In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the twins in their infancy has been a symbol of the city of Rome and the ancient Romans since at least the 3rd century BC. Although the tale takes place before the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the earliest known written account of the myth is from the late 3rd century BC. Possible historical bases for the story, and interpretations of its local variants, are subjects of ongoing debate.
Overview Romulus and Remus were born in Alba Longa, one of the many ancient Latin cities near the seven hills of Rome. Their mother Rhea Silvia, also known as Ilia, was a Vestal Virgin and the daughter of former king Numitor, who had been displaced by his brother Amulius. In some sources, Rhea Silvia conceived them when the god Mars visited her in a sacred grove dedicated to him.Other sources express doubt as to the divine nature of their parentage. One claims that the boys were fathered by Amulius himself, who raped his niece while wearing his armor to conceal his identity.
Seeing them as a possible threat to his rule, King Amulius ordered them to be killed and they were abandoned on the bank of the river Tiber to die. They were saved by the god Tiberinus, Father of the River, and survived with the care of others at the site of future Rome. In the best-known episode, the twins were suckled by a she-wolf in a cave now known as the Lupercal.For other depictions, see Livy and Dionysius Eventually, they were adopted by Faustulus, a shepherd. They grew up tending flocks, unaware of their true identities. Over time, they became natural leaders and attracted a company of supporters from the community.
When they were young adults, they became involved in a dispute between supporters of Numitor and Amulius. As a result, Remus was taken prisoner and brought to Alba Longa. Both his grandfather and the king suspected his true identity. Romulus, meanwhile, had organized an effort to free his brother and set out with help for the city. During this time, they learned of their past and joined forces with their grandfather to restore him to the throne. Amulius was killed and Numitor was reinstated as king of Alba. The twins set out to build a city of their own.
After arriving back in the area of the seven hills, they disagreed about the hill upon which to build. Romulus preferred the Palatine Hill, above the Lupercal; Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. When they could not resolve the dispute, they agreed to seek the gods' approval through a contest of augury. Remus saw 6 auspicious birds first, but Romulus saw 12 and claimed to have won divine approval. They disputed the result; Remus insulted Romulus's new city and was killed, either by Romulus or by one of his supporters.Dionysius lays out several of the different accounts of his death, along with his murder by Romulus. Romulus then went on to found the city of Rome, its institutions, government, military, and religious traditions. He reigned for many years as its first king.
Primary sources The origins of the different elements in Rome's foundation myth are a subject of ongoing debate. They may have come from the Romans' own Italic origins, or from Hellenic influences that were included later. Definitively identifying those original elements has so far eluded classicists.Tennant, p. 81 Roman historians dated the founding of Rome around 753 BC, but the earliest known written account of the myth is from the late 3rd century BC.Dionysius, vol. 1 p. 72 There is an ongoing debate about how and when the "complete" fable came together.Tennant
Some elements are attested earlier than others, and the storyline and the tone were variously influenced by the circumstances and tastes of the different sources as well as by contemporary Roman politics and concepts of propriety.Wiseman, Remus Whether the twins' myth was an original part of Roman myth or a later development is the subject of an ongoing debate. Sources often contradict one another. They include the histories of Livy, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Tacitus as well as the work of Virgil and Ovid.Dionysius, vol. II p. 76Plutarch, Lives Quintus Fabius Pictor's work became authoritative to the early books of Livy's History of Rome, Dionysius of Halicarnassus's Roman Antiquities, and Plutarch's Life of Romulus.
These three works have been among the most widely read versions of the myth. In all three works, the tales of the lupercal and the fratricide are overshadowed by that of the twins' lineage and connections to Aeneas and the deposing of Amulius. The latter receives the most attention in the accounts. Plutarch dedicates nearly half of his account to the overthrow of their uncle.
Roman Antiquities (Dionysius)
Dionysius cites, among others, the histories of Pictor, Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Cato the Elder, Lucius Cincius Alimentus.
The first book of Dionysius's twenty-volume history of Rome does not mention Remus until chapter 71. After spending another 8 chapters discussing the background of their birth in Alba, he dedicates a total of 9 chapters to the tale (79–87). Most of that is spent discussing the conflict with Amulius.
He goes on to discuss the various accounts of the city's founding by others, and the lineage and parentage of the twins for another 8 chapters until arriving at the tale of their abandonment by the Tiber River. He spends the better part of the chapter 79 discussing the survival in the wild. Then the end of chapters 79 through 84 focuses on the account of their struggle with Amulius. Chapter 84 is an alternate, non-fantastical account of their survival; the augury and fratricide are discussed in chapters 85 to 88.
Ab Urbe Condita (Livy)
Livy discusses the myth in chapters 4, 5, and 6 of his work's first book. p. 7 parentage 4 p. 8 survival. p. 8 the youth. 5 9–10 the struggle with Amulius. 6 p. 11 (the beginning only) the augury and fratricide.
