The origin story of Rome

Origin of Rome

Legend has it that the founders of Rome were twin brothers, Romulus and Remus.

Here's the thing: Aeneas, the descendant of Alba Longa, was king, and the throne passed to Numitore and Amulius, the brothers, Amulius, proposed to divide the inheritance of the kingdom into two parts, one for the kingship and the other for the treasure brought from Troy. Numitol chose the kingship, and Amulius, took the wealth. Amulius, who used his wealth to quickly surpass Numito in power, was eyeing Numito's kingship, and soon easily seized the kingship from Numito and killed Numito's son. Numito had a daughter named Ilya, aka Rhea Silvia, who was lucky enough to escape the disaster. This became a problem for Amulius, who was worried that Ilya's future son would take revenge on him and regain the kingship, so Ilya was asked to be a priest to Vesta Muse who could not marry for life.

But man is not as good as heaven. The unexpected development of things made Amulius' efforts in vain. Sylvia was still pregnant and gave birth to twins. The twins were Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.

Early one morning, Sylvia came out of the house to wash the utensils dedicated to the gods. She came to the river, took the clay pot from her head, sat on the ground to rest, took a deep breath of the fresh air, and combed her hair. She sat there quietly, surrounded by lush willows, and from time to time there was the soft song of birds, and not far away, the regular flow of water. She quickly felt a little sleepy, and the sweet silence made her gently close her tired eyes, and her arms drooped feebly. Mars, the god of war, saw her, was fascinated by her quiet and elegant expression, and his heart was full of joy, so he came over and hugged her.

The sleep flew away, she felt tired, and the future founder of Rome had been conceived in her womb, but she did not know it. She vaguely remembered a strange dream just now that she saw Trojan flames, her wool headband floating down from her head, and suddenly two palm trees grew amazingly from that headband. The two trees were similar in shape, but one of them was taller than the other, and immediately hugged the whole world with its branches, and the canopy reached to the sky. At this time, her uncle Amulius appeared, and he pushed the palm tree with an iron scepter, and she trembled with fear. Mars, the woodpecker and a she-wolf come to protect the palm tree and save the palm tree.

Sylvia tried hard to recall the dream just now. She stood up, held the tree trunk, and begged in her heart: "I hope the dream just now indicates luck." As she said this, she filled the pitcher with water, lifted the pitcher with difficulty, and walked back.

Amulius, after learning that Sylvia was pregnant, ordered Sylvia to be detained. Because Amulius' daughter interceded for Sylvia, Sylvia was spared death and eventually gave birth to twins.

After Sylvia gave birth to a pair of twins, this made Amulius sleepless. He was anxious and angry, afraid that bad luck would really befall him. So he ordered the newborn to be thrown into the Tiber River and drowned. The slave had to carry out the order. The slave looked at the two newborn children, full of sympathy and tears on his face, and took the children to the Tiber River. It was the cold winter season, and the river was flooded by torrential rain, and the square that became the center of Rome and the valley where the Colosseum was built were filled with flooded water, and even boats could be boated there. When the servant who carried out the order got there, the river blocked him, and he couldn't go any further, so he looked at the child and said, "Children, how similar and beautiful you two are, but one of you will always be stronger when you grow up. If it is true from the face that a person's origin can be seen, then one of you obviously hides a god. If you were really born of a god, then that god must come to the rescue in this critical last desperate moment. Your poor mother should have protected you, but she is crying alone and helpless now. She is a poor mother who has lost a child. The two of you were born together, and now you will die together, drowned by the river. "

The slave couldn't bear to say this, but he left the child anyway. The child let out a sigh, as if he understood what she meant. The slave left with tears in her eyes, and the river floated up the wooden basin containing the child, not letting it sink. The wooden basin floated to the shore, and there was a jungle on the shore. At this time, a she-wolf came by, and instead of attacking the two children, she fed them with her own milk.

The historian Levi also gave a brief account of the process of abandoning the baby: The king ordered the baby to be thrown into the Tiber River. At that time, the Tiber River swelled and formed patches of water, making it impossible for people to get close to the usual current. So the maid who carried out the king's order threw the baby in shallow water, and even if it was shallow water, she thought that the baby would also be drowned. The place was uninhabited and impossible to be discovered. The wooden basin containing the baby was pushed into a dry area by shallow water, and a she-wolf heard the baby's cry, and she sought it out and breastfed the baby. Fauus Toulouse, the king's shepherd, found that the she-wolf was feeding the baby, so he took the baby home and raised them with his wife Larentia. Levi said that some people think that because the shepherd's wife is nicknamed the she-wolf, there is a saying that the she-wolf is breastfeeding.

