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Despite assertions to the contrary, there were in fact many religions which included beliefs and practices centered around dying and rising deities. One such god was Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, whose worshipers could be found throughout the Roman sphere of influence.
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This is an analysis of the myth of Romulus and Remus.
The Roman foundation myth of the twins Romulus and Remus’ exposure in the wilderness is in many ways exemplary of the elevation of a local myth into a powerful symbol of imperial legitimacy. My approach to this subject will centre on three main case-studies from the Eastern Mediterranean during the second century BCE, an integral period in Rome’s cultural and military emergence beyond Italia into greater Greek cultural awareness. The first is the manufacture on Chios of a narrative of the Roman twins by an unknown benefactor in order to gain Rome’s favour; the second, the inclusion of the Roman myth as one of nineteen scenes in a temple constructed at Cyzicus by the Attalid rulers of Pergamon in honour of their mother. The third is the nativity myth of the eponymous founder of the city of Miletus, who in one second century BCE account, with many similarities to the Roman myth, is exposed and nursed by a pack of wolves. Throughout this exploration I will endeavour to illustrate the multifaceted nature of the Roman foundational myth and the way in which its different elements could appeal to diverse audiences who reappropriated and reshaped it for their own ends.
Vesta and the Vestal Virgins represented the very core of Roman cultural identity, and Augustus positioned his public image beside them to augment his political legitimacy. Through analysis of material culture, historiography, and poetry that originated during the principate of Augustus, it becomes clear that each of these sources of evidence contributes to the public image projected by the leader whom Ronald Syme considered to be the first Roman emperor. The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Res Gestae Divi Augustae embody the legacy the Emperor wished to establish, and each of these cultural works contain significant references to the Vestal Virgins. The study of history Livy undertook also emphasized the pathetic plight of Rhea Silvia as she was compelled to become a Vestal. Livy and his contemporary Dionysius of Halicarnassus explored the foundation of the Vestal Order and each writer had his own explanation about how Numa founded it. The Roman poets Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Tibullus incorporated Vesta and the Vestals into their work in a way that offers further proof of the way Augustus insinuated himself into the fabric of Roman cultural identity by associating his public image with these honored priestesses.
Complete technical report by Rachel Sabino with contributions from Lorenzo Lazzarini follows the comprehensive curatorial essay by Katharine A. Raff.
Roman society in the pre-urban period, as appears in the foundation legend, in contrast to the Indo-Europeans, was not patriarchal. It differs in terms of the structure of the classical Roman and Greek society which bears the typical pattern of the Indo-European patriarchal family. In the pre-urban social system in Rome, the existence of the classical family group of the father, mother and children did not exist. The only reliable kinship group was that based on the blood relationship with the mother. It could be suggested that matrilineal succession existed in Rome under the kings, but only in one generation, mother – son. The system of succession in Rome in which the king’s daughter’s son had a chance to be a new king was abolished with the last of the kings.
Il saggio analizza la coerenza da un punto di vista logico della saga di Romolo mettendone in luce le singole stratificazioni. In un'apposita appendice è corredato dal commento di alcuni illustri studiosi del settore con le risposte dell'autore.
2012, Ollodagos: Actes de la Société Belge d'Études Celtiques
This paper is an illustrated version of the 2016 paper by the same name.
This dissertation explores the idea of Parallelism within Livy's presentation of the Life of Romulus, focusing on three liminal stages : The death of Remus, the rape of the Sabine women, and the death of Romulus. Focus is placed on a detailed comparitive analysis of the work of Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and of the surviving sources (largely fragmentary) which predate Livy's work. Once this is done, the aspects which only seem to apper in Livys work are analysed along side supplimentray modern scholarship on the chapter topics. The conclusions of this research indicate that one of the possible intentions of Livy in writing the early histroy of Rome was to create parallels to the events of his own time, specifically the Roman civil war. This is argued to have been undertaken with the aim of creating an understaning of how these events occured, what could have been done to prevent them form occuring, and the processes which contributed to the conclusion of the civil war.
2007, The sites of Rome: time, space, memory
This paper suggests that the enigmatic details of the Lupercalia's ritual may have been influenced by a myth brought to Etruria from the Near East with the worship of Astarte. It posits the syncretism of Astarte's religious tradition with the burgeoning career of Juno near the time of Rome's foundation in a celebration marking the arrival of spring.
A thorough survey of the translations of Latin vocabulary in the fragments of Fabius Pictor demonstrates that none of this vocabulary can be definitively attributed to Fabius himself. We cannot distinguish Fabius' language from that of the authors citing him because he so authoritatively established the language of discourse within Roman historiography; it was to remain nearly unchanged for centuries. We may therefore take the range and distribution of the translations within the fragments as representative of Fabius' own usage.
