Editing Founding of Rome (section)

== Ancient tradition and founding myths ==
[[File:Rome-Palatin-fonds de cabanes.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Excavation on the [[Palatine Hill]] has found the foundations of a hut believed to correspond to the [[Hut of Romulus|Hut]] of [[Romulus]], which the Romans themselves preserved into late antiquity]]

By the [[late Republic]], the usual Roman origin myth held that their city was founded by a [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin]] named [[Romulus]] on the day of the [[Parilia Festival]] (21 April) in some year around 750{{nbsp}}BC.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=35}}<ref>{{harvnb|Cornell|1995|p=72|ps=. Different ancient historians placed it in different years: "Fabius placed it in 748&nbsp;BC, Cincius in 728, [[Cato the Elder|Cato]] in 751 and [[Varro]] in 754" [sic]. }}</ref> Important aspects of the myth concerned Romulus's murder of his twin [[Remus]], the brothers' descent from the god [[Mars (god)|Mars]] and the royal family of [[Alba Longa]], and that dynasty's supposed descent from [[Aeneas]], himself supposedly descended from the goddess [[Aphrodite]] and the royal family of [[Ancient Troy|Troy]].{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=44}} The accounts in the first book of [[Livy]]'s ''[[History of Rome (Livy)|History of Rome]]''{{sfn|Livy|loc=1}} and in [[Vergil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' were particularly influential. Some accounts further asserted that there had been a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek]] settlement on the Palatine (later dubbed [[Pallantium]]) even earlier than Romulus and Remus, at some time prior to the [[Trojan War]].<ref>{{harvnb|Momigliano|1989|pp=54, 59}}; Verg. ''Aen.'', 8; {{harvnb|Dion. Hal. ''Ant. Rom.''|loc=1.45.3}}. Also noted are modern beliefs in Myceneaean influence: {{cite book |last=Peruzzi |first=E |title=Mycenaeans in early Latium |location=Rome |year=1980 |mode=cs2}}. Momigliano dismisses such beliefs, however, as overly reliant on "doubtful etymologies and ... unorthodox use of the legend of Evander".</ref>

Modern scholars disregard most of the traditional accounts as myths.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=70}} There is no persuasive archaeological evidence for either the Romulan foundation or for the idea of an early Greek settlement.{{sfn|Momigliano|1989|p=54}} Even the name Romulus is now generally believed to have been retrojected from the city's name – glossed as "Mr Rome" by the classicist [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]] – rather than reflecting a historical or actual figure.{{sfn|Beard|2015|pp=71, 95 ("unlike the fictional 'Romulus', or 'Mr Rome'")}} Some scholars, particularly [[Andrea Carandini]], have argued that it remains possible that these foundation myths reflect actual historical events in some form and that the city and [[Roman Kingdom]] were in fact founded by a single actor in some way. This remains a minority viewpoint in present scholarship{{sfn|Cornell|1995|pp=70–71}} and highly controversial in the absence of further evidence, with the arguments made by Carandini and others appearing to rest on highly tendentious interpretations of what is currently known with certainty from scientific excavations.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=36}} 

The Romans' [[origin myth]]s, however, provide evidence of how the Romans conceived of themselves as a mixture of different ethnic groups and foreign influences,{{Sfn|Cornell|1995|p=60}}  The Romans took the foundation of their own new cities seriously, undertaking many rituals and attributing many of them to remote antiquity.{{sfn|Momigliano|1989|p=83}} They long maintained the [[Hut of Romulus]], a primitive dwelling on the Palatine attributed to their founder, although they had no firm basis for associating it with him specifically.{{sfn|Momigliano|1989|p=67}}

