Romulus and Remus - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Romulus and Remus are Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder. Their maternal grandfather was Numitor

Numitor

In Roman mythology, King Numitor of Alba Longa, son of Procas, descendant of Aeneas the Trojan, was the father of Rhea Silvia. He was overthrown by his brother, Amulius, and thrown out of his kingdom where he had ruled. Amulius also murdered his sons, in an effort to remove power from his brother...

, rightful king of Alba Longa

Alba Longa

Alba Longa – in Italian sources occasionally written Albalonga – was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of...

, a descendant of the Trojan

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

prince Aeneas

Aeneas

Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...

, and father to Rhea Silvia

Rhea Silvia

Rhea Silvia , and also known as Ilia, was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome...

(also known as Ilia.) Before their conception, Numitor's brother Amulius

Amulius

In Roman mythology, Amulius was the brother of Numitor and son of Procas. He was the hostile uncle of Romulus and Remus' mother.-Myth:His brother, Numitor, was the King of Alba Longa. Amulius overthrew him and took the throne. Amulius forced Rhea Silvia, Numitor's daughter, to become a Vestal...

deposed his brother, killed his sons and forced Rhea to become a Vestal Virgin

Vestal Virgin

In ancient Roman religion, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins , were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome, as embodied by their cultivation of the sacred fire that could not be...

, intending to deprive Numitor of lawful heirs and thus secure his own position; but Rhea conceived Romulus and Remus by either the god Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

or the demi-god Hercules

Hercules

Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...

. When the twins were born, Amulius left them to die but they were saved by a series of miraculous interventions. A she-wolf found them and suckled

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...

them. A shepherd and his wife then fostered

Adoption

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

them and raised them to manhood as shepherds. The twins proved to be natural leaders and acquired many followers. When told their true identities, they killed Amulius, restored Numitor to the throne of Alba Longa and decided to found a new city for themselves.

Romulus wished to build the new city on the Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...

but Remus preferred the Aventine Hill

Aventine Hill

The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.-Location and boundaries:The Aventine hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills...

. They agreed to determine the site through augur

Augur

The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of...

y. Romulus appeared to receive the more favorable signs but each claimed the results in his favor. In the disputes that followed, Remus was killed. Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

has Romulus invent the festival of Lemuria to appease Remus' resentful ghost. Romulus names the new city Rome

Rome

after himself and goes on to create the Roman Legion

Roman legion

A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...

s and the Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

. Rome's population is swelled by incomers, including landless refugees and outlaws; most are men. Romulus arranges the abduction of women from the neighboring Sabine

Sabine

The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...

tribes, which immediately leads to war but eventually results in the combination of Sabines and Romans as one Roman people. Rome rapidly expands to become a dominant force in central Italy, due to divine favour and the inspired administrative, military and political leadership of Romulus. In later life Romulus becomes increasingly autocratic, disappears in mysterious circumstances and is deified as the god Quirinus

Quirinus

In Roman mythology, Quirinus was an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus, as Janus Quirinus. His name is derived from Quiris meaning "spear."-History:...

, the divine persona of the Roman people.

The image of the she-wolf suckling the divinely fathered twins became an iconic representation of the city and its founding legend, making Romulus and Remus preeminent among the feral children of ancient mythography

Feral children in mythology and fiction

Feral children, children who have lived from a young age without human contact, appear in mythological and fictional works, usually as human characters who have been raised by animals...

. The legend as a whole encapsulates Rome's ideas of itself, its origins and moral values; for modern scholarship, it remains one of the most complex and problematic of all foundation myths, particularly in the matter and manner of Remus' death. Ancient historians had no doubt that Romulus gave his name to the city. Most modern historians believe his name a back-formation

Back-formation

In etymology, back-formation is the process of creating a new lexeme, usually by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889...

from the name Rome; the basis for Remus' name and role remain subjects of ancient and modern speculation. The myth was fully developed into something like an "official", chronological version in the Late Republican and early Imperial era. Roman historians dated the city's foundation from 758 to 728 BC. Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

says Romulus was fifty-three at his death; his reckoning gives the twins' birth year as c. 771 BC. Possible historical bases for the broad mythological narrative remain unclear and disputed; very few modern scholars believe in the historicity of Romulus and Remus.

