not to create a pre Roman understanding of the cults identity for the focal point of her examination was the post Republican era.22 I believe that through comparisons of the core components of a cultic identity before and after Roman control we can establisher a firmer understanding of religious activity in the Latin peninsula and the way in which Latin cults responded to the implications of Roman rule. We will also be able to better understand the motivation of early Roman

18 Beard, North and Price 1998, 19 Steck 2009, 26. 20 Roller 1999: 45. 21 Hermans 2018, 31. 22 Hermans 2018, 1-4.

pilgrims by establishing how identity changes in cultic behaviour attract a different audience to the juxtaposing cults depending on the identities offered. An obstacle that may arise as we progress through this study is our understand of ‘perceptions’. I am attempting to understand how Roman perceptions of Latin cult sites fluctuate depending on the political environment between themselves and their Latin neighbours. It will become apparent that certain sanctuaries were favoured to others based on the core difference between them. These differences included their location in relation to the Pomerium, their ritualistic behaviour and their roles as epicentres for political conspiracy among the Latin communities. The evidence I shall largely be using in order to understand their perception is based on primary literary evidence. For example, the accounts of and Ovid are key in understanding the perceptions of more ordinary citizens, particularly in relation to the Nemoralia festival. Literary evidence will be our predominant tool in analysing the perceptions of the Roman elite towards Latin cults throughout the entirety of their relationship, allowing us to cross examine their often diatribic rhetoric with the archaeological record of continuous religious activity in the often despised cults sites of Latium. Additionally, smaller artefacts such as deposits, souvenirs and pottery will give us a more realistic interpretation of an ordinary pilgrims mindset. Finally, we must then look into how incorporation effected religious activity at the original sanctuaries located within Latium. We will measure this effect through analysis of votive deposits, inscriptions and literary accounts of continued worship at original cult sites. In theory, pilgrimage to sanctuaries outside the pomerium had a different spiritual appeal because of their often contrasting identities compared to Roman endorsed sanctuaries. As previously alluded too this is evident in the importance of a natural sacred landscape that reflected and was entwined in the mythology of the deity and the location specific rituals that could only be conducted in spaces outside of the pomerium.

Part 6: Livy and the Romano-Centric Record. Thus far I have largely introduced concepts in relation to Latin cult, as that is where I believe most attention is required. However, the identity that was crafted for a cult by Rome upon inclusion within the Pomerium was not always more appealing to the followers of a deity in comparison to the original sacred landscapes. This hypothesis goes against the grain of the Romano centric narrative established in or primary literary record. It is at this point that we must begin to delicately question the prejudice of our sources. It is a widely understood that the literary record of the Republic presents Rome as the religious heart of the empire that pumps the stoic and steadfast principles of Roman decorum to all those under their control. The sanctuaries contained with the boundary of its Pomerium were built to reflect the divine fortune and favouritism that Rome had been bestowed. For instance, Cicero heralds that the disposition of the Romans towards piousness was a defining characteristic of Rome, stating: ‘We surpass all in Piety and Religion’.23 Livy’s records of the infamous Speech of Camillus is a perfect example for the context of our discussion as the speech itself took place within our window of study. After the fall of Rome at the hands of the ’s, Camillus addressed the surviving Roman citizenry and made his case for rebuilding the capital instead of relocating. He states: ‘We possess a City which was founded with the divine approval...there is not a spot which is not full of religious associations and the presence of a god’. 24 Rome is viewed by Camillus, and by proxy Livy, as being religiously unique in its significance, suggesting that the land on which it stands is matchless in its sacred stature. The majority of Livy’s account of Camillus speech focuses on the land of Rome being the place in which the gods feel most at home. He records that Camillus proclaimed:

23 Cicero, De Haruspicium Responsis , 9.19. 24 Livy, 5.52.

Not without good reason did gods and men choose this spot as the site of a City, with its bracing hills, its commodious river, by means of which the produce of inland countries may be brought down and over-sea supplies obtained; a district in the very centre of Italy - in a word, a position singularly adapted by nature for the expansion of a city….. This has hitherto been your Fortune; what sense can there be - perish the thought! - in making trial of another Fortune? Even granting that your valour can pass over to another spot, certainly the good Fortune of this place cannot be transferred. Here is the Capitol where in the old days a human head was found, and this was declared to be an , for in that place would be fixed the head and supreme sovereign power of the world. Here it was that whilst the Capitol was being cleared with augural rites, and Terminus, to the great delight of your fathers, would not allow themselves to be moved. Here is the Fire of ; here are the Shields sent down from heaven; here are all the gods, who, if you remain, will be gracious to you.25 Camillus’s argumentation as presented by Livy clearly assimilated the foundations of Rome and all of its subsequent affluence on the actions of the gods as a result of the sacred nature of the regions topography. Livy’s account mentions the supremacy of Rome both in terms of religious value (‘here are all the gods) and in topographical and political terms (‘a district in the very centre of Italy’). This is perhaps a powerful foreshadowing of Roman expansion in the proceeding centuries. However it is unquestionably an insight into the value placed on Rome as a sacred landscape by both Camillus and Livy in comparison to anywhere else. The sacred superiority of Rome was valued so highly to Livy that he was certain ‘the good Fortune of this place cannot be transferred’. Though these words are delivered through the medium of Camillus, they are almost certainly of Livy’s conception as such a disposition towards highlighting Roman religious superiority appears frequently in his cannon of oratory. Livy draws particular attention to the popular opinion of Rome’s dominant religious significance:

What conditions existed before the founding of the city (Rome) or when it was being built are passed down as the fanciful tales of poets rather than the tested truths of history. It is the license of the ancient past to make the city more prominent by mixing human origins with the divine. And if it is permitted for any people to claim their own origins as sacred and to make their founders gods, then the glory of the in war is so great that, when they claim that most powerful is the father of their own founder, surely the races of man can endure it as easily as they do Roman empire.26 Whether a ‘sacred origin’ actually meant that the Roman populis believed in their religious superiority over surrounding areas is up for debate. What is even less certain is if ‘the races of man’ who ‘endure the Roman Empire’ perceived Rome as superior because of the states weaving of human and divine origins. However, what is for certain is that the elite members of the Roman establishment desired Rome to be regarded as first among lesser cities. This is evident in Pliny’s Panegyric where he states, ‘How fortunate for all the provinces to have come into our trust and power, now that there is an emperor who feeds and protects an foreign as if they were part of the Roman people’.27 Suggestions that the provinces are lucky or are indebted to Rome for their incorporation into the empire are fraught and echoe the same associations of Roman superiority. When a narrative of subordination and control is constructed over a prolonged period of time it is easy to understand how pilgrimage to sanctuaries within the Pomerium have traditionally been understood as more important than to anywhere else because of the sanctity of the capital

25 Livy, 5.54. 26 Livy, Praefatio 1,7-9. 27 Pliny, Panegyricus, 32.1.

What does this disposition mean to our study? It means that discussion on Latium identity is foregrounded with an tendency to value Roman endorsed cults and sanctuaries over provincial deities. Later discussion on the diatribic demonization of Latin cults by Roman authors will prove that their unfavourable depictions are not realistic in their summations of Latin cultic identity or their popularity. Larger quantities of archaeological evidence unearthed in more recent centuries has resulted in a cleared understanding of the true nature of Latin religious life. Professor Hermans agrees with this assertion, stating that excavations of the late 20th century have added to our ‘knowledge of the religious landscape of ancient Latium offering us a view on the Latin cults that supplement or corrects the often anachronistic or Romano-centric narratives of Livy’.28

Part 7: Introducing the Effects on Religious Activity. It will become apparent in our discussion on Latin cuts and identity that there are a few conclusive patterns of behaviour in relation to religious activity after incorporation into the empire. The effects of deity endorsement by Rome on Italic sanctuaries have been categorised into either desertion or continuation. However this is not a bipolar issue that can be so easily summated as there is clear evidence to suggest that both patterns are evident within the Latin plain. Revell summates the dangers of relying on a uniform theory of desertion and continuation. He states: ‘Assuming that worship to cultic deities remained static and unchanging as a direct reflection of their pre-existing condition upon importation to Rome ignores the dynamic nature of religion and the complex nature of social change’.29 In this study I will outline both sides of the evidence before rounding off our discussion by concluding how cultic identities in Latium Vetus before and after ‘Romanisation’ can better in from our understanding of religious activity in the region. To conclude this introduction I feel we are best served by summating the overall objectives of this study. Core measurable aspects of Latin cult sites that comprise identity; sacred natural landscape, specific ritualistic activity, unique mythology and lineage will be analysed. This analysis will show us that there are numerous effects on the patterns of continued religious activity and visitation of Latin cult sites and sanctuaries. Firstly, we will see that incorporation into the Roman Pantheon often changed the identity of Latin cults. Secondly, we will see that this resulted in some Latin sanctuaries being completely abandoned due to direct action by the Roman senate. Thirdly, we will see that others continued to attract more Roman and foreign pilgrims due to a preference for the surviving alternative and original identities presented by Latin cult in comparison to the state endorsed identity. Finally, it will become clear that the superior sacred nature of Rome as recorded by our primary evidence is not reflected in the actions of ordinary religiously active people. Now that the academic context, basic terminology, literary bias and primary objectives have been introduced we can now begin to dissect each component of identity, beginning with the sacred landscape and the cult of Diana Nemoresis at Nemi.

28 Hermans 2010, 30. 29 Revell 2009: 113.

Chapter 2: Diana Nemorensis – How & Why did her Cult Survive ?

Figure 4: Head copy of a bronze tri-corpus votive symbolising Diana, found in 18th century in Vallericcia Valley. Lake Nemi Museum, Lazio. Chris Kelly Photography 2019.