=== Chronological disagreements ===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
|+ Rome's foundation dates in ancient sources
! Ancient historian !! Founding year
|-
| [[Gnaeus Naevius]]
| {{circa|1100&nbsp;BC}}{{sfn|Koptev|2010|p=20}}
|-
| [[Ennius]]
| {{circa|1100&nbsp;BC}}<ref>{{harvnb|Momigliano|1989|p=82|ps=. "Ennius... considered Ilia, Romulus' mother, to be the daughter of Aeneas... If, as seems probably, he attributed these words [that Rome was founded 700 years previously] to Camillus, he placed the origins of Rome in the early eleventh century BC".}}</ref> or <br />{{circa|884&nbsp;BC}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brinkman |first=John A |date=1958 |title=The foundation legends in Vergil |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3295326 |journal=Classical Journal |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=25–33 |jstor=3295326 |issn=0009-8353 |quote=Quintus Ennius... according to his account, the founding of the city was dated about the year 900 }}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Koptev|2010|pp=19–20|ps=, noting also the interpretation that Ennius' claim of "seven hundred years" having elapsed may be from the time of [[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]], which imply {{circa|1100&nbsp;BC}}. }}</ref>
|-
| [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus]]
| 814–13&nbsp;BC<ref>{{harvnb|Koptev|2010|pp=15–16|ps=, noting that this was the first estimate of Rome's foundation; Koptev also notes Dionysius' later commentary expressing bafflement as to the choice of this year. }}</ref>
|-
| [[Asinius Quadratus]]
| 776&nbsp;BC<ref>{{harvnb|Feeney|2007|p=87}}, via synchronism with the Eratosthenes' date for the first [[Olympiad]].</ref>
|-
| [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133 BC)|Calpurnius Piso]]
| 757, 753, or 751&nbsp;BC<ref>{{harvnb|Koptev|2010|p=43|ps=. "600 years before the consulate of M. Aemilius Lepidus and C. Popilius, which took place in&nbsp;158 BC".}}</ref>
|-
| [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] and [[Plutarch]]
| 754–53&nbsp;BC{{sfnm|Cornell|1995|1p=72|Forsythe|2005|2p=94}}<ref>Plut. ''Rom.'', 12, claims 21 April 753&nbsp;BC synchronised with an eclipse; no such eclipse could have been observed in the Mediterranean for several years on either side of that date. {{harvnb|Grafton|Swerdlow|1985|pp=456–458}}.</ref>
|-
| [[Fasti Capitolini]]
| 753–52&nbsp;BC<ref>{{Cite book |last=Samuel |first=Alan Edouard |title=Greek and Roman chronology: calendars and years in classical antiquity |date=1972 |publisher=Beck |isbn=3-406-03348-2 |location=München |oclc=415753 |page=252 }} See Olympiad 6.4.</ref>
|-
| [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]]
| 752–51&nbsp;BC<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Koptev|2010|p=20|ps=. "first year of the seventh Olympiad".}}</ref>{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=401}}
|-
| [[Polybius]]
| 751–50&nbsp;BC{{sfnm|Koptev|2010|1p=17|Momigliano|1989|2p=82}}{{sfn|Drummond|1989|p=626}}

|-
| [[Cato the Elder]] and [[Diodorus]]
| 751&nbsp;BC{{sfn|Koptev|2010|p=17}}{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=72}}<ref>[[Diodorus]], [[Bibliotheca historica|''Bibliotheca historica'']] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/7*.html VII]. "the city was founded in the second year of the Seventh Olympiad."</ref>
|-
| [[Fabius Pictor]]
| 748–47&nbsp;BC{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=50}}<ref>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2005|pp=94, 369–70|ps=, noting that Fabius Pictor's work did not include five fictitious years of anarchy, which extended the chronology to Varro's date. See {{harvnb|Dion. Hal. ''Ant. Rom.''|loc=1.74.1}}. }}</ref>
|-
| [[Lucius Cincius Alimentus|Cincius Alimentus]]
| 729–28&nbsp;BC{{sfnm|Forsythe|2005|1p=94|Lomas|2018|2p=50|Dion. Hal. ''Ant. Rom.''|3loc=1.74.1}}
|}

While the Romans believed that their city had been founded by an [[eponym|eponymous founder]] at a specific time,{{sfn|Lomas|2018|pp=36–37}} when that occurred was disputed by the ancient historians. The earliest dates placed it {{circa|1100}}{{nbsp}}BC out of a belief that Romulus had been Aeneas's grandson. This moved Rome's foundation much closer to the [[fall of Troy|fall]] of [[Ancient Troy|Troy]], dated by [[Eratosthenes]] to 1184–83&nbsp;BC;{{sfn|Koptev|2010|p=20}} these dates are attested as early as the 4th century{{nbsp}}BC. Romulus was later chronologically connected to Aeneas and the time of the [[Trojan War]] by introducing a [[kings of Alba Longa|line of Alban kings]], which scholars consider to be entirely spurious.{{sfnm|Lomas|2018|1p=50|Feeney|2007|2pp=88–89}}

