Bona Dea

vol. III p.686-694

Bona Dea

is an epithet for various female deities in the Roman culture, which later became a proper name, similar to the Cupra dea (see its respective article) of the same meaning with the Piceni and the Umbri. The ancient local worship had no Bona Dea goddess of its own, <page break 686/687> but instead used the attribute bona dea for pointing out[?] (analogous to eg. duonus cerus as an invocation of Ianus in the Salian hymns, and from later times deus bonus as a term for Aesculapius CIL III 1560. VIII 2590 and bonus (deus) puer Phosphorus CIL III 1130ff. VIII 2665) Fauna (see its respective article), the cultic companion of Faunus: <10> the sources for the Fauna being addressed with the epithet bona dea (Varro. in Lact. inst. I 22, 11. Serv. Aen. VIII 314. Macr. S. I 12, 22. Arnob. I 36. Tert. ad nat. II 9) all come from the times in which the name Bona Dea primarily referred to the Greek gods taken on in Rome under this term; but the fact that the cult legends connected this Greek goddess with the old-Roman Faunus can only be explained if the name was already used for the worship of Faunus, and so made the connection possible. <20> This cult legend was intended to give this Greek goddess a basis for her own rites and ceremonial requirements for her worship in the form of a myth, that is, for the exclusion of men, for the forbidding of bringing myrtle into the shrine, the peculiarity that although wine was used in sacrifices, it was used in a covered jug and under a false name, and a grapevine was placed over the image of the goddess, <30> and finally, for the fact that the temples contained all kinds of herbs and snakes, and that the image of the goddess also had a snake near it (Macr. S. I 12, 25f.: horum omnium haec proferuntur indicia, quod virgum myrteam in templo haberi nefas sit, quod super caput eius extendatur vitis …, quod vinum in templum eius non suo nomine soleat inferri, sed vas in quo vinum inditum est mellarium nominetur et vinum lac nuncupetur, serpentesque in templo eius nec terrentes nec timentes indifferenter appareant … quod in aedem eius omne genus herbarum sit … et quod templum eius virum introire non liceat [of all these things, these discoveries are made known: that it was sacrilegious to have a branch of myrtle in the temple, that a vine extended over her head …, that wine tends to be brought into the temple under a different name, but that the vessel into which the wine is poured is called a mellarium and the wine is called milk, and serpents, which are neither scary nor scared, appear indifferently in her temple … that there is every kind of plant in her shrine … and that men aren’t allowed to enter her temple]. <40> Plut. qu. Rom. 20: τῇ γυναικείᾳ θεῷ, ἥν Ἀγαθὴν καλοῦσιν, κοσμοῦσαι σηκὸν αἱ γυναῖκες οἴκοι μυρσίνας οὐκ εἰσφέρουσι, καίτοι πᾶσι φιλοτιμούμεναι χρῆσθαι τοῖς βλαστάνουσι καὶ ἀνθοῦσι … μυρσίνην μὲν οὐκ εἰσφέρουσιν, οἶνον δὲ αὐτῇ σπένδουσι γάλα προσαγορεύουσαι … οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐξοικίζουσι τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶν ἄρρεν ἐξελαύνουσι τῆς οἰκίας, ὅταν τὰ νενομισμένα τῇ θεῷ ποιῶσι; <50> Caes. 9: ἀμπελίνοις τε τὰς σκηνὰς κλήμασιν ἑορτάζουσαι κατερέφουσι καὶ δράκων ἱερὸς παρακαθίδρυται τῇ θεῷ. Lact. I 22, 11: in sacris eius obvolutam vini amphoram poni [in her worship, a covered amphora of wine is placed], cf. Arnob. V 18). We know two versions of her aetiological tale, and doubtless the older and