Editing Rhea Silvia

{{short description|Mythical mother of Romulus and Remus}}
{{For|the crater on Vesta|Rheasilvia}}
{{Redirect|Rhea Sylvia|the 2018 EP by the American band Thou|Rhea Sylvia (EP)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Roman
| name = Rhea Silvia
| image = Rhea Silvia by Jacopo della Quercia - Santa Maria della Scalla (from Fonte Gaia) - Siena 2016.jpg
| caption = Statue in the [[Fonte Gaia]]
| abode = [[Tiber]]
| consort = [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], [[Tiberinus (god)|Tiberinus]]
| parents = [[Numitor]] (in Livy's account)
| children = [[Romulus and Remus]]
}}[[File:Sarcofago di marte e rea silvia, 225-230 dc ca. 04.jpg|thumb|Rhea Silvia portrayed on a Sarcophagus]]

'''Rhea''' (or '''Rea''') '''Silvia''' ({{IPA|la|ˈreːa ˈsɪɫu̯ia|lang}}), also known as '''Ilia''',<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Dio |first=Cassius |title=Dio's Roman History |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1914 |location=Cambridge, MA |page=13 |translator-last=Earnest |translator-first=Cary |translator-last2=Foster |translator-first2=Herbert Baldwin}}</ref> (as well as other names){{Efn|These include '''Servilia''' and '''Aemilia'''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Archaic Latin Verse|last=Erasmo|first=Mario|publisher=Focus Pub.|year=2001|isbn=9781585100439|pages=79|series=Classical Texts, Focus Classical Library}}</ref>}} was the mythical mother of the twins [[Romulus and Remus]], who founded the city of [[Rome]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Livy |title=The History of Early Rome |publisher=Heritage Press|year=1960 |location=New York |pages=9–11 |translator1-last=de Selincourt |translator1-first=Aubrey|translator-last2=Scorzelli|translator-first2=Raffaele}}</ref><ref name=":42">[[Livy]] I.4.2</ref> This event was portrayed numerous times in Roman art.<ref name=":172">{{cite web |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/38836389.pdf |title=Mars and Rhea Silvia |last1=Gersht |first1=Rivka |last2=Mucznik |first2=Sonia |pages=116–123 }}</ref> Her story is told in the first book of ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri]]'' of [[Livy]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Livy |title=The History of Early Rome |publisher=Heritage Press |year=1960 |location=New York |pages=9–11 |translator1-last=de Selincourt |translator1-first=Aubrey |translator-last2=Scorzelli |translator-first2=Raffaele}}</ref> and in [[Cassius Dio]]'s ''Roman History''.<ref name=":25">{{cite book |last=Dio |first=Cassius |title=Dio's Roman History |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1914 |location=Cambridge, MA |page=13 |translator1-last=Cary |translator1-first=Earnest |translator2-last=Foster |translator2-first=Herbert}}</ref> The Legend of Rhea Silvia recounts how she was raped by [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] while she was a [[Vestal Virgin]], resulting in the twins,<ref name=":42"/> as mentioned in the ''[[Aeneid]]''<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last=Mathisen |first=Ralph W. |title=Ancient Roman Civilization: History and sources |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |location=New York |pages=246}}</ref> and the works of [[Ovid]].

== Legend ==
[[File:0453 - Roma, Museo d. civiltà romana - Sarcofago Mattei Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 12-Apr-2008.jpg|thumb|300px|Symbolic representation of the Rhea Silvia myth on a sarcophagus in the [[Palazzo Mattei]]. Most of the elements of the story can be found in the scene. The central figure, [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], strides over Rhea Silvia being put to sleep by [[Hypnos|Somnus]] pouring the juice of sleep on her from a horn. The wolf, the personification of the river, the temple of [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]], are all present.]]
According to [[Livy|Livy's]] account of the legend, she was the daughter of [[Numitor]], king of [[Alba Longa]], and descended from [[Aeneas]]. Numitor's younger brother [[Amulius]] seized the throne and killed Numitor's son, then forced Rhea Silvia to become a [[Vestal Virgin]], a priestess of the goddess [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]]. As Vestal Virgins were sworn to celibacy, this would ensure the line of Numitor had no heirs. Rhea, however, became pregnant with the twins [[Romulus]] and [[Remus]] by the [[god]] [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]].<ref name=":42">[[Livy]] I.4.2</ref>

