Despite the importance that the Romans attached to the foundation of their city, it is difficult to determine what the true story was, since no contemporary account survives, and the later ones are heavily weighted with propagandistic purposes. Archaeological evidence can tell us that the site of Rome was inhabited from at least 1000 bc, from which time graves exist. The archaeological evidence also suggests that, starting from around 700 BC, the population increased very rapidly and the first signs of major urban structures in stone began to appear.
The Romans themselves told many (sometimes conflicting) stories about their origins, but over time, several figures came to dominate these accounts. The first of these centered on a man named Aeneas, a Trojan who escaped the destruction of his cify by the Greeks at the end of the Trojan War, which supposedly happened around 1200 bc. He and his companions eventually landed in Italy and founded the city of Lavinium, and his son, lulus, founded fhe city of Alba Longa. lulus, incidentally, was identified as the founder of the Julian family of Rome, from which were descended such famous figures as Julius Caesar. Thus Aeneas became the founder of the Roman people.
The second important foundation story told how the city of Rome itself began and focused on the twins, Romulus and Remus. One of the descendants of lulus became king by usurping the throne from his brother. He then forced his brother's daughter to become a Vestal Virgin to ensure that she would have no children who might seek revenge against him.
Eventually, however, the Vestal Virgin became pregnant, but she claimed that she had been raped by the god of war. Mars. She gave birth to twins, Romulus and Remus. Afraid to kill the babies directly, the king had them put in a basket and thrown into the Tiber River to drown. The basket washed ashore on the riverbank, and the babies were found by a wolf, which nursed them and, together with a helpful woodpecker, looked after them. (The wolf and woodpecker are animals associated with the god Mars.) Ultimately, the boys were found by a shepherd who raised them as his own. They grew up into strong young men who did various noble deeds such as suppressing bandits. Eventually, the shepherd revealed the secret of their birth, and they overthrew the king of Alba Longa.
They then decided to found a new city at the spot where the wolf had rescued them. Almost immediately, they got into an argument over who
Figure 2.1 Bronze statue of the wolf that, according to legend, nurtured Romulus and Remus when they were abandoned as babies.
Should be the king of the new city since they were twins and did not know which one was older. In the end, they could not agree and decided to let the gods choose the king. To do this, each brother went to the top of one of the hills and looked for a sign, Romulus standing on the Palatine hill and Remus on the Capitoline. Remus received the first sign when 6 vultures flew overhead, but shortly afterward, 12 vultures flew over Romulus.
This left the brothers still arguing, each one claiming the gods had picked him~Remus saying he had the first omen and Romulus saying he had the better omen. In the end, they could not settle their differences and, growing angry, Romulus solved the problem by murdering his brother. Thus, the new city would be called Rome after Romulus, and Romulus was its first king. The traditional date for the founding of Rome is recorded as April 21, 753 bc.
Since the earliest version of the Romulus and Remus story dates from 200 BC, it represents later mythologizing and thus, from a historical standpoint, is highly untrustworthy. All these legends, however, contain some important themes, which are revealing in terms of the way the Romans viewed themselves. The focus of the stories is always the city of Rome. The Aeneas legend provides links to Greek civilization and culture and places Rome in a larger context. The Romulus story is an unusual foundation legend because it depicts a rape and a murder as the pivotal events that begin Roman history. It also introduces the theme of powerful men fighting each other to see who will control Rome, an idea that will recur many times throughout Roman history.
World History
