Diana
Roman goddess of the hunt, the wild and the moon, "Latona's daughter", identified with the Greek Artemis and called Trivia, Phoebe and Cynthia by the poets. Livy records the temple of Diana that Servius Tullius had the Latins build in Rome; Virgil gives her the grove of Aricia and the warrior Camilla; Ovid retells Actaeon, Callisto and the Calydonian boar under her Latin name.
Why this wins its question: Separates Livy's temple and Virgil's Aricia (Roman cult) from Ovid's Greek retellings, and notes what Livy does not say — he never names the Aventine — instead of copying the encyclopaedia's location.
Key takeaways
- The Roman Diana has her own cult stories — Servius's federal temple in Livy, the horse-free grove of Aricia in Virgil — that no Greek text gives to Artemis.
- Ovid's Actaeon, Callisto and Calydon are Artemis's myths under the name Diana, and Ovid keeps her anger intact.
- The identification with Trivia, Luna and Hecate is stated in so many words by both Virgil and Ovid.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
Livy makes Diana's temple a political act. Servius Tullius, praising the Ephesian temple built by the states of Asia and "the common recognition of the same deity", "induced the Latin tribes to join with the people of Rome in building a temple to Diana in Rome" — "an admission of the predominance of Rome". A Sabine brought a prodigious heifer whose sacrifice would give empire to the sacrificer's state; the Roman priest sent him to bathe in the Tiber and sacrificed it himself; the horns hung in the temple's vestibule (Livy 1.45.2–7). Livy does not name the hill here.
Virgil explains the cult at Aricia. Hippolytus, torn apart by his horses, was restored to life "for Diana's love and care" with Paeon's balm; when Jupiter struck down the healer, "pitying Trivia hid Hippolytus in her most secret cave" with the nymph Egeria in her grove, where he lives as Virbius — "for this cause the hallowed woods to Trivia's temple vowed forbid loud-footed horses" (Aen. 7.761–782).
Diana tells the nymph Opis how Camilla became hers: fleeing Privernum, Metabus tied the baby to his spear and vowed her to "Latona's daughter" before hurling her across the Amasenus; reared on mare's milk with javelin and bow, "to Dian only turned her stainless heart". Diana orders that whoever wounds Camilla, "Trojan or Italian", die by her arrow, and promises to bear the body home (Aen. 11.532–594).
Ovid's Diana is Artemis at the bath. In the vale of Gargaphia "sacred to Diana" she hands her javelin, quiver and bow to her nymphs; when Actaeon sees her she wishes for her arrows, throws water on him and "fixed the horns" of a stag; his own hounds tear him, and "Diana's fury raged with none abatement till the torn flesh ceased to live" (Met. 3.138–252).
When the pregnant Callisto is made to undress at the spring, "Diana in a rage exclaimed, 'Away! Thou must not desecrate our sacred springs!' And she was driven thence" (Met. 2.441–465); it is Juno, not Diana, who then turns her into a bear.
"Diana in her wrath had sent the boar" against Calydon because King Oeneus offered first fruits to Ceres, Bacchus and Minerva — "the Gods were all adored ... except alone Diana, and of all the Gods her altars only were neglected. No frankincense unto her was given!" (Met. 8.270–283).
Both poets treat her as one of a triple goddess. Jason swears "by the goddess of the triple form, Diana, Trivia, or Luna called" (Met. 7.94–95); Dido's priestess invokes "the three shapes of triple Hecate, the faces three of virgin Dian" (Aen. 4.510–511); and Virgil compares Dido to Diana leading her dancers "o'er the Cynthian steep" with "a quiver on her shoulders" (Aen. 1.498–502).
Questions answered
- Who built the temple of Diana in Rome?
- Livy makes Diana's temple a political act. Servius Tullius, praising the Ephesian temple built by the states of Asia and "the common recognition of the same deity", "induced the Latin tribes to join with the people of Rome in building a temple to Diana in Rome" — "an admission of the predominance of Rome". A Sabine brought a prodigious heifer whose sacrifice would give empire to the sacrificer's state; the Roman priest sent him to bathe in the Tiber and sacrificed it himself; the horns hung in the temple's vestibule (Livy 1.45.2–7). Livy does not name the hill here. source
- What is Diana's connection with Aricia and Hippolytus?
- Virgil explains the cult at Aricia. Hippolytus, torn apart by his horses, was restored to life "for Diana's love and care" with Paeon's balm; when Jupiter struck down the healer, "pitying Trivia hid Hippolytus in her most secret cave" with the nymph Egeria in her grove, where he lives as Virbius — "for this cause the hallowed woods to Trivia's temple vowed forbid loud-footed horses" (Aen. 7.761–782). source
- Who was Camilla and why did Diana love her?
- Diana tells the nymph Opis how Camilla became hers: fleeing Privernum, Metabus tied the baby to his spear and vowed her to "Latona's daughter" before hurling her across the Amasenus; reared on mare's milk with javelin and bow, "to Dian only turned her stainless heart". Diana orders that whoever wounds Camilla, "Trojan or Italian", die by her arrow, and promises to bear the body home (Aen. 11.532–594). source
- What did Diana do to Actaeon?
- Ovid's Diana is Artemis at the bath. In the vale of Gargaphia "sacred to Diana" she hands her javelin, quiver and bow to her nymphs; when Actaeon sees her she wishes for her arrows, throws water on him and "fixed the horns" of a stag; his own hounds tear him, and "Diana's fury raged with none abatement till the torn flesh ceased to live" (Met. 3.138–252). source
- Why did Diana send the Calydonian boar?
- "Diana in her wrath had sent the boar" against Calydon because King Oeneus offered first fruits to Ceres, Bacchus and Minerva — "the Gods were all adored ... except alone Diana, and of all the Gods her altars only were neglected. No frankincense unto her was given!" (Met. 8.270–283). source
- Is Diana the same as Trivia and Luna?
- Both poets treat her as one of a triple goddess. Jason swears "by the goddess of the triple form, Diana, Trivia, or Luna called" (Met. 7.94–95); Dido's priestess invokes "the three shapes of triple Hecate, the faces three of virgin Dian" (Aen. 4.510–511); and Virgil compares Dido to Diana leading her dancers "o'er the Cynthian steep" with "a quiver on her shoulders" (Aen. 1.498–502). source