original one is in Macr. S. I 12, 24 and 27 (cf. also Tert. ad nat. II 9. Serv. Aen. VIII 314. Plut. Caes. 9 νύμφην δρυάδα Φαύνῳ συνοικήσασαν), <60> and is represented mostly by Varro: according to this version, the Bona Dea was the daughter of Faunus, and was a paragon of chastity (Macr. loc. cit. 27: Varro Fauni filiam tradit adeo pudicam, ut extra γυναικωνῖτιν numquam sit egressa nec nomen eius in publico fuerit auditum nec virum umquam viderit vel a viro visa sit [Varro says that Faunus had a daughter so chaste that she never left the gynaikonitis, that her name was never heard in public, that she had never seen a man nor had a man ever seen her]. Lact. I 22, 10: eandem Varro scribit tantae pudicitiae fuisse, ut nemo illam quoad vixerit praeter suum virum mas viderit nec nomen eius audierit [Varro writes that she was so chaste that no man other than her husband saw her or heard her name for as long as she lived]. Tert. ad nat. II 9: pudicitia praecellebat, ut ne conversaretur quidem inter viros [her chastity was so great that she didn’t even mingle with men]; cf. Serv. Aen. VIII 814); she resisted her father’s approaches, even when he chastised her with sprigs of myrtle and tried to make her drunk with wine, until finally he turned into a snake and then witnessed her in this form. <10> This - apart from the name Faunus which was first used after the goddess had been received in Rome - is clearly a Greek ἱερὸς λόγος, and its peculiarities allow further Greek parallels to be brought up (A. Dieterich Philologus LII 9, 24 mainly refers, rather justifiably, to the tale of the Orphic theogony frg. 41 Abel, where Zeus witnesses his daughter Persephone in the form of a snake); in contrast to this, another version, <20> whose originator is named to us as Sextus Clodius sexto de diis graeco (Arnob. V 18, cf. Lact. I 22, 11), seems very much like a later creation. According to this, the Bona Dea was thrashed to death with myrtle branches by her father Faunus, because she had drunk an entire bottle of wine at home and had become intoxicated. Afterwards however, when she regretted her actions, she was elevated into the position of a goddess (Lact. Arnob. loc. cit. Plut. qu. Rom. 20).

The cult rituals which make up the basis of these aitiological tales were performed during festivals at night, <30> which were made for the goddess annually in Rome by the state (pro populo [for the people] Cic. de har. resp. 37; de leg. II 21; ad Att. I 12, 3. 13, 3. Ascon. p. 43. 47. Sen. epist. 97, 2. Iuven. 9, 117; ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου Cass. Dio XXXVII 35; publicae caerimoniae [public ceremonies] Suet. Caes. 6). This παννυχίς (Plut. Caes. 9) was celebrated at the beginning of December (in the year 691=63, it took place on the night between the 3rd and 4th of December, Plut. Cic. 19. Cass. Dio XXXVII 35, and around the same time the following year, cf. Drumann Gesch. Roms II 204, 72; however, the fact that the date wasn’t determined once and for all, but instead was scheduled again each year, is shown by Cic. ad Att. V 21, 14 ad me scribas certum quo die mysteria futura sint [let me know for certain when the ceremonies will take place]. VI 1, 26 faciesque me in quem diem Romana incidant mysteria certiorem [tell me what day the Roman ceremonies will take place]. XV 25 velim enim scire quo die olim piaculum, mysteria scilicet [for I’d like to know when the little religious happening [shall be], the ceremonies, of course]), <50> and