Foundation Stories: Aeneas/Romulus/Rome Flashcards
Why is Livy not the most reliable source of information
Livy did not gather evidence in the same way a modern historian would and usually does not refrence his source of information
He wrote that that he would make no effort to confrim or deny traditions rather to just record what he knows allowing for large margins of error
Aeneas’ birth
Venus was boasting about the male gods sleeping with mortal women causing a bunch of problems and Jupiter punished her by causing her to fall in love with a mortal man
Venus met Anchises and fell in love with him disguised as a mortal woman and slept with him, concieving Aeneas
What city is Aeneas from
Troy
What happeneed to Aeneas after the fall of Troy
He fled the city with his father (Anchises), wife (Creusa) and son (Ascanius) but in the confusion lost his wife who later appeared to him as a ghost as she had been killed by the Greeks
He also brought the public Penates and the sacred flame with him which were later looked after by Vestal Virgins
He travelled across the Aegean Sea to Macedon to Sicily and then to the west coast of Italy
He arrived in Italy and engaged with a huge war with a local tribe and after winning he made peace with King Latinus of Latium and founded a new city, Lavinium
Why was Aeneas important to Rome
He didnt found Rome but the Augustus traced the Ceasers family lineage (very loosely) back to Aeneas and therefore the gods
Romulus/Remus birth
The Grandfather of Romulus and Remus, King Numitor was usurped by his brother Amulius. Numitor’s daughter Rhea Silvia was forcefully made a Vestal Virign to prevent her from creating rightful heirs.
However she falls pregnant possibly from Mars and gives birth to Romulus and Remus
Amulius orders the twins to be drowned in the River Tiber but miraculously they both survive and found by a “she-wolf” or a farmer’s wife and raised by them.
Founding of Rome
When Romulus and Remus grew up they killed Amulius returning the city to Numitor
They wanted to found a new city as Alba Longa had become overcrowded.
What city did Ascanius found
Alba Longa as Lavinium had become overcrowded
Why is Plutarch not the most reliable source of information
He wrote biographies rather than historical accounts and focused on the character of the individual that the history side.
He usually used one main source only supplementing it with others and where evidence was lacking he would just put his own thoughts into it
