ABSTRACT
A more common form of Artemis' wrath involved the sending of a plague to punish a community in which a sub-section of that community had acted badly. Typically these plagues manifest as assaults on the processes of fertility: Crops do not grow, and women have miscarriages. In addition to plague, Artemis is also infamous in myth and cult for her cruelty to individuals. As such, rather than an aspect of Greek Artemis' cult, or a manifestation of the goddess's cruelty, the Patrai holocaust casts into high relief Roman cruelty and the changes that occurred in Greece in the Roman period. The cults of Artemis do often become more brutal over time. But we should note that this is not because Artemis is more Skythian, but more Roman. As goddess of wild animals she is seldom depicted with exotic creatures, like Dionysos' leopard. Nevertheless, when she demands human blood or human life, she suddenly becomes Skythian.
