Ancient legends of Roman history . ss, however, was avery ancient one, as well as that of the nymph Egeria,—that is, of a fountain flowing close by. The more ancienttemple was supposed to have been erected by a certainEgerius, whom different authors described as a native ofTusculum or of Aricia. On account of the great similarityof his name with that of the goddess Egeria, the thoughtarises that he may have represented the masculine aspectof that same divinity. Indeed, it is well known that theancient Latin priests, as well as those of other peoples, con-ceived of both the masculine and the fe
Ancient legends of Roman history . ss, however, was avery ancient one, as well as that of the nymph Egeria,—that is, of a fountain flowing close by. The more ancienttemple was supposed to have been erected by a certainEgerius, whom different authors described as a native ofTusculum or of Aricia. On account of the great similarityof his name with that of the goddess Egeria, the thoughtarises that he may have represented the masculine aspectof that same divinity. Indeed, it is well known that theancient Latin priests, as well as those of other peoples, con-ceived of both the masculine and the feminine natures ofthe enchoric divinities, whom they invoked with the formulasive mas sive femina. Another divinity was still more intimately connected withDiana Aricina,—namely, the Nemus, that is, the grove ofAricia. Just as the Peloponnesian Artemis was enamoredof Endymion, King of Elis, so Diana Aricina loved Virbius,from whom a street was named which led to the temple ofthe goddess. Virbius was a native Latin god. Owing to. SERVIUS TULLIUS 143 the extreme efficacy of Hellenism, Diana was soon identifiedwith the Greek Artemis, and so the river and solar god Vir-bius was identified with Hippolytus, the son of Theseusand the beloved of Phaedra. The cult of Aricia was, bysome, considered as an offshoot of that of Epidaurus. For,it was affirmed that Virbius, after having been brought backto life, betook himself whither ^Esculapius had assured hima tranquil existence. Others considered this cult to havesprung from that at Tauris, transported thence by Orestesalso to Tauranium, near the Greek Rhegium. The factthat horses were not permitted to approach the grove ofAricia was placed in relation with the very name Hippolytus,and, too, with the hippoi or horses who had dragged andkilled the Greek hero. The barbarous custom, accordingto which the priest of Diana Nemorensis always went aboutfully armed, for fear of being slain by his successor, sug-gested the connection with the cul
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