The legend

Modern scholarship approaches the various known stories of Romulus and Remus as cumulative elaborations and later interpretations of Roman foundation-myth

Founding myth

A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as an important national symbol and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic...

. Particular versions and collations were presented by Roman historians as authoritative, an official history trimmed of contradictions and untidy variants to justify contemporary developments, genealogies and actions in relation to Roman morality

Mos maiorum

The mos maiorum is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social norms. It is the core concept of Roman traditionalism, distinguished from but in dynamic complement to written law. The mos maiorum The mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") is the unwritten code from which the...

. Other narratives appear to represent popular or folkloric tradition; some of these remain inscrutable in purpose and meaning. Wiseman sums the whole as the mythography

Mythography

A mythographer, or a mythologist is a compiler of myths. The word derives from the Greek "μυθογραφία" , "writing of fables", from "μῦθος" , "speech, word, fact, story, narrative" + "γράφω" , "to write, to inscribe". Mythography is then the rendering of myths in the arts...

of an unusually problematic foundation and early history. Cornell and others describe particular elements of the mythos as "shameful".

The earliest known history of Rome

History of Rome

The history of Rome spans 2,800 years of the existence of a city that grew from a small Italian village in the 9th century BC into the centre of a vast civilisation that dominated the Mediterranean region for centuries. Its political power was eventually replaced by that of peoples of mostly...

is attributed to Diocles of Peparethus

Diocles of Peparethus

Diocles of Peparethus was a historian from the Greek island of Peparethus. His works are lost, but they included histories of Persia and Rome: Quintus Fabius Pictor and Plutarch acknowledge their debts to the latter as a source for their histories of early Rome, its native traditions and ancestral...

, whose work was acknowledged as a reliable source by the patrician senator Quintus Fabius Pictor

Quintus Fabius Pictor

Quintus Fabius Pictor was one of the earliest Roman historians and considered the first of the annalists. A member of the Fabii gens, he was the grandson of Gaius Fabius Pictor, a painter . He was a senator who fought against the Gauls in 225 BC, and against Carthage in the Second Punic War...

. Fabius wrote his own history of Rome around the time of Rome's war with Hannibal

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...

; a particularly fraught backdrop for a contemporary Roman historian and a milestone in its ascendancy as a major power. He wrote in Greek, maybe to propagate Roman identity to potential allies who were familiar with Greek models of founding-myth. His work survives only as a brief library-catalogue summary but it describes Romulus and Remus as founders of Rome and Romulus as its first king.

Fabius' history provided a basis for the early books of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita
Ab Urbe condita (book)
Ab urbe condita libri — often shortened to Ab urbe condita — is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in Latin sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian Titus Livius. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c....

and several Greek-language histories of Rome: these include Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...

's Roman Antiquities, written during the late 1st century BC, and Plutarch

Plutarch

's early 2nd century Life of Romulus. These accounts provide the broad literary basis for studies of Rome's founding mythography. They have much in common, but each is selective to its purpose. Livy's is a dignified handbook, justifying the purpose and morality of Roman traditions for his own times. He uses at least one source shared by Dionysius and Plutarch but the latter are ethnically Greek; they approach the same Roman subjects as interested outsiders, and include founder-traditions untraceable to a common source, and probably specific to particular regions, social classes or oral tradition. A surviving Roman text of the late Imperial era, Origo gentis Romanae
Origo gentis romanae
The Origo Gentis Romanae is a short historiographic literary compilation. It narrates the origins of the Roman people. It starts with Saturn and finishes with Romulus. The work was earlier associated with Aurelius Victor, but it is no longer believed to be by his hand....

(The origin of the Roman people) is dedicated to the many "more or less bizarre", often contradictory variants of Rome's foundation myth: in one, Remus is not even killed.

Stories of ancestry and parentage

There are several variations on the basic legendary tale.

Plutarch presents Romulus and Remus' ancient descent from prince Aeneas

Aeneas

, fugitive from Troy

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

after its destruction by the Achaeans

Achaeans

The Achaeans is one of the collective names used for the Greeks in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The other names are the Danaans and Argives . In the historical period, the Achaeans were the inhabitants of the region of Achaea, a region in the north central part of the Peloponnese...

