Chapter Twenty-Three Lecture One

1. Chapter Twenty-ThreeLecture One Legends of Early Rome

2. Legends of Early Rome • Venus the mother of Aeneas, the ancestor of the Roman people • But Mars also was a progenitor • Through Romulus and Remus • Presided over war, a constant companion of Rome

3. Legends of the Roman Monarchy Romulus and Remus

4. Romulus and Remus • Aeneas founds Lavinium (about 1200 BC) • Iulus, his son, founds Alba Longa • There follows a secession of kings • 450 • Romulus and Remus found Rome (about 750 BC) • Recounted up by the historian Livy (Ab Urbe Condita)

5. Romulus and Remus • King Proca • Sons: Numitor and Amulius • Numitor, the heir, driven into exile by brother • Amulius kills all Numitor’s sons and forces his daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a Vestal virgin

6. Romulus and Remus • Rhea Silva gives birth to twins by Mars, she said • She’s imprisoned and the boys thrown into the Tiber in a basket • Ficus Ruminalis • Romular • The she-wolf • Faustulus

7. Romulus and Remus • Original myth or consciously modeled after Greek myths • Has many Latin words in the story • But like other abandoned heroes and twins in Greek and other earlier myths • Mother imprisoned like Danaë • Conflicts between brothers etc.

8. Romulus and Remus • Twins grow up hunting, as per usual • Remus captured as a bandit and brought to Numitor • The two unite and kill Amulius • The two found different towns • Later they quarrel and Romulus kills Remus • Hence the settlement is called “Rome”

9. Rape of the Sabine Women

10. Rape of the Sabine Women • Women of nearby city of the Sabines kidnapped at a festival at Rome • They are mollified by assurances that they will be treated as respectable wives • Perhaps a reflection of historical reality of exchange of women?

11. Titus Tatius, Tarpeia, the Death of Romulus

12. Titus Tatius, Tarpeia, the Death of Romulus • King of the Sabines, Titus Tatius, attacks Rome • Rome nearly betrayed by Tarpeia • Later, the Tarpeian Rock • The Sabine women stop the final battle • Romulus “disappears” in a storm

13. Becoming a God at Rome

14. Becoming a God at Rome • Apotheosis of Romulus sets pattern for the cult of Roman emperors later • So also do the myths of Hercules and the Dioscuri • E.g., Caesar and Augustus, like other heroes, were descended from a god, Venus • Became “divine” after a vote of the Senate

15. Becoming a God at Rome • Less power than an Olympian • Before he died and was declared divine, his “cult” was to his genius • numen that dwelled in him • Became more common and brazen after Caesar and Augustus • Not all were deified

16. Becoming a God at Rome • The imperial cult provided political stability and unity • Refusal to participate was considered treasonous • Early Christians and some Jews opposed all aspects of it

17. Horatii and the Curatii

18. Horatii and the Curatii • Rome founded in 753 B.C. • Four Romano-Sabine kings • Three Etruscan kings • The combat between the three Horatii (Roman) and the three Curatii (Alba Longa) • The surviving Horatius kills his own sister for grieving the loss of her fiancé Curatius and is acquitted

19. End