The above is a popular saying about the origin of Romulus, in fact, ancient legends have huge differences on this issue.

Some people believe that Romulus, the son of Aeneas, and the daughter of Textia of Forbas the Trojan, was brought to Italy shortly after his birth with his brother Romus. At that time, the river was flooded, the river was fast, and the other ships sank. Only the boat carrying the brothers docked safely on the gentle bank of the river, and the two children were rescued. From now on, this place is conveniently called "Rome". There is also a saying that Romulus was born to Rome, the daughter of the Trojan woman mentioned above, who became husband and wife with Latinus, who was the son of Termarcos. Others say that Romulus was born to Aeneas and Lavinia's daughter Emilia, conceived by Mars, the god of war. There is also a man named Plumatio who wrote a "History of Italy" in which he recounted such a story. According to Tarktius, the king of Alba, a strange phenomenon occurred in the house, and a maid made a contract with him to give birth to a pair of twins. The king sent someone to drown the two babies, but the man took the baby to the Tiber River and left it there. It was found by a she-wolf and fed the baby, and various birds brought food to the baby. Later, a shepherd found the baby and took the baby home, and the brothers were saved.

There is a fig tree where the brothers were found, and people named it "Ruminalis". There are various opinions on the origin of this name, some believe that it means regurgitation, because when shepherds graze, they often drive their livestock to the shade of the fig tree, where the livestock lie leisurely, regurgitating the food from their stomachs. The Romans believed that the name came from Romina Muse, who raised her twin brother. The ancient Romans worshipped Romina Muse, and built a temple for the Muse there, called the Temple of Romina, surrounded by the fig tree, from which the name came. Romans have always worshipped Lumilia Muse, obviously related to this. The Muse is in charge of the upbringing of infants and young children, and sacrifices to her do not need to be served with wine, just pour milk on the sacrifice.

It is said that when the she-wolf breastfeeds the baby, a woodpecker also flies in to feed the baby, carefully guarding them. Therefore, the woodpecker is especially revered in Rome. The shepherd's wife named Larentia who raised the baby is also revered. She is also paid homage to every April at the priest of the god of war, calling the festival Larentalia. Some researchers believe that the name is of Etruscan origin and is related to Rome and Romulus. Ovid wrote:

There is a tree there, the remnants are still there, and now people,

Call it Romina, Romulus -- figs.

In this way, although the two brothers were sons of the gods, descendants of the royal family, and had noble blood, they grew up among the shepherds. However, it was under these rough living conditions that the two brothers grew up strong and brave. They lived with the shepherds, fed the livestock together, hunted in the mountains and forests together, fought the robbers who plundered passers-by, and distributed the looted things to everyone. In this way, they shared weal and woe with the shepherds. It is this kind of growth experience that made them popular and famous.

Once, the shepherds of Numitol clashed with the shepherds of Amelius, and the shepherds of Numitol robbed part of Amelius' herd. Romulus and Remus were very angry, so they decided to attack the herd of Numitol and robbed some of Numitol's cattle. Later Remus, who met the shepherds of Numitol, was taken captive by the other party and handed over to Numitol for trial. Remus was not afraid to face Numitol. Numitol was conquered by Remus' bravery and fearless bearing, and he admired the young man very much. So he asked Remus about his origin. Remus, without concealing anything, told him bluntly that they were born very secretly. They were abandoned when they were young and fed by she-wolves. The wooden pots they used when they were abandoned were still there. When Numitol heard this, he couldn't help but arouse a secret feeling in his heart, and he wanted to tell his daughter, who was still in captivity, about this situation.

When the shepherd heard that Remus had been captured by the Numitors, he told Romulus about it, explained the origins of the two brothers carefully, and then took the wooden basin to ask for Numitor. Amulius, upon hearing the news, immediately sent someone to inquire about the whereabouts of the twins to Numitor, which just confirmed the true identity of the brothers. The people were mobilized to overthrow the rule of the tyrant Amelius, regain the throne, and take control. Romulus, and Remus, handed over the regained kingship to their grandfather, and they themselves, with the support of the shepherds, went to build another city where they had been found.

