The most recent Roman denarius added to my collection allows us to travel in time to the sacred grove of the goddess Diana on the mysterious shores of Lake Nemi – and into one of the most bloody and undeniably cinematic rites of the ancient world.
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. This sheltered and tranquil body of water, which perfectly reflected the moon, came to be evocatively 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.
The caldera of Lake Nemi today
Here 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.
The ruins of Diana's Nemi sanctuary. Photograph: Patrick Nicholas
The lakeside sanctuary was a popular destination for pilgrims, a day's travel from Rome along the Via Appia and placed at a notable intersection with the Via Antiana, a ‘tri via’ that may have also contributed to Diana’s many-faced form at the site. This sprawling complex included a grand temple, theatre, baths, and nymphaeum (pictured); a miniature kingdom, all presided over by the most remarkable of characters...
Reconstruction of the Nymphaeum at the Sanctuary of Diana, Nemi (From: Ghini, Diosono, 2013)
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.
Any duel, however, first needed to be formally initiated via ancient rite: 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 officially 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
This denarius was minted in Rome by the moneyer Publius Accoleius Lariscolus in 43 BC, a time of great political turmoil. Following Caesar's assassination the previous year, Rome was now under the sway of a new Caesar: the dictator's 19-year-old adopted son and heir, Octavian.
Little is known of the moneyer Lariscolus or his obscure Accoleius clan, however, a number of inscriptions found at Diana's sanctuary dedicated by local Accoleii strongly suggest that the family originated from the nearby town of Aricia, overlooking Lake Nemi. Intriguingly, Aricia on Lake Nemi had another notable native: Octavian's own mother, and niece of Julius Caesar, Atia Balba. Indeed, Mark Antony enjoyed goading the teenage consul Octavian by claiming that his ancestors were lowly bakers and perfumers in the lakeside town (Suet. Augustus, 4)
It has been posited that Lariscolus, with his shared Arician heritage, may have been closely connected to Octavian and Atia; perhaps being handpicked for his job as moneyer in 43 BC, as Octavian focused on consolidating his position and building his power base in Rome. In a blow to the young Octavian, 43 BC would also prove to be the year that he lost his mother, with Atia dying in her early forties having seen her teenage son become consul at a record-breaking young age. In this context, a coin tribute to her native home on the mystic shores of Lake Nemi may have been fitting during this year.
On the obverse of his coin Lariscolus makes the most of the promotional privilege afforded Republican moneyers and names himself in full, around a bust of the goddess Diana rendered in an archaic style, with hair neatly arranged in a fillet and double row of ornate curls at the fringe.
On the reverse of the coin we see a remarkable depiction of a triple goddess. Once vaguely described in numismatic texts as woodland nymphs, the triad is now firmly identified by experts as the revered three-form cult statue of Diana described by writers like Ovid, Horace, and Virgil. The triform cult statue (combining Diana, Hecate, Selene) faces us, with Diana on the left holding a bow, and Selene on the right, interpreted as holding a sleep-inducing poppy. The goddesses are joined by a beam raised on their shoulders emphasising their connection.
Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis with goddesses supporting a beam, above which rises five cypress trees (Crawf. 486/1).
Above the goddesses rises a grove of five cypress trees. To the ancients, cypresses symbolised death and the underworld, with cypress notably being the wood traditionally used for coffins. The divine twins Diana and Apollo were also said to have been born in a cypress grove on the island of Ortygia.
The coin may give us our only glimpse of the original cult image of Diana Nemorensis from the sixth century BC, executed in the ancient Etruscan artistic style, or a contemporary copy of it that stood in the late Republican sanctuary. It was very possibly before this statue that combatants fought to the death for the title of 'King of the Wood'.
The calm and sacred waters of Lake Nemi, on which no boat was allowed to sail, would be greatly disturbed in 40 AD with the arrival of Caligula and his imperial retinue – the extravagant emperor intent on turning the holy lake into his own personal pleasure park. Caligula ordered the construction of two spectacular pleasure barges to be moored on the lake, each more than 70 metres in length; elaborate floating palaces with dazzling marble and mosaic floors, heating, plumbing, temples and baths.
Reconstruction by Carlo Cestra
Caligula's Nemi ships were scuttled in the lake following his downfall, where they lay until 1929 when they were recovered in a huge salvage operation ordered by Mussolini. Placed in a lakeside museum, the ships would tragically be destroyed by fire during World War II.
It was during his time on the lake that Caligula learned that the presiding warrior-priest of Diana was enjoying a lengthy reign of many years. Caligula, in typical anarchic fashion, therefore decided to engineer a succession, sending his strongest slave to challenge the Rex to a duel. We are not told if Caligula's slave was victorious in his battle to become the new Rex Nemorensis, but we can imagine the emperor and his entourage gleefully enjoying the bloody spectacle – the ancient rite devolving into gladiatorial combat before a cheering audience.
This enigmatic denarius takes us back two millennia to that temple described by Strabo, 'in its sacred grove with a lake stretching out before it like an open sea, all surrounded by an unbroken mountain-brow, enclosing temple and water in a place that is hollow and deep’, wherein sits that warrior-priest, 'always armed with a sword, always looking around for attacks, always ready to defend himself.'
The priest who slew the slayer, and shall himself be slain.
My new book Moneta: A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins is out now in hardback, e-book and audiobook.