This paper examines Livy's depiction of prominent women as exempla in book 1 of his history. It seems that the ideal public role of these women is to support the efforts of their men to make the Roman state strong and stable—a role which appears to be an elaboration of women's efforts with respect to their families. It is clear, however, that Livy complicates each exemplum and that the women generally fall short in this role, so that the overall picture is one of inherent instability, in which men must be wary of the inf luence of prominent women.
ÖZ Eskiçağlarda birden fazla tanrının varlığına inanıldığı gibi onların yaşamış oldukları doğaüstü olayların ve mitolojik efsanelerin varlığına da inanılmıştır. Bu mitolojik efsaneler, bazen bir bazen de birden fazla antik çağ yazarının eserlerinde yer almıştır. İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı da yapmış olduğu çalışmalarında bu mitolojik efsanelere yer vermiştir. İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı'nın çalışmalarında yer verdiği mitolojik efsaneler Osiris, Cybele-Attis mitosları, Girit Labirenti efsanesi, Perseus efsanesi, Diouskurların doğumu, Roma'nın kuruluş efsanesi, Heracles efsaneleri, Midas efsaneleri ve Gordion düğümü olmuştur. Osiris Mısır toplumunda, Cybele-Attis mitosu ise Anadolu toplumunda, ölümsüzlük ve doğanın canlanması mitosları olarak bilinmektedir. Girit Labirent efsanesi, Minotour'un hapsedildiği labirentten, labirentin mimarı olan Daedalus ve oğlu Ikarus'un kaçışışını anlatır. Perseus efsanesi, terk edilen bir çocuğun olağanüstü hayat hikayesidir. Dioskur'lar Zeus'un bir ölümlü ile ilişkisinden doğan çocuklardır. Roma'nın kuruluş efsanesi, terk edilen ikiz kardeşlerin zor şartlarda hayatta kalması ve kardeşlerden birinin kurduğu kente tek başına hakim olmasıdır. Midas efsanelerinde, Midas'ın açgözlülükle dokunduğu her şeyin altına dönüşmesini dilemesi ve daha sonra bu durumdan kurtulmak istemesidir. Diğer Midas efsanesinde ise Midas'ın büyük kulakları ile ilgilidir. Heracles efsaneleri yarı tanrı olan Heracles'in başardığı olağanüstü işlerdir. Gordion düğümü efsanesi ise Phryg kralı Midas'ın kahinlerinin ortaya attığı bir kehanettir. İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı bu efsanelerden bahsederken efsaneleri ana hatlarıyla ele almıştır. Mısır kültüründeki Osiris mitosu ile Anadolu'da görülen Cybele-Attis mitosları arasında benzerliğin bulunduğunu belirtmiştir. Ayrıca Osiris, Cybele-Attis mitoslarının benzerinin Mezopotamya'da da yer aldığını söylemiştir. Konya Ermenek'te bulunan Meraspolis mağarasını, efsanevi Girit Labirenti ile ilişkilendirmiştir. Konya şehrinin ismi ile Perseus arasında bir bağlantı kurmuştur. Beyşehir'de ve Sidemara lahdinde Dioskurların tasvirlerinin yer aldığını belirtmiştir. Konya'da bulunan bir sikkedeki tasvirlerin Roma'nın kuruluş efsanesi ile ilişkili olduğuna değinmiştir. Akşehir'de Midas Çeşmesi ismi verilen yer hakkında bilgi vermiştir. Benzer şekilde çalışma yerlerinde bulunan bazı arkeolojik eserlerdeki sahneleri mitolojik olayların tasviri olarak yorumlamıştır. Bu makalede, İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı'nın özellikle Konya ve Konya çevresindeki araştırmalarında geçen mitolojik efsaneleri nasıl incelediği konusu ele alınmıştır. ABSTRACT It was believed in ancient times that both there were gods more than one and supernaturel events they experienced. These mythological stories took part in works of an ancient time writers one or more writers. Ibrahim Hakki Konyali gave place to these myhtological stories in his works. These mythological legends in İsmail Hakkı Konyalı's works were Osiris Cybele
2018, American Public University: Department of History - Ancient and Classical
Sargon of Akkad created the first major empire in human history. While his historicity is mostly accepted, little work has been done to better understand the details of Sargon’s life and reign. The particulars of Sargon’s birth are debated as the evidence that has survived seems to be comprised mostly of myth and legend. This thesis shows that an examination of the Sargon Birth Legend and the other Sargonian texts reveals specific literary elements that are frequently repeated in other stories from the ancient world. It also demonstrates that, while Sargon is a historical figure, much of his story has been mythologized by Ancient Near East literary developments. Specifically, this thesis examines the connection between Sargon’s birth legend and the exposed infant motif found in various accounts in ancient literature. An in-depth examination of the similarities between Sargon and Moses’ birth legends will be carried out along with a look at the connection between Sargon and the identity of the biblical Nimrod.