Part 1: Diana as Artemis Tauropolos. The history of Diana Nemorensis is a long and complex story that spans over various parts of the larger empire. In this study we are focusing on her cult identity and history within the Latin peninsula. However, her establishment within the Latin region cannot thoroughly be explained without consideration of her origins and mythology. I am aware that the origin story of Diana is a well-known and often repeated tale amongst those studying Latin religion however I feel it is imperative that we understand her beginnings to be able to comment on her later identity. Diana’s early incarnations revolved around the natural world and the protection of hunters. She was the native of several small towns in the region of modern-day Crimea, who guarded over the sacred natural environment. Although, in the eighth century this deity was not known to the Tauric people as Diana, the core characteristic of the deity would later form a core component of the Latin

conceptualisation of her. Later known as Artemis Tauropolos, meaning ‘Artemis worshipped at Tauris’, this early inspiration for Diana was supposedly brought to the Latin plain from Taurians by the mythical daughter of King Agamemnon, and her brother .30 The name Artemis Tauropolos became the known moniker for this deity amongst the Greek and Roman populations of the early sixth century. It is possible that the obvious associations between this Tauric deity and the Hellenic Artemis resulted in the name Artemis Tauropolos. In its Roman usage the link to Artemis would indeed emphasise the role of the Greek heroes Orestes and Iphigenia in bringing Latin Diana to the sanctuary at Aricia. However, Orestes first physical incorporation into the mythology of Diana’s arrival in the Latin plain came when the region of Latium and the Alban Hills of Aricia began trading with the cities of Magna Graecia. Oreste’s involvement in the transportation of Diana must have become commonplace during the late 6th century. This is demonstrated by the vast quantities of fifth century Etruscan red figure vases that have been found in the Latin Plain such as the red figure of the of Orestes and Elektra.31 A large quantity of these vases were produced in the Latin town of suggesting that they were a key player in the producing of Orestean artefacts and trinkets such as the famous Citrus depicting the of Iphigenia known as LIMC Agamemnon 35.32 Orestes and his myths became widespread as did his associations with Diana as shown by Ovid’s later moniker for the goddess ‘Orestean Diana’.33 Servius of the 3rd century gives us an important account of the myths formation and how precisely Diana arrived in the region of Latium according to her mythology. He writes: “Orestes, after the slaying of King Thoas in the Tauric region, fled with his sister Iphigenia, and erected the statue of Diana carried from there, not very far from Aricia”.34 Oreste’s actions in slaying the King of the Tauris would later become the ritualistic selection process for all later . Green summates the importance of Orestes in introducing Diana to Aricia stating ‘Orestes embodied the that the Arician’s chose to explain the meaning of Rex Nemorensis’.35 However, despite the influence of Orestes on the origin story of Diana, the cult at Lake Nemi would be far more likened to the barbaric deity of the Tauric people then the Hellenic hunting goddess Artemis.

Figure 5 : Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Aigisthos, nos. 6. An example of the vases created that depict Orestes dating to the late sixth and early fifth centuries. This is one of twenty seven in this particular series.

30 Gordon 1934, 11-12. 31 McCoskey 2010, 314. Fig.6 . 32 Knoefler 1993, fig 72. 33 Ovid, Metamorphosis, 15. 488-91. 34 Servius. 6.136. 35 Green. 2007.201.

Part 2: Diana’s Arrival in Latium and Her First Worshippers. The Taurian cult that worshipped the deity known as Artemis Tauropolos largely inspired the ‘Scythian’ and ‘barbaric’ qualities that defined Diana’s cult at Lake Nemi. The most identifiable similarities between the two cults is the centrality of the Rex Nemorensis within the cult at Nemi. A role that was inherited from the original cult of Artemis Tauropolos in Tauris. Strabo gives us an important description of the links between the Latin cult to Diana at Lake Nemi and the early cults of the Tauric people. He writes:

Above it [Aricia] lies, first, on the right hand side of the Way, Lanuvium, a city of the Romans, from which both the sea and Antium are visible, and, secondly, to the left of the Way as you go up from Aricia, the Artemisium, which they call Nemus. The temple of the Arician, they say, is a copy of that of the Tauropolos. And in fact a barbaric, and Scythian, element predominates in the sacred usage.36 Strabo’s reference to the close resemblance of Diana’s sanctuary at Nemi and Tauris is indicative of the closely resembled identity of the Goddess in the Latin plain and her barbarian origins. Thus far I have made several allusions to the ‘barbaric’ appearance of Diana Nemoresis in the Latin region. It is crucial that we therefore understand what components of Diana’s Latin cultic identity were drawn from the Tauric people and were perceived as barbaric by the Roman elite and why. It begins with the mythology surrounding the formation of the first cult at Lake Nemi. Sir James Frazer gives us an easy starting place in summating the cults barbaric appearance in his fictional dissection of the origins of world religions, The Golden Bough:

In the there grew a certain tree around which at any time of the day, probably far into the night, a grim figure might be seen to prowl. In his hand he carried a drawn sword, and he kept peering warily about him as if at every instant he expected to be set upon by an enemy. He was a priest and a murderer; and the man for whom he looked was sooner or later to murder him and hold the priesthood in his stead.37 Frazer’s work is expertly crafted and eclectic in its dealing of world religion in several time frames and is not written with the intention of academic scrutiny. However, it is correct in is descriptions of a ritual conducted by the cult of Diana at the sacred grove at Lake Nemi that aimed to select a new priestly-king known as the Rex Nemorensis. The Rex Nemorensis and his selection process is describes by Strabo as being one of “a run-away slave who has slain with his own hand the man previously consecrated to that office”.38 As previously stated, this ritual originated with the murder of the first high priest of Diana, King Thoas of the Tauric region by Orestes. A process of succession by blood sacrifice of the previous Rex Nemorensis became a core pillar of the Latin cults ritualistic identity much as it had been to the Tauric worshipers of Artemis Tauropolos. The ritual symbolised the slaves freedom from servitude by killing his master much as Orestes had done within his own mythology. This cemented Lake Nemi’s favourability amongst the slave populations of the Latin region. The later popularity of the cult at Nemi amongst the slave populations of Latin region can be explained by their centrality in the identity of Diana and her arrival in the Latin plain. Strabo’s reference to a ‘run-away’ slave is a reference to a recorded in the Digests that states that: ‘If they (a slave) escape from the mastery of their enemy then they regain their original freedom’.39 Through absconding the clutches of servitude and slaying the former Rex Nemorensis, a runaway slave proved himself worthy of fulfilling the newly available office. Herman’s states that ‘with a mad murderous

36 Strabo. 5.3.12. 37 Frazer 1911, 8-9. 38 Strabo. 5.3.13. 39 Justinian, Digest, 41.1.7.

priest as her consort and a sanctuary in a cave that was a refugium for escaped slaves, Diana Nemorensis was quickly interpreted as a curious form of the Greek Goddess Artemis’. She adds ‘ in her appearance Diana was a process of wildlife and nature who over time incorporated Scythian elements from her illustrious namesake Artemis Tauropolos’.40 The addition of these Tauric elements such as the Rex Nemorensis will help us explain both the favourability of the cult with the Latin people and the distain for it by the upper echelons of Roman society. In tandem to this, Servius’s account of the Rex Nemorensis selection process further highlights the centrality of slaves in the cult at Nemi:

After the rite of the had been changed, there was a certain tree in this temple from which it was forbidden to break off a branch. However a power was granted to fugitives so that if anyone were able to carry away a branch from that place, he would contend with the fugitive priest in a duel, for the priest there was [also] a fugitive to symbolize the ancient flight.41 Green in her analysis of Diana’s origins suggest that several parts of her mythology are key in explaining the cults later ‘barbaric’ perception. For example, she writes: ‘The fact that Thoas ( the original protector of Diana and victim of Orestes) was a barbarian was essential for it confined the idea of barbarianism in the ritual identity of Rex Nemorensis’.42 Orestes slaughter of the barbarian king of the Taurians enshrined the tradition of a barbarian leader for the cult for centuries to come especially as Orestes himself had been enslaved for the killing of his mother. To mainstream Roman, the thought of a cult that rewarded and heralded the virtues of murder, barbarianism and liberation from mastery earned Diana Nemorensis an unfavourable reputation for barbaric religious acts due to the Roman abjuration of . The infamy for barbarity that the cult of Nemi has attained in the capital because of their preference for foreign rituals is illustrated by Ovid in the Metamorphosis as he repeatedly names Diana Nemorensis, ‘The Scythian Diana in her forest kingdom”.43

Part 3: Renunciation of the Rex. During the later existence of the cult at Lake Nemi, the Rex Nemorensis continued to operate as an often despised autonomous political entity despite the region of Aricia falling to Rome in the third century B.C.E. in his account of the life of , briefly mentions the Rex Nemorensis. He writes: “In short, there was no one of such low condition or such abject fortune that he did not envy him such advantages as he possessed. Since the King of Nemi had now held his priesthood for many years, he [Caligula] hired a stronger adversary to attack him”.44 This extract is significant because it highlights the unfavourable attitude held by the highest rungs of the Roman state as a result of the Rex Nemorensis’s wide popularity and affluence. Suetonius’s well known distain for Caligula is worthy of note as he may have included this comment to suggest that Caligula is paranoid about a threat to his popularity. Nevertheless, this account demonstrates the willingness of the Roman state to influence the cults of the Latin region if they did not approve of its character. The dark side of Diana’s worship at Nemi is most vivid in the preceding rituals after the old Rex Nemorensis had been killed. in his describe a ritual of necromancy that was enacted in the caves of the sacred grove that sought to unite the dead with the underworld. Death is of course a part of the natural world and therefore was a part of becoming a priest to Diana. The body of the fallen Rex Nemorensis was set alight on a funerary pyre and cremated. Then as Green states ‘The new Rex would place the bones of his predecessor in the cave-tomb and then await his vision of the underworld