Most scholars view the move from a foundation date in the 1100s to one in the 700s to have come from Roman calculations from estimates of the lengths of the republican and regal periods.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=72. "It seems clear that the various dates given by historians for the foundation... were linked to estimates of the length of the regal period"}} Their attempts to estimate how long the regal period lasted, however, are largely rejected as synthetic calculations.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=73. "Most probably the date was fixed simply by counting back seven generations of thirty-five years... it seems likely that the foundation date was fixed by some kind of mechanical calculation"}} It may also be that the date of the city's foundation was assigned from Greek historiography,{{sfn|Feeney|2007|p=89}} especially influenced by [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus of Tauromenium]] (born {{circa|350&nbsp;BC}}) who may have been the first to move the founding of the city from the era of the Trojan war to the more historical 814&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Feeney|2007|pp=92–94}}, noting there is no clear rationale for the selection of 814–13&nbsp;BC. But see {{harvnb|Koptev|2010|pp=17–19}}, suggesting 814&nbsp;BC comes from synchronism with the Macedonian dynasty or as five ''saecula'' before 263&nbsp;BC and the start of the [[First Punic War|first Punic war]].</ref> A later intervention, possibly at the hands of [[Fabius Pictor]] (born {{circa|270&nbsp;BC}}) or his source [[Diocles of Peparethus]], then placed the foundation date within the [[Olympiad]]s (ie within "historical" time), settling eventually on {{circa|750&nbsp;BC}}.{{sfn|Feeney|2007|pp=95–96, noting that bringing the foundation within the Olympiads "helps Fabius in his larger thematic plan of showing that Rome is not a barbarian outsider but an equal participant in the Greek cultural world"}} [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] (born {{circa|60&nbsp;BC}}) placed it in the first year of the [[List of ancient Olympic victors|7th Olympiad]], that is, 752 BC.<ref name=":0" /> The later ''[[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Chronographia]]'' of [[Eusebius]] ({{circa|325&nbsp;AD}}) accepts this dating, but his ''[[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Canons]]'' notably place the event three years earlier, in 755 BC, while also using Dionysius' date as the beginning of Romulus' reign.<ref>[[Eusebius]] [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_chronicon_02_text.htm ''Chronographia'' 109-110], [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_02_part1.htm ''Canones'' 6-7th Olympiads].</ref>

From [[Claudius]]'s [[Secular Games]] in AD{{nbsp}}47 to [[Hadrian]]'s [[Romaea]] in AD{{nbsp}}121, the official date seems to have used the [[Varronian chronology|chronology]] established by [[Varro]] in the late 1st century{{nbsp}}BC, placing Rome's founding in 753{{nbsp}}BC. [[Augustus]]'s [[Fasti Capitolini|Fasti]] running to AD{{nbsp}}13 and the Secular Games celebrated at Rome's 900th and 1000th anniversaries under [[Antoninus Pius]] and [[Philip the Arab|Philip{{nbsp}}I]], meanwhile, used dates computed from a foundation a year later in 752{{nbsp}}BC. Despite known errors in Varro's work,<ref>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2005|p=279}}; {{harvnb|Cornell|1995|p=402}}; {{harvnb|Grafton|Swerdlow|1985|loc=passim}}</ref> it is the former date that has become the most repeated in modernity and is still used for computing the [[ab urbe condita|AUC]] [[calendar era]].{{sfnm|Forsythe|2005|1p=94|Lomas|2018|2p=50}}

=== Romulus and Remus ===
[[File:Origini di roma in narrazione continua, da pompei V 4, 13, s.n..JPG|thumb|A fresco from [[Pompeii]] depicting the foundation of Rome. [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]] riding in his chariot; [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] descending from the sky to [[Rhea Silvia]] lying in the grass; [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] shows to [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] the she-wolf suckling the twins; in the lower corners of the picture: river-god [[Tiberinus (god)|Tiberinus]] and water-goddess [[Juturna]]. 35–45 AD.]]
{{main|Romulus and Remus}}