. Their maternal grandfather is his descendant Numitor

Numitor

, who inherits the kingship of Alba Longa

Alba Longa

. Numitor’s brother Amulius

Amulius

inherits its treasury, including the gold brought by Aeneas from Troy. Amulius uses his control of the treasury to dethrone Numitor, but fears that Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia

Rhea Silvia

Rhea Silvia , and also known as Ilia, was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome...

, will bear children who could overthrow him.

Amulius forces Rhea Silvia to perpetual virginity as a Vestal

Vestal Virgin

priestess, but she bears children anyway. In one variation of the story, Mars

Mars (mythology)

, god of war, seduces and impregnates her: in another, Amulius himself seduces her, and in yet another, Hercules.

The king sees his niece's pregnancy and confines her. She gives birth to twin boys of remarkable beauty; her uncle orders her death and theirs. One account holds that he has Rhea buried alive – the standard punishment for Vestal Virgins who violated their vow of celibacy

Celibacy

Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...

– and orders the death of the twins by exposure

Infant exposure

The motif of infant exposure is a recurring theme in mythology, especially among hero births.Some examples include:* Sargon, King of Agade - Exposed to the river.* Moses - Exposed in a vessel made of reeds on the river.* Karna - Exposed to the river....

; both means would avoid his direct blood-guilt. In another, he has Rhea and her twins thrown into the River Tiber.

In every version, a servant is charged with the deed of killing the twins, but cannot bring himself to harm them. He places them in a basket and leaves it on the banks of the Tiber. The river rises in flood and carries the twins downstream, unharmed.

The river deity Tiberinus

Tiberinus (god)

Tiberinus is a figure in Roman mythology. He was added to the 3,000 rivers , as the genius of the river Tiber.According to Virgil's epic Aeneid, he helped Aeneas in his travel from Troy, suggesting to him that he land in Latium and gave him much other precious advice...

makes the basket catch in the roots of a fig tree that grows in the Velabrum

Velabrum

The Velabrum is the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium, and the Capitoline Hill with the western slope of the Palatine Hill. Before the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, which probably follows the course of an ancient stream, the area was a swamp...

swamp at the base of the Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...

. The twins are found and suckled by a she-wolf (Lupa
Lupa
Lupa can refer to:* a female wolf * the wolf in the story of Romulus and Remus, or the Lupa Capitolina , a bronze statue representing the wolf...

) and fed by a woodpecker (Picus). A shepherd of Amulius named Faustulus

Faustulus

In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infants Romulus and Remus, who were being suckled by a she-wolf, known as Lupa, on the Palatine Hill. He, with his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the children. In some versions of the myth, Larentia was a prostitute...

discovers them and takes them to his hut, where he and his wife Acca Larentia

Acca Larentia

Acca Larentia or Acca Larentina was a mythical woman, later goddess, in Roman mythology whose festival, the Larentalia, was celebrated on December 23.-Foster mother:...

raise them as their own children.

In another variant, Hercules

Hercules

Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...

impregnates Acca Larentia

Acca Larentia

Acca Larentia or Acca Larentina was a mythical woman, later goddess, in Roman mythology whose festival, the Larentalia, was celebrated on December 23.-Foster mother:...

and marries her off to the shepherd Faustulus. She has twelve sons; when one of them dies, Romulus takes his place to found the priestly college of Arval brothers Fratres Arvales. Acca Larentia is therefore identified with the Arval goddess Dea Dia

Dea Dia

In Roman mythology, Dea Dia is the goddess of growth. She was sometimes identified with Ceres, and sometimes with the equivalent Greek goddess Demeter....

, who is served by the Arvals. In later Republican religious tradition, a Quirinal priest (flamen

Flamen

In ancient Roman religion, a flamen was a priest assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores , who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores...

) impersonated Romulus (by then deified as Quirinus

Quirinus

) to perform funerary rites for his foster mother (identified as Dia).

Another and probably late tradition has Acca Larentia as a sacred prostitute (one of many Roman slangs for prostitute was lupa (she-wolf).

Yet another tradition relates that Romulus and Remus are nursed by the Wolf-Goddess Lupa or Luperca in her cave-lair (lupercal
Lupercal
The Lupercal is a cave at the foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, between the Temple of Apollo Palatinus and the Basilica of Santa Anastasia. In the legend of Rome's foundation, Romulus and Remus were found there by the lactating female wolf who suckled them until they were found by Faustulus...

