Rex Nemorensis
The Rex Nemorensis was the king and priest of Diana in the region. A runaway slave could break off a bough from a guarded tree and then engage the Rex Nemorensis in mortal combat. If the slave prevailed, he became the next king for as long as he could defeat challengers.
↻ synthesized from 4 sources
When
- First attested
- 600 BCE
- Attested period
- -600 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Attested from the 6th century BC.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Diana, Hades, Diana Nemorensis, Virbius, Hippolytus, Artemis (Diana)
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“engage the Rex Nemorensis, the current king and priest of Diana in the region, in one-on-one mortal combat. If the slave prevailed, he became the next king for as long as he could defeat challengers. By the time Caligula interfered in the succession of priest-kings”
#19816 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Frazer based his thesis on the pre-Roman priest-king Rex Nemorensis, a priest of Diana at Lake Nemi, who was ritually murdered by his successor. The king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth, died at the harvest and was reincarnated in the spring.”
#19854 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The sacred grove of Aricia was where a priest called the Rex Nemorensis reigned until he was killed by a challenger. The monumental sanctuary of Diana was built around 300 BC as the centre of the religion.”
#19863 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001