Dictionary of Greek and Roman geography . tradition, which ascribed theorigin of Rome to Romulus, was by far the mostuniversally received among the Romans. It nmstbe regarded as ultimately forming the national tra-dition ; and there is every probability that it was ofnative growth, as many of its incidents serve to ex-plain Roman rites and institutions, such as the wor-siiip of Vesta, the Lupercalia, Larentalia, Lcniuria,Arval Brothers, &c. (Lewis, vol. i. p. 409.) Thelegend was of high antiquity among the Romans,although inferior in this respect to some of the Greek ROMA. 723 accounts. It was
Dictionary of Greek and Roman geography . tradition, which ascribed theorigin of Rome to Romulus, was by far the mostuniversally received among the Romans. It nmstbe regarded as ultimately forming the national tra-dition ; and there is every probability that it was ofnative growth, as many of its incidents serve to ex-plain Roman rites and institutions, such as the wor-siiip of Vesta, the Lupercalia, Larentalia, Lcniuria,Arval Brothers, &c. (Lewis, vol. i. p. 409.) Thelegend was of high antiquity among the Romans,although inferior in this respect to some of the Greek ROMA. 723 accounts. It was recorded in its present form byFabius Pictor, one of the earliest Roman annalists,and was adopted by other ancient antiquarians andhistorians (Dionys. i. 79). Nay, from the testimonyof Livy we may infer that it prevailed at a muchearlier date, since he tells us (x. 23) that an imageof the she-wolf suckling the two royal infants waserected near the Ficus Ruminalis by the curule 296.* The story is too well known to be re-. THE CAPITOLINE WOLF. peated here. We shall merely remark that althoughaccording to this tradition Aeneas still remains themythical ancestor of the Romans, yet that the buildingof two cities and the lapse of many generations in-tervene between his arrival in Italy and the founda-tion of Rome by his descendant Romulus. Aeneashimself founds Lavinium, and his son Longa, after a lapse of thirty years. We arelittle concerned about the sovereigns who are sup-posed to have reigned in the latter city down to thetime of Numitor, the grandfather of Romulus, ex- * It has been conjectured that this was probablythe same statue mentioned by Cicero {de Diu. i. 12,Cat. iii. 8), and described as having been struck bylightning ; but this can hardly be the case, as theimage described by Cicero stood in the bronze statue answering Ciceros description isstill preserved in the Capitoline Museum at Rome,which is regarded by Kiebuhr as a genuine re
Size: 1959px × 1275px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithwil, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1854