40 Hermans 2010, 39. 41 Servius. 6.137. 42 Green 2007. 204. 43 Ovid. Meta. 14.331. 44 Suetonius. Cal. 35.3.

there’.45 Left alone in a cave with the remains of all previous leaders of the cult, the new Rex would undergo a period of solitude as a show of dedication to Diana as part of a ritual of ‘sacred pain’.46 He would emerge from the cave days later a welcome proponent of the cult of Diana. This ritual is common in societies that accept necromancy as a practice such as Herekleia or Tainaron.47 However, for such a ritual to occur 30km from the city’s boundaries would seem to elite Roman society to be a hubristic breach of proper religious conduct. The Roman abortion of magic or rituals of necromancy is well documented in the accusations of the second sophistic who utilises accusations of witchery to slander their rhetorical rivals. What is particularly significant about the role of Rex Nemorensis is that it did not appear in the sanctuary later constructed by the city of Rome on the illustrious Aventine hill. This is known through the account of Servius who comments on the transferal of the rite of Rex Nemorensis to a Spartan sanctuary after the Arcian sanctuary collapsed in the third century A.D. He suggests that the rite was transferred to Sparta as a result of their familiarity with violence and ritualistic killings.48 The implication of this transferal was that the rite of Rex Nemorensis was to move outside of Lake Nemi for the first time in history and it was not to the closest of Diana on the Aventine. Servius’s suggestions that this was due to the Spartans more appropriate ritualistic palate, would suggest that the acts of Rex Nemorensis were never thought to be reflective of Roman religious rites. Therefore the Rex Nemorensis was not to be welcomed into the Pomerium upon Lake Nemi’s collapse. The barbarian and Scythian elements of the Tauric cult seem to have survived Diana’s transportation to Nemi. As a result, the whole region of Latium continued to draw hatred from the capital because of their failure to adhere to the traditional morals of social decorum and Republican values that became the Modus Operandi for third and second century Roman society. Cicero in his accounts of a dispute between Mark Anthony and Gaius states that the insults hurled by Anthony were aimed at Gaius barbarian blood line. He writes: ‘He, Anthony, taunts Gaius with his humble birth though even his farther had he lived would have been a consul. “A mother from Aricia”: you might think he was speaking of a woman from Tralles or from ’.49 Cicero expresses deep abjuration for Anthony’s remarks that suggest that a family from Aricia, the region of Lake Nemi, was of a laughable social status despite the political success of Gaius’s farther. Cicero chooses this instance to interject with his own opinion on the quickness of the Roman elite to deem anyone not of longstanding Roman birth a barbarian. He responds to Anthony, stating: ‘Do you see how we who come from Municipia are looked down upon that is just about all of us: for how few of us do not come from such a town. And if an ancient community such as Aricia a Roman ally under treaty so close as to adjoin the Roman boundaries, what municipality does he not despise’.50 Cicero’s decision to include this retort suggest that this opinion was more widespread than just Anthony. Rather, Anthony’s elitist exclamation was symptomatic of a republican society that viewed the surrounding Latin plain as barbaric compared to civilised Rome. It is therefore easy to understand how the ritual practice of Rex Nemorensis at the cult of Diana at Lake Nemi added to the already barbaric appearance of the provinces. A similar comparison of the vindication received by the Arcian people and the willingness of Rome to change the identity of local Italy cults can be seen in the Roman attitudes toward the cult of Erycine. Originally, Erycine was worshiped in the small localised areas of provincial Sicily.

45 Green 2007, 175. 46 Glucklich 2001,149. 47 Ogden 2001, 61-8. 48 Servius. 2.116. 49 Cicero. Phil. 315. 50 Cicero. Phil. 316.

However, in 217 BC Rome suffered a heavy loss at the battle of Lake Trasimene during the Carthaginian war and was therefore ordered by the Sybiline Oracle to capture the deity Venus Erycina from Carthage’s allied city, Eryx. Venus Eryx became Venus Genetrix and was given a home on Rome’s Aventine, much like that of Diana’s.51 This sanctuary became exclusive to select members of the Roman elite, however a version of the deity that was more comparable to the original fertility goddess of the Eryxian people was established in 181BC.52 It was constructed in the plebeian regions of the city toward the Colline Gate and outside the religious boundary line of the city, the Pomerium. Ovid gives us an insight into the relationship between existing to the same deity within close proximity. He writes: ‘The real Erycine cult, retaining the oriental practice of the hierodouleia or ‘sacred prostitution’ peculiar to the Sicilian model, took place in the sanctuary near the Porta Collina and was therefore relegated to a location outside the pomerium’.53 It was because of a specific ritual that the Romans rejected this interpretation of the deity and instead centralised their version within the heart of the city. It would be logical to suggest that the identity of the two sanctuaries and their cults were very different. This is evident in Strabo’s accounts of Venus Eryx as he ‘designated only the temple near the Porta Collina and not the one on the as a true subsidiary branch of the sanctuary in Erxy’.54 To Strabo, the temple consecrate to Venus Erxya on the Aventine did not qualify as a true temple derivative of the original as it lacked certain aspects of her ritualistic identity.55 The same question of validity of worship will be raised and answered in relation to Lake Nemi. Overall, the Tauric identity of Diana at Lake Nemi appears unsaturated and firmly identifiable and stands in stark contrast to the values expressed throughout he Roman religious system. If the region of Aricia was mocked for its uncivilised ways then the question still remains, why did they add the most prominent local deity to their pantheon ? And what was it bout the Cult of Diana Nemorensis that meant that it survived despite Roman distain of the rite of Rex Nemorensis. The answers can be found in the analysis of the unique topographical factors of Lake Nemi in comparison to any other worship spot of Diana, including the Aventine.

Part 4: The Site of Lake Nemi. Lake Nemi is as startling a landscape now as it was for pilgrims visiting both in early Roman history and the years following the fall of the Republic . The lake sits in a thirty meter deep volcanic crater that is skirted by thick forest and vegetation. The site can be found slightly removed from the crossroads that branch off of the Via Appia. Diana’s sanctuaries were often found at cross-road sites as a result of her secondary function as a patron of travellers and journeys.56 Professor Herman’s suggest that throughout Lake Nemi’s existence ‘part of the region remained rather isolated with dense wood on the steep sided crater, lakes and dozens of little streams.’57 The seclusion and absence of any building must have been a clear juxtaposition with the noise and pollution of the capital. This solitude from an industrialising empire would have surely presented itself as a perfect landscape for the worship of the goddess of the natural world. Both to the Latin people of the sixth century onwards to whom she was known as Diana Nemorensis and to the indigenous Etruscan and other rural communities of the eight and seventh centuries. A vivid description of the natural beauty of Lake Nemi can be found In a poetic dialogue of , He writes: ‘…the deity [Diana] must be summoned from high Olympus and the protection of the gods

51 Livy. 23.32. 52 Lipka 2009,72-73. 53 Ovid. Fasti. 4.865-72. 54 Strabo. 6.2.6. 55 Anguissola 2007, 645. 56 Green 2007, 7. 57 Hermans 2010, 3.

invoked by suppliant ritual. For that reason we construct cross-road in groves of soaring trees and set our sharp-pointed torches hard by the woodland precinct of Diana, and the whelps are decked with the wonted wreath, and at the centre of the cross-roads in the grove the hunters fling down among the flowers the very weapons which now keep holiday in the festal peace of the sacred rites.58 The description of the soaring trees and flowers that now hold the torches carried by the hunters to the grotto creates an atmosphere of a wild natural landscape that houses the rituals that bring Diana down from Olympus. His specification that it is ‘For this reason that we construct cross-road shrines in groves of soaring trees’ suggest that the location of Lake Nemi is in essence a part of the ritual of worshiping her. Therefore, the construction of their sanctuaries in an area of thick vegetation and the undisturbed conduction of their cult rituals amongst the natural world was of paramount importance to establishing a strong connection between Diana and her follower in the Latin region. We shall return to the nature of these rituals once we have fully established the topography of the landscape and the elements of Lake Nemi that created its sacred reputation. To the North side of the crater lies a triangular segment of flat land that a small sanctuary would later be constructed. However, in the dawn of religious activity at Nemi in the eighth centuries, the cult site remained untouched from man-made buildings and relied on the natural splendour of the creator, forest and vegetation. The serene environment at Lake Nemi was a natural pairing for a cult wishing to worship Diana the protector of the natural world. Varro describes the site as a place that ‘unites the three cosmic levels- the earth, the canopy of the heavens and through the depths of the lake and the caves at it shores the underworld’.59 Diana’s early Latin identity and that of her cult was synonymous with the sacred landscape of Nemi. Varro’s description of a cosmically surreal environment at the sacred grove is indicative of the importance of the location to the religious experience to be had at on the shores of lake Nemi. Varro introduces too us the first notions of the importance of the sacred land of cultic site, and how it created an intimate connection between the deity and its followers.

Part 5: First Inhabitant & The Sacred Landscape. Cultural historian Pierre Nora defines the sacred landscape as a ‘place of memory of past events and actions of historical significance that shaped the social and religious identity of their population’.60 Through repeated actions over long instances of time a special bond is created with the landscapes that house centuries of memories and rituals. In the Christian and Jewish faiths areas and items ordained as sacred are demarked as Holy relics of a divine nature. Comparatively, the landscapes of the Roman era organically became sacred and designated as so by the people who worshipped there. I agree with Greens position that ‘sacred space is defined by use’, as opposed to being defined by a constructed and often benefaction funded sanctuary.61 The cult places of Latium were valued as sacred by their surrounding communities, long before Roman occupation and construction ensued. To the people of the Latin plain the spiritual nature of the location of Nemi did not begin with Orestes’s delivery of Tauric Artemis. Rather it began with the discovery of this land in the first place. If sacred space is defined by usage and not be construction then, as Green suggests ‘buildings represent only one way to define the places where men and women could worship their gods’.62 Therefore, it is logical to suggest that some form of spiritual or sacred status had been place on the natural splendour of the sacred grove and its lake from the first time the region was inhabited. This is evident in Gierow’s 1964 analysis of religious activity at Lake Nemi. He illustrates that small ornamental artefacts have been recovered that suggest settlements began to spread across the region of Aricia from 800BC onward. Specifically,

58 Grattius. . 481-496. 59 Varro. 5.17. 60 Nora 1984, 18. 61 Green 2007, 10. 62 Green 2007, 10.

burials in the first graveyards of Aricia and animal bones in the context of human habitation have been uncovered dating to the eight century.63 This suggests that human contact with the natural wonder of Lake Nemi began at least five centuries before the first known construction of a temple structure within the sacred grove at Nemi. The first constructed sacred environment to be found on the banks of Lake Nemi was a wall of a temple that dated at its earliest to the Republican era that was later rebuilt twice in the first and then again first century.64 Similarly, only a handful of brooches and have been recovered that date between the eight and seventh centuries. This suggests early visitation was limited to the local communities as opposed to being a pilgrimage destination to those wishing to worship with the cult of Diana.65 This has been explained by Blagg as being due to a lack of any constructed buildings until the end of the archaic period.66 Some scholars have suggested that a small sanctuary was erected on the slope of the volcanic creator during the late archaic period as opposed to the later construction of the second century at the foot of the slope.67 However this side has never been excavated and therefore as far as is known, the sacred nature of Lake Nemi was wholly reliant on the serene environment until the at least the end of the archaic period. Additionally, statues known to be votive deposits by comparing them to others in the region have been found dating to the seventh century. These, alongside of a bronze fibula dated to the same age, were found in the region that would become the terrace of the sanctuary constructed in the third and second century. The discovery of artefacts of religious activity proves the shores of Lake Nemi were valued for their natural sacred environment before manmade structures became the primary space of worship. It also demonstrates the vast expanse of time were sacred space was defined by its usage and housed in the natural world. Once again the analysis of Professor Hermans proves vital in highlighting the unique longevity of worship at the site, concluding that ‘It has more than once been noticed that the cult sites on the Alban mount show remarkable continuity with cultic activity often going back to the archaic period or even to proto-urban times’.68 The importance of Lake Nemi to the early settlements of the Latin people due to its unique landscape is exhibited in the accounts of Cato. In his work ‘Origines’ he records how the sacred grove of Diana came intro fruition as an official place of sacred value in the fourth century. He records that the grove was dedicated to Diana by a joint coalition of Latin cities, information that he had received by a fourth century grammarian known as .69 He writes:

