Tales of Rivalry in Rome
Histos 9 (2015) LXX–XC REVIEW–DISCUSSION TALES OF RIVALRY IN ROME J. Neel, Legendary Rivals: Collegiality and Ambition in the Tales of Early Rome. Mne- mosyne Supplements. Monographs on Greek and Latin language and literature, 372. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014. Pp. x + 274. Hardcover, €114.00. ISBN 978-90-04-27269-9. omulus, Rome’s founder, had a twin brother, Remus. Since the broth- ers wished to found a city, and since only one of them could do that, R or at least only one of them could give his name to the city, the equality that came with being twins constituted a problem. This was solved by means of a competition, a competition that Romulus won (unambiguously, ambigu- ously, or just by cheating). At some stage afterwards, Remus was killed. This may have happened because Romulus’ victory was not certain, Remus’ men claimed victory for Remus, and a violent altercation ensued, or because Re- mus leapt over his brother’s walls. In some versions, it was Romulus himself who killed his brother, in others, a man called Celer, or, in one late version, an otherwise unknown and somewhat mysterious Fabius. And so on. But, if the city could only be founded by one individual, why should Rome’s founder have had a twin brother in the first place? The story is obvi- ously not historical, so Remus must have been invented for some reason; his existence must have served some purpose. For those who are prepared to draw comparisons with other mythological stories, ones broadly similar in nature, and to base arguments on those comparisons, the discerning of patterns and parallels may offer some explanation, or may simply move the problem into a much larger context where it may, or may not, be solved.
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