There are also several different theories about the exact place where the baby was found. Some believe it was in the southwest of Mount Palatium in Rome, while others believe it was in the place that later became the Roman Forum. The brothers also disagreed on the location of the city. Remus, who advocated building the city on Mount Aventinum, and Romulus, who advocated building the city on the adjacent Mount Palatium in the northwest. The brothers refused to give in to each other, when Romulus, to Remus, said: "There is no need for us to argue about this. Asuka will solve the problem more correctly, let Asuka make the decision for us! "At that time, people believed that Asuka could show divine will.

And so they came to an agreement. Early in the morning, the brothers came to Palatium Hill alone, and the other to Aventinum Hill. Remus, first saw six birds fly by, and then Romulus, also saw birds fly by, but he saw twelve. As a result, a new dispute arose. The former claimed that the order of the birds was found, and the latter claimed that the number of birds was found. There were supporters on both sides, and as a result, there was strife and confusion, and Remus was killed.

Another way of saying it is Romulus, who was identified as the ruler of the city. He called on the people to start building the city, and used ploughs to draw the direction of the walls. Romulus, hoping to be sheltered by the gods, prayed to the gods, and prayed to Eupit, Mars, Vesta, and all the other gods, that what had been started would be smooth sailing, and that East and West would obey it forever! Eupit responded first. He thundered from the air, threw lightning flashes, and the people were very happy when they saw the lightning, and began to lay the foundations for the city, and the walls soon rose above the ground. Muse Chris, also came out to encourage them to work hard. Romulus, prayed to Muse: "I hope no one will cross this wall or the furrows drawn. If anyone who is daring violates it, please put him to death." Remus, not knowing this, laughed at the low and low walls of the city, and said, "How can such walls protect the people?" As he spoke, he stepped over from above. Remus, who was killed immediately, stained the soil with blood. Romulus, after knowing this, held back his grief and said firmly, "No matter who it is, as long as you step over the city wall, you are the enemy and deserve to die!" He ordered the people to bury Remus, and they obeyed. After Remus was buried, people continued to build the city, and Rome was born.

Another theory is that while the brothers were working, twelve eagles flew over Romulus' head as the sun rose, and the manifestation of divine will was clearly in Romulus's favor, so he built the city on Mount Palatium and named the future city "Rome" after Romulus. Such a decision made Remus angry and deliberately mockingly stepped over the newly laid walls. His actions were an insult to Romulus. Romulus, enraged, killed him and decreed: "From now on, no matter who crosses my city walls, they will suffer the same fate as you."

The above is a popular legend about the founding of Rome. In fact, as early as ancient times, there were many different views on the origin of the name "Rome". Plutarch conducted a careful and detailed collection of relevant legends in "The Biography of Romulus" to investigate the origin of this name.

The name is said to have originated from the Perasgoths. They traveled to the ends of the earth and conquered almost all the peoples and tribes of the earth, and finally they decided to settle there, calling their city that way to signify the power of their weapons. The Greek word for Rome means "strength" and "might." Others say that when Troy fell, some Trojans escaped the disaster and set sail adrift to the west coast of Italy, then sailed into the Tiber and stopped. The women were exhausted by this time, and they did not want to continue sailing. Among them was a woman of noble birth named Rome, who proposed that the ship be burned so that the people could no longer continue sailing, and the women did as she suggested. The men were very angry when they found out about this, but they calmed down and settled down on Mount Palatium. The land there was fertile and the neighbors were friendly. Their situation exceeded their expectations and imaginations, and life was getting better and better. This made them respect the woman named Rome so much that they named the city after her to show that the decision made against her was correct.

In addition, there are various theories. Some say the city was built by Romanus, the son of Odysseus and Kirk. Some say it was built by Romus, the son of Aematian, sent from Troy by Diomedes, a Greek general during the Trojan War. Some say it was built by Romesus, a Latin tyrant who was finally driven out by the Etruscans and moved from Etruscans to Tessalia, Greece, Lydia, and then from there to Italy.

After listing these many different legends, Plutarch still believes that the name "Rome" is in honor of Romulus, which is the most plausible claim.

Tradition holds that the city of Rome was built on April 21, which also became the National Day of Rome, and a grand celebration must be held every year. Before that, this day was the Roman Shepherd's Day, called Parrilla.

