Romulus
Also known as: Life of Romulus, Parallel Lives — Romulus
Plutarch’s biography of Romulus retells Rome’s foundation legends—from the miraculous birth of the twins and the founding rites to wars with neighboring peoples and Romulus’s apotheosis—embedding antiquarian notes on customs, cults, and institutions.
Description
In this Life, Plutarch gathers diverse Roman traditions about Romulus, juxtaposing variant tales and weighing their credibility. He recounts the exposed twins nurtured at the Lupercal, the overthrow of Amulius, the augural contest, and the laying of Rome’s boundary furrow. Institutional origins—senate, curiae, lictors, and civic rites—are traced to the founder alongside episodes such as the abduction of the Sabine women, the treachery of Tarpeia, and the co-rule with Titus Tatius. Campaigns against neighboring cities culminate in the spolia opima and the dedication of Jupiter Feretrius. Romulus finally vanishes amid a storm and is revered as Quirinus, his divinity affirmed by Proculus Julius. Plutarch’s method is comparative and antiquarian, preserving multiple versions while aiming at moral and political exemplarity.
Historiography
The Life draws on Roman annalists, antiquarians, and ritual lore (e.g., traditions behind the Lupercalia, Consualia, and the spolia opima). Plutarch frequently reports variant accounts, noting disagreements among sources and etymologies for names and rites. The Parallel Lives pair Romulus with the Greek hero Theseus to explore comparative foundations and kingship. Manuscript transmission follows the broader tradition of the Lives; textual stability owes much to Byzantine copying and Renaissance humanist editions.
Date Notes
Plutarch composed the Parallel Lives in the late 1st–early 2nd century CE; the Romulus narrative synthesizes earlier Roman oral and annalistic traditions.
Symbols
Major Characters
- Romulus
- Remus
- Rhea Silvia
- Numitor
- Amulius
- Hersilia
- Mars
Myths
- Birth and Exposure of the Twins
- Founding of Rome
- The Rape of the Sabines
- Death and Apotheosis of Romulus
Facts
- Plutarch frames Romulus as a moral exemplar, pairing him with Theseus for comparative study.
- Multiple etiologies for Roman rites (Lupercalia, Consualia) are reported with competing explanations.
- Plutarch attributes the first spolia opima to Romulus after defeating Acron of Caenina.
- The Life preserves variant accounts of Remus’s death, including wall-leaping and a brawl.
- Romulus is said to have instituted the senate (patres) and organized citizens into curiae.
- Royal insignia such as the lictors and fasces are linked to Etruscan precedent in Plutarch’s account.
- The treaty with the Sabines establishes co-rule with Titus Tatius before his death.
- Romulus’s disappearance is narrated both as assassination by senators and as apotheosis amid a storm.
- Proculus Julius’s testimony legitimizes Romulus’s cult as Quirinus.
- Plutarch regularly names sources and advances etymologies while acknowledging uncertainties.