‘Egerius Baebius of , the Latin dictator, dedicated the grove of Diana in the wood of Aricia. The following peoples took part jointly: people of Tusculum, Aricia, Lanuvium, Laurentum [i.e. ], Cora, Tibur, Pometia, Rutulan Ardea’.70 Such a show of uniformed appreciation for the religiously active site demonstrates how the importance of Nemi as a sacred landscape transcended the cult members themselves and became accepted amongst a large share of the inhabitants of the Latin plain. Green states that we should draw particular attention to this example because as far as we can tell Rome was not included within this dedication. The absence of Rome within such a collective dedication would suggest that in 500 BC lake Nemi was homogeneously valued and beloved as the home of Diana by the native regions of Latium before any buildings were added as the region became a part of the expanding Roman Empire. Gierow

63 Gierow 1964, 354-6. 64 Green 2007, 9. 65 Bouma 1996, 61-62. 66 Blagg 1986, 211. 67 Coarelli 1987, 187-8. 68 Hermans, 2010, 29. 69 Hermans 2010, 50. 70 Cato. Or. Fr. 58.

states that during the time of this joint dedication large quantities of figures, anatomical votives, coins and ‘small statues mostly of Diana’ have been found in the sacred grove’.71 Therefore highlighting the long amount of time that Lake Nemi was active as the only within the Latin plain and how such vestige was placed on the region because of its natural landscape. In summation, it is clear that the early Latin people of Aricia believed that Lake Nemi’s natural environment within the volcanic creators was a perfect place for the worship ‘for a goddess whose domain is the wild’.72 Diana’s Hellenic association as a hunting deity and protector of the natural world makes her worship in the wild, free from the constraints of manmade structures particularly appropriate. Green ends this discussion on the fitting nature of Lake Nemi as a cult site for Diana by stating ‘the absence of building must also have defined a certain religious quality for her worshippers that must be preserved when small constructions were later added’.73 This undefinable religious quality became manifested in the rituals conducted in honour of Diana that revolved exclusively around the topography of the Arcian sanctuary and the lake itself.

Part 6: Speculum Diana

Figure 6 Athanasius Kircher, Speculum Diana, Amsterdam 1671.

The lake at Nemi was known to many of the inhabitants of the Latin Region as ‘Speculum Diane’ or Diana’s Mirror. records that this was due to the way that the moonlight, Diana’s earthly form,

71 Gierow 1966, 39-40. 72 Green 2007, 10. 73 Green 2007, 11.

would reflect on the lake at certain points of the year causing the lake to shimmer incandescently.74 This natural phenomenon became a corner stone of the cults yearly religious calendar in the form of a festival known as the Nemoralia, that we shall return to in due course. However, the fusion of the moonlight on the lake and the haunting volcanic vegetation established Lake Nemi’s role as a contact point between the deity and her cult members. To the people of the Latin peninsula, Diana’s earthly manifestation was the itself. We know this from a strong and repeated association of the goddess in the accounts of prominent primary authors. For example in Seneca’s the character of the Nurse prays to Diana by calling forth: 'bright star of heaven, glory of the night, by whose changing beams the universe shines clear'.75 Similarly, Diana connection to the moonlight appears in a multitude of other Roman poetic works suggesting that Diana’s association with the lunar deities ‘was the established notion of the goddess in Italy from the early Roman Republic onwards’.76 The likes of Varro, Cicero and all speak of Diana intimate connection with the moon and even begin to use the name Diana as a synonym in its place.77 It is reasonable to imagine that the glow of the moonlight reflecting on the Lake as worshiped looked on through the thick woodland would make for a very atmospheric landscape to worship the protector of the natural world. I believe that the unique and irreplaceable combination of wild forest, moonlight and volcanic Lakeland made Lake Nemi a more momentous place of worship for the people of the Latin plain. The notion that certain temples had a more prominent and often indescribable spiritual significance than others is attested to by . In relation to the sanctuary at Delphi, he states that: ’No Visit delighted us more than a visit to this temple… It believes and conceives most firmly that the god is present, more there than anywhere else’.78 In the case of Diana, it is sensible to suggest that the natural phenomenon of the moon dancing on the lake would convince the inhabitants of the Latin plain that Diana was most present within the sacred grove than anywhere else.

Part 7: The Nemoralia & The Lamps of Nemi.

The hallowed way in which the moonlight shone on the landscape of Nemi was worshipped by the cult of Diana Nemorensis in an annual festival that allowed its followers to converse with Diana through the medium of the lake. The Nemoralia is estimated to have taken place on the Ides of ,

74 Statius. Silvae. 3. I.56. 75 Seneca. Phaedra. 1.410-411. 76 Alföldi 1960, 137-144. 77 Varro. 5.68. Hor. Odes. 4.6.38. 78 Plutarch. 1101E.

beginning around 150BC during a time in which the cult at Nemi had increased in public awareness and begin to catch the attention of the slave and female populations of the city of Rome. The festival begins with a daylong pilgrimage to the Lake whilst carrying a burning torch. describes a vast number of pilgrims travelling from Rome to Lake Nemi in the first century BC: ‘I see you hurrying in excitement with a burning torch to the grove of Nemi where you bear light in honour of the Goddess Diana’.79 In this account we are introduced to the notion that the torches carried to Lake Nemi are a part of the ritualist process of honouring Diana during this festival. Similarly, Ovid offers us a parallel description, stating ‘Often does a woman whose prayers Diana answered walk from Rome carrying a burning torch’.80 Ovid’s specification of a female procession to the sacred grove is a reflection of the cults growing popularity amongst sectors of Roman society that where often misrepresented or even rejected by more exclusive and affluence based cults of the Republic. Often Roman women are specifically mentioned as participants in the procession to Lake Nemi. However, it is not known if the Nemoralia was a women-only ritual as Propertius does not specify.81 The aforementioned lamps that light the path of the worshippers route along the Via Appia where an essential tools in worshiping the moon deity Diana during The Nemoralia. Diosono and Cinaglia define this relationship thus: ‘The importance of light and lighting tools within the sanctuary must be attributed to the very nature of Diana Nemorensis’.82 In essence, it appears as though the bringing of light to the sanctuary was a form of offering that was conducive in evoking Diana to shine on the lake and interact with her followers. The importance of the lamps is evident in the archaeological record that was found during excavations on the Lake in the 1930’s. The excavation was primarily carried out with the intention of recovering the two pleasure barges of Caligula.83 However, Diosono and Cinaglia suggests that the vast quantity of lamps that where recovered as part of this excavation adhere to the accounts of Ovid that they were part of the ritual activities of the cult of Diana. They suggest that the light they bared was crucial to the rituals conducted once the pilgrimage to Nemi had been completed.

TIMELINE OF RITUAL LAMP DEPOSITS IN LAKE NEMI.

Timeline of Deposits.

70 60 60 50 40 38 38 30 28 29 24 20 21 10 13 5 6 7 0 1

Figure 7: Timeline of Ritual Lamps uncovered in 1929. Diosono and Cinaglia

79 Propertius.2. 80 Ovid: Fasti. 3.27. 81 Prop. 2.32.14-16. 82 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 459. 83 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 460.

Upon arrival, the cult members formed a ring around the banks while holding their torches. To the participants, the red light of the lamps flickering on the water as Speculum Diana glows yellow with moonlight bridged the void between the divine world and their own. Pascal offers a concise opinion on the meaning behind this natural light show. He writes ‘the shining of torches may be a kind of sympathetic magic to encourage the goddess of the moon to shine on this same mirrored surface’.84 When the ritual had been complete all the torches where deposited into the lake as an offering that symbolised the closing of the channel between the Pantheon and the people. It is this part of the festival that leaves behind a massive amount of archaeological evidence to analyse. In total 253 lamps have been brought to the surface of Lake Nemi that have been dated to range from the third century to the middle of the second century.85 This is thought to be the largest collection of votive lamps at any one site due to the variating styles that show the evolution of lamp designs over centuries. Diosono and Cinaglia present us with a deep analysis of the ritual lamps that where found skirting the borders of the lake and the pleasure barges of Caligula during the 1929 excavation . Diosono states: ‘The presence of nearly two hundred and fifty lamps on the lake bed, spanning over 300 years, must be assumed to be due to a deliberate action, one that was repeated over time’. This suggest that visitation to Nemi as part of the Nemoralia festival remained popular with the Latin people including those in the capital through a log and tumultuous part of Roman history. When the lamps were recovered from the lake amongst coins and terracotta statues, they were dismissed and remained unexamined due to the primary focus of recovering the ships. Therefore, it is only in recent academic history that the link between this vast quantity of lamps, 90% of which remained intact, and the rituals of the Nemoralia. Through recent categorisation of the styles of each lamp, nine differentiating styles have been identifies with around half of them having Republican origins.86 This suggests that participation at Lake Nemi was at its most condensed during the Republican period, an observation worthy of note when we consider that the cult of Diana at this time was backdropped against a Roman society fixated on Augustan values of staunch moral conduct. The graph bellow (Fig.9.) illustrates the variability of the styles recovered, the oldest being the Esquiline type 150BC of which there is only one that has been found.87 Dressel 22 is the style that has been found in the most plentiful reserves and all examples and substyles of wall lamps have been dated to the first and second century AD. Cinaglia describes the majority of these Dressels as being of similar characteristics: ‘Although some fairly significant changes are made in response to taste and general demand, typical of all wall-lamps are: a handle set transverse to the body, spatulate nozzle, flat base, discus without decoration, and almost always no external slip or coating’.88 It is considered that the majority of these lamps were crafted on the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula because of the unique colour of the clay, suggesting that they are likely to have been brought to the lake from Rome itself. This discovery grounds the accounts of Ovid and Propertius in archaeological evidence meaning that the Nemoralia unquestionably was a popular and uninterrupted celebration of Diana to those living within the Pomerium who are in closer proximity to the Aventensis, especially during the middle years of the Republic. Scholars such as Bremmer, Kyriakidis and Chadwick have all concluded that the drastic variation in styles and shop stamps, even within the same timeframe , would suggest that ‘the lamps featured in an individual ritual practice, ending with their deposition on the waters of the lake’.89

84 Pascal 1976, 26. 85 Fig.9. 86 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 453. 87 Ricci 1973, 225. 88 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 457. 89 Bremmer 1998; Kyriakidis 2007, 297; Chadwick 2012, 294-96.

