RRC 486/1 P. Accoleius Lariscolus

«The cult of Diana Nemorensis was specifically one of hunting because “the hunt itself was considered a sacred rite to Diana”. The cult provided her worshippers with the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful hunter, which included an acute awareness of animals themselves, both wild and domestic. To be a good hunter was to have respect and an understanding of nature itself.

Unique to this hunting cult was its priestly position of the rex nemorensis, or king of the wood. This head priest of the cult of Diana at Aricia was extremely significant because of the ritual associated with his ascension. Any time the sanctuary authorities deemed the cult was in need of a new priest king, a challenger was chosen to hunt down and kill him in order to take his place as rex nemorensis . According to C.M.C. Green, “the ritual of the rex nemorensis enacts an anxiety of the early hunter-warrior: when does the hunted become the hunter, and what is the meaning of the death of the one hunted?” This ongoing ritual murder was crucial to the identity of Diana Nemorensis.»

Rachel A. Diana, MA

Situated in the Alban Hills south of Rome, Lago di Nemi is a circular crater lake nestled within the caldera of an extinct ancient volcano. The sheltered and tranquil body of water, which perfectly reflected the moon, came to be known by the Romans as 'Diana's Mirror'

Within a sacred grove on the northern shore of the lake stood the temple sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis or 'Diana of the Wood' constructed around 300 BC, though the cult of Diana of Nemi is thought to have its origins as far back as the 6th century BC. In the ancient wooded sanctuary, Diana was worshipped in her role as patroness of the hunt – but also in her more archaic forms as goddess of the moon, the underworld, and as a healing deity who particularly attracted women seeking cures from illness and aid in childbirth. Roman visitors describe the sanctuary's ancient cult statue representing Diana as a three-form goddess, Diana 'Triformis', she who is invoked in three ways; a unified trinity of the deities Diana the huntress, Selene the moon goddess, and Hecate, goddess of the underworld. A day's travel from Rome along the Via Appia, the lakeside sanctuary was a popular destination for pilgrims. The sprawling complex included a grand temple, theatre, baths, and nymphaeum (pictured); a miniature kingdom, all presided over by the most remarkable of characters. Ruling as chief priest of the cult was the Rex Nemorensis or 'King of the Wood'. By ancient tradition this enigmatic figure was no aristocrat, but a runaway slave who had fled from his master to the sanctuary – and once there, how he seized power was even more extraordinary. The title of Rex Nemorensis was decided by single combat, with each fugitive slave challenging the reigning ‘king’ to a duel and fighting to the death for the role of high priest.

There is a lake in the vale of Aricia, ringed by dense woods and sacred to religion from ancient times.
A priest strong of hand and swift of foot rules there, and is killed one day, as he himself killed before.

Ovid, Fasti, 3.

In the heart of the grove stood a sacred oak. If the runaway slave could reach the heavily guarded tree and break off one of its branches – a 'golden bough' – then the challenge was formally issued; he had earned the right to fight the King of the Wood in mortal combat.

By the glassy lake that sleeps,
The ghastly priest doth reign,
The priest who slew the slayer,
And shall himself be slain.

- Macaulay