Nemoralia


Nemoralia

August 13The Nemoralia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the goddess Diana held at Nemi, in the territory of Aricia about 16 miles southeast of Rome. As the goddess of the hunt, Diana presided over the forests of Aricia. There was a grove, or nemus, there that adjoined a famous shrine dedicated to the goddess, and her priest was known as rex nemorensis, or "king of the grove." By custom, the rex nemorensis was a runaway slave who attained his royal office by murdering his predecessor.
Diana was worshipped throughout Rome and Latium (now western Italy) on August 13, the day on which her temple on the Aventine Hill had been dedicated by Servius Tullius. But her most famous cult was in Aricia, where the Nemoralia was observed to protect the vines and the fruit trees as well as to celebrate Diana's power. Some experts believe that the Christian Feast of the Dormition, or Assumption on August 15, eventually incorporated the harvest-blessing element of the ancient Nemoralia. It is still common in some parts of the Orthodox Christian Church for worshippers to make offerings of new wheat and cakes to the Theotokos on that day.
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DictRomRel-1996, p. 60
EncyRel-1987, vol. 4, p. 349
FestRom-1981, p. 173
FestSaintDays-1915, p. 173
GdAnctWrld-1986, pp. 64, 427
OxYear-1999, p. 331
RomFest-1925, p. 198