). Luperca was given cult for her protection of sheep from wolves and her spouse was the Wolf-and-Shepherd-God Lupercus

Lupercus

Lupercus of Berytus was a Greek grammarian. He wrote On the Word, The Foundation of Arsinoe in Egypt, and more.- References :http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&page_num=1&user_list=LIST&searchstr=Arsinoe&field=any&num_per_page=25&db=REAL...

, who brought fertility to the flocks. She has been identified with Acca Larentia.

The Founding of Rome

In all versions of the founding myth, the twins grew up as shepherds. They came into conflict with the shepherds of Amulius

Amulius

, leading to battles in which Remus was captured and taken to Amulius, under the accusation of being a thief. Their identity was discovered. Romulus raised a band of shepherds to liberate his brother; Amulius was killed and Romulus and Remus were conjointly offered the crown. They refused it while their grandfather lived, and refused to live in the city as his subjects. They restored Numitor

Numitor

as king, paid due honours to their mother Rhea

Rhea

-Animals:* Rhea , a large flightless bird of southern South America* Dendropsophus rhea, a tree frog-In mythology:* Rhea , a Titan in Greek mythology* Rhea Silvia, in Roman mythology the mother of the twins Romulus and Remus...

and left to found their own city, accompanied by a motley band of fugitives, runaway slaves, and any who want a second chance in a new city with new rulers.

The brothers argued over the best site for the new city. Romulus favoured the Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...

; Remus wanted the Aventine Hill

Aventine Hill

. They agreed to select the site by divine augur

Augur

y, took up position on their respective hills and prepared a sacred space; signs were sent to each in the form of vultures, or eagles. Remus saw six; Romulus saw twelve, and claimed superior augury (foresight) as the basis of his right to decide.

Remus made a counterclaim: he saw his six vultures first. Romulus set to work with his supporters, digging a trench (or building a wall, according to Dionysius) around the Palatine to define his city boundary. Remus criticized some parts of the work and obstructed others. At last, Remus leaped across the boundary, as an insult to the city's defenses and their creator. For this, he was killed. The Roman ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...

begins from the founding of the city, and places that date as 21 April 753 BC.

The death of Remus

Livy gives two versions of Remus' death. In the one "more generally received", Remus criticises and belittles the new wall, and in a final insult to the new city and its founder alike, he leaps over it. Romulus kills him, saying "So perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my wall". In the other version, Remus is simply stated as dead; no murder is alleged. Two other, lesser known accounts have Remus killed by a blow to the head with a spade, wielded either by Romulus' commander Fabius (according to St. Jerome's version) or by a man named Celer. Romulus buries Remus with honour and regret.

The city of Romulus

Romulus completes his city and names it Roma
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

after himself. Then he divides his fighting men into regiments of 3000 infantry and 300 cavalry, which he calls "legions". From the rest of the populace he selects 100 of the most noble and wealthy fathers to serve as his council. He calls these men Patricians: they are fathers of Rome, not only because they care for their own legitimate citizen-sons but because they have a fatherly care for Rome and all its people. They are also its elders, and are therefore known as Senators

Roman Senate

. Romulus thereby inaugurates a system of government and social hierarchy based on the patron-client relationship

Patronage in ancient Rome

Patronage was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus and his client . The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client...

.

Rome draws exiles, refugees, the dispossessed, criminals and runaway slaves. The city expands its boundaries to accommodate them; five of the seven hills of Rome

Seven hills of Rome

The Seven Hills of Rome east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the ancient city.The seven hills are:* Aventine Hill * Caelian Hill...

are settled: the Capitoline Hill

Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...

, the Aventine Hill

Aventine Hill

, the Caelian Hill

Caelian Hill

The Caelian Hill is one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. Under reign of Tullus Hostilius, the entire population of Alba Longa was forcibly resettled on the Caelian Hill...

, the Quirinal Hill

Quirinal Hill

The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian Head of State, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian President.- History :It was...

, and the Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...

. As most of these immigrants are men, Rome finds itself with a shortage of marriageable women.

At the suggestion of his grandfather Numitor, Romulus holds a solemn festival in honor of Neptune (according to another tradition the festival was held in honor of the God Consus

Consus

In ancient Roman religion, the god Consus was the protector of grains and storage bins , and as such was represented by a grain seed....