in the house of a magistrate cum imperio (fit in ea domo, quae est in imperio [it takes place in the house which is in power], Cic. har. resp. 37; ὑπατεύοντος ἤ στρατηγοῦντος ἀνδρός Plut. Caes. 9; ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ ὑπάτου Plut. Cic. 19; παρά τε τοῖς ὑπάτοις καὶ παρὰ τοῖς στρατηγοῖς Cass. Dio XXXVII 45; in both of the known cases, once, in the year 691 = 63, it was in the house of the consul M. Tullius Cicero, and in the other case, 692 = 62, in the house of the praetor - as well as the pontifex maximus - C. Iulius Caesar), whose wife, <60> along with the Vestal Virgins (Cic. har. resp. 37; ad Att. I 13, 3. Plut. Cic. 19. Cass. Dio XXXVII 35. Ascon. p. 43. Schol. Bob. Cic. p. 329; cf. for this Jordan Der Tempel der Vesta und das Haus der Vestalinnen 52), carried out the sacred rites in the presence of Roman women. The whole thing went on in secret (mysteria Cic. ad Att. V 21, 14. VI 1, 26. XV 25; occultum Cic. har. resp. 37; opertum Cic. Parad. 4, 32; in operto Asc. Schol. Bob. loc. cit. Sen. epist. 97, 2. Paul. p. 68; secreta Iuv. 6, 314; ἱεροῖς ἀπορρήτοις Plut. Cic. 19), <page break 688/689> and above all, it took place with a very strict exclusion of men (aside from the already-mentioned sources, see Cic. de dom. 105; har. resp. 8. 38. Liv. per. 103. Tibull. I 6, 22. Prop. V 9, 26. 53ff. Ovid. a. a. III 637; fast. V 153. Lact. III 20, 4 etc.; this is connected to the aitiological tale present in Prop. V 9, 21ff. and Macr. I 12, 28, <10> which traces the exclusion of women from worship of Hercules at the Ara Maxima from the fact that the god, after Cacus was defeated by the women who had gathered in the shrine of the Bona Dea, had offered them entrance and a drink in vain); even all male animals were removed from the house (Plut. qu. Rom. 20. Iuven. 6, 339) and male portraits were covered over (Sen. epist. 97, 2. Iuv. 6, 340). Obviously, under these circumstances, <20> we can’t expect any precise details about the very complicated ceremonies (incredibili caerimonia [incredible ceremonies] Cic. har. resp. 37) in this festival: all we know is that the festival room (Plut. Qu. Rom. 28 calls it σηκός, Plut. Caes. 9 σκηναί; Cic. har. resp. 8 speaks of pulvinaria Bonae deae; in Pison. 95; pro Mil. 72 calls it a sacrarium Liv. per. 103, from where Schol. Iuv. 6, 314. 338. 339 even has a templum) was decorated with vine branches (Plut. Caes. 9), <30> that music and dance was a large part of what went on (παιδιᾶς ἀναμεμιγμένης ταῖς παννυχίσι καὶ μουσικῆς ἅμα πολλῆς παρούσης Plut. Caes. 9; cum tibia lumbos incitat et cornu pariter vinoque feruntur attonitae crinemque rotant [when the pipe stirs up their loins, and they are influenced by the horn just as they are by wine, and, alert, they swing their hair around] Iuv. 6, 314ff.; disguised as Psaltria, Clodius snuck into the celebrations taking place in Caesar’s house in the year 692 = 62, cf. the sources in Drumann loc. cit. II 205), that a porca was sacrificed (Macr. I 12, 23. Iuven. 2, 86) and that the wine which was poured into a large covered (Arnob. V 18. Lact. I 22, 11) krater, <40> and which however was referred to as milk, and the wine jar as a honey pot (Macr. I 12, 25 and on this Lobeck Aglaeoph. 879. Diels Sibyll. Blätter 71, 1) played a very important role (Iuv. 2, 87. 