T. P. Wiseman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199239764
- eISBN:
- 9780191716836
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239764.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romulus divided up the territory of Rome equally among the citizens. He makes that point at the start of a lengthy digression on Romulus' constitutional ...
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According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romulus divided up the territory of Rome equally among the citizens. He makes that point at the start of a lengthy digression on Romulus' constitutional arrangements, inserted into the narrative between the foundation and the rape of the Sabines. The digression clearly comes from a non-narrative source, and since Dionysius at one point refers to Varro's Antiquitates, this chapter compares the particular measures he attributes to Romulus with what is known of Varro's views on each item, and concludes that the entire digression is likely to have been taken from the Antiquitates. It may be significant that Varro's own family was enrolled in the Quirina tribus, whose original members had been allotted strictly equal seven-iugera farms in the Sabine country conquered by Manius Curius in the 3rd century BC.Less
According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romulus divided up the territory of Rome equally among the citizens. He makes that point at the start of a lengthy digression on Romulus' constitutional arrangements, inserted into the narrative between the foundation and the rape of the Sabines. The digression clearly comes from a non-narrative source, and since Dionysius at one point refers to Varro's Antiquitates, this chapter compares the particular measures he attributes to Romulus with what is known of Varro's views on each item, and concludes that the entire digression is likely to have been taken from the Antiquitates. It may be significant that Varro's own family was enrolled in the Quirina tribus, whose original members had been allotted strictly equal seven-iugera farms in the Sabine country conquered by Manius Curius in the 3rd century BC.
Liv Mariah Yarrow
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199277544
- eISBN:
- 9780191708022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277544.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter investigates the characterization of Rome particularly with reference to her domestic affairs. It also looks at the presentation of Rome's actions outside Italy and progresses from ...
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This chapter investigates the characterization of Rome particularly with reference to her domestic affairs. It also looks at the presentation of Rome's actions outside Italy and progresses from instances in which Rome treats the peoples and lands as separate sovereign bodies to those instances where Rome is the primary authority within the region in question. Of course, the distinction between these two sorts of case allows for much interpretation and many intermediary steps. Again, it is important to recall that the discussion is not concerned with ‘reality’ per se, but the authorial representations and evaluations of Roman actions.Less
This chapter investigates the characterization of Rome particularly with reference to her domestic affairs. It also looks at the presentation of Rome's actions outside Italy and progresses from instances in which Rome treats the peoples and lands as separate sovereign bodies to those instances where Rome is the primary authority within the region in question. Of course, the distinction between these two sorts of case allows for much interpretation and many intermediary steps. Again, it is important to recall that the discussion is not concerned with ‘reality’ per se, but the authorial representations and evaluations of Roman actions.
Jill Mann
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199217687
- eISBN:
- 9780191712371
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217687.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, European Literature
This chapter provides a theoretical basis for the discussion of individual works in subsequent chapters. Taking examples from the Latin prose rendition of Phaedran fables known as the Romulus ...
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This chapter provides a theoretical basis for the discussion of individual works in subsequent chapters. Taking examples from the Latin prose rendition of Phaedran fables known as the Romulus vulgaris, it analyses ‘how animals mean’ in beast fable, emphasizing the deliberate brevity and sparseness of fable narrative, and connecting these features with the mistrust of words that fable characteristically teaches. In contrast, in beast epic (represented here by the Ysengrimus), words proliferate, and the simple moral conclusion in which the action of beast fable culminates is dissolved in a sea of animal moralizing whose effect is comic rather than didactic. Beast fable and beat epic also differ in their relation to historical reality: whereas fable is a‐historical in itself but can be used as a whole to comment on a historical situation, epic can incorporate topical satire into its narrative.Less
This chapter provides a theoretical basis for the discussion of individual works in subsequent chapters. Taking examples from the Latin prose rendition of Phaedran fables known as the Romulus vulgaris, it analyses ‘how animals mean’ in beast fable, emphasizing the deliberate brevity and sparseness of fable narrative, and connecting these features with the mistrust of words that fable characteristically teaches. In contrast, in beast epic (represented here by the Ysengrimus), words proliferate, and the simple moral conclusion in which the action of beast fable culminates is dissolved in a sea of animal moralizing whose effect is comic rather than didactic. Beast fable and beat epic also differ in their relation to historical reality: whereas fable is a‐historical in itself but can be used as a whole to comment on a historical situation, epic can incorporate topical satire into its narrative.