) and invites the neighboring Sabine

Sabine

The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...

s and Latins to attend; they arrive en masse, along with their daughters. The Sabine and Latin women who happen to be virgins – 683 according to Livy – are kidnapped and brought back to Rome where they are forced to marry Roman men.

War with the Sabines

The Sabine and Latin men demand the return of their daughters. The inhabitants of three Latin towns (Caenina, Antemnae

Antemnae

Antemnae , an ancient village of Latium, situated on the west of the Via Salaria, two miles north of Rome, where the Anio falls into the Tiber....

and Crustumerium

Crustumerium

Crustumerium was an ancient town of Latium, on the edge of the Sabine territory, near the headwaters of the Allia, not far from the Tiber....

) take up arms one after the other and are soundly defeated by Romulus. Romulus kills Acron, the king of Caenina, with his own hand and celebrates the first Roman triumph shortly after. Romulus is magnanimous in victory – most of the conquered land is divided among Rome's citizens but none of the defeated are enslaved.

The Sabine king Titus Tatius

Titus Tatius

The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the rape of the Sabine women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia. The Sabine women, however, convinced Tatius and the Roman king, Romulus, to reconcile and subsequently...

marches on Rome to assault its Capitoline

Capitoline Hill

citadel. The citadel commander's daughter Tarpeia

Tarpeia

In Roman mythology, Tarpeia was a Roman maiden who betrayed the city of Rome to the Sabines in exchange for what she thought would be a reward of jewellery...

opens the gates for them, in return for "what they wear on their left arms". She expects their golden bracelets. Once inside, the Sabines crush her to death under a pile of their shields.

The Sabines leave the citadel to meet the Romans in open battle in the space later known as the comitium

Comitium

The Comitium in Rome is the location of the original founding of the city. The area is marked by a number of shrines, temples, altars and churches today from throughout its history. The location was lost due to the cities growth and development over a thousand years, but was excavated at the turn...

. The outcome hangs in the balance; the Romans retreat to the Palatine Hill, where Romulus calls on Jupiter for help – traditionally at the place where a temple to Jupiter Stator

Temple of Jupiter Stator (8th century BC)

The Temple of Jupiter Stator was a temple of ancient Rome, located in the area of the Roman Forum.-History:The temple was first founded by Romulus after a battle in the Forum area between Romulus and the Sabines. During that battle the Romans were forced to retreat up hill on the Via Sacra...

("the stayer") was built. The Romans drive the Sabines back to the point where the Curia Hostilia later stands.

The Sabine women themselves now intervene to beg for unity between Sabines and Romans. A truce is made, then peace. The Romans base themselves on the Palatine and the Sabines on the Quirinal

Quirinal Hill

, with Romulus and Tatius as joint kings and the Comitium as the common centre of government and culture. 100 Sabine elders and clan leaders join the Patrician Senate. The Sabines adopt the Roman calendar, and the Romans adopt the armour and oblong shield of the Sabines. The legions are doubled in size.

Organization and growth

Romulus and Tatius rule jointly for five years and subdue the Alban colony of the Camerini. Then Tatius shelters some allies who have illegally plundered the Lavinians, and murders ambassadors sent to seek justice. Romulus and the Senate decide that Tatius should go to Lavinium to offer sacrifice and appeased his offence. At Lavinium, Tatius is assassinated and Romulus became sole king.

As king, Romulus holds authority over Rome's armies and judiciary. He organises Rome's administration according to tribe; one of Latins

Latins

"Latins" refers to different groups of people and the meaning of the word changes for where and when it is used.The original Latins were an Italian tribe inhabiting central and south-central Italy. Through conquest by their most populous city-state, Rome, the original Latins culturally "Romanized"...

(Ramnes), one of Sabines (Titites), and one of Luceres. Each elects a tribune to represented their civil, religious, and military interests. The tribunes are magistrates of their tribes, perform sacrifices on their behalf, and command their tribal levies in times of war.

Romulus divides each tribe into ten curia
Curia
A curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs...

e to form the Comitia Curiata
Curiate Assembly
The Curiate Assembly was the principal assembly during the first two decades of the Roman Republic. During these first decades, the People of Rome were organized into thirty units called "Curia"...

