The tiny volcanic lake of Nemi in the Alban Hills near Rome has a fascinating history, ranging over 2,700 years, from when the area, covered in forest, was inhabited by the ancient Latin peoples. The name, Nemi, in fact, derives from the Latin "Nemus" or sacred glade. Deep in the forest, the mysterious ritual of the Rex Nemorensis, the King of the Wood, which inspired James George Frazer to embark on his monumental study of anthropology and comparative religion, was held. In Roman times, the great Temple of the goddess Diana, mistress of wild beasts and Nature, stood on the waterfront, and the Emperor Caligula built two (or maybe three?) magnificent ceremonial barges in her honour. Two of these were recovered in the 1930s but unfortunately they were destroyed during the second world war. The search a Third Ship goes on, however.....and its recovery could be the archaeological scoop of the century.
The tiny volcanic lake of Nemi in the Alban Hills near Rome has a fascinating history, ranging over 2,700 years, from when the area, covered in forest, was inhabited by the ancient Latin peoples. The name, Nemi, in fact, derives from the Latin "Nemus" or sacred glade. Deep in the forest, the mysterious ritual of the Rex Nemorensis, the King of the Wood, which inspired James George Frazer to embark on his monumental study of anthropology and comparative religion, was held. In Roman times, the great Temple of the goddess Diana, mistress of wild beasts and Nature, stood on the waterfront, and the Emperor Caligula built two (or maybe three?) magnificent ceremonial barges in her honour. Two of these were recovered in the 1930s but unfortunately they were destroyed during the second world war. The search a Third Ship goes on, however.....and its recovery could be the archaeological scoop of the century.
