ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

peoples. With this added element, it is clear that the Roman colonists were sending areligious message in which coexistence with the Etruscan and Ligurian neighbors was akey feature. A message of coexistence is likely, and even necessary, when one considersthat the port of Luna served as a major gateway to economic activity for the entire region.The Pisans prospered from their control of the port before the foundation of the Romancolony, and probably continued to use the port afterwards, even if only to a small degree.The Ligurians that Lepidus resettled on the plains probably traded with Luna for maritimenecessities. Thus, these two populations came into economic contact with the colonists,as did any traders who brought merchandise into the port from the greater Mediterraneanworld. Along with economic contact came exposure to the visual cues built into thetemple of Diana at Luna.In conclusion, the worship of Diana in the Roman and Latin colonies followedtrends from Asia Minor, from Delphi, from Delos, from Rome, and most importantly,from the Latin cult of Diana Nemorensis. It is clear that Rome did not stamp the Romancult of Diana on her colonies during the middle Republic. 49Rather, the colonists partookof the broader Italian and Mediterranean worship of this complex goddess. If there was asingle message in all cults of Diana in Italy, it was the peaceable meeting of rivalcommunities - a message that does not benefit the Romans at the center, but the colonistsliving next door to the local populations in Northern Italy, Samnium, and Campania.Compare this with the first century CE custom of building colonial altars stipulating the same laws andrites as with the altar to Diana on the Aventine. There was one such at Ariminum (CIL XI361, cf. Bispham(2006), p. 73 and Beard, North, and Price (1998), 1.329 f). Thus, it was possible for Roman religious208