F. Diosono & T. Cinaglia The variety of lamps found in the lake and the sacred grove.

250

200

150

100

50

0 Central Esquiline Dressel 3 Dressel4 Dressel 9- Wall-lamps Bailey O-P- Other Tube lamp type lamps 11-14 Dressel 22 Q Types

Those Found below the Lake Those Found in the Sanctuary of Diana

Figure 8: The variety of Lamps found as according to Diosono & Cinaglia 2016.

There is clear differentiation in the types of lamps that were found at the bottom of the lake and in the sacred grove and the space of the later sanctuary.90 Dressel 9-11-14 is found more frequently within the sanctuary then as part of the ritualist deposit in the lake despite them being a style developed close to the Nemoralia’s peak attendance. This suggests that they had a separate function that was not required as part of the Nemoralia celebration. As previously mentioned, 90% of the lamps remained intact and they all seemed to show no signs of use. This would suggest that they were bought and made for the specific purpose of offering to the goddess Diana as part of the Nemoralia instead of being repurposed for the ritual. In addition to the styles of the lamps we can also decipher a few interesting facts about the cult from the marks made on them by their creators. A wide variety of stamps have been found on the bottom of dozens of the lamps recovered suggesting that ‘we are dealing with an act performed on numerous occasions, for each of which the necessary materials were selected and acquired on the retail market’.91 The lamps were sacred in the context of Diana because they ‘contain and allow manipulation of the primordial powers of fire and light’ that Diana herself utilised.92 Therefore the discovery of the lamps has illuminated our understanding of the importance of natural elements such as light and the lake within Diana’s worship at Nemi. It also highlights that the Nemoralia was popularly attended and tools of worship were brought from all over the Latin peninsula having been bought and brought with specific intent. The use of lamps for votive purposes is a common thread in Roman and Hellenic religion however in the content of the Nemoralia the lamps were clearly considered ‘active tools of ritual’.93 Lamps were an everyday item that were easily attainable for the poorer sectors of society that so often made up Diana’s core devotees. However, in this context the lamps become an offering of light to the goddess who creates it. Saint Augustine records the commonality of which light was used as part of a Pagan worship. He writes, ‘But we do not, of course, abstain from using the light of this sun because those sacrilegious people do not cease to offer it sacrifice where they can’.94 Saint Augustine gives us an insight into the perception of such rituals as ‘sacrilegious’ that began during the Roman empire and flourished during the rise of Christianity. However he also reveals the frequency in which light was

90 Fig 10. 91 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 467. 92 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 465. 93 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 463. 94 Augustine. Ep. 47.4.

used as a form of offering. Despite the commonality of light as an offering it is the discarding of them through the lake that remains unique to Nemi and of most importance to the participants. The lake forms a natural basin to channel the offering of the flame, viewed to be an element almost alive in nature, to the gods. This form of offering is defined by Diosono and Cinaglia as ‘The lake itself was not the object of worship but rather a means for communication as the place for offerings’.95 Lake Nemi presents us a unique example were the topography is the crux around which the cults relationship with the deity is formed and around which its rituals are conducted. The permanency of this landscape as an unparalleled place to worship the goddess of moonlight and the natural world is a crucial explanation for Lake Nemi’s longevity within the Latin plain.

Part 8: Concluding Lake Nemi. Overall the discovery of these lamps have given us a wealth of information on the life of the cult of Diana at Nemi. Firstly, it has established that the worship of Diana in the form of the Nemoralia ritual continue long past the Republic pending the rise of Christianity. Early activity at the site in the 8th to 3rd century was already know, now we can see that the same vestige was placed on Lake Nemi by Diana s celebrants throughout the 2nd c.B.C to A.D 200. Secondly, it illustrates how the natural splendour of the Lake and the grove was more than just an irreplaceable location but also a crucial part of the worship process of Diana. The pilgrimage to the secluded location and the deposit of the lamps in the lake were all a crucial part of the correct religious practice of worshiping Diana Nemorensis. Thirdly, it highlights that the identity of the grove continued to be different from mainstream Roman religions as it continued to ground itself in rituals accessible to the female and slave populations of Rome that could only be conducted at Lake Nemi. Finally, it demonstrates how the identity of Diana at Nemi continually drew visitors to its banks, reaching its most popular during a time where the values of Roman elite society did not align with its barbaric and Tauric elements that could be found lurking in the sacred grove. The inimitable landscape of the volcanic creator and its centrality within the cults ritualistic practices, mythology and perceived identity is the reason the cut site continued despite Diana’s adoption by Rome and the consecration of a new temple to her on the Aventine. The commitment of the Latin people to the sanctuary to their major deity is almost unparalleled within the nexus of Roman religion. Green comments on the longevity of Diana Nemorensis at Nemi, contending that ‘by every standard we have for judging the strength of Arician’s religious commitment to their principal city cult…there was no danger of Diana perishing from lack of attention.96 The historical narrative has suggested that Lake Nemi was a distinctive and beloved place of worship for the earliest inhabitants of the region while the archaeological record has confirmed an extensive period of continued and uninterrupted visitation. The sacred Landscape of Diana Nemorensis was a unwavering bastion of the natural world that continued to be central to the cult of Diana’s rituals until its fall to Christianity in A.D 300. The wild and volcanic lands mirrored the dark and barbaric nature of the cults mythology whilst the office of Rex Nemorensis cemented the cults identity as a Scythian and Tauric version of Diana. However, our study into the anomaly of Diana’s unparalleled longevity is not complete until we have understood the challenges her barbarous identity faced at the hands of the city of Rome. Additionally, we must analyse the fates of comparable sanctuaries and cults in the surrounding Latin provinces to see the extent to which Diana’s fate was anomalous in the context of Latin religious activity.

95 Diosono & Cinaglia 2016, 464. 96 Green 2007, 292.

Chapter 3: The Fragile Existence of Latin Sanctuaries and the challenges to Diana’s Identity.

Part 1: The Formation of Diana Aventensis on the Aventine Hill. Diana and her cult had a long and arduous relationship with the city of Rome due to their proximity within the Latin peninsula. From Rome’s earliest history people had inhabited Aricia as an independent and sovereign region until Rome began to take a central role as the most powerful city in the region. A massive shift in power occurred within the Latin plain in the form of the Social Wars during the first century that officially established Rome’s hegemony over the surrounding provinces including Aricia. However, Diana’s relationship with Rome does not begin in the third century rather it begins with King Servius Tullius in the 6th century. The purpose of this chapter is to better understand the political turmoil that Diana Nemorensis survived throughout her residence in Latium and relate it to the existence of comparable Latin sanctuaries. The objective in doing so is to demonstrate how Diana in Aricia is almost unprecedented in its religious longevity as a result of its strong identity and irreplaceable sacred landscape. Despite being constantly challenged by the political interests of a growing Roman empire and a prevalent pattern of sanctuary abandonment within the region of Latium. The first incidence of Roman encroachment on Diana’s identity in Latium is found in the accounts of Livy. He records that King Tullius marvelled at the Temple of Hellenic Diana at Ephesus and decided to replicate its architecture with a new temple on the Aventine as a joint construction with the people of the Latin plain. It Is important to highlight the Romano-centric phrasings of Livy within the following passage as it strongly suggests that the Latin participation in the consecration was an admission of Roman ownership of Diana and of their sacred land. He writes:

He ( King Tullius) was unwilling that arms should always be the means employed for strengthening Rome's power, and sought to increase her sway by diplomacy, and at the same time to add something to the splendour of the City. Even at that early date the temple of Diana at Ephesus enjoyed great renown. It was reputed to have been built through the cooperation of the cities of Asia, and this harmony and community of worship Servius praised in superlative terms to the Latin nobles, with whom, both officially and in private, he had taken pains to establish a footing of hospitality and friendship. By dint of reiterating the same arguments he finally carried his point, and a of Diana was built in Rome by the nations of Latium conjointly with the Roman People. This was an admission that Rome was the capital —a point which had so often been disputed by arms.97 Livy’s persistence in suggesting that the establishment of a temple to Diana on the Aventine was a unilateral decision by the cities of Latium, undermines the political pressure applied by Rome on its surrounding provinces. Additionally, it ignores the use of Diana as a political tool to establish a secure home front while Rome increased the borders of its empire. Green is an advocate of this notion as she explains that ‘Servius’s cult to Diana on the Aventine was vowed and dedicated to advertise and to advance the expanding political expectations of Rome in Latium’.98. Diana was to be the bridge between the Roman and Latin people as a method of controlling their political discourse by replacing Diana Nemorensis with a version of Diana whose home is on the Aventine and whose will is bent by Roman desire. During the reign of King Servius Tullius the Aventine was not yet included within the pomerium due to the relatively small population of the city not expanding out to this point. It is suggested that a lack of evocation during the adoption of Diana meant that she could not have a temple

97 Livy. 1.45.2-6. 98 Green 2007, 98.

consecrated to her within the religious boundary of the city. Alföldi states: ‘Diana was not translated to Rome by the rite called evocatio, but remained a foreigner there, in a temple outside the pomerium’.99 The lack of a formal evocation to a sanctuary within the Pomerium would suggest that Diana Aventina was a new Roman adaptation of the Hellenic Diana Artemisum that mimicked the popular grove at Nemi instead of causing Latin upheaval by relocating Diana Nemorensis . The effect of evocation on Latin sanctuaries will be explored at greater length when we come to consider the sanctuary of Pietrabbondante in our later discussions on sanctuary abandonment. Yet, it is important to note that Diana’s consecration on the Aventine must have been a confusing and startling turn of events as a new version of her was constructed outside of Lake Nemi for the first time in the history of Latin religion, whilst Lake Nemi remained an active site of worship. The temple became known as that of Diana Aventeinesis, and its ruins have been identifies on the North-Westerner corner of the Aventine, between the Santa and San Alessio church.100 The cult of Diana on the Aventine was the only other cult to the deity in the Latin region and stood in stark contrast to the cult of Diana Nemorensis. The identity of this Diana was firmly rooted within the Hellenic associations of her arrival within the Latin plain. In of Halicarnassus’s account of the consecration of the Temple he mentions that a bronze pillar was erected by Servius in the centre of this temple. He writes: ‘This pillar still existed down to my time in the temple of Diana, with the inscription in the characters that were anciently used in . This alone would serve as no slight proof that the founders of Rome were not barbarians; for if they had been, they would not have used Greek characters’.101 Dionysus’s comments make it clear that the founders of this temple could in no way be misconstrued as being of barbarian origin as they utilise the language of civilised people. This indeed would have been a stark contrast to the Rex Nemorensis whose slave origins would likely mean an inability to read or write, especially Greek. This distinction made by Dionysus may be indicative of his own contemporary interpretation of Diana Aventinea being of a pure Hellenistic origin when compared to the Tauric/Hellenic hybrid at Aricia. His comments make clear to his audience that the goddess who resided on the Aventine was firmly Roman by creation and character. The intention of this bronze pillar being installed was to symbolically lay dominion over the Latin states by assigning Diana a new home in the capital signed by the Latin members who agreed as ‘a symbol of their acceptance of Rome’s dominance’.102 Servius began a process of appropriation of Diana that would continue on throughout the Republic however the question remains as to why Diana was the correct tool for Servius to utilise in his attempt to strengthen control in the region.

