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L'incroyable voyage d'une noisette de pâte à tartiner

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Romulus and Remus - The Story of the Founding of Rome - Roman Mythology - See u In History

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The Founding of Rome: The Roman Myth of Romulus and Remus Animated

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Aeneas: The Last Trojan Hero - Mythology Dictionary - See U in History

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Illustration

A map illustrating the epic journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero (according to Virgil's poem The Aeneid) who, destined to found Rome, flees Troy after its fall and, much like Odysseus, spends years wandering the Mediterranean. He encounters the Cyclopes, loses his father, falls in love with Dido, Queen of Carthage, betrays her (and, if the legend is to be believed - sows the seeds of the Punic Wars of the future), descends into the Underworld, loses friends and battles enemies in Italy.

About the Author

Simeon is a freelance visual designer with a deep interest in the human side of history. He believes that every image should be an interaction, a commentary, and a narrative, and every map should lead on an exciting journey of exploration and discovery.

License & Copyright

Uploaded by Simeon Netchev, published on 21 June 2022. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

Cite This Work

Chicago Style

Netchev, Simeon. " The Journey of Aeneas from Troy to Rome." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified June 21, 2022. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/16056/the-journey-of-aeneas-from-troy-to-rome/.

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A map illustrating the epic journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero (according to Virgil's poem The Aeneid) who, destined to found Rome, flees Troy after its fall and, much like Odysseus, spends years wandering...

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The Ruin of Troy: The Outcome of Mythology's Famous War - The Trojan War Saga Ep 36 -Greek Mythology

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The Founding of Rome: The Roman Myth of Romulus and Remus Animated

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When the Romans Kidnapped the Sabine Women - Roman Mythology

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TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

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Discover a video on Ancient Greece: the emergence of civilization

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This animated map explains the civilizations that settled in Ancient Greece, from the 4th millenium to the last Hellenistic kingdom, from the Mynians to the Roman Empire.

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This map is part of a series of 6 animated maps showing the history of Rome and its Empire.

Rome was a small Italian city that rose in importance until it dominated the entire Mediterranean area. The city was first ruled as a monarchy, then as a republic, and finally converted into an empire.

Until 509 BC, Rome was governed by kings. After the legendary founder, Romulus, its rulers were from the tribe of Sabines, followed by Etruscans. The last king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus.

Under the Republic, the city was governed by a senate, controlled by the patricians and two consuls, who were elected for one year.

Rome gradually extended its territory by conquering its neighbours, the Etruscans, the Latins and the Samnites. It then occupied the southern regions of the peninsula where the Greeks had founded a large number of colonies.

During the Punic Wars, Rome fought against Carthage and gradually gained control over its territories in the western Mediterranean. The city of Carthage was captured and totally destroyed in 146 BC.

In the west, Rome invaded Southern Gaul and took over a large area of today's Spain.

To the east, it invaded Macedonia and Greece and occupied the Kingdom of Pergamum.

As a result, Rome controlled most of the Mediterranean's northern coast.

During the first century BC, there were major uprisings in Italy, while campaigns for conquest positioned Roman generals to accumulate military and political power.

The most famous of these generals was Julius Caesar. Following his victory over the Gauls, he was designated "dictator for life," before being assassinated in 44 BC. His adopted son, Octavian, founded the Roman Empire and took the name of Augustus. His long reign brought a prolonged peace within Rome's frontiers. In terms of foreign policy, Augustus maintained Rome's plans for military conquest but, after a series of defeats in Germany, he decided to establish the Empire's frontiers along the rivers Rhine, Danube, and Euphrates.

The empire continued to extend its boundaries during the first century AD by conquering Britain, Thrace, Cappadocia and Mauretania.

The last major wars of conquest were undertaken by the Emperor Trajan in the early 2nd century, against the Dacians north of the Danube, then against the Parthians in Armenia and in Mesopotamia. However, the Roman army's control of these remote regions was difficult to sustain, and the time had come to consolidate the Empire's frontiers.In the middle of the 3rd century, the Empire was once again threatened by internal political crises, while its frontiers were being attacked by barbarian tribes. On several occasions, the Franks, Goths and Alamanni penetrated deep inside the Empire's territory.

From the end of this 3rd century, the Emperors Diocletian and Constantine I managed to re-establish the borders and introduced profound reforms for the Roman state. Constantine founded a new capital, which he called Constantinople.

During the reign of Theodosius I, there was greater pressure on the Empire's external borders, and the Emperor authorized the Visigoths to settle in Roman territories south of the Danube.

Following the death of Theodosius, in 395, the empire was divided between his two sons, confirming the division between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire.

Early in the 5th century, the military situation in the Western Roman Empire was worsening.

- In 406, several Germanic tribes, the Vandals, Suebi and Alans, crossed the Rhine, ravaged Gaul and then invaded Spain.

- In 410, the Visigoths invaded Italy and sacked Rome. Two years later, they settled in Aquitaine and Spain.

- In 429, the Vandals travelled to North Africa and then, ten years later, took Carthage.

The last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by Odoacer, a German chief, in 476. The event marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.

The Eastern Roman Empire remained in place until 1453. It was known as the Byzantine Empire, after the original name of its capital Byzantium.

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This animated map explains the history of Rome and of the Roman Empire, from the founding of Rome to the fall of the Empire.

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All cities have their histories, and these often blend elements of myth and reality, particularly when it comes to their earliest history and foundation.

