The priest was king of the sacred grove by the lake. No one was to break off any branch of the tree at its centre, except that if a runaway slave did so, he could engage the Rex Nemorensis in mortal combat. If the slave prevailed, he became the next king for as long as he could, in turn, defeat challengers.[1][2][3]
The tale of the rex Nemorensis appears in a number of ancient sources. Ovid gives a poetic account of the priesthood of Nemi[4] noting that the lake of Nemi was "sacred to antique religion", and that the priest who dwelt there "holds his reign by strong hands and fleet feet, and dies according to the example he set himself."[5]
The Latin name of the priesthood is given by Suetonius: "He [Caligula] caused the rex Nemorensis, who had held his priesthood for many years, to be supplanted by a stronger adversary."[6][7] That same passage indicates that by the time of the early Principate, the custom of succession in the office by combat had become subject to outside control.
The Greek geographer Strabo also mentions the institution: "and in fact a barbaric, and Scythian, element predominates in the sacred usages, for the people set up as priest merely a run-away slave who has slain with his own hand the man previously consecrated to that office; accordingly the priest is always armed with a sword, looking around for the attacks, and ready to defend himself."[8]
Denarius depicting Diana Nemorensis, who was conceived as a triple goddess (diva triformis)
The Aricians tell a tale ... that when Hippolytus (the son of Theseus) was killed, owing to the curses of Theseus, Asclepius raised him from the dead. On coming to life again he refused to forgive his father; rejecting his prayers, he went to the Aricians in Italy. There he became king and devoted a precinct to Artemis, where down to my time the prize for the victor in single combat was the priesthood of the goddess. The contest was open to no freeman, but only to slaves who had run away from their masters."[10]
An alternative story has the worship of Diana at Nemi instituted by Orestes; the flight of the slave represents the flight of Orestes into exile.[12]
Ritual murder
Surviving lore concerning the rex Nemorensis indicates that this priest or king held a very uneasy position. Macaulay's quatrain on the institution of the rex Nemorensis states:
Those trees in whose dim shadow The ghastly priest doth reign The priest who slew the slayer, And shall himself be slain.
This is, in a nutshell, the surviving legend of the rex Nemorensis: the priesthood of Diana at Nemi was held by a person who obtained that honour by slaying the prior incumbent in a trial by combat, and who could remain at the post only so long as he successfully defended his position against all challengers. However, a successful candidate had first to test his mettle by plucking a golden bough from one of the trees in the sacred grove.
The human sacrifice conducted at Nemi was thought to be highly unusual by the ancients. Suetonius mentions it as an example of the moral failings of Caligula. Strabo calls it Scythian, implying that he found it barbaric. The violent character of this singular institution could barely be justified by reference to its great antiquity and mythological sanctity. The ancient sources also appear to concur that an escaped slave who seeks refuge in this uneasy office is likely to be a desperate man.[13]
The Golden Bough
Diana in hunting boots, from a 2nd-century Roman mosaic
In 1990, a radio programme entitled "The Priest of Nemi" was produced by Michael Bakewell and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. This programme was based on the 1990 book The Making of the Golden Bough by Robert Fraser, which was written to mark the centenary of the first edition of Frazer's book.
External references
The novel Nemorensis, by Simon Spurrier (set in the universe of the Elite: DangerousMMORPG), is based on the legend.
In Greek mythology, Aegeus was an archaic figure in the founding myth of Athens. The "goat-man" who gave his name to the Aegean Sea was the father of Theseus. He was also the founder of Athenian institutions and one of the kings of Athens.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. In later times, in some places, she was identified with Selene, the personification of the Moon. She often roamed the forests of Greece, attended by her large entourage, mostly made up of nymphs, some mortals, and hunters. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
Diana is a goddess in Roman and Hellenistic religion, primarily considered a patroness of the countryside, hunters, crossroads, and the Moon. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo, though she had an independent origin in Italy.
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer. The Golden Bough was first published in two volumes in 1890; in three volumes in 1900; and in twelve volumes in the third edition, published 1906–1915. It has also been published in several different one-volume abridgments. The work was for a wide literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch's The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855). The influence of The Golden Bough on contemporary European literature and thought was substantial.
Lake Nemi is a small circular volcanic lake in the Alban Hills 30 km (19 mi) south of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy. It takes its name from Nemi, the largest town in the area, that overlooks it from a height.
In many historical societies, the position of kingship carries a sacral meaning; that is, it is identical with that of a high priest and judge. The concept of theocracy is related, although a sacred king does not need to necessarily rule through his religious authority; rather, the temporal position itself has a religious significance behind it.
In Greek mythology, Pallas was a member of the Athenian royal family.
In Greek mythology, Hippolytus is the son of Theseus and either Hippolyta or Antiope. His downfall at the hands of Aphrodite is recounted by the playwright Euripides. Other versions of the story have also survived.
Egeria was a nymph attributed a legendary role in the early history of Rome as a divine consort and counselor of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to whom she imparted laws and rituals pertaining to ancient Roman religion. Her name is used as an eponym for a female advisor or counselor.
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Aricia is a name appearing in Virgil's Aeneid in a context that makes it possible for it to be interpreted as referring to a mythical personage:
Ibat et Hippolyti proles pulcherrima bello, Virbius, insignem quem mater Aricia misit...
Aricini, the ancient inhabitants of Aricia, the form of the name ranking them with the Sidicini, Marrucini, etc., as one of the communities belonging probably to the earlier or Volscian stratum of population on the west side of Italy, who were absorbed by the Sabine or Latin immigrants.
Ariccia is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy, 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One of the Castelli Romani towns, Ariccia is located in the regional park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani".
A triple deity is a deity with three apparent forms that function as a singular whole. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. The number three has a long history of mythical associations and triple deities are common throughout world mythology. Carl Jung considered the arrangement of deities into triplets an archetype in the history of religion.
Diana Nemorensis, also known as "Diana of the Wood", was an Italic form of the goddess who became Hellenised during the fourth century BC and conflated with Artemis.
The Nemoralia is a three-day festival originally celebrated by the ancient Romans on the Ides of August in honor of the goddess Diana. Although the Nemoralia was originally celebrated at the Sanctuary of Diana at Lake Nemi, it soon became more widely celebrated. The Catholic Church may have adapted the Nemoralia as the Feast of the Assumption.
Phaedra is a 'concert opera' in two acts by Hans Werner Henze. Its first performance was given at the Berlin State Opera on 6 September 2007. The work is a co-commission and co-production with the Berliner Festspiele, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Vienna Festival.
Aricina was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, derived from the town of Aricia in Latium, where she was worshipped.
The Temple of Diana Nemorensis was part of an ancient Italic monumental sanctuary erected around 300 BC and dedicated to the goddess Diana. It was a popular place of worship until the late imperial age.
The Golden Bough is a painting from 1834 by the English painter J. M. W. Turner. It depicts the episode of the golden bough from the Aeneid by Virgil. It is in the collection of the Tate galleries.
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