The Foundation of Rome

Question: Discuss about theFoundation of Rome. Answer: Brief Story of Rome Foundation in Livy and Plutarch Romes foundation can be explored by the process of archaeology. Various myths have been established by ancient Romans to explain the origin of their city. For example, one of the most well-known of all the myths is the story of Romulus and Remus the twin brothers who were sucked by she wolf. Livy and Plutarch base their stories of formation of Rome on the stories of the twin brothers. Livy and Plutarch cite different sources as they explain the foundation of Rome. Livy cites traditional Story as his main reference while Plutarch cites Diocles of Perathus and Fabious Pictor as his references. Livys account of the formation of early Rome records the mother of Romulus and Remus was Rhea Silvia, who was the daughter of Numitor, the king Alba Longa (Miles, Gary Livy, 1995). Before the twins were conceived, Amulius, Numitors brother came to power and killed the male heirs of Numitor and Rhea Silvia was sworn to chastity and forced to become a vestal virgin. The twins were conceived by Rhea Silvia through the god of Mars. Once the twins were born, they were left to die in Tiber River as ordered by Amulius. Their salvation came through a series of miraculous intervention. They were carried to safety by the river where they were found by she wolf that suckled them. They were fed by a woodpecker and were later found by the shepherd and his wife who later fostered them to become men. Without knowing their true origin, they were naturally leaders and thus each had a huge number of followers. Upon discovering the truth about the circumstances surrounding their births they terminated Amulius leading to the restoration of Numitor to his throne. They choose to establish new city rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa. .Each one of them wanted to establish a city which made them disagree and made Romulus kill Remus. A new city called Rome was established by Romulus which its name originated from his name. He established its fast senate and legions leading to the fast growth of the city and were full of landless refugees who were mostly males without wives. The abduction of wives was arranged from the neighbouring Sabines which led to a war which ended by joining the Sabines and the Romans. On other side, Plutarch originates Romulus and Remus. These are ancient descendants of Prince Aeneas. Their biological grandfather was Numitor. Numitor inherited the kinship from Alba Lango (Wiseman, 1995). From the review this papers found outs no significant differences between Virgils, Livy and Plutarch accounts. The essential differences in the versions of the myths occur because at one time in history the myth was extremely varied Miles, Gary Livy, 1995. The power of roman literature is the one that makes a myth dominant. There are similarities in these accounts. One similarity is that of civil order of the city or that of law-making. For instance, in Plutarch story of the Romulus, the founding of Oschophoria festival to Dionysius is credited to Theseus as well as such other institution of the Athenian state. In the Aeneid, Augustus is placed between Numa and Romulus. He is also presented as the Roman state founder and not only compared to them but also to Hercules and Camillus which shows him as a virtuous lawmaker. Romulus and was a ruler with the ideal balances of virtue (Bremmer, 1987). Literary Parallels for Elements of the Legend of the Founding of Rome Although the story of Romulus and Remus is the best known, it is not the only one that explains the foundation of Rome. Some legends claim that there was a woman Roma who travelled with Aeneas from Troy together with other survivors after the fall of that city and Rome was named after her. On reaching the Tiber River, the men insisted that they needed to move on, but Roma and other women objected. Roma mobilized the women in burning of the Trojan ships and managed to strand the Trojan survivors in the city that would eventually become Rome. However, the legend of Romulus and Remus remain unique because it was a story of two twin brothers who survived miraculously in severe conditions and later rose to become warriors. The Extent to Which Roman Foundation Legend Shaped by Greek Mythological Motifs The study of Roman myths and religion is affected greatly by the Greek religion during Romes protohistoric in the Italian peninsula and by the later artistic imitation of Greek literacy models by Roman authors. In theological matters, Romans eagerly identified their gods with those of the Greeks. They interpreted stories of the Greek deities under the name of their fellow Romans. Even though Roman mythology seems to lack an extensive structure of definitive narrative as established in the Greek literature of Romulus and Remus. The suckling of the she wolf was gained a lot fame like any Greek mythology despite in the case of Trojan horse. From the above, it reflects out clearly that the Greek mythology has shaped the foundation of Rome. References Bremmer, J.N. (1987). Romulus and Remus Foundation of Rome. London: OxfordPublishers. Miles, Gary B. Livy: Reconstructing Early Rome (Ithaca, 1995), Capt. 4, pp. 137-178. Wiseman, T.P. (1995). A Roman Myth.' Cambridge. Haworth Press.