Transcript roman-history-1-foundation

Roman History 1:
The Foundation & Regal Period
Virgil & Rome’s Legendary Origins
• Poet Virgil (also spelled Vergil) commissioned by
Augustus to write a great national epic
• why?
– Rome had just seen a century of bloody civil war; Augustus
wanted to glorify himself and reunify the people
– Augustus had been a belligerent in the last civil war; he
needed to reassure the people of his divine right to rule
• Virgil writes the Aeneid, the epic story of Rome’s
legendary foundation
The Trojan War
• according to legend, Aeneas (Trojan hero, son of
Venus) escapes Troy as it burns, destined to found a
great city
• takes his father Anchises, son Ascanius, and
household gods (Penates) with him when he goes
– tries to take his wife Creusa, but she is left behind
Aeneas’ Journey
• wanders all over the Mediterranean in search of this
new homeland (Aeneas as refugee)
Aeneas’ Journey
& Juno’s Hatred
• ends up shipwrecked off the coast of Carthage
– this is the fault of Juno, who sent the storm
– Juno = hostile towards the Trojans & Aeneas’ mission to
found the greatest city there ever would be
– Juno loved Carthage, and knew Rome was destined to
destroy it
– hoped the shipwreck would kill Aeneas & end his
mission…but her plan backfires
Aeneas & Dido
• he is received and welcomed by Dido, queen of
Carthage
– Venus and Juno conspire to make them fall in love
• Aeneas is content to stay with his new lover, but
Jupiter sends Mercury to remind him of his destiny
• Aeneas leaves and Dido goes crazy/commits suicide
– on her funeral pyre, Dido swears that her people and
Aeneas’ will always be enemies (this is important)
• Aeneas leaves because of his piētās
– piētās: devotion to one’s gods, family, and country
• continues to wander the Mediterranean until finally
landing in Latium
Aeneas & Dido
Aeneas in Italy
• Aeneas, his Trojans, and his allies in Italy wage war
against the natives there
• Aeneas prevails, marries Lavinia (daughter of king
Latinus)
• Founds the city Lavinium
• Aeneas’ son Ascanius founds Alba Longa
Another Wicked Uncle
• Aeneas’ son Ascanius founds Alba Longa
• After centuries of rule by the Alban kings, Numitor succeeds
to the throne
• Numitor’s brother Amulius wants the throne
– usurps and exiles his brother
– kills his nephew
– “honors” his niece, Rhea Silvia, by making her a Vestal Virgin
• Mars falls in love with Rhea Silvia and “visits” her one night
– some months later, Rhea Silvia births twin boys: Romulus and
Remus
Exposing the Twins
• Amulius is threatened by the new (potential) male heirs,
so he orders them thrown into the Tiber
Faustulus & the
She-Wolf
• BUT! the Tiber floods and the infants are washed
ashore
– they are discovered and suckled by a she-wolf (lupa) and then raised by a
shepherd named Faustulus and his wife
– Faustulus is suspicious about the twins’ origins after hearing about the
loss of Rhea Silvia’s twins
Romulus & Remus Come of Age;
A Family Reunion
• Romulus and Remus grow up shepherding, hunting, and
stealing from others (and giving the stolen goods to the
less fortunate)
• Romulus is caught and brought before Numitor
• Faustulus tells Romulus and Numitor the story of Rhea
Silvia’s disappearing twins, and they realize 2 + 2 =
Romulus and Remus are Numitor’s grandsons
• they plot to reinstall Numitor as king and succeed
It’s All About Location
• with Numitor back in power, Romulus and Remus decide
they want to found their own city
• they come back to the she-wolf’s cave, on the Palatine Hill,
and decide to found a city there
– land is near the sea, on a river, and ringed by 7 hills =
strategic, protected location
Suspicious Auspices
• both brothers want to found the city and rule it, but
realize only one can
• they decide to take the auspices (favorable sighting of
birds)
• Romulus climbs the Palatine Hill, Remus the Aventine
Suspicious Auspices
• when they descend, Remus says he has seen six birds
• Romulus replies that he has seen twelve
• Romulus gets to found/rule the city
The Roman Curse
• Romulus sets out to build his city, named Rome after
him (rules 753-715 BCE)
– Romulus literally means “little Roman boy”
• Remus comes along and mocks his walls/city
boundaries and jumps over them
• Romulus kills him and allegedly shouts “Death to any
man who would jump over my walls!” (vel sim.)
