Roman  Myth  as  History  -­‐  Monarchy  to  Republic    

The Roman World

Terminology  •  BCE  -­‐  Before  the  Common  Era  •  CE  -­‐  Common  Era  

Now:  30th  July,  2013  CE  Caesar  murdered:  Ides  (15th)  March,  44  BCE  

ROME’S SEVEN HILLS!"

•  PalaKne  Hill  

•  Roman  Forum    •  River  Tiber  

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/moore/rome/image/map-early-rome

Ethnic  Groups  of  Ancient  Italy  

http://Siwww.orbilat.com/Maps/Latin/

Early Romans trade with • Etruscans • Oscans • Latins • Greeks

Similar image at - http://www.utexas.edu/courses/romanciv/romancivimages3/Italymap.jpg

Origins  of  Rome  

•  MYTH: Rome founded 753 BCE (8th c.)!•  ARCHAEOLOGY: Iron Age settlements -

9th c.BCE"•  hRp://www.utexas.edu/courses/  

Reconstruction of Iron Age huts on Palatine Hill (based on evidence of excavation)

http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=72

‘Capitoline  Wolf’  (Capitoline  Museum,  Rome)  bronze  wolf  ?5th  c.BCE;    

babies  added  15th  c.CE  hRp://schools.nashua.edu/myclass/lavalleev/Art%20History%20Pictures/ch09/9-­‐10.jpg  

Romulus and Remus!•  mythic narrative •  Mars •  Rhea Silvia (Ilia) - Vestal virgin •  Amulius - uncle of Rhea Silvia •  Numitor - father of Rhea Silvia •  twin boys cast adrift on River Tiber

Statue of Mars, Roman god of war, early 4th c., Yorkshire Museum

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/7684918728/lightbox/

Romulus and Remus!•  mythic narrative •  Mars •  Rhea Silvia (Ilia) •  Numitor - father of Rhea Silvia - king •  Amulius - uncle of Rhea Silvia •  twin boys cast adrift on River Tiber

•  come ashore at Lupercal near Palatine •  raised by she-wolf (lupa) •  foster mother Larentia => lupa - another version - Livy 1.4 •  royalty and divinity

Republican  denarius  showing  the  she-­‐wolf  suckling  Romulus  and  Remus  137  BCE  (obverse  shows  goddess  Roma)  

 hRp://www2.cnr.edu/home/araia/state.html  

She-­‐wolf  represents:  maternal  nurturing  

•  hRp://www.angelfire.com/empire/marKana/mars/index_gal.htm  

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s0024.html

She-­‐wolf  represents:  maternal  nurturing  

     and  strength,  ferocity,  power  

•  hRp://www.angelfire.com/empire/marKana/mars/index_gal.htm  

Coin  showing  Romulus,  Remus  and  she-­‐wolf  with  Faustulus,  herdsman  who  adopts  twins  

 hRp://pages.uoregon.edu/klio/im/rr/regal/faustulus.jpg  

•  hRp://www.angelfire.com/empire/marKana/mars/index_gal.htm  

Romulus and Remus!•  mythic narrative •  Mars •  Rhea Silvia (Ilia) •  Numitor - father of Rhea Silvia - king •  Amulius - uncle of Rhea Silvia •  twin boys cast adrift on River Tiber •  come ashore near Palatine (Lupercal) •  raised by she-wolf (lupa) •  royalty and divinity •  adopted by herdsman Faustulus and wife Larentia •  non-elite upbringing

Founding  the  City  

•  Dispute  between  Romulus  and  Remus  •  Remus  murdered    -­‐  fratricide?"  

http://backtothemovieposters.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/romulus-et-remus.html

Founding  the  City  

•  Dispute  between  Romulus  and  Remus  •  Remus  murdered    -­‐  fratricide?"•  Different versions (Livy 1.6; Ovid Fasti 4.721–862)  •  Rome  founded  on  PalaKne  Hill  •  TradiKonal  date  753  BCE  

753:  foundaKon  date  

•  753  =  year  zero  •  Romans  count  years    – ‘from  the  foundaKon  of  the  city’  

•  =  ab  urbe  condita  (the  Ktle  of  Livy’s  history)  •  Livy’s  history:  753-­‐9BCE,  in  142  books  •  Book  1:  beginnings-­‐510BCE  (The  Early  History  of  Rome)  

The  other  founder:  Aeneas  

•  Trojan  royal  •  Survives  destrucKon  of  Troy  by  Greeks  •  Fall  of  Troy  ?1184  BCE  •  Greek  epics  of  Homer  -­‐  Iliad  and  Odyssey  •  Exile,  sails  to  Italy  •  Virgil  Aeneid  -­‐  wriRen  approx.  same  Kme  as  Livy  writes  history  of  Rome:  late  1st  c.BCE  

