Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- About the Cover
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Prologue: The Prehistory of Power: Souls Spirits, Deities
- Part One Kings and Emperors
- 1 Divine Kingship in Mesopotamia
- 2 Pharaohs among the Indestructibles
- 3 Kingship among the Hebrews
- 4 The Deification of Roman Emperors
- 5 The Deva-Rajas in India and Southeast Asia
- 6 The Chinese Mandate from Heaven
- 7 The Japanese Imperial Cult
- Part Two Empires before the Common Era
- 8 The Legendary Empire of the Sumerians
- 9 Legendary Empires of Preclassical Greece
- 10 Patriarchs, Exodus, and the Epic of Israel
- 11 Legendary Empires of Ancient India
- 12 The Legendary Founding of Rome
- Part Three Founders
- 13 Moses: The Israelite Lawgiver
- 14 Buddha and Legends of Previous Buddhas
- 15 The Savior Narratives
- 16 Muhammad, the Qur’an, and Islam
- 17 The Virgin Mary through the Centuries
- 18 Tonantzin and Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Part Four Empires of the Common Era
- 19 Narrative Inventions of the Holy Roman Empire
- 20 The Epic of Kings, Alexander the Great, and the Malacca Sultinate
- 21 The Franks, Charlemagne, and the Chansons de Geste
- 22 The Legendary Kingdom of King Arthur
- 23 Ethiopian Kings and the Ark of the Covenant
- 24 Narratives of the Virgin Queen
- Part Five Ideologies
- 25 Discovery: The European Narrative of Power
- 26 Epics of the Portuguese Seaborne Empire
- 27 Dekanawida and the Iroquois League
- 28 The New England Canaan of the Puritans
- 29 The Marxist Classless Society
- 30 Adolph Hitler: Narratives of Aryans and Jews
- Epilogue: A Clash of Narratives
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
12 - The Legendary Founding of Rome
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- About the Cover
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Prologue: The Prehistory of Power: Souls Spirits, Deities
- Part One Kings and Emperors
- 1 Divine Kingship in Mesopotamia
- 2 Pharaohs among the Indestructibles
- 3 Kingship among the Hebrews
- 4 The Deification of Roman Emperors
- 5 The Deva-Rajas in India and Southeast Asia
- 6 The Chinese Mandate from Heaven
- 7 The Japanese Imperial Cult
- Part Two Empires before the Common Era
- 8 The Legendary Empire of the Sumerians
- 9 Legendary Empires of Preclassical Greece
- 10 Patriarchs, Exodus, and the Epic of Israel
- 11 Legendary Empires of Ancient India
- 12 The Legendary Founding of Rome
- Part Three Founders
- 13 Moses: The Israelite Lawgiver
- 14 Buddha and Legends of Previous Buddhas
- 15 The Savior Narratives
- 16 Muhammad, the Qur’an, and Islam
- 17 The Virgin Mary through the Centuries
- 18 Tonantzin and Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Part Four Empires of the Common Era
- 19 Narrative Inventions of the Holy Roman Empire
- 20 The Epic of Kings, Alexander the Great, and the Malacca Sultinate
- 21 The Franks, Charlemagne, and the Chansons de Geste
- 22 The Legendary Kingdom of King Arthur
- 23 Ethiopian Kings and the Ark of the Covenant
- 24 Narratives of the Virgin Queen
- Part Five Ideologies
- 25 Discovery: The European Narrative of Power
- 26 Epics of the Portuguese Seaborne Empire
- 27 Dekanawida and the Iroquois League
- 28 The New England Canaan of the Puritans
- 29 The Marxist Classless Society
- 30 Adolph Hitler: Narratives of Aryans and Jews
- Epilogue: A Clash of Narratives
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Summary
The change from nomadic to settled life that began in the Fertile Crescent around twelve thousand years ago occurred centuries later in Southern Europe. However, by the fifth millennium BCE, material culture, including thousands of rock engravings in the Val Comonica region of north-central Italy, indicates a highly developed way of life based on agrarian settlements (Durando 2001, 27–28). By this time several primitive settlements had developed on the Palatine and Esquiline Hills, which were eventually incorporated into the city of Rome (Rogers 2007, 18). By the first century BCE Rome had developed into a sprawling empire stretching from the northern boundary of England to the highlands of Afghanistan. Myths and legends of Rome's origins may have been passed down for centuries with written versions proliferating during the reign of the first emperor, Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE), following his successful establishment of the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) after centuries of conflict and war, especially with the rival North African power at Carthage. Explanations for the triumph of Rome took the form of stories of its ancient founding. The empire soon came to be seen as rooted in the most distant, glorious past known: the time of Troy immortalized in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. In its fully developed form, however, the legends that emerged were invented, its heroes fictional, its history a cluster of narratives for which little evidence has been found. Works responsible for these legendary origins were composed by the historian Livy (59 BCE–17 CE) and the poets Virgil (70–19 BCE) and Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE). These remain among the greatest literary works of classical times.
By the first century BCE, a legend of Romulus as the eponymous founder of Rome had been known and celebrated for centuries. According to this story, the twins Romulus and Remus had been born from a mating of the god Mars and a mortal woman, then abandoned and brought up by wild animals. Rome's founding is traditionally dated to 753 BCE, but the source of the legend is unknown, though it achieved iconic form in the bronze Capitoline Wolf sculpture that may date to the fifth century BCE. The earliest recorded version traces to the late fourth or early third century BCE, more than four hundred years after the alleged founding occurred.
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- Invented History, Fabricated PowerThe Narratives Shaping Civilization and Culture, pp. 139 - 148Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2020