Diana (mythology) of the entire Roman state, the kind of worship that would have been typical at her Aventine temple, with a more personal form of devotion. Images of Diana and her associated myths have been found on sarcophagi of wealthy Romans. They often included scenes depicting sacrifices to the goddess, and on at least one example, the deceased man is shown joining Diana's hunt. Diana was initially a hunting goddess and goddess of the local woodland at Nemi, but as her worship spread, she acquired attributes of other similar goddesses. As she became conflated with Artemis, she became a moon goddess,
Religion in ancient Rome the rural Faunus, supplemented by the Greek goddess Damia. Further Greek influences on cult images and types represented the Roman Penates as forms of the Greek Dioscuri. The military-political adventurers of the Later Republic introduced the Phrygian goddess Ma (identified with Roman Bellona, the Egyptian mystery-goddess Isis and Persian Mithras.) The spread of Greek literature, mythology and philosophy offered Roman poets and antiquarians a model for the interpretation of Rome's festivals and rituals, and the embellishment of its mythology. Ennius translated the work of Graeco-Sicilian Euhemerus, who explained the genesis of the gods as apotheosized mortals. In the last century