II ROMAN CULTURE.pptVIP

Lecture Two Roman culture 1. History of Rome: 38-9 I. The founding of Rome Continuation of Trojan culture: the sword of Troy i. Aeneas Hero in Virgil’s epic: Aeneid (cf. p.44) son of Anchises and Venus cousin of King Priam of Troy leader of Troys allies during the Trojan War (1200-1170 B.C.). After the fall of Troy, he led a band of Trojan refugees to Italy and became the founder of Roman culture (but the city he founded is Lavinium, not the city of Rome itself). In wandering across the Mediterranean (they were said to be hounded by the enmity of Juno), Aeneas and the Trojan remnant reached the north African city of Carthage, where they were hospitably received by Dido, the citys founder and queen. There ensued a love affair between Dido and Aeneas, which threatened to distract Aeneas from his destiny in Italy. Mercury was sent to order Aeneas to depart. Aeneas, forced to choose between love and duty, reluctantly sailed away. Dido, mad with grief, committed suicide. When Aeneas later encountered her shade on a trip to the underworld, she turned away from him, still refusing to forgive his desertion of her. →Virgil presents him as the exemplar of the Roman virtues of devotion to duty and reverence for the gods ii. Numitor Amulius : Aeneas’ offspring Numitor, king of the ancient Italian city of Alba Longa, was deposed by his brother Amulius Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, gave birth to twin sons Amulius, fearing that the boys would grow up to overthrow him, had them placed in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber. Luckily the trough came ashore. They were found by a she-wolf. Instead of eating them, the she-wolf looked after them and fed them with her milk. The twins were found by Faustulus, the kings shepherd, who adopted them, calling them Romulus and Remus. Romulus and Remus rose against Amulius, killed him and restored the kingdom to Numitor, their grandfather. Deciding to found a town of their own, Romulus and Remus chose the place where