Romulus, after taking power, first established a city wall in Palatium, where he was raised, and sacrificed the gods according to the traditional Albanian etiquette, but only to Hercules (called Hercules in Greek mythology) according to the Greek custom. It is said that this sacrificial custom to Hercules was founded by Evandre, the leader of the Greek Alcadian immigrants. Romulus inherited this tradition. Romulus, who wrote the code for the newly established city-state, became the link that maintained the city-state. In order to establish the sanctity of the law, and at the same time to demonstrate his authority, he instituted various rituals and customs, the most famous of which was the use of twelve "Liktor" armed with sticks as his retinues. There are various opinions and speculations on the origin of this number of "twelve". One view is that the twelve correspond to the number of birds that heralded kingship to him when the bird was born. Another view is that both the form of retinue itself and the number of retinues of the twelve were received from the neighboring Etruscans. The Etruscans consisted mainly of twelve groups of inhabitants, each of which provided a retinue "Liktor" to the jointly elected king.

The original inhabitants of Rome were mainly composed of local shepherds, who were also Romulus' childhood companions. In order to increase the Roman population, Romulus opened up shelters in the densely forested valleys of Mount Capitolium, allowing the outcasts, poor and refugees of neighboring tribes to have a place to live and even settle down. In this way, the population of this young city increased rapidly. In order to meet the needs of the rapidly increasing urban population and strengthen the management of the city, he further strengthened the construction of the city-state system. He appointed a hundred senators to form a senate to consult them on the affairs of the city-state.

In order to increase the Roman population, he once took advantage of the festivities to kidnap women from neighboring tribes, resulting in wars in which the Romans were victorious.

Romulus was a king who loved to fight. In addition to the above-mentioned wars, he also waged a war against the Fedenites, which was also victorious. The city is located in the northeast of Rome, on the left bank of the Tiber River, between the Tiber River and its tributary on the left bank, the Agno River, which flows from the south of the city and joins the main channel of the Tiber River to the west. The Fidenites were so terrified of their rapidly powerful neighbor, Rome, that they took the initiative to attack Rome, but ended in failure.

The defeat of Fitnay, an Etruscan city, left another Etruscan city, Vie, in a state of panic. The Vies used Fitnay as a bridgehead to attack Latin regions. The Romans are said to have killed 14,000 enemies in a battle with the Vies, half of whom are said to be Romulus, who killed himself. Losses on the battlefield forced the Vies to seek peace by losing part of their land.

Romulus was so brave and good at fighting. The young Roman state quickly became stronger. Under his leadership, all the neighboring city-states were afraid, and the neighboring city-states did not dare to attack Rome easily. Romulus enjoyed a very high prestige among the people, and it is said that people praised Romulus for being kind and just to his people, like a father.

Romulus, who ruled Rome for thirty-seven years, created a glorious and prosperous world. His death was also magical. He was reviewing the Roman army that day, when suddenly the thunder rumbled and lightning struck, and a thick dark cloud covered Romulus. When the thunder and lightning stopped and the dark clouds dissipated, people saw Romulus, his seat was empty, and he was never seen again. Since then, Romulus has never been seen again, and has disappeared forever.

Legend has it that it was his father Mars who came down from the clouds and took him to the sky in a burning chariot in the storm, allowing him to live among the gods. But there is another theory that the king was murdered by the elders around him. Because of this suspicion at the time, people were dissatisfied with the elders. It is said that at this time, a venerable patriarch named Proculus Julius came out to prove that Romulus had mentioned to him that he wanted him to tell the Romans that the gods wanted Rome to become the capital of the world, and hoped that the Romans would develop a military and strengthen Rome so that no nation in the world could compete with it. His statement was trusted by many people and dispelled doubts. The Romans have always been obsessed with Romulus and regarded him as their protector, calling him "Quirinus".

The historical authenticity of these legends may be basically as follows: the earliest inhabitants of Rome were Latins, who lived on the hills of Palatium. The early inhabitants of Rome were mainly shepherds and farmers, which can be confirmed from the religions of ancient Rome. The claim that these people originated from Alba Longa is not very credible, because no religious and immigration relationship has ever been seen between the two cities. Romulus, the son of a god, founded Rome and later became a god, these are nothing but myths and legends. The founding year of the city of Rome is usually 753 BC, according to Varro, and the exact date cannot be verified. The claim that Romulus is regarded as the grandson of Aeneas makes the foundation of Rome even earlier.