The sanctuary dedicated to Diana at Aricia flourished from the Bronze age to the second century CE. From its archaic beginnings in the wooded crater beside the lake known as the ‘mirror of Dianea’ it grew into a grand Hellenistic-style complex that attracted crowds of pilgrims and the sick. Diana was also believed to confer power on leaders. This book examines the history of Diana’s cult and healing sanctuary, which remained a significant and wealthy religious center for more than a thousand years. It sheds new light on Diana herself, on the use of rational as well as ritual healing in the sanctuary, on the subtle distinctions between Latin religious sensibility and the more austere Roman practice, and on the interpenetration of cult and politics in Latin and Roman history.
Contents
Part I: 1. The sanctuary of Diana to the end of the republic; 2. The sanctuary in the Augustan age; 3. The sanctuary in the empire; 4. Diana: her name and appearance; 5. The grove, the goddess, and the history of early Latium; 6. The many faces of Diana; Part II. Fugitives and Slaves, Kings and Greeks: 7. The necessary murderer; 8. 'We are fugitives'; 9. Virbius, Hippolytus and Egeria; Part III. Healing and Ritual: 10. Diana the healer; 11. Ritual healing and the Maniae; 12. Conclusion: Diana and her worshippers.
Prize Winner
2009 CAMWS Outstanding Publication Award
Review
"Any serious scholar of Roman religion will undoubtedly benefit from this exhaustive, erudite treatment of the cult of Diana." -Matthew R. Hauge, Claremont Graduate University: Religious Studies Review
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