Latin historical writing in late antiquity displays great interest in the history of Italy before Rome. This contrasts with a consistent tendency in classical Roman historiography to distinguish history proper by its focus on events ab urbe condita, after the foundation of the City. Comparison between classical and late antique writings on pre-Roman Italy reveal two more notable features of late antique writing: they work to render the discrepant data of myth internally consistent and place them in chronological order; and they relate those data by formal means that align them with the data of historical inquiry. This effort at mythistory was prompted by the new prestige of sacred narrative, which reached deeper into the past than the foundation of Rome and gave new dignity to the history of non-poliadic peoples. Please be aware that these are uncorrected proofs; for the final text, please refer to the publication.
2018, Miroslava Mirkovic, Opera Minora Selecta I Studia Anthropologica
Acca Larentia: Myth and Model ..................................................................................5 Amita, Soror and Socrus or Cross-Cousin Marriage..................................................21 Anthropology and Epigraphy – the Case of Central Balkan Region..........................27 Der Vater und die Patrizier: qui patrem ciere possent................................................39 Graves, Names and Kinship: Matertera and Amita in Roman Liburnia ....................61 Kinship and Social Structure of Early Roman Society: Substitution in Function – the Father and the Son........................................ 73 Missing Persons in Early Roman History: Kinship and Power ......................87 Names and Kinship in the Central Balkan Region. Study Case Andes, Andia, Andinus............................................................ 103 Patria potestas or Murder in the Family....................................................................111 Son-in-law, Mother’s Brother, and Father in Lycian Inscriptions ........................123 Struggle for Power in Early Rome: to Kill the Twin Brother...................................
The Pyrgi Gold Tablets are one of the most popular Etruscan texts, principally because they include two tablets written in Etruscan and a third tablet written in Punic. Thus, the tablets are the only known Etruscan texts that offer an opportunity for a bi-lingual translation. We know from the Punic translation that the document involves a dedication to Astarte/Ishtar, and thus we would expect a like dedication in the Etruscan texts. The Etruscan texts offer more than a discussion on Astarte or her Etruscan equivalent, Uni. The dedication refers to the month of May and the Heraean Games instituted in Olympia, Greece about the 6th century B.C. Because the Pyrgi event and dedication of a "tower" was in May, there may be a connection to the feast of Bona Dea. The earliest feast (or May Day) was instituted by Rome in the Republican era. This document may thus record the earliest occurrence of the feast of Bona Dea and Heraean Games outside of Olympia, both events being open to women only. The Etruscan language is noteworthy, since it is a dead language (reflecting a period 1100- 200 B.C.) and thus frozen in time. Since it relates to the Latin language and declines very close to Latin, it gives us a window into the development and spread of Indo-European languages. If the Etruscans migrated from Lydia/Phrygia, according to Herodotus, as a result of a drought after the Trojan War (~1180 B.C.) the Pyrgi/Etruscan corpus becomes more even significant, linking an Italic language to Anatolia. The Pyrgi texts are important to proving the corpus of Etruscan texts.
2013, The Journal of Ancient History
2015, Greek Historical Writing, by T. Scanlon, Wiley Blackwell,
Among the historians surveyed in this chapter we can appreciate the rich variety of approaches and topics in play at the height of the Roman power. We note three trends: Rome‐centered narratives, outsider perspectives, and prolific productivity.
