Mythology Book

104

sources, the story of the she-wolf

came about because Larentia had

been a lupa, a Latin slang word for

prostitute that also meant wolf.

Rome is founded

The boys grew handsome and

strong. Famous for their feats

of courage and generosity, they

became leaders among the

local farmers and huntsmen.

When Romulus and Remus were

grown men, they learned of their

history—from either Faustulus

or Mars—and launched a revolt.

The usurper Amulius was killed

and King Numitor was restored

to his throne.

The twins then decided to

found a great city of their own.

They declared that, in obedience

to an oracle from Delphi, their city

would be the sanctuary of the god

of asylum, and they gathered

around them a great band of

fugitives, outlaws, and runaway

slaves. When it came to choosing

the exact site of the city, Romulus

preferred the Palatine Hill and

Remus the Aventine Hill. To

determine the site and which of

them would be the city’s first ruler,

they agreed to seek a sign from the

gods by observing birds of omen—

Romulus, in contrast to his brother,

carried a crooked staff known as a

lituus, used by diviners to interpret

future events by studying the flight

of birds. This marked Romulus out

symbolically as more conscientious

than his brother and, therefore,

more deserving of victory. When

Remus saw six vultures, he claimed

the gods favored him. Romulus

then saw 12 vultures—though,

according to Dionysius’s account,

Romulus was trying to dupe Remus

and hadn’t seen any birds at all.

The followers of each brother

pronounced their respective

champion as king. When Romulus

started to plow a furrow to mark the

city’s boundary, an argument arose

that quickly got out of hand. Remus

jeered his brother and mocked him

by jumping over the furrow, at

which point Romulus (or, some say,

his follower Celer) killed him.

Romulus then founded the city of

Rome in 753 bce.

The Sabine women

The tale of Rome’s initial foundation

emphasizes the warlike nature of

Romulus, inherited from his war-

god father, and has a brutal theme

THE FOUNDING OF ROME

that would come to define the

Roman empire’s expansion for

centuries to come. On the Palatine

Hill, as soon as Rome was built,

Romulus placed all his men in

legions to defend against surrounding

peoples such as the Sabines.

The first problem facing the

new city was the lack of women,

for the refugees and outlaws

attracted by Romulus and Remus

were all men. To solve this,

Romulus announced that he had

discovered the altar of the harvest

god Consus beneath the city, and

instituted a festival, the Consualia,

When the signal was given,

they drew their swords,

rushed in with shouts,

and ravished away the

daughters of the Sabines.

Romulus

Plutarch’s Romulus

Among the sacred treasures

guarded by the Vestal Virgins was

a phallus that relates to a curious

alternative story of the birth of

Romulus and Remus.

According to Plutarch, there

was a wicked king of Alba Longa

named Tarchetius, in whose

hearth a phallus appeared. An

oracle prophesied that if a virgin

had relations with this phallus,

she would bear a child of

unparalleled strength and good

fortune. Tarchetius commanded

his daughter to obey the oracle,

but she sent her slave instead.

When Tarchetius discovered

his daughter’s deceit, he

ordered both girls put to death.

However, Vesta, goddess of the

hearth, appeared to the king

in his sleep and warned him

not to kill the girls—so he

imprisoned them instead.

When the slave girl gave

birth to twins, Tarchetius

ordered them to be exposed (left

outside to die); but, as in the

usual story, Romulus and Remus

were suckled and saved by a

she-wolf before being found by

the peasants who raised them.

The Greco-Roman author

Plutarch (45 ce–ca. 120 ce)

composed over 225 works on Greek

and Roman history and culture.

US_102-105_Founding_of_Rome.indd 104 01/12/17 4:22 pm

105

The Forum was the center of

everyday life in ancient Rome. Among

other shrines, it contained the Temple

of Vesta—one of its oldest shrines,

dating back to the 7th century bce.

in the god’s honor. He invited the

Sabines to the festival but, while

the Sabine men watched the

chariot races, Romulus gave a

signal, throwing his cloak over his

shoulders, and with this, his men

took up arms. They seized the

Sabine women, carrying them over

the thresholds of their houses and

claiming them as their wives.

War and reconciliation

Hoodwinked and humiliated, the

Sabine men resolved to wage war

against the Romans. After Romulus

killed the Sabine king, Acron, the

Sabines united under Titus Tatius

and laid siege to Rome. Tarpeia,

the daughter of the commander of

Rome’s citadel, betrayed the city:

in exchange for the Sabine’s gold

armlets, she opened the gates

and let in the foreign army.

During the bloody fight that

followed, Romulus was knocked

down by a stone thrown at his

head. The Romans began to retreat,

rallying only when Romulus rose

and prayed to Jupiter Stator (“the

stayer”) for help. The battle was

halted by the Sabine women, who

ran between the two armies and

begged their Sabine fathers and

Roman husbands not to kill each

other. Peace was made between

the two sides under the joint

leadership of Romulus and Tatius.

Romulus ruled Rome for 40

years, establishing it as a mighty

city. Many stories were told of his

superior strength. In one display

of power, Romulus stood on the

Aventine Hill and hurled his spear

into the earth. It sank so deep that

no man could pull it out. The shaft

was made of hard cornel wood,

and the tree that grew from it

was treated with great reverence.

In the time of Gaius Caesar,

who reigned from 27 bce–14 ce,

the roots of Romulus’s cornel tree

were inadvertently cut by workmen

repairing some nearby steps,

and the tree withered and died.

ANCIENT ROME

The rape of the Sabine women

has been depicted by many artists.

This detail is from a vast fresco by

Luca Cambiaso (ca. 1565) for a salon

at the Villa Imperiale in Genoa, Italy.

The city of Rome grew in power

and prestige, but not without

conflict. When ambassadors from

the city of Laurentum were

murdered by Tatius’s kinsmen,

Tatius was slain in revenge.

A plague afflicted both Rome and

Laurentum, as both sides were

seen to be at fault in not pursuing

justice for their murderers. Taking

advantage of the plague, the people

of Cameria attacked Rome, but

Romulus defeated them, taking

their city and half of its inhabitants.

Ascension

One day, when Romulus was

mustering his troops in the Field of

Mars, a storm arose. The air rang

with peals of thunder, and Romulus

was wrapped in a cloud and carried

up to heaven in the chariot of his

father, Mars, to become a god

himself. Thereafter, Romulus was

worshipped under the name of

Quirinus, the Sabine god of war.

The next king after Romulus, Numa

Pompilius, was a Sabine, showing

that the union of the two peoples

lasted beyond the reigns of

Romulus and Tatius. ■

US_102-105_Founding_of_Rome.indd 105 01/12/17 4:22 pm