A question for scholars

[Anonymous]

Read in Michel Serres "Rome, The Book of Foundations" that a legend from the Early Times says that the Campus Martius was originally Tarquinius Superbus' own wheat field.<br>
When he was dethroned, the people went to his fields and plucked out all the wheat, roots and all, so that it would never yield another crop.<br>
They they threw the ears thus plucked out into the Tiber and the soil attached to the roots formed an island..<br>
Besides the fact that I like that legend a lot, I wonder where it comes from..<br>
Livy?<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]

Just curious what constitutes a scholar. <p>THERE IS NO VICTORY WITHOUT DEFEAT, AND THERE IS NO DEFEAT WITHOUT VICTORY</p><i></i>

[Frank Miranda]

The story comes from Livy, <em>Ab Urbe Condita</em> 2.5. Although, at 1.16 he reports the Campus Martius being used for military review as early as Romulus.<br>
<br>
(Forgot to add: the story comes from <em>AUC</em>, but the legend/myth is, of course, much older than that, since Livy was writing many centuries after the fact. Scholarly enough for you? ).<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=frankmiranda>Frank Miranda</A> at: 7/2/04 6:05 am<br></i>

[Anonymous]

Thank you!<br>
I promise, one day, I'll read Livy..<br>
Meanwhile.. Livy doesn't say where the legend comes from, or does he?<br>
I'm sorry. I'm a journalist. Asking questions is sort of compulsive.. <p></p><i></i>

[Frank Miranda]

Regrettably, no, Livy does not mention the origin of the story- at least not in that particular section of his work.<br>
<br>
Having given it a bit more thought- this is probably just a case of Livy incorporating the several and, oftentimes, contradictory early myths into his historical narrative without bothering to explain the differences. You find that quite often in many of these works.<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=frankmiranda>Frank Miranda</A> at: 7/2/04 5:56 pm<br></i>