Part 2 : Political Motivations of Servius. In my discussions of Diana Nemorensis this far I have exclusively analysed the religious and spiritual significance of the landscape to the people of Latium. However a primary reason why Diana drew the attention of Servius and all other leaders of the Empire was because of her secondary function as a political figure. Lake Nemi acted as an important political meeting place for the tribes of the Latin region from the dawn of Latium habitation. In the sixth century the sacred grove had become an important meeting place for Latin leaders to discuss the ever encroaching threat of a growing and hungry Roman empire. The key catalyst of Servius Tullius’s decision to consecrated a temple to a deity that had exclusively been worshiped in Aricia was a desperate need to control the political landscape of Latium. Diana’s new identity on the Aventine was designed by Servius Tullius in order to manipulate the political environment of Latium in the sixth century.

99 Alföldi 1961, 27. 100 Hermans 2010, 53. & Vendittelli 2005, 235-247. 101 Dionysus. 4.26.5. 102 Green 2007, 100.

Previously we have looked at the account of Grattius in describing the volcanic wilderness of Nemi yet he also offers us some insight into the political usage of Diana by the local Latin tribes. He writes: ‘For that reason we construct cross-road shrines in groves of soaring trees and set our sharp- pointed torches hard by the woodland precinct of Diana, and the whelps are decked with the wonted wreath, and at the centre of the cross-roads in the grove the hunters fling down among the flowers the very weapons which now keep holiday in the festal peace of the sacred rites.103 The ritual act of casting away ones weapons before entering the sacred grove was a way of respecting Diana by showing yourself to be no threat while in her realm of woodlands. The discrimen, was a meeting point for the Latin tribes to speak freely and feel removed from fear of attack in a woodland path along the banks of the lake.104 Lake Nemi’s location outside the Pomerium placed it in a unique advantageous position of allowing local rivals and those cities who opposed Roman rule to meet outside the walls of any potential hostile city unarmed.105 To Servius, the consecration of a new home on the Aventine was an attempt at governing the political meetings and futures of the Latin tribes by creating a new home for Diana, ‘protector of those meeting under truce’.106 In order to effectively convince the people of Rome that Diana was now to be worshiped on the Aventine, Servius would have to add legitimacy to her reasoning for being there. A combination of iconographic symbolism and reification of Diana core mythology would reinsert Diana into the public consciousness as an authentic Roman deity. In addition to the consecration of the Temple of Diana Aventensis, he introduced a festival to Diana on the Ides of August in order to coincide with the same date as the Nemoralia of the Arician Cult. Green contributes widely to this discussion stating, ‘The Aventine cult festival was founded in imitation of the Arcian’.107 This annual festival is recorded by Plutarch who presents ’s opinion on the festival: ‘The Ides of August is thought by the common people to be a festival day for slaves, because on that day Servius Tullius who was born a save, dedicated a temple of Diana on the Aventine’.108 Wissowa argues that because of Lake Nemi’s existence as a religious site from the 8th century, the Ides of August must have been the excepted day of worship for Diana Nemorensis before Servius introduced his new Diana to the Aventine.109 Festus leaves us a further comment that deserves some additional explanation. Servius Tullius is indeed thought to have originally been a slave of Etruscan origin, perhaps explaining a part of his decision to adopt Diana. However, it is clear that his affinity with Diana was toward the Hellenic embodiment rather than the much older barbarian cult practice of Nemi. The continual archaeological record of Nemi as discussed in chapter two would suggest that Servius’s attempt to ratify Diana as the new patron deity of the was by no means successful. Dionysus suggest that Servius’s plans for Diana were met with considerable resistance by his Latin allies who knew of thee political ramifications of losing ones patron deity.110 Providentially for the Latin tribes, Servius was unable to undermine the permanency of Diana’s worship at Nemi. Green rather concisely illustrates the motives and outcomes of Servius’s attempt to replace Diana Nemorensis. She writes: ‘Servius tried to make the sanctuary of Diana on the Aventine the new recognised cult centre of the Latins, and he had failed’.111 Livy echoes such a sentiment in his choice of wording when describing Diana Aventensis conception as ‘an attempt to add to Rome’s powers’, rather than specifying that it was a successful attempt.112 Servius had tried to create a federation of Latin states that took its orders

103 Grattius, Cyn. 481-496. 104 Green 2007, 52. 105 Green 2007, 90. 106 Green 2007, 90. 107 Green 2007. 108 Plutarch Quaest. Rom. 100; Festus. 460 L.33-6. 109 Wissowa 1912, 249-250. 110 Dionysus. 2.60.5. 111 Green 2007, 104. 112 Ogilvie 1965, 1.45.1-3

from Rome and was united under the banner of Diana Aventina. What he actually had created was a Temple to Diana that ceased to grow in importance . Servius had also established a blueprint for the rulers of Rome who wished to infiltrate the Latin region and establish a stronger foothold on power. Throughout the sixth century and fifth centuries, Aricia and the cult of Nemi remained relatively free of Roman influence. Servius’s attempt to establish a Latin federation via the Aventine temple did not initially result in any additional Roman expansion in the Latin plain. Servius seemed to be far more focused on Diana Aventensis as a new representation of the deity rather than dwindling the legitimacy and political power of the sanctuary in Aricia, despite establishing a new festival on the same day as the Nemoralia. However, before we conclude Servius’s attempt to dissolve the influence of Arcian Diana it is important to introduce the notion that the political role of sanctuaries was a crucial tool in controlling the local Latin population in the centuries following Servius’s reign.

Part 3: The Growing Roman interest in Latin Sanctuaries. 340 -180 B.C.E. From the third century onwards, Roman interest in the Arcian sanctuary to Diana Nemorensis became far harsher in their attempt to dismantle Lake Nemi’s reputation as the place to worship Diana. This is evident in Livy’s accounts of the official prodigies accepted by the Roman state as signs of divine contact or intervention within the Latin plain.113 To Roman society, prodigies were an official recognition that a sign from the gods had been seen in a variant of manifestations. Eric Orlin is perhaps one of the most distinguished voices in the conversation of Latin cultic identity and the dogmatic expansion of Rome. He suggests that prodigies were often introduced in the context of ‘Romanisation’ as a way to incorporate the Latin region into the sphere of Roman religion by recognising divine prodigies within their territories. He writes that during the late third century, a trend of accepting prodigies ‘from several cities that served as home to important regional Latin sanctuaries ensued’.114 However, he adds that these validated prodigies were often not at the main sanctuary of the region. For example, Rome accepted six prodigies in the third century from the region of Aricia however none of them were from the sacred grove of Diana rather several lightning strikes were recorded at the temple of in 213.115 It is no coincidence that Lake Nemi has no official prodigies recorder in it during the third centuries as prodigies were often seen symbols or warning of future events that would affect the Roman citizenry. I suggest that the absence of prodigies at Lake Nemi is connected to the Roman desire to diminish the significance of Lake Nemi as a local cult site to Diana due to the nature of the cult and the deity they worshipped. Perhaps because of its barbarian origins and connotations, any natural occurrences that could be deemed prodigies would be worth less in comparison to those at sanctuaries that promote the morals of the Republic, such as those to Jupiter. Additionally, the lack of recorded prodigies would suggest that the Roman state did not value any abnormal activity at Nemi to be something that could impact the population of the Roman state. The likes of Frateantonio have often titled the third century as a period of Roman religious toleration in regards to religious rights of its surrounding provinces.116 Yet, instead of tolerating local cult practices and allowing them to exist in isolated autonomy they were consecrated new sanctuaries within the Roman pomerium, much like Servius had done with Diana Aventensis. The senate began consecrating temples dedicated to the deities of local Latin people in wild succession. Eric Orlin in his study of Roman expansion through the Latin region during the second century noted that ‘fifteen new temples were dedicated between 194-173 B.C.E, and a further three were attested too although they

