644 THE NATURE OF ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
however, and its processions, celebrated in April, were a colorful and popular
feature of the Roman religious calendar. Lucretius (2. 614-624) and Ovid (Fasti- 181-186) have left vivid descriptions of the Galli with their wild music, and
Catullus (Poem 63) has brilliantly told the myth of Attis (see pp. 178-179).
Other Eastern gods made their way to Rome, especially in the time of the
empire. The Egyptian Isis, the Asiatic Ma, the Syrian Baal, and the Persian
Mithras were widely worshiped (see pp. 365-367).
LEGENDS OF THE FOUNDING OF ROME
AENEAS AND ROMULUS
The origins of Rome traditionally went back to Aeneas, whose son lulus (also
called Ascanius) was ancestor of the gens lulia, the family of Augustus.^6 But Ae-
neas left Troy some 475 years before the traditional date for the founding of
Rome in 753 B.c. The gap between the two dates was filled by a line of kings at
the Latin city of Alba Longa. Aeneas succeeded in establishing a foothold in
Latium but died soon after. lulus then founded Alba Longa, and from there Ro-
mulus came eventually to found Rome itself. The earliest settlement at Rome
may indeed date from the eighth century B.c., and it is also known that early
Rome was an alliance of villages on the different hills by the Tiber, which in
time were unified. As Rome became a city, it was sometimes under the control
of neighboring peoples (the Tarquins, the fifth and seventh kings of Rome, were
Etruscans, and the sixth king, Servius Tullius, may have been Etruscan), but by
the early part of the fifth century, the city was strong enough to assert its inde-
pendence. Then it extended its control over the Etruscan cities and the Sabine
and Latin tribes, whose customs and gods it often absorbed. The legendary con-
nection between Rome and Alba Longa is historically likely. That between Rome
and Troy is more doubtful.AENEAS: THE TRADITION BEFORE VERGIL
In the foundation myth that connects Rome with Troy, the central figure is Ae-
neas, son of Aphrodite and Anchises. In the Iliad he was an important warrior
but inferior to the Trojan champion Hector. When he meets Achilles in single
combat (Iliad 20. 158-352), he is saved from death by Poseidon, who makes this
prophecy (Iliad 20. 300-308):f
Come, let us lead him away from imminent death, lest Zeus be angry if Achilles
kill him. For he is fated to escape, so that the race of Dardanus may not perish
without seed and invisible. For Zeus loved Dardanus most of all his children
whom mortal women bare to him. Already Zeus is angry with the family of
Priam. Now indeed strong Aeneas and his children's children will rule over the
Trojans.