<!-- Present tense for the tale -->
In the best known form of the legend, Romulus and Remus are the grandsons of [[Numitor]], the king of Alba Longa. After Numitor is deposed by his brother [[Amulius]] and his daughter [[Rhea Silvia]] is forced to become a [[Vestal virgin]], she becomes pregnant{{snd}}allegedly [[Rape in ancient Rome|raped]] by the [[war god]] [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]{{snd}}and delivers the two illegitimate brothers.<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1995|pp=138–139|ps=, on Livy, notes how he distinguishes between literal truth and a Roman "''right to claim'' descent from Mars... because it appropriate symbolises the martial accomplishments of [later] Romans, who... have the ability to compel others to accede to that claim".}} {{harvnb|Miles|1995|p=142}}.</ref> Amulius orders that the children [[infant exposure|be left to die]] on the slopes of the Palatine or in the [[Tiber River]], but they are [[human-animal breastfeeding|suckled]] by a [[she-wolf (ancient Rome)|she-wolf]] at the [[Lupercal]] cave and then discovered by the shepherd [[Faustulus]] and taken in by him and his wife [[Acca Larentia]]. (Livy combines Larentia and the she-wolf, considering them most likely to have referred to a [[prostitution in ancient Rome|prostitute]], also known in Latin slang as a {{lang|la|lupa}} or she-wolf.){{sfn|Miles|1995|p=142}} Faustulus eventually reveals the brothers' true origins, and they depose or murder Amulius and restore Numitor to his throne. They then leave or are sent to establish a new city at the location where they had been rescued.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=45}}<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1995|p=147 n. 15|ps=: in {{harvnb|Dion. Hal. ''Ant. Rom.''|loc=1.85.1–3}}, Numitor sends the twins to found a city and gives them assistance; in {{harvnb|Livy|loc=1.6–7}} the twins do so on their own initiative.}}</ref>

The twins then come into conflict during the foundation of the city, leading to the murder of Remus. The dispute is variously said to have been over the naming of the new city, over the interpretation of [[augury|auguries]],<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1995|p=147|ps=. Remus sees birds first; Romulus sees more. The correct interpretation of the omens "is ambiguous" and "is settled only by the murder of Remus and by the success of Romulus and his city".}}</ref> whether to place it on the Palatine or Aventine Hill, or concerned with Remus's disrespect of the new town's [[sulcus primigenius|ritual furrow]] or wall. Some accounts say Romulus slays his brother with his own hand, others that Remus and sometimes Faustulus are killed in a general melee.<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1995|p=148 n. 17|ps=, noting that {{harvnb|Dion. Hal. ''Ant. Rom.''|loc=1.87.2–3}} "suppresses altogether" the fratricide and instead has Remus killed by an unknown assailant with Romulus mourning his death. }}</ref> [[T. P. Wiseman|Wiseman]] and some others attribute the aspects of [[fratricide]] to the 4th-century BC [[Conflict of the Orders]], when Rome's lower-class [[plebeians]] began to resist excesses by the upper-class [[patrician (Rome)|patricians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2005|p=96|ps=. Forsythe notes also that some scholars, like T&nbsp;P Wiseman, believe the tale was an invention of the fourth century BC and reflected self-image of the then-emerging patrician and plebeian [[nobiles]].}}</ref>

Romulus, after [[sulcus primigenius|ritualistically ploughing]] the [[Roma Quadrata|generally square course]] of the city's [[pomerium|future boundary]], erects [[Murus Romuli|its first walls]] and declares the settlement an asylum for exiles, criminals, and runaway slaves. The city becomes larger but also acquires a mostly male population.<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1995|p=147 n. 16|ps=: in {{harvnb|Livy|loc=1.8.1, 1.8.6, 2.1.4}} the city is made of only refugees; in {{harvnb|Dion. Hal. ''Ant. Rom.''|loc=1.85.3}} it is instead made up of both refugees as well as prominent men from Alba Longa and descendants of Trojan exiles.}}</ref> When Romulus' attempts to secure the women of neighbouring settlements by diplomacy fail, he uses the religious celebration of [[Consualia]] to abduct the women of the [[Sabines]]. According to Livy, when the Sabines rally an army to take their women back, the women force the two groups to make peace and install the Sabine king [[Titus Tatius]] as comonarch with Romulus.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=45}}<ref>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2005|p=97|ps=, adding that "Titus Tatius" may be a name for an early Roman monarch who was removed from the narrative of seven kings}}.</ref>

The story has been theorised by some modern scholars to reflect anti-Roman propaganda from the late fourth century BC, but more likely reflects an indigenous Roman tradition, given the [[Capitoline Wolf]] which likely dates to the sixth century&nbsp;BC. Regardless, by the third century, it was widely accepted by Romans and put onto some of Rome's [[denarius|first silver coins]] in 269&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|pp=60–61}} In his 1995 ''Beginnings of Rome'', [[Tim Cornell]] argues that the myths of Romulus and Remus are "popular expressions of some universal human need or experience" rather than borrowings from the Greek east or Mesopotamia, inasmuch as the story of virgin birth, intercession by animals and humble stepparents, with triumphant return expelling an evil leader are common mythological elements across Eurasia and even into the Americas.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|pp=62–63}}

