Romulus and Remus - mythology

Descendants of the famous Trojan hero Aeneas; Romulus is the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Greek tradition links the founding of Rome to Roma or Roma, and Roman - to the twins Romulus and Remus, sons of Rea Silvia or Elijah and the god Mars.

Sylvia Proc, king of Alba Longa, left the throne to his older son Numitor. Amulius, his younger son, who was ruthless and eager for power, did not respect his father's will, but deprived his brother of the throne and killed his son Laus. In order to completely destroy his brother's descendants, he forced Numitor's daughter Rea Sylvia to become a vestal and thus condemned her to eternal virginity. The gods thwarted his intention, because the descendants of Rea Sylvia were destined to build a great city and establish a powerful state. Mars approached Numitor's daughter and she conceived twins - the future founders of Rome. As soon as he noticed his niece's pregnancy, Amulije put her under guard, and when she gave birth to sons, he ordered the children to be thrown into the Tiber. The river came and Amuli's men, afraid of the swollen water, left the cat with the little ones by the shore. When the river returned to its bed, the cat remained at the foot of the Palatine, in the shade of a fig tree. The wolf, who went down to drink water, breastfed the twins and took care of them with the help of a woodpecker. When the shepherd Faustul saw the beast gently licking the little ones, he immediately realized that the gods were in favor of abandoned children. He entrusted the boys to his wife Aka Larencija, who raised them as born sons (picture below).

Romulus and Remus grew up among shepherds. They surpassed their peers in beauty, stature and strength. Romulus showed early on that he was destined to be the leader of the people, and it was clear to everyone that it was more appropriate for the brothers to rule than to obey. While some loved them and respected their will, others hated them and wanted to hurt them. When a quarrel broke out one day between Amuli's and Numitor's shepherds, Remus was captured and, as the main culprit, brought before Numitor. He did not want to punish the young man himself, but took him to Amulia, who this time generously left the decision to his brother. Astonished by Rem's handsome appearance and elegant demeanor, Numitor asked him for his name and origin. Remus replied that he had been found by the river with his brother Romulus, in a cat with vague inscriptions, that they had been breastfed by a wolf, that they had been fed by beasts, and that Faustul had nursed them. Hope was born in Numitor's heart to see his grandson in front of him. Meanwhile, Faustulus, who was worried about Remus' fate, revealed to Romulus the secret of his origin. Romulus immediately hurried to Numitor and soon the grandfather and grandchildren recognized each other. The brothers did not dare to openly attack Amulia. While Romulus was gathering comrades, Remus encouraged the citizens of Alba Longa to rebel against the arrogant king. With a large number of supporters, the brothers attacked and killed Amulius, and then returned the legitimate king Numitor to the throne.

Romulus and Remus decided to build a new city on the banks of the Tiber, near the place where they were miraculously saved. There was an immediate disagreement, because Romulus wanted to found a city on the Palatine, in a place called Roma quadrata, and Remus - on the Aventine, in a naturally protected place, which, according to him, was called Remonium. Romulus and Remus did not agree on further plans for the future. As they were twins, the question of eldership was immediately raised, as well as who would give the name to the future city. To avoid conflict, they decided to make heaven's decision. Romulus observed favorable signs from the Palatine, and Remus from the Aventine. When Remus saw six kragujas, and Romulus twice as many, it was clear to whom the gods preferred. The gathered people immediately greeted Romulus as king, and the only thing left for the distressed and disappointed Remus was to watch his brother approach the founding of the city.

Romulus harnessed oxen to the yoke and plowed a furrow around the Palatine, among the future Rome. To belittle his brother's work, Remus jumped over the furrow, and Romulus killed him for that sacrilege. Some say that Rema was killed by Romulus' companion Celer and that their benefactors Faustul and Faustin lost their lives in the conflict between the brothers. Romula was deeply moved by her brother's death; he even wanted to take his own life, but was prevented from doing so by Aka Larencija, who persuaded him to continue the work he had begun. After burying Remus on the Aventine with honors, Romulus began to settle in the new city.