Mario Labate
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199277773
- eISBN:
- 9780191708138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277773.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues that the first digression of the poem involving Romulus and the Sabine women, which draws attention to the absence of ars in the process of selecting a mate, acts as an effective ...
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This chapter argues that the first digression of the poem involving Romulus and the Sabine women, which draws attention to the absence of ars in the process of selecting a mate, acts as an effective anti-exemplum to make more prominent the positive teaching of the Ars as a whole.Less
This chapter argues that the first digression of the poem involving Romulus and the Sabine women, which draws attention to the absence of ars in the process of selecting a mate, acts as an effective anti-exemplum to make more prominent the positive teaching of the Ars as a whole.
Irene Salvo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199652143
- eISBN:
- 9780191745935
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199652143.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE, Archaeology: Classical
An honorary decree from Chios, dated after Apamea (189/8 bce), offers interesting evidence for the interaction between Rome and the Greek East at the beginning of the second century bce. This chapter ...
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An honorary decree from Chios, dated after Apamea (189/8 bce), offers interesting evidence for the interaction between Rome and the Greek East at the beginning of the second century bce. This chapter contributes to the understanding of this document in two ways: by proposing a new restoration in a crucial point of the text; and by returning to a much-discussed question: what is the nature of the object dedicated to the goddess Rome, in which there is a reference to the story of the birth of Romulus and Remus and the origins of Rome? On l. 25, a new possible restoration can be διήγησις, ‘narration, description, oral or written tale’, to indicate what was the content of the votive offering dedicated to the goddess Rome. If we were to visualize this dedication, we could think of a votive relief representing Romulus and Remus, combined with a text summing up briefly what preceded, and what happened after, the represented scene.Less
An honorary decree from Chios, dated after Apamea (189/8 bce), offers interesting evidence for the interaction between Rome and the Greek East at the beginning of the second century bce. This chapter contributes to the understanding of this document in two ways: by proposing a new restoration in a crucial point of the text; and by returning to a much-discussed question: what is the nature of the object dedicated to the goddess Rome, in which there is a reference to the story of the birth of Romulus and Remus and the origins of Rome? On l. 25, a new possible restoration can be διήγησις, ‘narration, description, oral or written tale’, to indicate what was the content of the votive offering dedicated to the goddess Rome. If we were to visualize this dedication, we could think of a votive relief representing Romulus and Remus, combined with a text summing up briefly what preceded, and what happened after, the represented scene.
Ausgusto Fraschetti
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748621200
- eISBN:
- 9780748651030
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748621200.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This book describes the legends surrounding the origins, foundation, and early history of Rome; the significance the Romans attached to the legends of their origins; and the uses to which they put ...