=== Aeneas ===
[[File:Batoni, Pompeo — Aeneas fleeing from Troy — 1750.jpg|thumb|Eighteenth century painting by [[Pompeo Batoni]] depicting Aeneas fleeing from Troy. Aeneas carries his father.]]
[[File:Aeneae exsilia.svg|thumb|Aeneas's route in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''. The epic poem was written in the early first century BC.]]

<!-- Present tense for the tale -->
The tradition of Romulus was also combined with a legend telling of Aeneas coming from Troy and travelling to Italy. This tradition emerges from the [[Iliad]]'s prophecy that Aeneas's descendants would one day return and rule Troy once more.<ref>{{harvnb|Cornell|1995|pp=63, 413 n. 45|ps=, citing ''Iliad'' 20.307f}}.</ref> Greeks by 550&nbsp;BC had begun to speculate, given the lack of any clear descendants of Aeneas, that the figure had established a dynasty outside the proper Greek world.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|pp=63–64}} The first attempts to tie this story to Rome were in the works of two Greek historians at the end of the fifth century BC, [[Hellanicus of Lesbos]] and [[Damastes of Sigeum]], likely only mentioning off hand the possibility of a Roman connection; a more assured connection only emerged at the end of the fourth century&nbsp;BC when Rome started having formal dealings with the Greek world.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|pp=64–65}}

The ancient Roman annalists, historians, and antiquarians faced an issue tying Aeneas to Romulus, as they believed that Romulus lived centuries after the Trojan War, which was dated at the time {{circa|1100&nbsp;BC}}. For this, they fabricated a story of Aeneas's son founding the city of [[Alba Longa]] and establishing a dynasty there, which eventually produced Romulus.<ref>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2005|p=94|ps=. "Troy's unhistorical connection with Rome was maintained by inventing the Alban kings, whose reigns were made to span the chronological gap between Troy's destruction (1184/3&nbsp;BC according to Eratosthenes) and Rome's foundation".}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Cornell|1995|p=141|ps=. "In the developed legend of the origins of Rome, the son of Aeneas founded a hereditary dynasty at Alba Longa. But this Alban dynasty was an antiquarian fiction devised for chronographic reasons".}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Momigliano|1989|p=58|ps=. "Hence [from chronological difficulties] the creation of a series of intermediate Alban kings, which the poet Naevius had not yet considered necessary, but which his contemporary Fabius Pictor admitted". }}</ref>

In Livy's first book he recounts how Aeneas, a demigod of the Trojan royal [[Anchises]] and the goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], leaves Troy after its destruction during the [[Trojan War]] and sailed to the western Mediterranean. He brings his son – Ascanius – and a group of companions. Landing in Italy, he forms an alliance with a local magnate called [[Latinus]] and marries his daughter [[Lavinia]], joining the two into a new group called the Latini; they then found a new city, called [[Lavinium]]. After a series of wars against the [[Rutuli]] and [[Caere]], the Latins conquer the [[Alban Hills]] and its environs. His son Ascanius then founds the legendary city of [[Alba Longa]], which became the dominant city in the region.<ref>{{harvnb|Lomas|2018|p=47}}, citing {{harvnb|Livy|loc=1.1}}.</ref> The later descendants of the royal lineage of Alba Longa eventually produce Romulus and Remus, setting up the events of their mythological story.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=47}}

Dionysius of Halicarnassus similarly attempted to show a Greek connection, giving a similar story for Aeneas, but also a previous series of migrations. He describes migrations of [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadians]] into southern Italy some time in the 18th century BC,{{sfn|Cornell|1995|pp=37–38}} migrations into Umbria by Greeks from Thessaly, and the foundation of a settlement on the [[Palatine hill]] by [[Evander of Pallantium|Evander]] (originally hailing also from Arcadia) and [[Hercules]],{{sfnm|Cornell|1995|1p=38|Lomas|2018|2p=47}} {{cn span |text=whose [[labors of Hercules|labour]] with the [[Labours of Hercules#Tenth: Cattle of Geryon|cattle]] of [[Geryon]] was placed in the [[Forum Boarium]] by the Romans. |date=January 2024 }} 