9, 117; cf. 6, 314ff.). Since the actual name of the goddess, which was hidden to some extent behind the basic term ‘good goddess’, or ἡ γυναικεία θεός for the Greeks (Macr. I 12, 27. Plut. qu. Rom. 20; Caes. 9; Cic. 19; feminea dea Prop. V 9, 25), <50> wasn’t allowed to be spoken in front of men (Cic. har. resp. 37; cf. Cass. Dio XXXVII 45 ἄγνωστα ἐκ τῶν πατρίον ἐς πᾶν τὸ ἄρρεν), then nobody could get a good idea about her nature, and they had to rely on hypotheses which could be very different from one another: she was identified with the old-Roman goddesses Fauna, Fatua, Ops, Maia, and so she was explained as being some kind of earth-goddess (Macr. I 12, 21f.), <60> or she was identified with Hera-Iuno, Persephone, Hekate (Χθονία Ἑκάτη), Semele (Macr. ibid. 23) or with τῶν Διονύσου μητέρων ἡ ἄρρητος (Plut. Caes. 9), even with Medea (Macr. loc. cit. 26) and with the Phrygian mother of Midas (Plut. loc. cit. and on this Dieterich Philol. Lii 1ff.), and people also likely found Orphic elements in her worship (αἱ γυναῖκες πολλὰ τοῖς Ὀρφικοῖς ὁμολογοῦντα δρᾶν λέγονται Plut. Caes. 9). <page break 689/690> We only get a more precise account from Paul. p. 68: damium sacrificium, quod fiebat in operto in honorem Bonae deae, dictum a contrarietate, quod minime esset δαμόσιον id est publicum. dea quoque ipsa Damia et sacerdios eius damiatrix appelebatur [the sacrifice, which was made in secret to honor the Bona Dea, is called damium with some opposition, and it was the least δαμόσιον, that is, public, as possible. the goddess herself was also called Damia, and her priest a damiatrix] (from this, Placid. Corp. gloss. lat. V 16, 8 [= V 60, 16] Damium sacrificium, quod in operto fit, quod Bonae deae mulieres faciunt [The damium sacrifice, which occured in secret, and which women made for the Bona Dea]. V 16, 38 [= V 60, 17] Damium Bonae deae sacrum [Damium, a sacred thing for the Bona Dea]. <10> Ps.-Philox. Corp. gloss. lat. II 37, 23 Damium θυσίαι ὑπαίθυριοι γινόμεναι, the latter because of a false reading of in aperto; Praef. Anthol. Salmas. p. 243, 2 Baehr. sum voti vobis damium [I am the damium of your will for you] also belongs here, where however it seems that voti damnatus [convicted by/of your will] was intended, cf. G. Goetz Ber. sächs. Gesellsch. d. Wiss. 1896, 70). So, it was the goddess Damia (see its respective article), attested in Troezen, Epidauros, Aigina, and Tarentum, who must have arrived in Rome from Tarentum, <20> and that’s where the festival name Δάμεια is attested, which is the basis for the latin damium (Hesych. Δάμεια ἑορτὴ παρὰ Ταραντίνοις; cf. Zielinski Quaest. comicae 100, 7. Diels Sibyll. Bl. 44f. Anm. Crusius Philol.. XLIX 675, who, in Apul. apol. 13 p. 20, 15 Kr., reads: maius piaculum decernis speculum philosopho, quam numdum Damiae [Cereris mundum daĩ F] profanum videre). <30> We aren’t told when she first turned up; the word form damiatrix prevents it from being too long ago: next, there is the idea that she turned up at the conquest of Tarentum in the year 482 d. St. = 272 BCE. In connection with this, there is the building of a temple of the Bona Dea on the slopes of the Aventine, beneath the so-called saxum (hence aedes Bonae deae subsaxanae in Regionenbuche Reg. XII), which was restored by the empress Livia (Ovid. fast. V 157), and which celebrated its Day of Foundation on 1st May (Ovid. loc. cit. 148ff. Macr. I 12, 21); <40> the year it was founded isn’t handed down to us, and since Ovid. loc. cit. 155f. makes a Vestal Claudia a founder of the shrine, then this is probably a misrepresentation of the account documented in Cicero de domo 136: cum Licinia, virgo Vestalis