113 Livy. 24.44 114 Orlin 2010, 119. 115 Livy. 24.44. 116 Frateantonio 2003 9-16.

may have been constructed earlier’.117 All of these new temples lay within the Roman Pomerium and were dedicated to deities that had previously been worshiped in the rural towns of the surrounding Latin plain. This number of new temples is the fastest and most extensive incorporation of foreign deities within the Roman religious system in all periods of Roman history. Orlin abridges the symbolic value of these consecrations as, ‘confirming the Roman interest in suggesting that the Roman religious community extended and were united throughout Italy’, instead of existing as separate religious entities.118 The deities rehomed to Rome included Sospita of Lanuvium in 194BC, Primigenia of Praenesta and Magna Mater in 191 BC, among a multitude of others. Magner mater and Venus Erycia were the only two deities dedicated new temples in this period that did not originally hail from a small Italic town as a local deity. Interesting, three of these temples were dedicated in rapid succession as recorded by Livy who records that temples to , to Fortuna Primigenia and Vediovis were all consecrated temples in Rome within a 45 day period in 191BC.119 The deity Faunus draws some larger parallels to Diana as he two was an ancient deity of the countryside who had been worshipped in rural Latium by the regions first inhabitants. Much like Diana he had never been consecrated a temple outside his native sacred landscape let alone within an urbanised environment. That was until Rome believed its identity and popularity amongst the Latin people could prove politically useful.120 Faunas’ mythology places him as the aetiological farther of the Latin people, therefore there is inherent and value to Rome in having the farther of the Latin people residing in the capital especially in the third century when military tensions were particularly volatile.121 The relocation of Fortuna Primigenia to Rome offers us some crucial insight into how Rome’s political usage of deities depended on the political environment of the time. Vallerius Maximus records that fifty years before Fortuna’s relocation to Rome in 191BC, the Roman senate had declared her a deity of barbarian and foreign nature. He writes that ‘in 241 B.C.E, the senate had refused to allow the consul Q. Lutatius Cerco to consult the oracle at Praenestae on the grounds that the he should use ancestral not foreign born auspices’.122 In essence, the value of the information given by the Praensate Oracle is diminished because of the foreign nature or her origins suggesting that the deities of Praenesta are by no means Roman and do not remotely compare in their validity or sanctity. Nevertheless, half a century later ‘Fortuna Primigeria had moved from being a goddess that the senate did not trust to a home on the , inside the Pomerium of Rome itself’.123 Both Diana and Fortuna were initially regarded by the Roman religious elite as being either barbarian or at the very least sub-par to the gods who already resided within the Pomerium. Similarly, their integration into the Pantheon coincided with the need for strengthened political control over the Latin region. In the case of Diana Aventensis, Servius sought to unite the Latin people under the banner of Roman Diana. Whereas, the usurpation of Latin deities in the third and second century was an attempt to quell the battle for control of the Latin plain that would come to fruition in the form of the Samnite Wars of the third century and the Social Wars of the first.

Part 4: Sanctuary abandonment after the Social Wars: 91 – 45 B.C.E. The Social wars was the last stand of the Latin people against Roman intrusion into the political, religious and cultural affairs. From 91-88 B.C.E the Social Wars permeated the majority of Italy as

117 Orlin 2010, 180. 118 Orlin 2010, 180. 119 Livy. 34.53. 120 Scullard 1981 56-58. 121 Orlin 2010, 181. 122 Val. Max. 1.3.2. 123 Orlin 2010, 181,

local communities fought for in order to be awarded the same basic human rights. Dyson suggests that throughout the three years many rural sanctuaries similar to that at Nemi were targeted by the Roman senate because they acted as focal points of resistance against them. He writes: ‘They were attacked by the Romans, especially during the Social War in the early first century BC. Most were destroyed, but a few did remain in use under the Empire’.124 Interestingly, Zaccardi highlight that the political roles of sanctuaries can be proven by their subsequent abandonment upon inclusion into the empire.125 In its rawest form, sanctuary abandonment was a method of symbolically stating that the old system of Latin independence had been rejected by Rome and a new system was to be constructed along with the new sanctuaries being created in the growing urban centres of the Latin peninsula, This therefore frames Lake Nemi as a particularly unique survivor of Roman expansion considering its centrality as a political meeting place for Latin tribes and its proximity to the Roman pomerium. Keaveney suggests that the Social War’s marked the end of local italic independence and the extinction of a plethora of local languages, cultures, religions and deities.126 The pendulum of power within the Latin region had swung in favour of Roman hegemony and as a result the religious sanctuaries of local communities began to be abandoned. Kathryn Lomas postulates that the abandonment of sanctuaries was particularly prevalent amongst rural sanctuaries during this time frame. She writes ‘the pattern of decline and abandonment is visible amongst the rural sanctuaries of Latium after the Social War and was symbolic of increasing ” .127 Steck concurs with this notion suggesting that once power had been consolidated the predominant focus of the empire became building monumental centres across Latium therefore drawing attention away from old rural sanctuaries. Curti adds that “emphasis shifted towards temples and shrines in the growing (and Romanized) cities’.128 Therefore suggesting that the state had no use for local rural deities anymore as control of Italy had begun to be been firmly established. Such a hypothesis would correctly suggest that sanctuaries located outside of the urban centre would begin to fall into disrepair, with the exception of Diana at Nemi . It is impossible for us to tell exactly how the process of sanctuary abandonment unfolded in the aftermath of the Social Wars. It is logical to assume that the process varied depending on the sanctuary. For some, it would have been a gradual process that was born out of neglect whilst others would fall as a result of specific physical force from Rome. The Samnite sanctuary of Pietrabbondante for example was most likely left abandoned after it had been sacked by Rome. Dyson hypothesises that the abandonment of Pietrabbondante demonstrates how quickly a ‘once great sanctuary can fall into disrepair once attentions had been moved to the new urban sanctuaries of the empire’.129 Steck follows on from Dysons analysis and proposes that the persistence of a sanctuary was predicated on its ability to integrate into the new existing system.130 In the case of Diana Nemorensis, her long established relationship with female and slave populations of Latium meant that integration into a new system was almost guaranteed due to the unique composition of its members and the rituals they performed. The crucial role of sanctuaries as epicentres of Latin religious and political culture is even more of a truism for communities in relative rural isolation such as Lake Nemi. Especially if we consider the historical contextualisation of warfare occurring within the Latin region during the 1st century B.C.E. Steck postulates that the Etruscan sanctuary of Fanum Voltumnae and the Samnite sanctuary of Pietrabbondante were both abandoned as a result of Roman interest in removing their political purpose.131 He states, ‘As a logical consequence of this political function, it is often assumed that

124 Dyson 2003, 79-80. 125 Zaccardi 2007, 63-95. 126 Keaveney 1987. 127 Lomas 1996, 171. 128 Curti 1996, 179. 129 Dyson 1992 67. 130 Curti 1996, 179. 131 Zaccardi 2007, 74.

sanctuaries were destroyed or closed after the incorporation in the Roman state especially federal or tribal sanctuaries’.132 Considering that the point in which Latium became unequivocally owned by the Roman state was the Social Wars, we would therefore expect that Diana Nemorensis would succumb to the same fait as Fanum Voltumnae and the sanctuary of Pietrabbondan. However, as we have learned from the extensive archaeological record dating to the third century, Lake Nemi survived the Social Wars relatively unscathed. Steck’s view on sanctuary abandonment in Latium differs from my own hypothesis in one key area. He states that, ‘Roman choices and strategies may have played an important role in some instances’, yet I believe that this undermines the Roman impact on sanctuaries in the early first century.133 Whilst it is unarguable that the years dominated by Augustus introduced a clear pattern of strategic colonisation and usurpation of Latin cult places, I think this pattern can be seen in its infancy after the Social Wars. For example, The Sanctuary of Diana Tifatina was originally located in a hilltop Grove at Tifata further northward towards . Whilst this area is not within the are defined as Latium and therefore cannot be directly compared, it does display an intriguing example of sanctuary colonisation during the fall out of the Social Wars. The sanctuary was captured by Roman forces affter Sulla was victorious over the famous Gaius Norbanus at the battle of Mount Tifata in 83BC. Velleius records that Sulla ‘awarded the sanctuary was awarded a status comparable to a municipium’.134 Scheid comments that ‘Sulla and his successors transformed the cult and its place into an autonomous district, thereby retracting the sanctuary from other influences and appropriating it for Roman purposes’ .135 In this particular instance military force was used in order to incorporate the sanctuary under the banner of Roman leadership. The specific accreditation of municipium status to a sanctuary is not a common occurrence but one that can be explained by the Roman interest in strengthening the associations of Diana with Rome and emphasizing the false notion that Diana is Roman in ownership and conception. Physical force is used by Rome to strengthen the symbolic control of Diana. This is a truism that is perhaps most present during the reign of Augustus. The suggestion that sanctuaries were actually left to rot is not an occurrence that exits in rare instances and by no means is temple abandonment limited to the impacts of the Social Wars. For example, we have previously discussed the usurpation of Venus Eryxina from her sanctuary on the Eryx hill in Sicilly. When she was consecrated a new temple by the Colline Gate in Rome her original sanctuary fell into disrepair. Strabo records how the sanctuary and the surrounding region fell into extinction shortly after the adoption of its primary deity by Rome. He writes: ‘in early times the temple was full of female temple-slaves, who had been dedicated in fulfilment of vows not only by the people of Sicily but also by many people abroad; but at the present time, just as the settlement itself, so the temple is in want of men, and the multitude of temple-slaves have disappeared’.136 The abandonment of the Eryxina temple is clearly implied by Strabo as being in direct correlation with the Roman consecration of a new temple to the deity. Venus Eryxina therefore presents us an almost parallel example to juxtapose Diana Nemorensis considering the local and rural nature of her original consecration.

132 Stek 2008, 34. 133 Stek 2008, 36. 134 Vellerius. 2.25.4; CIL X, 3828 135 Scheid 2006b, 79 136 Strabo. 6.2.6

Part 5: Augustan Intrusion on Diana Nemorensis. The period in Which Diana’s identity at Nemi faced its largest threat of alteration was that which elapsed the reign of Augustus. Augustus’s reign was defined by moral and religious reformation that sought to return the values of Roman society to the conservative and god fearing morals of early Rome. This desire stemmed from a recognition that the Roman citizenry had begun to place less vestige on strict religious virtues and had started to explore the typically barbarian or hedonistic religious practices that arrived in the capital as the empire expanded eastward. Varro illiterates the growing concerns of Augustus as he critics the lack of religious attention of the Roman elite in the first century B.C.E. He writes: ‘He claims to fear gods may perish , not from enemy attack, but through the neglect of citizens, from which destruction, the gods are freed by him and through books of that sort re-established and maintained in the memory of good men, by a more profitable kind of attention than that by which Metellus gets credit for rescuing the sacred emblems of the Vestals from the fire or his penates from the destruction of troy’.137 Varro’s assertions that the greatest threat to the divine is neglect is reflective of the growing interest in more exotic religious practices such as that at Nemi or the infamous . In an attempt to re-establish the religious decorum of the empire, Augustus endeavoured to reignite the interest of the public in official state religion’s by rerouting the growing popularity of Diana Nemorensis to the longstanding sanctuary within the Pomerium. Hyginus records that Augustus requested the transferal of Orestes’s bones from the sanctuary of Diana at Aricia to the temple of in Rome.138 The likes of Green and Radke have postulated that the transfer was made in the regal period to imitate the previous transferal of the bones between Tegea and Sparta in the sixth century B.C.E.139 The bones had been buried at the Arician sanctuary since the fourth century as a fitting memorialisation of Orestes’s arrival in the Latin plain and his founding of the first sanctuary to Diana in the Italic peninsula. The connection between Diana Nemorensis and Orestes had become so strong that ‘Orestes bones belonged to the goddess at Aricia’.140 The remains were transferred to the Saturn temple to be displayed amongst various other relics that were to symbolise the Roman over the Latin region. Servius records that these items were known as ‘the seven pledges of Roman imperium’ and they included items such as the sceptrum Priami (Priam’s Scepter from Troy) and the quadriga fictilis Veientanorum (-cotta four-horse chariot from ).141 These object were the ultimate anthropomorphosis of Roman hegemony whilst reminding the population of the dominance of Roman religion throughout the Republic. Green highlights that the addition of Orestes bones to the capital was crucial ‘in a time of moral crisis’ as they functioned as a powerful iconographic reminded of the divine heritage of Rome and the cities lineage as a conquering and pious nation .142 The appropriation of Oreste’s image of Augustus was a successful attempt to reunite Orestes with Roman identity as opposed to that of the sanctuary at Aricia. In doing so, Augustus hoped that the popularity of Nemi would dwindle if it no longer had the Hellenic heritage and significance ascribed to it by housing the bones of Orestes. However, what he had not accounted for was the popularity of the Tauric and barbarian elements of the cult instead of the Hellenic elements that were so favoured by the Roman elite. Some scholars have suggests that Augustus’s attempts to fuse Orestes image with his own image transformed the cult of Diana at Aricia into a derivative of the Imperial cult. However, the archaeological record proves continued ritual dedications to Diana specifically and very few artefacts associated with the Imperial cult have been uncovered. This would suggest that if the Imperial influence