None is more elaborate than the founding of Rome. The myth says that the city was first established on a specific day, the 21st of April in 753 BC. The story is that Romulus and his twin brother Remus founded the city.

Detail of Romulus and Remus on the allegory of Tiber

The Early Life of Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus were born as the grandsons of King Numitor of the city of Alba Longa in central Italy sometime around 780 BC. Their mother was Rhea Silva, Numitor's daughter and possibly a Vestal Virgin.

Their father was Mars, the god of war, making Romulus and Remus demi-gods. However, when they were still infants, their grandfather Numitor was overthrown as King of Alba Longa by his brother, Amulius.

This Amulius feared that Romulus and Remus would pose a threat to his position and would one day seek vengeance for their grandfather.

Consequently, he ordered the two infants to be drowned in the River Tiber. However, they were saved from this fate by a she-wolf, who nurtured and raised the two infants.

As such, Romulus and Remus were both the sons of the god of war and were raised by a wolf. All aspects of their story fit with the Romans' conception of themselves as strong, warlike people.

La Lupa Capitolina "the Capitoline Wolf".

Eventually, Romulus and Remus grew up, and in 753 BC, they are said to have founded the city of Rome on the seven hills, which the city was centered around the banks of the River Tiber.

However, a dispute arose shortly afterward between the two brothers over what the city should be named and who should rule over it. In the course of this, Romulus killed Remus, so named the city Rome after himself, and became its first king.

This story was the foundation myth that the Romans espoused throughout their long 1000-year-plus history.

How was Rome Actually Established

Today we know that the story of Romulus killing Remus and then establishing the city of Rome is a myth.

Over the last century, archaeologists have comprehensively demonstrated that the Palatine Hill on the River Tiber was settled as early as the tenth century BC, some 200 years before the twins are alleged to have established the city.

Other villages emerged on the seven hills soon afterward. Finally, around the eighth century, these joined together into a town of sorts.

Etruscan Tomb Painting

This town eventually expanded into the city of Rome. In its early days, the Etruscans, a more advanced Italian people based out of Tuscany, dominated the city.

However, from the late sixth or early fifth centuries BC, Rome began its long ascent as the dominant power in central Italy.

Sources for the Myth of Romulus and Remus

It is easy to see why the Romans liked the foundation myth of Romulus and Remus.

It is an impressive story that suggests that Rome's dominance of its neighbors and then most of the known world was divinely ordained.

After all, their first king was the son of the god of war. Romans wrote about the myth of Romulus and Remus throughout their history.

For instance, one of the greatest historians of the Roman Republic, Livy, discussed it at length in his monumental work Ab Urbe Condita, meaning 'From the Founding of the City.'

The second-century AD Greco-Roman historical biographer, Plutarch, wrote a life of Romulus, which drew on many other ancient histories now lost to us.

And many others discussed it, including the noted third century AD historian Cassius Dio and a contemporary of Livy's, the Roman love poet, Ovid.

The Aeneid and Virgil's Elaboration on the Myth

Of all the Romans who wrote about the foundation of Rome, the most celebrated was Virgil, the first century BC epic poet. However, curiously enough, Virgil did not write much directly about Romulus and Remus.

Instead, his most famous work, the Aeneid, was written about a character called Aeneas.

Aeneas was a demi-god himself, as he was a son of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, and Anchises, a prince of the royal family of the city of Troy.

Virgil depicts Aeneas as having fled from Troy after its fall following the siege of the city by the Greeks so famously detailed in Homer's Iliad.

He brought the Sword of Troy, which had belonged to his cousin, King Priam of Troy.

Aeneas wandered the Mediterranean with his followers for years after the fall of Troy, eventually reaching Italy, where he and his followers settled down after many trials and tribulations.

There they settled what would become the city of Alba Longa, and Aeneas founded its royal family. Thus, as Virgil depicted it, Romulus and Remus were the descendants of Aeneas.

Virgil added to the myth of Romulus and Remus by suggesting they were descended from the royal family of fabled Troy and that as well as being the sons of the god Mars, their forbear Aeneas had been the son of Aphrodite.

Virgil's elaboration of the foundation myth of Rome became intertwined with that of Romulus and Remus and was accepted by contemporaries of the poet as the national history of Rome's foundation.

The Long Life of an Elaborate Foundation Myth

The myth of Romulus and Remus had a long afterlife. Not only was it widely believed and written about by the Romans themselves, but it was picked up and refreshed in many different ages after that.

This was especially the case during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when many artworks revolving around the myth were produced in Renaissance Italy.

For instance, in the sixteenth century, the wealthy Magnani family in Bologna commissioned an entire series of paintings depicting the significant episodes from the life of Romulus and Remus.

Dozens of other Italian artists painted similar scenes. Then, in the early seventeenth century, the practice of depicting the founders of Rome spread to northern Europe.

One of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age, Peter Paul Rubens, painted a famous scene in 1615 of Romulus and Remus being nurtured by the she-wolf.

Finally, in 1654 Nicholas Mignard, a French master of the early Baroque period, produced one of the seventeenth century's great paintings entitled The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife showing a scene from right after the twins were nearly drowned.

The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife. DMA.

Consequently, even nearly two and half millennia after Romulus and Remus were said to have founded Rome, their story still captured the imaginations of Europeans.

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The Strange Myth of Romulus and Remus, The Founders of Rome

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Find out the origin story of Romulus and Remus. Was it true? How did this myth develop? What does history say about the supposed founders of Rome?

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