summo loco nata, sanctissimo sacerdotio paedita, T. Flaminino Q. Metello consulibus (631 = 123) aram et aediculam et pulvinar sub Saxo dedicasset, nonne eam rem ex auctoritate senatus ad hoc collegium Sex. Iulius praetor rettulit? cum P. Scaevola pontifex maximus pro collegio respondit: ‘quod in loco publico Licinia, Gai filia, iniussu populi dedicasset, sacrum non viderier’; <50> however, this story doesn’t definitely refer to the building of the temple, but instead to the (unsuccessful) dedication of an aedicula; furthermore, in Ovid, the Vestal Licinia became a Claudia to recall the tale of the Magna Mater overtaking (Ovid. fast. IV 305ff.). <60> This temple was also closed to men (Fest. p. 278 lists, under the religiosa: in aedem Bonae deae virum introire); the fact that a pharmacy was connected to her temple (Macr. I 12, 26 quidam Medeam putant, quod in aedem eius omne genus herbarum sit, ex quibus antistites dant plerumque medicinas), and hence the goddess being seen as a healing deity, is of a greater importance when considering how the goddess was viewed; <page break 690/691> this can also be explained by the fact that (Macr. loc. cit. 25) there were snakes kept in her temple, as in the Greek Asklepieia (see vol. II p. 1681f.). The Bona Dea was also honoured as a healing deity in other places in the city in private shrines, and one of these chapels, as inscriptions tell us (CIL VI 65-68. 75), <10> was found in Trastevere at Sa. Cecilia (in nr. 66. 67 she is called Bona dea restituta; and for the explanation of the epithet restituta, nr. 68 is important: Felix publicus Asinianus pontific(um) Bonae deae agresti felic … v … votum solvit iunicem alba(m) libens animo ob luminibus restitutis, derelictus a medicis, post menses decem bineficio dominaes medicinis sanatus, per eam restituta omnia ministerio Canniae Fortunatae); the idea (Gilbert Gesch. und Topogr. der Stadt Rom III 445, 1) <20> that the phrase Hist. Aug. Hadr. 19, 11 fecit .. aedem Bonae deae could relate to this shrine is unfounded (smaller private chapels and altars were often mentioned in inscriptions in Rome, eg. CIL VI 56. 62). So, these places of worship for the Bona Dea were clearly also places of healing where women acted as doctors (cf. in the inscription CIL VI 68 the words ministerio Canniae Fortunatae); <30> and accordingly, those seeking advice were overwhelmingly, though not exclusively (dedications from men to the Bona Dea from Rome CIL VI 55. 56. 59. 64. 69. 70. 74. 75. Eph. epigr. IV 724) women; the collegia Bonae deae hence have to be understood as associations of these female doctors who worked at the temples, which are only directly attested under this name for Rome (CIL VI 2239), but it has to be assumed they were everywhere where magistrae or ministrae Bonae deae turn up, <40> as CIL VI 2239 Ve[t]uri[a]e Semne Honora[t]ae o[b] magistratum collegi Bonae deae and CIL XIV 4057 (from Fidenae) ob magisterium B(onae) [d(eae)] show: this applies, except for Rome (mag(istra) CIL VI 2238), for Luceria (magistra CIL IX 805), Capena (magis(trae) CIL XI 3866), Signia (mag(istra) Eph. ep. VIII 624), a Latin place (mag(istra) CIL XIV 3437), further, for Tuder[?] (ministra Notiz. d. scavi 1881, 22), Aquileia (magistrae CIL V 757-759. 762 and ministrae CIL V 762) and Arelate (ministra CIL XII 654); <50> alongside these, the name sacerdotes is also found in Rome (CIL VI 2236f. 2240. Eph. ep. IV 873), but these priestesses are barely different from the magistrae.

