Fascelis

A surname of Diana in Italy, which she was believed to have received from the circumstance of Orestes having brought her image from Tauris in a bundle of sticks (fascis1). Fascelis, however, is probably a corruption, for the purpose of making it allude to the story of Orestes bringing her image from Tauris: the original form of the name was probably Facelis or Facelina (from fax), as the goddess was generally represented with a torch in her hand.

❧

References

Notes

  1. Servius on Virgil's Aeneid ii, 116; Solinus, i, 2; Silius Italicus, xiv, 260

Source

  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.