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Remus: A Roman Myth. By T. P. Wiseman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. xv + 243. Preface, black and white photographs, maps, figures, appendix, index. $54.95 cloth, $18.95 paper.
Foundation legends are crucial to the self-identity and the public image of any organized group. The stories that a culture tells itself evolve over time, shaped by tensions from within and without. Variants can be generated and used by partisans and critics, by allies and enemies alike. For examples of the power of modern foundation legends, consider the volatile controversies that swirl around the intentions of America's "Founding Fathers," the Aryan myth of Nazi Germany, the rationales for the State of Israel, and the Nation of Islam's version of black history.
In European tradition, the most familiar ancient foundation narrative is the story of Romulus and Remus. Among the pastoral people who would become the first Romans, the fierce mother wolf and twin deities were strong protective symbols. By the fourth century b.c., when Rome was becoming a major power in Italy, these motifs had coalesced into the famous tale of the twin sons of Mars suckled by a shewolf and raised by shepherds. Romulus and Remus became the co-leaders of the rustic community that grew into the formidable city-state of Rome and culminated in the mighty Roman Empire.
Other hero tales feature an infant nursed by a wild animal, and twins are typical founders, signifying some salient symmetry, duality, or conflict in a given culture. But the story of Romulus and Remus is unique in its shocking fratricidal twist. Why would proud citizens create a tale to honor equal co-founders, only to have one twin murder his brother at the very moment of the city's birth? Why is Remus necessary? And if he is necessary, why must he die?
The guilt encoded in their origin myth disturbed patriotic Romans such as Cicero and Horace and was seized upon by hostile critics of Rome such as Saint Augustine. Perhaps lulled by its very familiarity and mythical status, however, modern scholars have failed to come to grips with the murder at the heart of the story and its remarkable political and cultural implications. The Roman historian T. P. Wiseman's learned investigation and bold interpretation of Rome's...