This one is a favorite subject of mine.<br>
I built my own personal theory about this. Part of it is based on archaeology and established history and the rest comes from my imagination --too fertile maybe?<br>
First I observed that the "legend" looked like a two part story, or rather two different stories mixed together: Romulus/Remus on one part and Aeneas on the other.<br>
The ancient authors went to great lenghts trying to reconcile the one story with the other. A daunting task if there ever was one..<br>
First, the Romulus/Remus story. That one looks real, if you dig into it.<br>
It begins with dynastic strife, somewhere around 780/770 BC. Numitor, king of Alba Longa, is overthrown by his brother Amulius. Being a prudent person Amulius probably dispatches or puts away the rest of the would-be heirs as was customary in these situations.<br>
However he spares Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia and sends her to the ancient equivalent of a convent: he makes her a Vestal Virgin to bar her from having children..<br>
But the Vestal Rhea Silvia is either raped, or takes a lover, who is "officially" Mars, the God of War. That makes things easier...<br>
The twin brothers Romulus and Remus are born of that union. Naturally Amulius gets worried about it but he can't dispatch the kids because they are "sacer" (taboo), being the sons of Mars, whoever that "Mars" was..<br>
So he abandons them to the Tiber instead, hoping they'll drown. But they are found and fed by a shewolf and a woodpecker, both creatures of Mars.<br>
They are subsequently discovered and raised by Faustulus, one of Amulius shepherds.<br>
I suspect the shewolf story was invented by that Faustulus to explain why the kids did not drown. A more realistic version would be that he is ordered to sacrifice the kids to the Tiber River God but cannot do it and raises the Twins secretly until they are old enough to take care of themselves. It is called "plausible deniability" nowadays: "I didnt do it, Mars did..."<br>
Go figure.. With the Gods, you can't be sure of anything. Especially the ancient Gods, who were not know for their kindness...<br>
The boys, being certain that they indeed are sons of Mars --a good morale booster-- thus grow up with a band of shepherds and they eventually come back with a vengeance to Alba Longa, dispatch Amulius and restore Numitor to his throne.<br>
Then they go back to the Palatine hill where the shewolf is supposed to have found them, and in april 21st, 753 B.C. (officially..), Rome is founded.<br>
"Insociabile regnum", Romulus dispatches Remus and remains sole king.<br>
Note that this does not mean the construction of the city yet, but the creation of a political entity.<br>
However, remnants of an important defensive wall dated around 750 B.C. were discovered at the foot of the Palatine, indicating that a ruler then was powerful enough to undertake such an important building program at the time the "legend" says Rome was founded.<br>
So, maybe he was called Romulus, after all..<br>
Another often overlooked fact is that the Etruscan cities were also founded about that time. It was thus a general and momentous change in the whole area.<br>
The population grows quickly, thanks to the establishment of an asylum wood, an ancient attested practice which consisted of turning some wooded areas into sacred zones where fugitives and outcasts could seek refuge without fear of being pursued.<br>
Lacking women the Romans decide to go get some in the neighborhood and then comes the episode of the "rape" (the carrying off) of the Sabines. This is a typical practice among primitive cultures, along with cattle raids.<br>
What follow is also well documented and still happens today in a ritualized form, I think among some saharan desert tribes.<br>
The Sabines led by their king Titus Tatius show up in arms to get their women back, a battle begins with the Romans and is stopped by the Sabine women.<br>
No wonder Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, is a woman.. <br>
The result is an alliance between two cultures: the Sabines --which buried their dead-- and the Romans --which cremated them. This is syncretism, a practice that is a typical trait of the Roman culture and certainly made Rome what the City became aftewards.<br>
This is further shown by the alternance of Roman and Sabine early kings at the head of this very early confederation, a practice continued with the two alternating consuls of the Republic.<br>
Until now, all this is documented either by archaelogy, or by ethnology and study of primitive cultures.<br>
Then come the Etruscans. About a century, maybe less, after the Foundation, the Etruscans extend their influence over Rome, bringing their art, their religious practices and their architectural know-how.<br>
And their legends of course.<br>
Now comes my theory which is based on hints and assumptions, really..<br>
The Etruscans are still a very enigmatic people. Some scholars consider them natives of Italy, while some others, for linguistic reasons, think they come from Thrace or western Turkey, in other words the area around Troy.<br>
If the Thrace theory is right, we may assume that those migrants' legends included the story of a great war during which the Achaeans destroyed mighty Troy, and the episode of the flight of some survivors from the House of Priam.<br>
Between 1200 BC (fall of Troy) and 753 BC (Foundation) four centuries are almost completely missing in the record. All we know is that these were times of great upheaveals, wars, and migrations.<br>
The idea of people migrating from Thrace/Western Turkey to northern Iialy is not far fetched. We all know the Great Invasions and how Vandals for instance, coming originally from Northern Germany eventually settled in North Africa. It could be a yet undocumented "volksvanderung". As the ancient wisdom says, Man has no roots, Man has legs..<br>
When the Etruscans were influential in Rome, they imported their legends along with the rest, including the fall of Troy and the Aeneas episode, which could be the symbolisation of the great trek of Troy's survivors, or rather the great trek of the people of that area, following an general upheaval of which the War of Troy was only an important episode.<br>
Then some very, very courageous and imaginative Roman scholars tried to reconclile those two unreconciliable stories, and some, like the patrician Julii, even took advantage of it to further their political ambitions.<br>
That was long... <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 5/21/04 2:13 pm<br></i>