. The thirty curiae derive their individual names from thirty of the kidnapped Sabine women.

The individual curiae are further divided into ten gentes

Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...

, held to form the basis for the nomen

Roman naming conventions

By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...

in the Roman naming convention. Proposals made by Romulus or the Senate are offered to the Curiate assembly for ratification; the ten gentes within each curia cast a vote. Votes are carried by whichever gens has a majority.

Romulus forms a personal guard called the Celeres
Celeres
The Celeres were a personal armed guard of 300-500 men maintained by Romulus, the mythical founder of ancient Rome. The Celeres were associated with Celer, the lieutenant of Romulus responsible for Remus' slaying in some stories. Livy mentions that they served in peacetime and in war, unlike the...

; these are three hundred of Rome's finest horsemen. They are commanded by a tribune of the Ramnes; in one version of the founding tale, Celer killed Remus and helped Romulus found the city of Rome. The provision of a personal guard for Romulus helps justify the Augustan development of a Praetorian Guard

Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...

, responsible for internal security and the personal safety of the Emperor. The relationship between Romulus and his Tribune resembles the later relation between the Roman Dictator

Roman dictator

In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...

and his Magister Equitum

Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...

. Celer, as the Celerum Tribune

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

, occupies the second place in the state, and in Romulus' absence has the rights of convoking the Comitia and commanding the armies.

For more than two decades, Romulus wages wars and expands Rome's territory. He subdues Fidenae

Fidenae

Fidenae, or Fidenes, home of the Fidenates, was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the Via Salaria, which ran between it and the Tiber. As the Tiber was the border between Etruria and Latium, the left-bank settlement of Fidenae represented an extension of Etruscan...

, which has seized Roman provisions during a famine, and founds a Roman colony there. Then he subdues the Crustumini, who have murdered Roman colonists in their territory. The Etruscans

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

of Veii

Veii

Veii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...

protest the presence of a Roman garrison at Fidenae, and demand the return of the town to its citizens. When Romulus refuses, they confront him in battle and are defeated. They agree to a hundred year truce and surrender fifty noble hostages: Romulus celebrates his third and last triumph.

When Romulus' grandfather Numitor

Numitor

dies, the people of Alba Longa

Alba Longa

offer him the crown as rightful heir. Romulus adapts the government of the city to a Roman model. Henceforth, the citizens hold annual elections and choose one of their own as Roman governor.

In Rome, Romulus begins to show signs of autocratic rule. The Senate becomes less influential in administration and lawmaking; Romulus rules by edict

Edict

An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...

. He divides his conquered territories among his soldiers without Patrician consent. Senatorial resentment grows to hatred.

The death of Romulus

According to the legend, Romulus mysteriously disappeared in a storm or whirlwind, during or shortly after offering public sacrifice at or near the Quirinal Hill. A "foul suspicion" arises that the Senate
Livy repeats more or less the same story, but shifts the initiative for deification to the people of Rome:
Livy infers Romulus' murder as no more than a dim, doubtful and whisper from the past; in the circumstances, Proculus' declaration is wise and practical because it has the desired effect. Cicero's seeming familiarity with the story of Romulus' murder and divinity must have been shared by his target audience and readership. Dio's version, though fragmentary, is unequivocal; Romulus is surrounded by hostile, resentful senators and "rent limb from limb" in the senate-house itself. An eclipse and sudden storm, "the same sort of phenomenon that had attended his birth", conceal the deed from the soldiers and the people, who are anxiously seeking their king. Proculus fakes a personal vision of Romulus' spontaneous ascent to heaven as Quirinus and announces the message of Romulus-Quirinus; a new king must be chosen at once. A dispute arises: should this king be Sabine or Roman? The debate goes on for a year. During this time, the most distinguished senators rule for five days at a times as interreges
Interrex
The Interrex was literally a ruler "between kings" during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent....

.

Romulus-Quirinus

Ennius

Quintus Ennius was a writer during the period of the Roman Republic, and is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was of Calabrian descent...

