VIRBIUS, an old Italian divinity, associated with the worship of Diana at Aricia (see DIANA). Under Greek influence, he was identified with Hippolytus (q.v.), who after he had been tram pled to death by his own horses was restored to life by Asklepios and removed by Artemis to the grove at Aricia, which horses were not allowed to enter. Virbius was the oldest priest of Diana, and the first Rex Nernorensis, "king of the grove."
See Virgil, Aen., vii. 761 and Servius, 1.c.; Ovid. Fasti, iii. 265, vi. 737; Metam., XV. 497; Suetonius, Caligula, 35; Strabo V. p. 239; G. Wissowa, Religion und Kultus der Romer. (2nd. ed. 1912) ; J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough (3rd ed.) ; A. B. Cook, Zeus (1925).