in the mythology of Rome, a Latin deity, whose history and office bore so many points of resemblance to those of the Grecian Artemis, that she was latterly identified with that divinity. The worship of Diana, who seems to have been at first rather a local Latin goddess than one of the recognised deities of Rome; is first mentioned as celebrated by the lower classes of citizens in the reign of Servius Tullius. She was at that time regarded as the tutelary goddess of the slaves and plebeians; and her rites were yearly celebrated by these classes of the people on the anniversary of the day on which her temple was consecrated on the Aventine Hill. The name and attributes of Diana were derived from the Sabines, and became known to the Romans when that people was incorporated with the original plebeians of the Roman state. From them the worship of the goddess became gradually diffused among the knights and patricians; and as soon as it was known that a divinity in all respects corresponding to Diana had a high place in the Greek mythology, she was ranked by the Romans among the dii majorum gentium, and worshipped with the greatest honours.

As soon as the identity of Artemis and Diana was established, the Grecian myths regarding the birth, history, and functions of the goddess were universally adopted. According to these, Diana was the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and the twin-sister of Apollo. She was born along with her brother on Mount Cynthus, in the isle of Delos, which up till this time had been a floating island, but was permanently fixed by Neptune in its present place in order that Latona might there find refuge from the persecutions of Juno, and give birth to her children in peace. By the Greeks and Romans Diana was worshipped under a variety of aspects. She was both a destroying and a preserving goddess. In the former capacity she was represented as a full-grown virgin, bearing, like Apollo, a bow and a quiver full of arrows with which she darted death and pestilence among those who offended her; as a preserving deity she watched over the sick, and assisted the unfortunate. Young girls and child-bearing women were believed to be under her especial protection. From this circumstance she was called by the Greeks Hidygia, and by the Latins Genitalis; and as she herself was proof against the allurements of love, the priests and priestesses consecrated to her service were compelled to live in the strictest chastity. As Apollo was the god of the sun, Diana was in like manner believed to be the goddess of the moon, from which circumstance she was called by the Greeks Selene, and by the Romans Lucina. The last and most splendid of all the ceremonies in honour of Diana was the national festival instituted at Rome by Augustus, in compliance with the orders of the Sibylline books, in honour of which Horace composed his famous Carmen Seculare. In this hymn Apollo and Diana are invoked together as the presiding deities of Rome; and the various offices and functions of both deities, as understood at that time, are minutely described.

In her character as a huntress, Diana is most generally represented in Greek works of art as a tall and handsome virgin, with long hair floating down her neck—drawing an arrow from her quiver with her right hand, and with her left restraining a stag which is endeavouring to escape. As the goddess of the moon she is represented with a long robe reaching to her feet, while her forehead is adorned with the crescent of the moon.

Besides the general homage paid at Greece and Rome to Diana, as one of the dii consentes, there were certain places in which she was worshipped with peculiar rites, and vested with special functions. Of these the most important was Ephesus, where the temple of the goddess was so splendid as to be reckoned one of the wonders of the world. The Ephesian Diana differed considerably from the Greek in the nature of her office. She seems to have typified the reproductive and all-nourishing powers of nature. Hence her image was the figure of a female with many breasts; and the officiating ministers of her temple were eunuchs. Her head was adorned with a mural crown, and the lower part of the figure was covered with hieroglyphic symbols. The worship of Diana is said to have been instituted at Ephesus by the Amazons. Next in importance to the Ephesian was the Taurian Diana. The worship of this goddess was believed to have been at one time accompanied with bloody rites, such as sacrifices of human victims, &c. Her statue was brought from Tauris by Orestes, who on his way back to Sparta landed at Brauron in Attica, from which circumstance the goddess was called Braurontia. The image was thence removed to Sparta, where it was placed in an upright position in a temple specially consecrated for its reception; and the deity whom it symbolized was known as Artemis Orthia. It was before this statue that the ceremony of the public scourging of the Spartan youth was observed. (See DIAMASTIGOSIS.) Besides the Ephesian and the Taurian Diana there only remains to be mentioned the Arcadian, who was in an especial manner the patron of hunting and other sylvan sports. She is usually described as frequenting the glades of Taygetus, Menalos, and the other wild mountains of Arcadia that abounded in game. Twenty nymphs accompanied her in the chase, and with sixty more she celebrated her nightly dances under the bright light of the moon. Her bow and arrows were the workmanship of Vulcan, and her hounds were the gift of Pan. Four stags with golden antlers drew her car. The name of Diana is associated with some of the most beautiful of the ancient myths. See ARTEMIS, ACELEON, ENDYMION, NIOME, ORION, &c.