(fl. 180s BC) refers to Romulus as a divinity without reference to Quirinus, whom Roman mythographers identified as an originally Sabine war-deity, and thus to be identified with Roman Mars

Mars (mythology)

. Lucilius

Lucilius

Lucilius is the nomen of the gens Lucilia of ancient Rome.*Gaius Lucilius, satirist 2nd century BC. Lucilius was credited by Horace and others with originating the genre of satire.*Lucilius Junior, friend and correspondent of the younger Seneca....

lists Quirinus and Romulus as separate deities, and Varro

Varro

Varro was a Roman cognomen carried by:*Marcus Terentius Varro, sometimes known as Varro Reatinus, the scholar*Publius Terentius Varro or Varro Atacinus, the poet*Gaius Terentius Varro, the consul defeated at the battle of Cannae...

accords them different temples. Images of Quirinus showed him as a bearded warrior wielding a spear as a god of war, the embodiment of Roman strength and a deified likeness of the city of Rome. He had a Flamen Maior

Flamen

called the Flamen Quirinalis

Flamen Quirinalis

In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Quirinalis was the flamen devoted to the cult of god Quirinus. He was one of the three flamines majores, third in order of importance after the Flamen Dialis and the Flamen Martialis....

, who oversaw his worship and rituals in the ordainment of Roman religion attributed to Romulus' royal successor, Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. What tales are descended to us about him come from Valerius Antias, an author from the early part of the 1st century BC known through limited mentions of later authors , Dionysius of Halicarnassus circa 60BC-...

. There is however no evidence for the conflated Romulus-Quirinus before the first century BC.

Ovid

Ovid

in Book 14, lines 812-828, of the Metamorphoses gives a description of the deification of Romulus and his wife Hersilia

Hersilia

In Roman mythology, Hersilia was the wife of Romulus, the founder and first King of Rome. She is described as such in both Livy and Plutarch; but in Dionysius, Macrobius, and another tradition recorded by Plutarch, she was instead the wife of Hostus Hostilius, a Roman champion at the time of Romulus...

, who are given the new names of Quirinus and Hora respectively. Mars, the father of Romulus, is given permission by Jupiter

Jupiter (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....

to bring his son up to Olympus to live with the Olympians

Olympians

Olympians may refer to any of the following:*The Olympians of Ancient Greek mythology*Those who have competed in the Olympic Games*Citizens of the ancient Greek city-state of Olympia*Citizens of Olympia, Washington*The Olympians of Marvel Comics...

. Ovid uses the words of Ennius as a direct quote and puts them into the mouth of the King of the Gods, "There shall be one whom you shall raise to the blue vault of heaven". Ovid then uses a simile to describe the change that Romulus undertakes as he ascends to live with the Olympians, "as leaden balls from a broad sling melt in mid sky: Finer his features now and worthier of heaven’s high-raised couch, his lineaments those of Quirinus in his robe of state”.

Iconography

Ancient pictures of the Roman twins usually follow certain symbolic

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

traditions, depending on the legend they follow: they either show a shepherd, the she-wolf, the twins under a fig tree, and one or two birds (Livy

Livy

Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

, Plutarch

Plutarch

); or they depict two shepherds, the she-wolf, the twins in a cave, seldom a fig tree, and never any birds (Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

).

Also there are coins with Lupa and the tiny twins placed beneath her.

The Franks Casket

Franks Casket

The Franks Casket is a small Anglo-Saxon whalebone chest from the seventh century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes...

, an Anglo-Saxon hoard-box (early seventh century) shows Romulus and Remus in an unusual setting, two wolves instead of one, a grove instead of one tree or a cave, four kneeling warriors instead of one or two gesticulating shepherds. As the runic

Runic alphabet

The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...

inscription ("far from home") indicates, the twins are cited here as the Dioscuri, helpers at voyages such as Castor and Polydeuces

Castor and Pollux

In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...

. Their descent from the Roman god of war predestines them as helpers on the way to war. The carver transferred them into the Germanic holy grove and has Woden

Woden

Woden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....

’s second wolf join them. Thus the picture served — along with five other ones — to influence "wyrd

Wyrd

Wyrd is a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to fate or personal destiny. The word is ancestral to Modern English weird, which retains its original meaning only dialectally....

", the fortune and fate of a warrior king.

Alleged dates

Plutarch says that Romulus was 54 ("in the fifty-fourth year of his age") at his death (Plutarch says that he vanished) in 717 BC. If true, then Romulus and Remus would have been born in the year 771 BC, and have begun the founding of Rome at the age of 18.

