Editing Semele (section)

==In Roman culture==
In [[ancient Rome]], a grove ''([[lucus]])'' near [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], situated between the [[Aventine Hill]] and the mouth of the [[Tiber River]],<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' 6.9897; R. Joy Littlewood, ''A Commentary on Ovid's ''Fasti'', Book 6'' (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 159.</ref> was dedicated to a goddess named '''Stimula'''. [[Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher|W.H. Roscher]] includes the name ''Stimula'' among the ''[[indigitamenta]]'', the [[List of Roman deities|lists of Roman deities]] maintained by priests to assure that the correct divinity was invoked in public rituals.<ref>[[Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher|W.H. Roscher]], ''Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie'' (Leipzig: Teubner, 1890–94), vol. 2, pt. 1, pp. 226–227.</ref> In his poem on the [[Roman calendar]], [[Ovid]] (d. 17 CE) identifies this goddess with Semele:
{|
|<poem>
:"There was a grove: known either as Semele's or Stimula's:
:Inhabited, they say, by Italian [[Maenad]]s.
:[[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]], asking them their nation, learned they were [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]ns,
:And that [[Evander of Pallene|Evander]] was the king of the place.
:Hiding her divinity, Saturn’s daughter cleverly
:Incited the [[Latium|Latian]] [[Bacchae]] with deceiving words:"</poem>
|{{Poem quote|text={{lang|la|"lucus erat, dubium Semelae '''Stimulae'''ne vocetur;
maenadas Ausonias incoluisse ferunt:
quaerit ab his Ino quae gens foret. Arcadas esse
audit et Euandrum sceptra tenere loci;
dissimulata deam Latias Saturnia Bacchas
in'''stimula'''t fictis insidiosa sonis:"}}<ref>Ovid, ''Fasti'', 6.503ff.</ref>}}
|}
[[File:Roman - Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysus - Walters 2331 (2).jpg|thumb|left|440px|Roman sarcophagus (''ca.'' AD 190) depicting the [[Roman triumph|triumphal procession]] of Bacchus as he returns from India, with scenes of his birth in the smaller top panels ''([[Walters Art Museum]], Baltimore, Maryland)'']]
[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] notes that the goddess is named after {{Lang|la|stimulae}}, 'goads, whips,' by means of which a person is driven to excessive actions.<ref>[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], ''[[De Civitate Dei]]'' 4.11.</ref> The goddess's grove was the site of the Dionysian scandal<ref>Described by [[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'' 39.12.</ref> that led to [[Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus|official attempts to suppress the cult]]. The Romans viewed the Bacchanals with suspicion, based on reports of ecstatic behaviors contrary to [[mos maiorum|Roman social norms]] and the secrecy of initiatory rite. In 186 BC, the [[Roman senate]] took severe actions to limit the cult, without banning it. Religious beliefs and myths associated with Dionysus were successfully adapted and remained pervasive in Roman culture, as evidenced for instance by the Dionysian scenes of Roman wall painting<ref>Littlewood, ''A Commentary on Ovid,'' p. xliv. See particularly the paintings of the [[Villa of the Mysteries]].</ref> and on [[sarcophagi]] from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD.

The Greek cult of Dionysus had flourished among the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] in the archaic period, and had been made compatible with [[Etruscan religion|Etruscan religious beliefs]]. One of the main principles of the Dionysian mysteries that spread to [[Latium]] and Rome was the concept of rebirth, to which the complex myths surrounding the god's own birth were central. [[List of Roman birth and childhood deities|Birth and childhood deities]] were important to [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religion]]; Ovid identifies Semele's sister [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]] as the nurturing goddess [[Mater Matuta]]. This goddess had a major cult center at [[Satricum]] that was built 500–490 BC. The female consort who appears with Bacchus in the [[acroteria]]l statues there may be either Semele or Ariadne. The pair were part of the [[Aventine Triad]] in Rome as [[Liber]] and [[Libera (mythology)|Libera]], along with [[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]]. The temple of the triad is located near the Grove of Stimula,<ref>Littlewood, ''A Commentary on Ovid,'' p. xliv.</ref> and the grove and its shrine ''([[sacellum|sacrarium]])'' were located outside Rome's sacred boundary ''([[pomerium]])'', perhaps as the "dark side" of the Aventine Triad.<ref>Michael Lipka, ''Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach'' (Brill, 2009), pp. 18–19.</ref>