From the extant dedicatory inscriptions, whose number is relatively high, it can be concluded that the cult was primarily limited to middle and upper Italy; <60> the most numerous is the evidence from Latium (CIL XIV 2251. 3437. 3530. 4001. 4057; a sacrarium Bonae deae in Bovillae is mentioned by Cic. pro Mil. 86, cf. Ascon. p. 27) and the neighbouring areas (CIL IX 3138. 5421. X 1548f. 4615. 4849. 5998. XI 2996. 3243. 3303. 3866-3870. Not. d. scavi 1881, 22. Eph. ep. VIII 159. 183. 624), and apart from a few scattered sources (CIL I 1426. IX 684. 805. XI 1413. 1735), <page break 691/692> we only meet a more significant cult outside of this area in Aquileia (CIL V 756-762. 847. 8242), which seems to be connected to the Fonio of a local god here (CIL V 757f.); out of the provinces, only Gallia Narbonensis (CIL XII 654. 5830), Pannonia (CIL III 3507. 10394) and the African provinces (CIL VIII 4509. 10765. 11795. Eph. ep. V 1299 = 1479 = VII 486) offer a few inscriptions of their own. <10> However, out of these inscriptions, a certainly not insignificant number have to be removed, because the goddess of the Roman cult is not what they mean, but instead, the term bona dea is merely being used as an epithet to a different deity: hence, on inscriptions we read bonae deae Iunoni CIL III 3507, bonae deae Veneri Cnidiae CIL VI 76, bonae deae sanctissimae Caelesti CIL XIV 3530 (cf. the collegium cultorum bonae deae Caelestis CIL X 4849), <20> also the bonae deae regi[nae] triumphali CIL XI 3243 most likely, following Zangemeister (see Bormann on the inscription), is meant to refer to the bonae deae Isidi (cf. CIL VI 355); on the other hand, the bona dea Hygia CIL VI 72 and the dea [bona V]aletudo sancta Eph. ep. V 1299 should perhaps be interpreted to mean that the Bona Dea is being characterised with a second epithet as a goddess of healing. Outside of Rome, the Bona Dea is certainly a healing deity in Aquileia; <30> since the devotion in CIL V 759 auribus b(onae) d(eae) d(edit) Petrusia Proba magistra follows the structure of CIL III 986 auribus Aesc[u]lapi et Hygiae and XII 654, where, underneath the dedicatory inscription Bonae deae Caiena Priscae lib(erta) Attice ministra, inside an oak wreath with bands, two ears with earrings are engraved, and hence this devotion likely concerns the healing of some kind of earache, and furthermore, because she healed eye problems, the goddess was called lucifera (CIL VI 73) and oclata (CIL VI 75), and ob luminibus restitutis, she even got the name restituta (CIL VI 66. 67, see p.691, 13); <40> and the epithets compos (CIL V I 71) and nutrix (CIL VI 74) can be traced back to this particular service of the goddess. When she’s called Bona dea pagana in CIL V 762, this epithet can be explained by the inscription IX 3138 magistri Laverneis murum caementicium, portam, porticum, templum Bonae deae pagi decreto faciendu[m] curarunt probaruntq[ue], not that anything to do with their view of the deity arises from this: but as much as you could picture that a healing place with a pharmacy was erected at the decision of the pagus, there are still other possibilities. Since a whole host of inscriptions let us know that the term Bona Dea was often used for the very general Tutela loci, as eg. when a Caesaris Aug. vilicus horreorum Galbianorum makes a dedication to the Bona dea Galbilla (CIL VI 30855 = Eph. ep. IV 723a with Mommsen’s note); <60> and Bona dea castrensis (Eph. ep. IV 723. CIL V 760; cf. VI 70 Bona dea castr(i) font(anorum)) should be understood in the same way, and furthermore, the Bona dea arcensis triumphalis (from an arcus triumphalis, Eph. ep. VIII 183), and also the epithets Annianensis (CIL VI 69 = Eph. ep. IV 722) and Sevina (CIL XIV 3437) allow for this interpretation. <page break 692/693> Apart from the relief on the inscription from Cubulteria CIL X 4615 (a rural couple with baskets full of apples), the epithets Cereria (CIL V 761) and agrestis felix (CIL VI 68) suggest a link to life in the countryside; but no further conclusions can be made from this, since the first inscription named here comes from Aquileia, where the goddess was definitely worshipped as a healing deity (see above), and the second refers to the healing of an eye complaint (see above p. 691, 13ff.). <10>

The attributes of the appearance of the goddess grew in much the same way, which is represented on a statuette from Albanum (published by O. Marucchi Bull. arch. com. VII 1879, 227ff. with Taf. 23), confirmed with an inscription (CIL XIV 2251): a fully clothed woman on a throne with a cornucopia on her left arm, while her right hand with her identifying object (a cup ?) is broken off; either way though, this depiction doesn’t entirely agree with the goddess of the Roman secret rites, <20> who has a sceptre in her left hand (Macr. I 12, 23) and has a snake next to her (Plut. Caes. 9; cf. CIL VI 55). A coin depicted by E. Gerhard Abh. Akad. Berlin 1847 Taf. II 10 = Akad. Abhandl. Taf. XLIX 7 (according to this in Daremberg-Saglio Diction. I 726 Fig. 867) from Paestum with a depiction of a fully clothed woman with a cornucopia and the inscription BONA DEA must be ignored here, since, <30> according to a pleasant report from B. Pick, the reproduction on the inscription must have involved some sort of false reading or marking (in the work from Paschalis Magnonius De veris Posidoniae et Paesti originibus, which is the basis, directly or indirectly, of all mentions and reproductions of coins) and it’s much more likely that BONA MENS should be read there (cf. Carelli Num. Ital. vet .tab. CXXXI 34. Garrucci Monete d’Italia tav. CXXII 35. Brit. Mus. Catal. Italy 280, 56). <40>

The Roman secret cult of the Bona Dea was also connected with other foreign and orgiastic worship in the time of the empire: from a Roman epitaph in Greek, we get to know an Aurelius Antonius, who, at the age of seven, was at the same time a priest of the Bona Dea, of the Divine Mother, of Dionysos, and of Ἡγεμών or Iakchos (IGI 1449 ἱερεὺς τῶν [δ]ε θεῶν πάντων, πρῶτον Βοναδίης εἶτα μητρὸς θεῶν καὶ Διονύσου καὶ Ἡγεμόνος, cf. on this Dieterich Philol. LII 9); <50> the link between the Bona Dea and Pantheus in the inscription CIL III 10394 (Bonae deae et Panthaeo Diane Silvanabus) and the epithet bona dea for Caelestis and (Isis) Regina Triumphalis (see above p.692, 20) also belong here. About the idea given by L. Friedländer that Iuvenal differentiated the ritus veteres et publica sacra of the Bona Dea (6, 335f.), that is, the night festivals put on pro populo (9, 117) from the private mysteries (bonae secreta deae 6, 314), <60> in which, according to his description (6, 314-334) very monstrous sexual depravities were on the timetable, cf. A. Gercke Gött. gel. Anz. 1896, 980.

Sources. E. Gerhard Agathodaemon und Bona dea, Abhandl. Akad. Berlin 1847, 461ff. = Akad. Abhandl. II 21ff. M. Motty De Fauno et Fauna sive Bona dea eiusque mysteriis, Diss. Berolini 1840. Dom. de Guidobaldi Damia o Buona Dea ad occasione d’una iscrizione Osca opistografa su di una terracotta Campana nel Museo Nazionale, Napoli 1865 (cf. on this F. Buecheler Rh. Mus. XXXIII 71f. XLIII 562). E. Saglio Dicition. des antiqu. I 725f. R. Peter in Roscher’s Mythol. Lexikon I 789ff. D. Vaglieri in Ruggiero Dizion. epigr. I 1012ff.

[Wissowa.]

This article is referenced by: P. Clodius Pulcher (48), Damia