Life of Romulus (Plutarch)
Plutarch relates the legend in chapters 2–10 of the Life of Romulus. He dedicates the most attention, nearly half the entire account, to conflict with Amulius.
Fasti (Ovid) Fasti, the epic Latin poem by Ovid from the early 1st century AD, contains a complete account of the twins' tale. Notably, it relates a tale wherein the ghost of Remus appears to Faustulus and his wife, whom the poet calls "Acca". In the story, Remus appears to them while in bed and expresses his anger at Romulus's worker Celer for killing him on his own and affirms Romulus's fraternal love.
Roman History (Dio) Roman History by Cassius Dio survives in fragments from various commentaries. They contain a more-or-less complete account. In them, he mentions an oracle that had predicted Amulius's death by a son of Numitor as the reason the Alban king expelled the boys. There is also a mention of "another Romulus and Remus" and another Rome having been founded long before on the same site.
Origo Gentis Romanae (unknown) This work contains a variety of versions of the story. In one, there is a reference to a woodpecker bringing the boys food during the time they were abandoned in the wild. In one account of the conflict with Amulius, the capture of Remus is not mentioned. Instead, Romulus, upon being told of his true identity and the crimes suffered by him and his family at the hands of the Alban king, simply decided to avenge them. He took his supporters directly to the city and killed Amulius, afterwards restoring his grandfather to the throne.Origo Gentis Romanae XXI
Fragments and other sources
Annals by Ennius is lost, but fragments remain in later histories. Roman History by Appian, in Book I "Concerning the Kings", is a fragment containing an account of the twins' parentage and origins. The City of God by Saint Augustine claims, in passing, that Remus was alive after the city's founding. Both he and Romulus established the Roman Asylum after the traditional accounts claimed that he had died. Bibliotheca historica by Diodorus Siculus, is a universal history, which survives mostly intact in fragments and has a complete recounting of the twins' origins, their youth in the shepherd community, and the contest of the augury and fratricide. In this version, Remus sees no birds at all and he is later killed by Celer, Romulus's worker. Origines by Cato the Elder, fragments of which survive in the work of later historians, is cited by Dionysius. Roman poet Juvenal calls them geminos Quirinos, an allusion to Quirinus.Leeming, David.From Olympus to Camelot: The World of European Mythology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2003. pp. 64–65.
Lost sources Quintus Fabius Pictor wrote in the 3rd century BC. His History, written in Greek, is the earliest-known history of Rome. He is cited by all three canonical works. Diocles of Peparethus wrote a history of Rome that is cited by Plutarch. Lucius Calpurnius Piso wrote a history cited by Dionysius. Quintus Aelius Tubero wrote a history cited by Dionysius. Marcus Octavius (otherwise unknown) wrote an account cited in the Origo Gentis. Licinius Macer (died 66 BC) wrote an account cited in the Origo Gentis. Vennonius wrote an account cited in the Origo Gentis. Juba II wrote a history cited by Plutarch
Modern scholarship
Modern scholarship approaches the various known stories of Romulus and Remus as cumulative elaborations and later interpretations of Roman origin myth. Particular versions and collations were presented by Roman historians as an authoritative, official history trimmed of contradictions and untidy variants, to justify contemporary developments, genealogies and actions in relation to Roman morality. Other narratives appear to represent popular or folkloric tradition; some of these remain inscrutable in purpose and meaning. Wiseman sums the whole as the mythography of an unusually problematic foundation and early history.Wiseman Remus.. A critical, chronological review of historiography related to Rome's origins.
The three canonical accounts of Livy, Dionysius, and Plutarch provide the broad literary basis for studies of Rome's founding mythography. They have much in common, but each is selective to its purpose. Livy's is a dignified handbook, justifying the purpose and morality of Roman traditions of his own day. Dionysius and Plutarch approach the same subjects as interested outsiders, and include founder-traditions not mentioned by Livy, untraceable to a common source and probably specific to particular regions, social classes or oral traditions.. Modern historiographic perspectives on this source material.. A Roman text of the late Imperial era, Origo gentis Romanae (The origin of the Roman people), is dedicated to the many "more or less bizarre", often contradictory variants of Rome's foundation myth, including versions in which Remus founds a city named Remuria, five miles from Rome, and outlives his brother Romulus.Cornell, pp. 57–8.. Translation and commentaries.
Roman historians and Roman traditions traced most Roman institutions to Romulus. He was credited with founding Rome's armies, its system of rights and laws, its state religion and government, and the system of patronage that underpinned all social, political and military activity.Rodriguez Mayorgas p.93 In reality, such developments would have been spread over a considerable span of time. Some were much older and others much more recent. To most Romans, the evidence for the veracity of the legend and its central characters seemed clear and concrete, an essential part of Rome's sacred topography. One could visit the Lupercal, where the twins were suckled by the she-wolf, or offer worship to the deified Romulus-Quirinus at the "shepherd's hut", or see it acted out on stage, or simply read the Fasti.