 

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/lat311moore/LAT311images/LAT311images1/aeneaspompeii.jpg

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/mythmoore/imagefiles20/aeneasfleeingtroy.html

Aeneas’  divine  ancestry  

•  mother  Venus  (=  Aphrodite)  •  father  Ascanius    –  Trojan  royal  family  

•  Julian  family  (including  Julius  Caesar)  claim  descent  from  Aeneas’  son,  Iulus  

•  Venus  =  patron  goddess  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  of  Roman  race  

•  Augustus  –  Caesar’s  heir  -­‐    emperor  at  Kme  of  Livy  and  Virgil  

  http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/2005/11/aeneid_as_inspiration_for_anci.html

Denarius  of  Julius  Caesar  (47-­‐6  BCE),  showing  Aeneas  leaving  Troy  

•  © Marco Prinx www.livius.org

http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/caesar_aeneas_den_rev.jpg

Reconciling  the  myths  of  origin  

•  Aeneas = founder of Roman people, "

at Lavinium (south of Rome) (12th c.)"•  descendants moved inland (east) to" found Alba Longa"

•  400 years later, Romulus founds Rome (753 BCE)"

•  Attempts to ‘fill in’ the intervening time with kings of Alba Longa (Livy 1.3)  

http://people.duke.edu/~jds15/clst-012/images/map.latium.jpg

Roman  IdenKty  

Romanness  from:  •  blood-­‐line  (Aeneas)  -­‐  from  Homeric  epic    •  locaKon  (Romulus)  -­‐  naKve  Italian  story  •  Aeneas  -­‐  Venus  -­‐  love  &  ferKlity  •  Romulus  -­‐  Mars  -­‐  war  

Who  are  the  Romans?  

•  Romulus’  Asylum  on  Capitoline  Hill  •  city  of  exiles  &  outcasts  (including  Aeneas)  •  humble  origins  •  inclusive  society  •  hyper-­‐masculine  

Sabine  Women  •  Sabines  -­‐  neighbours  of  Romans  to  north-­‐east  •  Shortage  of  women  -­‐>‘The  Rape  of  the  Sabine  Women’  

 The Romans carry off the Sabine women; coin issued 88 BCE, by L. Titurius Sabinus

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/lat311moore/LAT311images/LAT311images1/sabinecoin9902250002.jpg

Nicolas Poussin (1594 - 1665) Rape of the Sabine Women. Oil on canvas c. 1635 Metropolitan Museum, New York

http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rape-sabine-women

Sabine  Women  •  Sabines  -­‐  neighbours  of  Romans  to  north-­‐east  •  Shortage  of  women  -­‐>‘The  Rape  of  the  Sabine  Women’  

•  ExplanaKon  of  Roman  and  Sabine  incorporaKon?  (which  may  have  happened  much  later)  

•  Romulus  co-­‐rules  with  Sabine  leader  Titus  TaKus  

  The Romans carry off the Sabine women; coin issued 88 BCE, by L. Titurius Sabinus

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/lat311moore/LAT311images/LAT311images1/sabinecoin9902250002.jpg

Sabine  Women  as  Reconcilers  of  Romans  and  Sabines  

The Intervention of the Sabine Women. 1799 painting by Jacques-Louis David.

http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/intervention-sabine-women

Romulus’  alerlife  •   Romulus  mysteriously  disappears  during  a  storm  •   deificaKon,  but  no  cult  •   assimilated  to  Quirinus  -­‐    probably  minor  god  associated  with  Mars  •   Romans  =  Quirites  •   Casa  Romuli:  ‘Hut  of  Romulus’  maintained  on  PalaKne  Hill    

Romulus’  alerlife  

•  Casa  Romuli:  ‘Hut  of  Romulus’  maintained  on  PalaKne  Hill    

•  first  emperor,  Augustus,  also  builds  house  on  PalaKne    

•   locaKon  of  emperor’s  home  for  centuries  (‘palace’)  

 

The  Roman  Monarchy  

•  Romulus (with Sabine, Tatius)"•  Numa (Sabine)  

Romulus  and  Numa  represent  two  sides  to  ‘Romanness’  

ROMULUS  •  warlike  -­‐  son  of  Mars  

•  violence  -­‐  even  within  family;  Sabine  women  

 •  Roman  -­‐  names  the  city  and  the  people  -­‐  the  ulKmate  insider  

NUMA  •  peaceful  -­‐  closing  of  doors  of  Janus  

•  civic  life  -­‐  introduces  laws  and  religious  observances  

 •  Sabine  -­‐  outsider,  and  educated  by  Greek  (Pythagoras)