Editing Tullus Hostilius (section)

==Myth==
[[image:La Victoire de Tullus Hostilius sur les forces de Veies et de Fidena.jpg|thumb|Tullus Hostilius defeating the army of [[Veii]] and [[Fidenae]]. Cavalier d'Arpin, oil on wood (detail), c. 1601.]]

As with those of all the early kings of Rome, the events ascribed to the reign of Tullus Hostilius are treated with scepticism by modern historians. Part of this is due to obvious flaws in the literary tradition describing the kings: much like the confusion the Ancients exhibited in attributing identical accomplishments to both [[Tarquinius Priscus]] and [[Tarquinius Superbus]], the accomplishments of Tullus Hostilius are thought by many scholars to be rhetorical [[Doublet (linguistics)|doublet]] of those of Romulus. Both are brought up among shepherds, carry on war against Fidenae and Veii, double the number of citizens, and organize the army. Additionally, Tullus Hostilius' warlike and ferocious character seems to be little more than a contrasting stereotype to that of the peaceable, devout [[Numa Pompilius]]; the first Roman annalists may merely have imputed aggressive qualities to Hostilius by naively parsing his gentile name (''Hostilius'' meaning "hostile" in Latin).

Hostilius was probably a historical figure, however, in the strict sense that a man bearing the name Tullus Hostilius likely reigned as king in Rome. The most compelling evidence is his name: "Tullus" is an unusual [[praenomen]] in Roman culture, and his gentile name was too unimportant in later times to have been inserted for the purpose of glorifying one of the great houses of the Roman Republic.

Dominique Briquel proposes that Livy was historicizing an ancient pattern of Indo-European legend, in which a single violent figure is followed by a single peacemaker, in this case Ancus Marcius. More mythological examples of this legend involve [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] and [[Mars (god)|Mars]], [[Odin]] and [[Týr]], and [[Indra]] and [[Mitra]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Briquel |first1=Dominique |title=A Companion to Livy |date=28 October 2014 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-30128-9 |pages=153–166 |edition=1 |url=10.1002/9781118339015.ch12 |language=en |chapter=Livy and Indo‐European Comparatism}}</ref>