The introduction of Aeneas follows a trend across Italy towards [[Hellenization|Hellenising]] their own early mythologies by rationalising myths and legends of the [[Greek Heroic Age]] into a pseudo-historical tradition of prehistoric times;<ref>{{harvnb|Cornell|1995|pp=37, 39|ps=. "The legendary material [Greek myths] became a coherent body of pseudo-historical tradition and was the object of intense research".}}</ref> this was in part due to Greek historians' eagerness to construct narratives purporting that the Italians were actually descended from Greeks and their heroes.<ref>{{harvnb|Cornell|1995|p=39|ps=, referencing also Greek claims that Persians, Indians, and Celts also were all descended from Greek gods or heroes. }}</ref>{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=47}} These narratives were accepted by non-Greek peoples due Greek historiography's prestige and claims to systematic validity.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=39}}

Archaeological evidence shows that worship of Aeneas had been established at Lavinium by the sixth century BC.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|p=47}} Similarly, a cult to Hercules had been established at the [[Ara Maxima]] in Rome during the archaic period.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=40}} By the early fifth century BC, these stories had become entrenched in Roman historical beliefs.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=93}} These cults, along with the early – in literary terms – account of [[Cato the Elder]], show how Italians and Romans took these Greek histories seriously and as reliable evidence by later annalists, even though they were speculations of little value.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=37}} Much of the syncretism, however, may simply reflect Roman desires to give themselves a prestigious backstory: claim of Trojan descent proved politically advantageous with the Greeks by justifying both claims of common heritage and ancestral enmity.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=65}}

=== Other myths ===

There was no single mythic tradition of Rome's founding.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wiseman |first=T Peter |date=2013 |title=The Palatine, from Evander to Elagabalus |jstor=43286787 |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=103 |pages=234–268 |issn=0075-4358 |quote=They [authors of the reviewed books] assume there was a single legendary tradition, but in fact there were dozens. Servius knew eight... Festus knew ten, Plutarch thirteen, Dionysius fourteen. }}</ref> By the time of the [[Pyrrhic War]] (280–275&nbsp;BC), there were some sixty different myths for Rome's foundation that circulated in the Greek world. Most of them attributed the city to an eponymous founder, usually "Rhomos" or "Rhome" rather than Romulus.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|pp=93–94}}<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1995|p=137|ps=&nbsp;instead has "at least twenty-five".}}</ref> One story told how [[Rhomos|Romos]], a son of [[Odysseus]] and [[Circe]], was the one who founded Rome.{{sfn|Goldberg|1995|pp=50–51}} [[Martin P. Nilsson]] speculates that this older story was becoming a bit embarrassing as Rome became more powerful and tensions with the Greeks grew. Being descendants of the Greeks was no longer preferable, so the Romans settled on the Trojan foundation myth instead. Nilsson further speculates that the name of Romos was changed by some Romans to the native name Romulus, but the same name Romos (later changed to the native Remus) was never forgotten by many of the people, so both these names were used to represent the founders of the city.{{sfn|Nilsson|1964|pp=264–265, 272}}

Another story, attributed to [[Hellanicus of Lesbos]] by [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], says that Rome was founded by a woman named Rhome, one of the followers of Aeneas, after landing in Italy and burning their ships.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=94}} That by the middle of the fifth century Aeneas was also allegedly the founder of two or three other cities across Italy was no object.{{sfn|Bickerman|1952|pp=66–67}} These myths also differed as to whether their eponymous matriarch Roma was born in Troy or Italy – i.e. before or after Aeneas's journey – or otherwise if their Romus was a direct or collateral descendant of Aeneas.{{sfn|Bickerman|1952|p=67}}

Myths of the early third century also differed greatly in the claimed genealogy of Romulus or the founder, if an intermediate actor was posited. One tale posited that a Romus, son of Zeus, founded the city.{{sfn|Bickerman|1952|p=69}} Callias posited that Romulus was descended from Latinus and a woman called Roma who was the daughter of Aeneas and a homonymous mother. Other authors depicted Romulus and Romus, as a son of Aeneas, founding not only Rome but also Capua. Authors also wrote their home regions into the story. [[Polybius]], who hailed from Arcadia, for example, gave Rome not a Trojan colonial origin but rather an Arcadian one.{{sfn|Bickerman|1952|p=67}}