It is generally accepted that a late Archaic
bronze head from Diana's Arician sanctuary at Lake Nemi
was part of a triple statue of the goddess as depicted on
the late Republican coinage of P. Accoleius Lariscolus.
The triformis aspect
of Diana in Roman culture has long been suspected to
derive from Cumae. Historical sources attest that Aricia
and Cumae were in contact very early: Aristodemus Malacus
of Cumae conquered Etruscan forces at Aricia in 504 BCE
(Livy 2.14.5-9 and DH Rom. Antiq.
7.5-6), a victory that was instrumental in enabling his
coup d'état over the Cumaean aristocracy upon his
return. But to date there has been no confirmation of the
contact between Cumae and Aricia from the archaeological
sources. This paper proposes to identify a first material
link between Aristodemus and Aricia: early Cumaean
coinage depicts the same late Archaic bronze head of
Diana as that found at Lake Nemi and on the late
Republican coinage.
Coins that bear an "enigmatic
female head," variously identified as an eponymous nymph
or the Sibyl of Cumae, will be the focus of my argument,
especially six coins in the series Rutter identifies as
belonging to Period 2, the second earliest issue.
Although for these coins Rutter notes the head's
stylistic affinities to late Archaic Greek art, he looks
to Syracusan coinage in postulating a date ca.
470-460/55. In asserting that the start of Cumaean
coinage was ca. 475, he argues against Sambon's theory
(1907) that it began during Aristodemus' reign. The
chronological scheme for Cumaean coinage must again be
revised if Aristodemus did in fact mint coinage from the
proceeds of the rich spoils Aristodemus took at Aricia
and from confiscation of the property of the Cumaean
aristocracy he killed in order to facilitate payments to
his followers.
The identification has further
ramifications, both for Roman religion and for the early
history of Latium. First, Pairault's conclusion that the
triple statue represents Greek Hecate, not a native Latin
Trivia, is confirmed (Pairault 1969: 464-465).
Additionally, we must consider if this identification
establishes the date of Diana's arrival as dea
triformis at
Lake Nemi. DH relates that Aristodemus "paid his vows to
the gods" upon his return from Aricia (Rom. Antiq.
7.7.3). Did he also set up the triple
statue of the goddess in the Arician Grove? Or did the
Latins set up the triple statue later to honor their
benefactor's goddess, who had now become their own? An
inscription cited by Cato (Priscian (Inst. Gramm. 4.21= Cato, Orig. 2, fr. 21 Jordan) indicates that they had dedicated a portion of this grove as
a LVCVS DIANIVS at
about the same time as the Battle of Aricia (certainly
prior to 495 BCE, as Gjerstad (1970) has shown). Their
act is generally considered to have been preparatory to
the imminent threat from the Etruscans; but could it have
been post factum,
i.e. after the goddess' favor had been secured?