This illustration, by the Italian artist Felice Giani (c. 1758–1823), draws inspiration from myths and legends about the relationship between a figure called Egeria and King Numa Pompilius of Rome (traditionally said to have ruled c. 716-674 BCE). Egeria, according to ancient Roman beliefs, was a water goddess associated with childbirth and prophecy. She was part of a larger group of spring water goddesses, known as the Camenae, who operated a bit like Italian versions of the Greek Muses. Additionally, the goddess had some kind of connection to Diana (or Artemis to the Greeks), but the ramifications of this association remain unclear. As for King Numa, he was elected as the second king of Rome after the city’s mythical founder and first king, Romulus, obscurely disappeared, died, or transcended to the heavens. In contrast to Romulus’ violent and war-torn reign, Numa was said to have been a more peaceful ruler who specialized in religion, law, and the general pursuit of wisdom.
On the king’s character, the Roman historian Livy (59 BCE-17 CE) wrote, “Numa Pompilius had a great reputation at this time for justice and piety. He lived in the Sabine town of Cures, and was, by the standards of antiquity, deeply learned in all the laws of God and man….Numa’s noble qualities were all his own; it was not foreign learning that made him what he was, but the harsh, austere discipline of the ancient Sabines, most incorruptible of men” (The History of Rome, 1.18). According to Roman myth and tradition, Egeria, the goddess mentioned above, became King Numa’s counselor and consort, further amplifying and refining Numa’s own natural wisdom. Such stories of there being a relationship between Numa and Egeria were recorded, albeit dismissively, by the historian Livy, who wrote, “he pretended, therefore, that he was in the habit of meeting the goddess Egeria by night, and that it was her authority which guided him in the establishment of such rites as were most acceptable to the gods and in the appointment of priests to serve each particular duty” (The History of Rome, 1.19). Additionally, Livy wrote of a sacred spring-side grove and grotto, where Numa and Egeria spent most of their time together. He wrote: “There was a certain little copse watered summer and winter by a stream of which the spring was in a dark grotto. Numa often visited the copse alone, to meet (as he put it) the goddess Egeria; he accordingly declared it sacred to the Muses, as the spot where they met to converse with his wife” (Livy, The History of Rome, 1.21).
Felice Giani’s drawing brings to life the relationship between Egeria and King Numa. It shows the powerful couple, likely at their favorite copse and grotto, in the midst of one of their frequent meetings. Tablet in hand, the two seem to be discussing and planning King Numa’s many innovations in Rome.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The History of Rome by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, edited by Simon Price and Emily Kearns. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- The Beginnings of Rome by T. J. Cornell. New York: Routledge, 1995.
- https://topostext.org/work/142
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Liv.%201.18&lang=original
- https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18123597/
