Transcript Founding of Rome_Romulus and Remus

Rome and You:
The Early Years
The ancient Romans traced
their heritage back to the
great Trojan hero Aeneas,
son of the goddess Venus.
The Trojans fought a war
with the Greeks for ten
years.
Eventually, the Greeks devised
a trick to destroy the city of
Troy.
Aeneas fled the city carrying his
father on his shoulder and leading
his son while his wife Creusa
followed behind.
During the escape from the
city, however, Aeneas lost
his wife Creusa.
Aeneas experienced a series of
wacky adventures on his way to
Italy.
Eventually, Aeneas finally
arrived in Italy.
He settled in Latium and
established the race which
would one day found Rome.
Romulus and Remus:
The True Story
Rome traces its heritage
to a pair of twins:
Romulus and Remus.
According to legend, their
grandfather Numitor ruled
the area.
His brother Amulius,
however, deposed him as
king and ran him out of town.
In order to prevent a rightful
heir to the throne, he forced
Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silva,
to become a Vestal Virgin.
Although she was a Vestal
Virgin (a priestess), she
allegedly had an “encounter”
with Mars, the god of war.
Because their mother, Rhea
Silva, had broken her vow of
chastity, she was executed
after giving birth to the twins.
The two boys were then
left by the river in a basket
where a wolf nursed them.
Eventually, a shepherd found
the two boys and raised
them as his sons.
One day, Romulus and
Remus decided to
make their own city.
While building the wall of
the city, Remus joked that a
fox could jump over Romulus’
section since it was so low.
So Romulus killed Remus
because of that joke.
As a result, the new city
was named Rome (after
Romulus).
Another version states that
Remus saw six vultures in
the sky, signifying that he
should be king.
Romulus said
that he saw
twelve
vultures and
that
meant that
he should be
king.
A fight ensued, and Romulus
killed Remus.
There was a slight problem Rome did not have any people,
so Romulus made the city a
refuge for criminals and
murderers.
One problem - Romulus had
no women in his city, but he
came up with an idea.
There was a neighboring
tribe called the Sabines.
Romulus invited the
Sabines to a cookout with
the Roman men.
But during the cookout,
Romulus and the Roman men
stole all of the Sabine
women.
One man
named
Talassius
wanted a
particular
woman, so the
men yelled
“Talassio”
when they
were taking
the women.
The Romans incorporated
this yell into their wedding
ceremony as a shout of good
luck.
The Sabine men were
unhappy about this and
sought to do something
about this.
As a result, they declared
war against the Romans.
The war took a year to prepare
and during that time, the
Sabine women “married” the
Roman men and had children.
Finally the war was ready
to begin, and the Sabines
prepared to attack Rome.
As the battle began, the
Sabine/Roman women,
rushed out into the middle of
the battlefield.
Holding their newborn babies,
they exclaimed, “If you attack
the Romans, then you will have
to go through us first!”
This battle is our fault! Don’t
make us widows and orphans
on the same day!”
Thanks to the women,
the Sabine men realized
that they were wrong,
and they went back home.
The Romans and Sabines
lived happily ever after
The Death of Romulus
With a new city full of
men and women, Romulus
became king.
One day, Romulus and
friends went onto the top
of a hill.
When suddenly, a cloud
covered the hill.
When the cloud left,
Romulus was gone!!
The Romans believed that
Romulus had been taken to
Mt. Olympus in the cloud
and had become a god.
Many historians believe that
Romulus was actually
murdered on the hill; the story
was fabricated to explain his
disappearance.
Without a king, the people
of Rome panicked.
The Romans fought over who
would be the next king – some
wanted the new king to be of
Sabine blood, while others
wanted a Roman.
The Romans came up with
an idea, but would it work?
To calm the masses, the
Roman senate came up
with an idea.
Instead of having a king, the
senate decided to divide
themselves into ten groups of
ten men.
Each group of 10 men ruled for 50
days, with one man having
complete power for 5 days and
then it was handed to another man
for 5 days.
The senate thought that this
would solve the problem.
The people, however, did not like
this idea, complaining that
instead of one master, they now
had 100.
To calm the people, the
senate chose a Sabine man
named Numa to be the next
king.
Numa was a very well-respected
man who was known for his
justice and piety.
Everyone thought that Numa
would be a great man to
replace Romulus.
But was he?!!