According to [[Plutarch]], she believed this because she saw her children being cared for by a woodpecker and a wolf – animals sacred to Mars.<ref name=":5">{{cite book |last=Mathisen |first=Ralph W. |title=Ancient Roman Civilization: History and sources |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |location=New York |pages=69}}</ref> The account says that Rhea Silvia went to a grove sacred to Mars to get water for use in the [[temple]]<ref name=":6">{{cite book |last=Dio |title=Dio's Roman History |location=Cambridge Massachusetts |translator1-last=Earnest |translator1-first=Cary |translator2-last=Foster |translator2-first=Herbert Baldwin}}</ref> where she encountered Mars who attempted to rape her, she ran into a cave to escape him but to no avail. Mars then promised that her children would be great.<ref name=":7">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/historyromevolu00smitgoog |title=The History of Rome |last=Niebuher |first=B.G. |date=3 April 1843 |page=184 |publisher=Cambridge, J. Taylor; [etc., etc.] }}</ref> These claims of her children's paternity were later doubted by the Roman historian Livy.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Livy |title=The History of Early Rome |publisher=Heritage Press |year=1960 |location=New York |page=9 |translator1-last=de Selincourt |translator1-first=Aubrey |translator2-last=Scorzelli |translator2-first=Raffaele}}</ref>

Vesta, to show her displeasure at the birth of Rhea Silvia's children, caused the holy fire in her temple to go out, shook her altar, and shut the eyes of her image.<ref name=":9">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/historyromevolu00smitgoog |title=The History of Rome |last=Niebuhr |first=B.G. |date=3 April 1843 |pages=184–185 |publisher=Cambridge, J. Taylor; [etc., etc.] }}</ref> According to Ennius, the goddess Venus was more sympathetic to Rhea Silvia's plight.<ref name=":10">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ2fDwAAQBAJ&q=arieti+rape+and+livy%27s+view+roman+history&pg=PA209 |title=Rape in Antiquity: Rape and Livy's View of Roman History |last=Arieti |first=J.A. |year=1997 |page=11 |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=9781905125876 }}</ref>

[[File:Fonte Gaia - she wolf detail.jpg|thumb|[[gray wolf|She-wolf]] (''lupa'') in [[Fonte Gaia]], 14th century]]
When Amulius learned of the birth he imprisoned Rhea Silvia and ordered a servant to kill the twins. But the servant showed mercy and set them adrift on the river [[Tiber]], which, overflowing, left the infants in a pool by the bank. There, a [[She-wolf (Roman mythology)|she-wolf]] (''lupa''), who had just lost her own cubs, suckled them.<ref name=":21">The she-wolf is memorialised in the Medieval bronze ''[[Capitoline Wolf]]'' and is a symbol of Rome.</ref> Rhea Silvia was herself spared from death due to the intercession of Amulius' daughter Antho.<ref>Plutarch, "The Life of Romulus", 3.</ref><ref name=":22">{{cite book |last=Dio |first=Cassius |title=Dio's Roman History |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=13 |translator1-last=Earnest |translator1-first=Cary |translator2-last=Foster |translator2-first=Herbert Baldwin}}</ref> According to Ovid, Rhea Silvia ultimately threw herself into the Tiber.<ref name=":23">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ2fDwAAQBAJ&q=arieti+rape+and+livy%27s+view+roman+history&pg=PA209 |title=Rape in Antiquity: Rape and Livy's view of Roman History |last=Arieti |first=J.A. |year=1997 |page=210 |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=9781905125876 |access-date=21 February 2020}}</ref>

Romulus and Remus overthrew [[Amulius]] and reinstated Numitor as [[Latin kings of Alba Longa|king]] in 752&nbsp;BCE. They would then go to found [[Rome]].<ref name=":11">Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'', 71.5</ref><ref name=":12">Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', [http://wikisophia.org/index.php?title=From_the_Founding_of_the_City/Book_1 Book 1]{{dead link|date=April 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.</ref>

== In Roman art ==
[[Image:Rea teatro romano cartagena.jpg|thumb|Rhea Silvia, torso from the [[Roman theatre, Cartagena]], Spain that was rediscovered in 1988.]]
Despite Livy's [[Euhemerism|euhemerist]] and realist deflation of this myth,{{cn|date=August 2024}} it is clear that the story of her seduction by Mars continued to be widely accepted. This is demonstrated by the recurring theme of Mars discovering Rhea Silvia in Roman arts: In bas-relief on the Casali Altar ([[Vatican Museums]]), in engraved couched glass on the [[Portland Vase]] ([[British Museum]]), or on a [[sarcophagus]] in the [[Palazzo Mattei]]. Mars' discovery of Rhea Silvia is a prototype of the "invention scene" ("discovery scene") familiar in [[Roman art]]; Greek examples are furnished by [[Dionysus]] and [[Ariadne]] or Selene and [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]].