In popular culture

Romolo e Remo
Romolo e Remo
Romolo e Remo is a 1961 film directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Steve Reeves, Gordon Scott, and Virna Lisi.Tagline: "The Legendary Conflict of Mankind's Mightiest Mortals!"-Summary:...

: a 1961 film starring Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves
Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...

and Gordon Scott
Gordon Scott
Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960.-Early life, education and military service:He was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland,...

as the two brothers.
The Rape of the Sabine Women
The Rape of the Sabine Women (1962 film)
The Rape of the Sabine Women is a 1962 historical drama film adaptation of the Roman foundation myth about the abduction of Sabine women by the Romans shortly after the foundation of the city of Rome .The film was written and directed by Alberto Gout.-Cast:*Lorena Velázquez as "Hersilia"*Tere...

: a 1962 film starring Wolf Ruvinskis as Romulus.
In the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

universe, Romulus and Remus are neighbouring planets with Remus being tidally locked to the star. Romulus is the capital of the Romulan Star Empire
Romulan
The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...

, which is loosely based on the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

.
Remus Lupin, a werewolf in the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

series, and in Harry's 3rd Year is a Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts
Hogwarts
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or simply Hogwarts is the primary setting for the first six books of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, with each book lasting the equivalent of one school year. It is a fictional boarding school of magic for witches and wizards between the ages of...

, and is a member of the Order of the Phoenix
Order of the Phoenix
The Order of the Phoenix is a fictional secret organisation in the Harry Potter series of books written by J. K. Rowling. Founded by Albus Dumbledore to fight Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, the Order lends its name to the fifth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of...

, is named after one of the brothers. As a nod to the myth, during the forbidden radio broadcast Potterwatch, he codenames himself "Romulus".
Metal Band Ex Deo's hit single Romulus featured on their album. The band is recognized as an Epic Metal band with lyrics about Ancient Rome and mythology.
Romolo is the mascot of Football club AS Roma, he is a grey wolf, clearly named after Romulus.
Romulus and Remus are the names of the two protagonists in Undead Knights
Undead Knights
Undead Knights is a PlayStation Portable exclusive game developed by Tecmo, based on a medieval setting where the player is basically a zombie-creating overlord...

. Romulus is portrayed as a demonic knight and his brother is portrayed as a wisecracking, foul mouthed swordsman. Both brothers are shown to have died during a slaughter ordered by King Gradis and return as a demonic necromancers.
Romulus and Remus are the names of the main characters of the 1989 film, Brotherhood of the Rose.
The novel Founding Fathers by Alfred Duggan
Alfred Duggan
Alfred Duggan was an English historian, archeologist and best-selling historical novelist during the 1950s. Although he was raised in England, Duggan was born Alfred Leo Duggan in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family of wealthy landowners of Irish descent. His family moved to England when he was...

describes the founding and first decades of Rome from the points of view of one of Romulus's Latin followers, a Sabine who settles in Rome as part of the peace agreement with Tatius, an Etruscan fugitive who is accepted into the tribe of Luceres after his own city is destroyed, and a Greek seeking purification from blood-guilt who comes to the city in the last years of Romulus' reign. The first three of these become senators. Romulus is portrayed as a gifted leader though a remarkably unpleasant person, chiefly distinguished by his luck; the story of his surreptitious murder by the senators is adopted, but although the story of his deification is fabricated, his murderers themselves think he may indeed have become a god. The novel begins with the founding of the city and the killing of Remus, and ends with the accession of Numa Pompilius.
In the 2010 Game Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, a group described by Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...

as a band of false pagans are the Followers of Romulus or Secta Luporium (Sect of wolves). They have an alliance with the The Borgia and drive people into the arms of the Church by terrifying the citizens of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

External links

Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

(Lives of Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Camillus)
Romulus and Remus (Romwalus and Reumwalus) and two wolves on the Franks Casket: Franks Casket, Helpers on the way to war
Romulous and Remus on the Ara Pacis Augustae

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

The legend

Stories of ancestry and parentage

The Founding of Rome

The death of Remus

The city of Romulus

War with the Sabines

Organization and growth

The death of Romulus

Romulus-Quirinus

Iconography

Alleged dates

In popular culture

See also

External links