Legends of Early Rome Ch 24, pp. 635-58 Romulus and Remus -Aemulius overthrew his older brother Numitor -made Numitor’s daughter Rhea Silvia a vestal (to prevent her producing an heir) -Rhea Silvia was raped by Mars -> birth of Romulus and Remus -Rhea Silvia punished by being imprisoned, Romulus and Remus exposed by a stream -Romulus and Remus rescued by a she-wolf -R&R founded Rome on the site where they had been rescued -“they began to argue, but their quarrel soon turned to violence, and in the fighting Remus was killed. There is a better known story that Remus contemptuously jumped over his brother’s half-built wall. Romulus, furious at the slight, killed him, adding the bitter jest: ‘This is what will happen to anyone else who tries the same!’ Thus Romulus became sole ruler, and his name was given to the city he had founded.” Livy, History of Rome Rape of the Sabine Women as foundation of marriage & society at Rome -You, Romulus, nursed on the she-wolf’s harsh milk, you gave the order for the crime. -Love poets make fun of Romulus' actions as a way of joking about sexual activity at Rome during the time of the emperor Augustus (who was trying to crack down on such behavior by criminalizing adultery) You taught us to rape the Sabine women with no punishment; on account of you Amor dares anything at Rome today’ (Propertius Elegies 2.6.19-22) ‘With Romulus the scandal first began, when ravished Sabines cheered his wifeless clan.’ Ovid, Art of Love 1.101-2 (trans. Melville). Sabine King Titius Tatius and Tarpeia -Sabine King Tatius besieges Rome to claim back the Sabine women -Tarpeia sees him and falls in love with him -Tarpeia will let him into the city if he gives her, ‘what the Sabines wear on their left arms’ -she wanted gold bracelets, but the Sabines piled their shields on her and crushed her -Tarpeian Rock = a place to execute traitors by throwing them down the cliff-side of the Capitoline hill Death and Deification (Apotheosis) of Romulus -murdered and dismembered by senators? -transformed into a god and whisked up to heaven? -Julius Caesar was worshipped as a god after he was assassinated in 44 BCE -Roman emperors were worshipped as gods after their deaths Lucretia and the overthrow of the monarchy “The adulterer shall not go untouched. He is Sextus Tarquin [son of King Tarquin the Proud], who came last night in the guise of a friend, but in fact a bitter enemy, and made a plunder of this delight [= raped me], a plunder deadly to me – and, if you are men, to himself.” One after another the men promised what she asked, meanwhile trying to console her sorrow by shifting the blame from the victim to the guilty man, Crime, they assured her, was a matter of the mind, not the body, and where there was no intent, there could be no offense. But Lucretia only answered, “you must determine his punishment. As for me, even though I acquit myself of guilt, I must still pay the penalty. From now on, no adulteress can live with Lucretia as her model.” She had hidden a dagger in her clothing. At this she plunged it into her heart…" Livy, History of Rome political uses of myth in Rome to explain origins of customs and rituals that viewed as essential to the stability of the state: • legitimacy of political power (ability of men to rule at Rome) • regulation of marriage/adultery (ability of men to transmit property to children) • legitimacy of actions of the state in conducting wars and taking control of territory (ability of men to extend power globally) Example: Forum of Augustus: statues of Aeneas and Romulus create the idea that Augustus is a new (king-ish) founder of Rome; this helps justify and solidify Augustus' new political structure - Rome no longer a republic ruled by elected consuls and a senate, now an empire ruled by one man. Sample questions 1. Which situation best describes the parentage of Romulus and Remus? a. Tarpeia seduced the Sabine King Tatius b. Jove seduced Tarpeia c. Mars raped a vestal virgin d. Apollo seduced the Cumaean Sibyl e. Mercury seduced the nymph Roma 2. Romulus and Remus were exposed at birth because a. they had unusual birthmarks which were thought to signal the hostilty of the gods b. Their mother's uncle did not want any rivals for power c. Their mother was trying to conceal the fact that she had been pregnant d. There was a prophecy that they would overthrow their father e. Apollo wanted to punish their mother for rejecting him 3. Tarpeia betrayed Rome to the Sabines because a. she was angry at how the Sabine women had been treated b. Romulus had raped her c. the Sabine king promised to give her what the Sabines wore on their left arms d. the Sabine king was her grandfather e. Juno replaced the real Tarpeia with a false image of Tarpeia 4. The catalyst for the overthrow of the Roman monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic was a. the establishment of Roman power over the Greek world b. Rome's defeat of Carthage c. the capture of the Sabine women d. the rape of Lucretia and its aftermath e. an uprising of peasants in the areas around Rome 5. "You taught us to rape the Sabine women with no punishment; on account of you Amor [Love] dares anything at Rome today" Who is the 'you' the poet Propertius is addressing? a. Venus b. Roma c. Robigo d. Remus e. Romulus 6. -“they began to argue, but their quarrel soon turned to violence, and in the fighting ______ was killed. There is a better known story that _______ contemptuously jumped over his brother’s half-built wall. _______, furious at the slight, killed him, adding the bitter jest: ‘This is what will happen to anyone else who tries the same!’ " Whose conflict is being described? a. Eteocles and Polynices b. Castor and Pollux c. Amphion and Zethus d. Romulus and Remus e. Hector and Paris 7. You are in ancient Rome, in a large open space surrounded by colonnades facing a temple dedicated to Mars the Avenger. In one colonnade is a statue of Aeneas, in another is a statue of Romulus. You are standing at a. The Capitoline Hill b. The Palatine Hill c. The Campus Martius d. The Golden House e. The Forum of Augustus answers 1. c 2. b 3. c 4. d 5. e 6. d 7. e .