2018, Rerum gestarum monumentis et memoriae. Cultural readings in Livy, edited by A. Gillmeister. Akme. Studia historica 18, Warsaw
The Dioscuri—Castor and Pollux—are among the most epiphanic of gods, frequently appearing in battle or to sailors struggling at sea. On Chios, a festival called the Theophania was founded in the third century BC to commemorate an ep-iphany of the twin gods. Indeed, their appearance at the Sicilian battle of the River Sagra c. 540 BC was so well known in Greek—and Roman—culture that it was invoked as a proverbial example of epiphanic manifestation in Cicero's De natura deo-rum (2.1.13); as such, it was the model for several Graeco-Roman battle epiphanies featuring the Dioscuri and their horses, from Postumius' victory at Lake Regillus in 496 BC to Constantine's at the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. The numerous battle ep-iphanies of antiquity have been gathered and assessed by previous scholars (Pfister 1924 and Pritchett 1979). This article posits a new approach to the material, arguing that, because of their fame and ubiquity, epiphanies of the Dioscuri provided a model through which to explore both the validity and visual authority of divine manifestation. The conjuring of divine presence through the physical semeia of the gods is also an important element of the portrayal of the Dioscuri in image form. Representations of these epiphanic gods cover a spectrum of iconicity, ranging from highly anthropomorphized 're-enactments' of their epiphanies (such as the sculptures set up in the Roman forum to commemorate the Lake Regillus victory) to metonymic de-notations of their presence in the form of their polos hats, and sub-iconic depictions of twin stars. This combination of corporeal and cosmic semeia provides a sophisticated commentary upon the cognitive dilemmas raised by epiphany: what kind of bodies do the gods have, how do they reveal these forms to mortals, and how are we to recognize and identify them? As deities defined by dualism—mortals and immortals , gods and heroes, men and stars—the Dioscuri provide a particularly potent model for exploring such issues, for both ancient thinkers and modern scholars of epiphany. This paper explores the epiphanic landscape inhabited by the brother gods Castor and Pollux across a broad range of Greco-Roman cultural artifacts, from theological
2018, Papers of the British School at Rome
The Lupercalia is one of the most important and most controversial of Roman festivals. This paper addresses the issue of its topography, which has received renewed attention in recent years. It is divided into two main sections, the first discussing the hotly debated location of the Lupercal cave, and the second the course of the running Luperci. The former section reviews the literary and archaeological evidence for the location of the cave, discusses its significance as a unique religious site, and calls for further investigation in the area of the southwest Palatine. The second section seeks to challenge the most influential theories on the course of the Luperci by carefully examining the ancient evidence and the terminology it uses. A contextualization of the sources and the topographic elements they describe shows that many modern theories contain serious flaws when it comes to this subject. Most modern interpretations rely on a passage of Augustine which is very problematic because of his biased interpretatio Christiana. The conclusion is that the festival’s typology as a ritual of lustration is key to understanding the course of the Luperci.
The foundation of Rome is surrounded by legends and myths written by both Roman and Greek authors to manufacture narratives which legitimized their contemporary contexts. Livy (1st century BC) and Plutarch (2nd century AD) recorded vignettes of the Rape of the Sabine women. The two accounts contain similarities and differences which reveal the different intentions of the respective authors. Both authors wanted their works to be didactic lessons about how their societies should operate. Two twentieth century works, Stephen Vincent Benét’s short story “The ‘Sobbin’ Women” (1937), which was then adapted into the 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, both used the vignette of the Rape of the Sabine women as a story within a story. The protagonist convinced his six brothers to go into town and steal seven brides for themselves, citing Plutarch’s account as justification. These modern renditions of the ancient accounts reveal the American gender norms and their importance to society. As indigenous peoples in the ancient accounts, the Sabine women fell victim to the forced colonization of the “civilized” Romans. In the twentieth-century variants, however, the Sabine women fell victim to the trickery of “non-civilized” men from the mountains. This paper places Seven Brides for Seven Brothers within its historical context and analyzes the level of historicism that the writers employed in their respective narratives.
Lila Yawn, Inge Lyse Hansen, Laura Foster, Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri, Katherine Rinne, giorgia tamburi, Giulia Carletti, Andrea Foschi
2016, William Kentridge's Triumphs & Laments - A Guidebook App - 2016
FOR THE FORMATTED VERSION WITH KENTRIDGE'S DRAWINGS GO TO: https://eternaltiber.net/triumphs-and-laments-research/ This is a guide to the iconography of William Kentridge’s Triumphs & Laments, the 500-meter-long frieze of colossal figures traced into the black accretions on the Tiber Embankments between Ponte Sisto and Ponte Mazzini in Rome in early Spring 2016: http://www.tevereterno.it/arts/triumphs-and-laments/. The guide was compiled at the request of Kristin Jones, artistic director of the project, and was initially part of a Guidebook cell phone app, which has since been discontinued. Prior to compiling the guide texts, with generous help from dozens of colleagues and students, I had the immense pleasure of serving as Curator of Historical Research for Triumphs & Laments, overseeing the research group at John Cabot University which formulated the chronological database ('timeline') of images from the history of art, cinema, and journalism provided to William Kentridge to inspire his drawings for the frieze. Our research continued and augmented that of Andrea Biagioni and Sara Spizzichino of Tevereterno. Please share these texts with friends, colleagues, and students. Writing the guide was our labor of love for Rome, for William Kentridge and his work, and for the joy of collective creativity that made Triumphs & Laments a reality. NOTE: In the pdf version available online before May 20, 2017, the hyperlinks were inoperative. In the current Word document, they work.