– story demonstrates Roman preoccupation with civil war
– believed that once Romulus committed fratricide (brother
killing brother is symbolic of civil war), he doomed Rome to
endless cycles of civil war
A Small Problem
• Romulus and his men are getting along just fine, until they realize
there are no women in town!
• Romulus & co. invite the neighboring people, the Sabines, to
attend their games
• while the men were watching the games, the Romans abducted
the women (“The Rape of the Sabine Women”)
The Rape of the
Sabine Women
• Sabine men head home to get reinforcements
• return to Rome and battle briefly, but the women intercede
and state that they are happy now
• Sabines & Romans decide to settle together; Sabine king
Titus Tatius briefly rules with Romulus until he dies
• After Titus Tatius dies, Romulus appoints a council of 100
men (senatōrēs) as his advisers
Romulus’ Demise
• one day, a cloud of smoke envelopes him and when it
disappears, he is gone
• this can be taken one of two ways:
1. he is taken to the heavens by the gods and deified
2. he is murdered by the angry mob of 100 senators
• six more kings rule Rome after Romulus’ death
Romulus’ Legacy & Important Themes
• Romans saw importance of uniting people and
welcoming those who could contribute to its success
– The Rape of the Sabine Women/co-rule with Titus Tatius
– city set up as a place of asylum for refugees by Romulus
• Romans saw their history as rooted in war and violence
– war  Mars (god of war) = father of Romulus
– violence  Romulus kills Remus (fratricide = civil conflict)
The Other Kings of Rome
• Numa Pompilius (715-673):
– religious reform; organizes calendar
• Tullius Hostilius (673-642): waged many wars
• Ancus Marcius (642-617): waged more wars
• Tarquinius Priscus (616-578):
– usurped the throne from Ancus’ sons (he was their tutor)
• Servius Tullius (578-534):
– organizes social classes & political system; extends voting
rights; creates census
The Last King of Rome
• Tarquinius Superbus (534-509):
– tyrant; exiled and murdered those felt threatened by, was
jealous of, or disliked
– son, Sextus Tarquinius is off at war outside of Rome
– the soldiers are talking about how virtuous their wives back
home are
The Rape of Lucretia
• L. Tarquinius Collatinus says his wife, Lucretia, is the most
beautiful and moral of all, so Sextus Tarquinius sneaks
into the city one night and attacks her
– threatens to say he caught her committing adultery with a
slave if she told anyone what he had done
• Lucretia is sick over what has happened to her
– calls her father, husband, and many Romans together and
tells them what the king’s son had done
– kills herself rather than live with such dishonor
– (story shows that good Roman qualities were not limited to
men)
Brutus and the End of the Monarchy
• L. Iunius Brutus is near when Lucretia professes what has
happened to her and commits suicide
• he pulls the dagger from her chest and waves it while
rousing the people to expel Tarquinius Superbus and rid
Rome of tyrants for good
• Tarquinius Superbus is driven from the city, and the
monarchy ends in 509 BCE.
How do we know all of this?
• much of what we know comes from Livy
– wrote under Augustus (like Virgil)
– wrote a 142-book history called Ab Urbe Conditā
• Issues with Livy’s (and others’) accounts of this info.:
– myth and history/fact are almost indistinguishable
– often many conflicting versions of the same story
– no records survive from this time period
So why do we study it?
• it doesn’t matter if any of this actually happened
• what matters is that the Romans conceived of and
constructed their history in this way
• we can learn much from studying what the Romans
believed and trying to discern why they believed it
“But these stories represent Roman history as the
Romans themselves accepted and revered it, and what
people believe to be fact is often as influential as fact
itself.” (Williams, RRA p. ix)