137 Varro. ARD, 6.3. 138 Hyginus. Fab. 261. 139 Herodotus 1.67-8 140 Green 2007, 43. 141 Servius. 7.188. 142 Green 2007, 43.

on the cult did exists, it did not by any means redefine the cult to such an extent as to alter the main subject of worship. The literary record of the time is fraught with references of Diana as the emperors interest in the goddess became public knowledge. Literary sources therefore had to ‘grapple with the both the inherited and the contemporary political meaning of Diana at Aricia’.143 Indeed, the politicising of Diana Nemorensis by Augustus was very successful in that he was able to strengthen the relevance of Rome within the history of Diana by emphasising the capitals connection with the first Rex Nemorensis, Orestes. Via relocation of the bones of the first priest King to Jupiter temple in Rome, Augustus clearly hoped to replace Lake Nemi as the most significant site of Diana’s Italic history. Similarly, the cultural context of religious dealignment that Varro recorded resulted in a unstable religious atmosphere that needed to be corrected by Augustus by restoring the religious supremacy of the capital. The easiest manner to achieve this goal was to relocate the relics of the Latin people to within the Pomerium. However, despite these attempts Lake Nemi continued to be a hotspot for Diana’s worship as is shown by the ritual lamps reaching their highest deposition rates during the reign of Augustus. Perhaps the attention drawn to Diana Nemorensis by Augustus resulted in more Romans leaving to worship in the original location of Diana’s worship and Orestes’s remains.

143 Green 2007, 48.

Chapter 4: Conclusion. Throughout the entirety of this study I have been focused on answering a few key questions surrounding Latin religion. I have aimed to establish a clear picture of Diana at Aricia as being cut from a different cloth than her derivative on the Aventine. Through analysis of the barbaric perception of the cult, passed on to us through the literary record, it has become clear that rituals such as the Rex Nemorensis and that of the Nemoralia presented the Aricia cult as a polar opposite to mainstream Roman religion. Diana Nemorensis was a conceptualisation of Diana that adhered to her original Tauric identity and customs as opposed to the Hellenic adaptation favoured by the Roman elite. The centrality of the natural world within her mythology made Diana a welcome addition to a Latin population of the seventh century as the local populations had been worshiping an unnamed god on the shores of Lake Nemi since people first arrived in the Latin peninsula. The assimilation of Orestes into her origin story as trading routes began to develop in the sixth century began Diana’s favourability amongst the slave and female populations of Latium as they found solace with the welcoming inclusion of their communities within the mythology and rites of Diana Nemorensis. The growing popularity of Diana’s cult was hijacked continually throughout its existence by those in charge of the Roman empire as they realised the political value of controlling the patron deities of local and rural Latin communities. Beginning with Servius in the sixth century, he established a new competing sanctuary on the Aventine that copied the festival dates of the Nemoralia in an attempt to replace the prestige placed on the Aricia sanctuary. By Livy’s own words, this attempt was by no means a success rather it foreshadowed the attempts of future generations to utilise the political value of Diana amongst the Latin people. Earlier analysis of a joint dedication made by the communities of Latium excluding Rome demonstrated to us that Diana’s religious value was localised to the Latin communities outside of the Pomerium. Whilst Rome remained wholly interested in the political advantages of Diana in the context of stabilising the capitals closest distressed neighbours. Political interest in Latin religious epicentres flourished during the third and second centuries, particularly interest in Diana Nemorensis. Eric Orlins analysis of the eighteen local Latin sanctuaries that were consecrated religious land within the Pomerium during the second century, demonstrated Rome’s dogmatic pursuit of religious control in the region. This transferal of deities was the single largest amount of deity transferals in religious history.The fact that all but three were of rural Latin origin demonstrates how Rome’s hegemonic focus was firmly on the surrounding provinces. This period of evocations and deity displacement was a massive test to the religious dedication of the Latin communities as Rome had become the self-proclaimed spiritual home of the empire. Their sanctuaries and deities had been removed or reproduced for the first time in their history within a proximity of 100km of the original Latin sanctuaries. As a result of new rival sanctuaries in the capital, local rural sanctuaries often fell into disrepair, such as that of Venus Eryxina, Fanum Voltumnae and the sanctuary of Pietrabbondan. Under Augustus, the targeting of Latin sanctuaries became far more focused on that of Diana Nemorensis as Augustus began to detest and abolish religious behaviour deemed to barbarian or of a lower standard of civility. Varro’s description of a society whose religious morals and stringency had collapsed along with the Republic meant that strict action was taken by Augustus to extenuate the strength and longevity of proper Roman religious decorum. Therefore he removed the bones of the first Rex Nemorensis, Orestes, from the sanctuary at Aricia and moved them to be part of a display of items that showcased the power of Roman religion within the temple of Jupiter. The relocation of Latin historical artefacts was an obvious attempt to include the Latin communities within the nexus of Roman religion rather than allowing them to participate in their own isolated communities that so often birthed rebellion. Indeed, Augustus dealt the most damage to the identity of Diana Nemorensis as Orestes inarguable became a common component of Augustan political iconography meaning the image of the emperor and that of the first rex Nemorensis became synonymous to many.

However, despite concurrent centuries of challenges of political interest in the region of Diana’s sacred grove, Diana’s barbaric identity survived and flourished. The extensive archaeological record analysed by Diosono and Cinaglia demonstrates that the Nemoralia was a highly attended ritual that revolved around the natural and unique topography of Lake Nemi until the sanctuaries collapse in the third century. Similarly, the existence of the Rex Nemorensis was exclusive to Lake Nemi until its transferal to Sparta in the third century. This indicates that the ritual and role that appeared most heathen to the Romans, existed 30km from the capital with no interruptions from the first Rex Orestes until the removal of the rite to Sparta in 300 A.D. This is an almost unparalleled level of religious longevity in the context of Roman religion. There are two main reasons that have been offered throughout this study for the identity continuity of Diana Nemorensis and her cult. Firstly, the importance of the sacred landscape to the earliest inhabitants of Aricia, formed an irreplaceable ‘communitas’ type bond between the people and the land. The wild vegetation and volcanic landscape coupled with the ‘Speculum Dianae’ effect, made this particular location perfect and ubiquitous for the worship of Diana, protector of the natural world. Unlike some other sanctuaries whose religious value comes from the man made structures that are constructed there, Lake Nemi’s value comes from the sacred landscape and the longevity of time that worship has been conducted there. As the epochs pass and history progress’s, Lake Nemi’s value to the communities of Latium grows as more worship is conducted within the sacred grove, instead of fading into oblivion as walls crumble and alters are sacked. These landscapes are permanent and cannot be transferred to Rome via a formal evocation, rather the remoteness and natural serenity of the un- urbanised site only adds to its importance. The more lamps that are deposited into the lake as part of the Nemoralia the stronger the connection between Diana and her followers. Secondly, the foreign and barbaric elements of the cult that were viewed by Augustus and Servius as being a reason that they should be usurped by Rome was in fact the reason the cult outlasted in the Latin plain. Servius and Augustus both hopped to take control of the political discourse of Latium through control of Diana. Servius believed that the Hellenic conceptualisation of Diana was a better fit for the capital so he therefore endorsed Diana Aventensis as a Hellenic derivative that was far removed from Diana at Aricia. This is shown by his decision to mimick the design of the temple of Diana at Ephesus. Comparatively, to Augustus the hedonistic and savage elements of Lake Nemi’s cult was symptomatic of a broken Roman religious system in need of reformation. His attempts to dissociate the cult with the Hellenic hero Orestes and instead fuse his own iconography with the hero demonstrates his belief that the Tauric elements of the cult were in fact damaging to society rather than being the reason for its growing popularity. However, Diosono and Cianaglias archaeological record, reaching its highest attendance rates during the reign of Augustus, would suggest that Diana Nemorensis struck a cord with the Roman population as they looked for an alternative to the often exclusive and elitist cults of the capital. In the context of Romanisation, discussion often ends with conclusions of the successes of Rome in altering and replacing the political and religious systems of new provinces. However, in the case of Diana Nemorensis the conclusion appears quite different. Lake Nemi and Diana Nemorensis seem to survive as relatively autonomous religious identities despite worshiping a deity who was had become a part of the Pantheon. Whilst it is true that the cult became accepted by some members of the Roman elite toward the end of its existence, such endorsements never altered the base characteristics of the cult. Rome was never able to change their ritualistic behaviour, their primary deity of worship or the composition of those who worshiped Diana. This is surprising when we consider the context of sanctuary abandonment and politicised religion that Diana evolved through. This was a cult built by slaves, runaways and women for the worship of a natural world that would take care of them now that they were free, just as the grove had done for Orestes. Arician Diana was different by nature and nurture, Rome did not wish to worship a deity in the manor that the cult worshipped Diana Nemorensis whereas the people of Aricia simply didn’t want to worship any other alternative.

Final Word Count: 21503.

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