According to tradition, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 AD, on the feast of Parilia. Romulus sent his men to Etruria to learn all the rites associated with the founding of the city. According to the instructions received, he first dug a round pit (mundus), the future center of Rome, into which the first fruits and lumps of earth brought by the newcomers from their homelands were ceremoniously thrown. With a bronze plow, pulled by a cow and a bull, Romulus then marked the boundaries of the city (pomoerium) and determined the places for the gates. In order to inhabit the newly founded city, he made a refuge between the two peaks of the Capitol for all the homeless, fugitives, culprits and slaves. From the people who could carry weapons, he created legions (3000 infantry and 300 cavalry), and he chose a hundred of the best (patricians) for advice - the Senate.

Rome soon became a populous city, but there were few women. In order to obtain wives for his subjects, Romulus resorted to cunning. On the holiday of Consualia, which was celebrated on August 21, he invited neighbors with women and children. During the celebration, he attacked them and abducted all the girls present, of whom there were 30, 527 or 627; among them, only Hersilia, a noble Sabine woman, was married (although married, she was abducted together with her daughter; since she did not want to separate from her child, Hersilia remained in Rome).

Neighbors of the Romans, angry at the kidnapping of their daughters, gathered around the Sabine king Titus Thaci and decided to take revenge on Romulus and his men. Romulus easily conquered the inhabitants of the Latin cities of Cenina, Antemna and Krustumeria, but he was seriously threatened by the Sabines. They set out from Quirinal and, thanks to Tarpeia, who betrayed the Romans, captured the Capitol. The Romans fled in disarray to the Palatine, where Romulus turned to Jupiter in despair and promised him a temple if he would stop the retreat of his men. Jupiter responded to that request and Romulus later, at the place where the Sabines were stopped, built a temple to Jupiter Stator. The Sabine military leader Met Kurcije escaped, and when the decisive battle took place, the abducted Sabin women joined the fighters. They rejected their shyness and bravely intervened in the fighting. With their hair untwisted, they rushed among the spears and separated the angry enemies (picture below). They shouted to their fathers and husbands that they were now the mothers of their grandchildren and that they would rather perish than remain alive as orphans and widows. After those words, the battle noise subsided, and the leaders of the warring parties made peace. One of the two states was created, and the united nations were ruled together by Romulus and Titus Tacitus.

Romulus ruled Rome for thirty-seven years and founded all the city and military institutions; he divided the population into thirty curias and three tribes, established a system of patrons and clients, issued numerous laws, and organized an army. He was dining at the Palatine Hill, where a huge dogwood tree, which grew out of his spear, was shown.

The council of the gods decided to give Romulus immortality. On the day of the July grandmothers, while the fifty-four-year-old Romulus was holding an army parade on the Field of Mars, the sky darkened, and a terrible storm descended on the earth, in which the first king of Rome disappeared. The people mourned their ruler until a man named Julia Proculus announced that Romulus had appeared to him in a dream and revealed to him that he had been exalted to heaven, like the god Quirinus. Others say that Romulus was brutally killed and that the conspirators took his dismembered body out of the Senate under his clothes.

Legends are also known that speak differently about the birth of Romulus and Remus. It is said that Elijah, the daughter of Aeneas and Lavinia, gave birth to Romulus on Mars, or that he was the son of Telemachus and Kirk's son Latino and Roma, the daughter of the Trojan captive of the same name. Others say that Romulus and Remus are twins, born to Aeneas by Forbant's daughter Dexitea. The children were brought to Italy, but a strong storm scattered all the ships, and only the boat carrying the twins landed peacefully at the place where Rome was later built. The legend according to which Romulus and Remus were born at the court of King Tarhon is also known.

Literature:

• Dragoslav Srejović - Aleksandrina Cermanović-Kuzmanović, Recnik grčke i rimske mitologije, drugo izdanje, Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, 1987