Rex Nemorensis

[1][2][3] The priesthood played a major role in the mythography of James George Frazer in The Golden Bough; his interpretation has exerted a lasting influence.

A possible allusion to the origins of the priesthood at Nemi is contained in Vergil's Aeneid, as Virgil places Hippolytus at the grove of Aricia.

Macaulay's quatrain on the institution of the rex Nemorensis states: 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.

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] James George Frazer, in his seminal work The Golden Bough, argued that the tale of the priesthood of Nemi was an instance of a worldwide myth of a sacred king who must periodically die as part of a regular fertility rite.

Ruins by the shores of Lake Nemi, in an 1831 engraving
Denarius depicting Diana Nemorensis, who was conceived as a triple goddess (diva triformis) [ 9 ]
Diana in hunting boots, from a 2nd-century Roman mosaic