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This book describes the legends surrounding the origins, foundation, and early history of Rome; the significance the Romans attached to the legends of their origins; and the uses to which they put them. Between 1000 BC and 650 BC a cluster of small, isolated groups of thatched huts on the Roman hills became an extensive and complex city, its monumental buildings and large public spaces evidence of power and wealth. Two competing foundation legends accounted for this shift, one featuring the Trojan fugitive Aeneas and the other the wolf-reared Romulus and Remus. Both played a significant role in Roman thought and identity, preoccupying generations of Roman historians and providing an important theme in Roman poetry. In the last two centuries, the foundation era of Rome has been the subject of extensive investigations by archaeologists. These have revealed much that was previously a mystery and have allowed the piecing together of a coherent account of the early history of the city. The book considers this evidence and the degree to which it supports or undermines the legends, Roman documentary accounts, and the work of modern scholars. It reveals what now seems the most probable history of Rome's origins and rise to regional pre-eminence.Less
This book describes the legends surrounding the origins, foundation, and early history of Rome; the significance the Romans attached to the legends of their origins; and the uses to which they put them. Between 1000 BC and 650 BC a cluster of small, isolated groups of thatched huts on the Roman hills became an extensive and complex city, its monumental buildings and large public spaces evidence of power and wealth. Two competing foundation legends accounted for this shift, one featuring the Trojan fugitive Aeneas and the other the wolf-reared Romulus and Remus. Both played a significant role in Roman thought and identity, preoccupying generations of Roman historians and providing an important theme in Roman poetry. In the last two centuries, the foundation era of Rome has been the subject of extensive investigations by archaeologists. These have revealed much that was previously a mystery and have allowed the piecing together of a coherent account of the early history of the city. The book considers this evidence and the degree to which it supports or undermines the legends, Roman documentary accounts, and the work of modern scholars. It reveals what now seems the most probable history of Rome's origins and rise to regional pre-eminence.
Augusto Fraschetti
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748621200
- eISBN:
- 9780748651030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748621200.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The sole common component in the legends about the birth of the twins Romulus and Remus is that they were sons of a Vestal Virgin called Rhea Silvia. It was not difficult to show that this story of ...
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The sole common component in the legends about the birth of the twins Romulus and Remus is that they were sons of a Vestal Virgin called Rhea Silvia. It was not difficult to show that this story of the conception of Romulus and Remus by a slave girl and a male organ which had miraculously materialised in the hearth of King Tarchetius of Alba was modelled on a legend concerning the birth of the good king Servius Tullius, the sixth successor of Romulus, conceived according to legend in very similar manner in the house of the king Tarquinius Priscus. However, when Amulius learnt that the girl was pregnant, he put her under strict supervision, and when the twins were born, had her locked up in a dark dungeon and ordered some of his shepherds to throw the twins into the Tiber to drown.Less
The sole common component in the legends about the birth of the twins Romulus and Remus is that they were sons of a Vestal Virgin called Rhea Silvia. It was not difficult to show that this story of the conception of Romulus and Remus by a slave girl and a male organ which had miraculously materialised in the hearth of King Tarchetius of Alba was modelled on a legend concerning the birth of the good king Servius Tullius, the sixth successor of Romulus, conceived according to legend in very similar manner in the house of the king Tarquinius Priscus. However, when Amulius learnt that the girl was pregnant, he put her under strict supervision, and when the twins were born, had her locked up in a dark dungeon and ordered some of his shepherds to throw the twins into the Tiber to drown.
Augusto Fraschetti
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748621200
- eISBN:
- 9780748651030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748621200.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter pays more attention to certain highly typical features related to the auspices and the death of Remus. With regard to the auspices, it notes those of the twins' attributes that might be ...
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This chapter pays more attention to certain highly typical features related to the auspices and the death of Remus. With regard to the auspices, it notes those of the twins' attributes that might be described as ‘natural’. Without anyone ever having instructed them in the reading of the auspices and the relevant soothsaying skills, both prepare a true templum (a ritually defined space) on a preordained high point to receive ‘auspicia impetrativa’. From these spaces, they set about observing the signs, just as later, in the historical period, observers would study the omens from the city's two auguracula. The birds which Romulus sees are in exactly twice the number seen by his brother: this means that Romulus has better auspices, just as in the historical period the senior magistrates possess ‘auspicia maxima’ relative to the junior magistrates such as aediles and quaestors, who hold ‘auspicia minora’.Less
This chapter pays more attention to certain highly typical features related to the auspices and the death of Remus. With regard to the auspices, it notes those of the twins' attributes that might be described as ‘natural’. Without anyone ever having instructed them in the reading of the auspices and the relevant soothsaying skills, both prepare a true templum (a ritually defined space) on a preordained high point to receive ‘auspicia impetrativa’. From these spaces, they set about observing the signs, just as later, in the historical period, observers would study the omens from the city's two auguracula. The birds which Romulus sees are in exactly twice the number seen by his brother: this means that Romulus has better auspices, just as in the historical period the senior magistrates possess ‘auspicia maxima’ relative to the junior magistrates such as aediles and quaestors, who hold ‘auspicia minora’.
