Editing Quirinus (section)

===Brelich's argument for split deification===
Historian Angelo Brelich argued that Quirinus and [[Romulus]] were originally the same divine entity which was split into a founder hero and a god when Roman religion became demythicised. To support this, he points to the association of both Romulus and Quirinus with the grain [[spelt]], through the ''[[Fornacalia]]'' or ''Stultorum Feriae'', according to Ovid's ''Fasti''.<ref name=StultorumFeriae>{{cite book |author-link=Ovid |author=Ovid |title=Fasti |at=II, 481&nbsp;ff}}</ref>

The last day of the festival is called the ''[[Quirinalia]]'' and corresponds with the traditional day of Romulus' death. On that day, the Romans would toast spelt as an offering to the goddess [[Fornax (mythology)|Fornax]]. In one version of the legend of Romulus' death cited by Plutarch, he was killed and cut into pieces by the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|nobles]] and each of them took a part of his body home and buried it on their land.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

Brelich claimed this pattern – a festival involving a staple crop, a god, and a tale of a slain founding hero whose body parts are buried in the soil – is a recognized [[mytheme]] that arises when such a split takes place in a culture's mythology (see ''[[Dema deity]]'' archetype). The possible presence of the ''[[Flamen Quirinalis]]'' at the festival of [[Acca Larentia]] would corroborate this thesis, given the fact that Romulus is a stepson of hers, and one of the original twelve arval brethren ([[Fratres Arvales]]).<ref>{{cite book |author=Aulus Gellius |title=Noctes Atticae |at=7.7.7}}</ref>