Augusto Fraschetti
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748621200
- eISBN:
- 9780748651030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748621200.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
In specifically comparing Romulus's actions to those of famous Greek lawgivers, Dionysius of Halicarnassus starts by claiming that straight after the foundation, Romulus had called an assembly of the ...
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In specifically comparing Romulus's actions to those of famous Greek lawgivers, Dionysius of Halicarnassus starts by claiming that straight after the foundation, Romulus had called an assembly of the Romans and given them the choice of a ‘system of government’. Immediately he dangled before them the fear of ‘civil commotions’, which were much more dangerous for the community than foreign wars. Cassius Dio, likewise attributed a discussion on the choice of government – monarchy, oligarchy, or democracy – and on the merits and drawbacks of these forms of government, to Caesar Augustus and his friends Caius Cilnius Maecenas and Vipsanius Agrippa after the end of the civil wars. After Romulus had stressed the necessity for ‘unanimity among the citizens’ in the event of ‘civil commotions’, the Romans, faced with the alternatives of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, chose the ‘constitution’ of the city of Alba, and bestowed the kingdom on Romulus himself.Less
In specifically comparing Romulus's actions to those of famous Greek lawgivers, Dionysius of Halicarnassus starts by claiming that straight after the foundation, Romulus had called an assembly of the Romans and given them the choice of a ‘system of government’. Immediately he dangled before them the fear of ‘civil commotions’, which were much more dangerous for the community than foreign wars. Cassius Dio, likewise attributed a discussion on the choice of government – monarchy, oligarchy, or democracy – and on the merits and drawbacks of these forms of government, to Caesar Augustus and his friends Caius Cilnius Maecenas and Vipsanius Agrippa after the end of the civil wars. After Romulus had stressed the necessity for ‘unanimity among the citizens’ in the event of ‘civil commotions’, the Romans, faced with the alternatives of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, chose the ‘constitution’ of the city of Alba, and bestowed the kingdom on Romulus himself.
Augusto Fraschetti
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748621200
- eISBN:
- 9780748651030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748621200.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The death of the first king, Romulus the founder, constituted a problem on many levels for the Romans. Dionysius of Halicarnassus spoke of ‘many different stories’, various accounts on which there ...
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The death of the first king, Romulus the founder, constituted a problem on many levels for the Romans. Dionysius of Halicarnassus spoke of ‘many different stories’, various accounts on which there were evidently no agreement. According to one of these – a version Dionysius considered ‘rather fabulous’ – Romulus disappeared during a review of the army ‘in the camp’. Suddenly there occurred supernatural phenomena that obscured the light, or somehow removed Romulus from everyone's sight, and when these phenomena ceased, the throne was empty. After searching in vain, the people finally understood – or were made to understand – that the king had ascended to heaven to be among the gods, or better, that he had been swept up into heaven by his father Mars, and therefore was numbered among them.Less
The death of the first king, Romulus the founder, constituted a problem on many levels for the Romans. Dionysius of Halicarnassus spoke of ‘many different stories’, various accounts on which there were evidently no agreement. According to one of these – a version Dionysius considered ‘rather fabulous’ – Romulus disappeared during a review of the army ‘in the camp’. Suddenly there occurred supernatural phenomena that obscured the light, or somehow removed Romulus from everyone's sight, and when these phenomena ceased, the throne was empty. After searching in vain, the people finally understood – or were made to understand – that the king had ascended to heaven to be among the gods, or better, that he had been swept up into heaven by his father Mars, and therefore was numbered among them.