The [[Portland Vase]] features a scene that has been interpreted as a depiction of the "invention", or coming-upon, of Rhea Sylvia by Mars.<ref name=":15">Noted by {{cite journal |author-link=D. E. L. Haynes |first=D.E.L. |last=Haynes |title=The Portland Vase again |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=88 |year=1968 |page=67|doi=10.2307/628671 |jstor=628671 |s2cid=162353186 }}</ref>

In the [[National Roman Museum|Museo Nazionale Romano]] there is a depiction of Rhea Silvia sleeping during the conception of Romulus and Remus in a Relief.<ref name=":18">{{cite journal |last=Albertson |first=Fred C. |year=1987 |title=An Augustan temple represented on a historical relief dating to the time of Claudius |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=441–458 |jstor=505365 |doi=10.2307/505365|s2cid=192982339 }}</ref>

== In Roman literature ==
In a version presented by [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'', it is the river [[Aniene|Anio]] who takes pity on her and invites her to rule his realm.<ref name=":16">{{cite book |author=Ovid |title=[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]] |chapter-url=http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/AmoresBkIII.htm#anchor_Toc520536662 |at=Book&nbsp;III, Elegy&nbsp;VI |chapter=The Flooded River}}</ref>

In [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', [[Anchises]] gives a prophecy that Rhea Silvia would give birth to Romulus and Remus by Mars.<ref name=":132">{{Cite book |last=Mathisen |first=Ralph W. |title=Ancient Roman Civilization: History and sources |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |location=New York |page=246}}</ref>

Rhea Silvia's bearing of Romulus is mentioned in the Roman work, ''Vigil of Venus''.<ref name=":14">{{cite book |last=Mathisen |first=Ralph W. |title=Ancient Roman Civilization: History and sources |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |location=New York |page=363}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Catullus. Tibullus. Pervigilium Veneris| series=Loeb Classical Library 6
| last1=Cornish| first1=F. W.| last2=Postgate| first2=J. P.| last3=Mackail| first3=J. W.| editor-last=Goold| editor-first=G. P.| edition=Revised| publisher=Harvard University Press| year=1913| location=Cambridge, MA}}</ref>

== Academic analyses ==
* In an article by Rosanna Lauriola, Rhea Silvia is held up as an example of how rape victims in Roman myths are valued more as the mothers and catalysts for change than as individuals in their own right.<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/519935/summary|title=Teaching About the Rape of Lucretia: A Student Project |last=Lauriola |first=Rosanna |journal=Classical World |year=2013 |volume=106 |issue=4 |page=682|doi=10.1353/clw.2013.0072 |s2cid=161056564 |access-date=21 February 2020}}</ref>
* A paper by Revika Gersht and Sonia Muryink divides the images of Rhea Silvia's conception by Mars into as many as seven different types.<ref name=":172"/>

== Modern literature ==
* In [[David Drake]]'s science fiction story "To Bring the Light", the [[time travel]]ling protagonist meets a completely human Rhea Silvia, a sympathetic peasant living in a small shepherd community on [[Palatine Hill]] in what would become the city of Rome.<ref>{{cite book |year=2011 |type=collection |title=[[Lest Darkness Fall and Related Stories]] |chapter=To Bring the Light |author-link=David Drake |first=David |last=Drake}}</ref>
* In [[Rick Riordan]]'s novel ''[[The Mark of Athena]]'', Annabeth Chase meets Rhea Silvia and the god of the river Tiber in the forms of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck's characters from the movie ''[[Roman Holiday]]''.<ref name="Riordan2012">{{cite book|author=Rick Riordan|title=The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gHoLiOEdoLoC&pg=PT398|date=2 October 2012|publisher=Disney Book Group|isbn=978-1-4231-5516-4|page=398}}</ref>
* Rhea Silvia is the central character in [[Debra Macleod|Debra May Macleod]]'s historical fiction novel ''Rhea Silvia'' (2022).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Macleod |first1=Debra May |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XSPY66D?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks |title=Rhea Silvia: Book One in The First Vestals of Rome Trilogy |last2=Macleod |first2=Scott |date=2022-04-11 |publisher=Debra May Macleod |language=English}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Rhea Silvia}}
* [[Ilia (name)]]
* [[Aeneas]]
* [[Founding of Rome]]
* [[Rhea (mythology)]]
* [[Tiberinus (god)]]

==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite book |author=Livy |title=Ab urbe condita |chapter=[[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1|Book&nbsp;I]]}}
* {{cite book |first=Quintus |last=Ennius |chapter=The Dream of Ilia (Rhea Silvia) |chapter-url=http://www.attalus.org/translate/ennius1.html#32 |title=Annales |at=Book&nbsp;1}}

{{Roman religion}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhea Silvia}}
[[Category:8th-century BC clergy]]
[[Category:8th-century BC Roman women]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman religion]]
[[Category:Mortal parents of demigods in classical mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological rape victims]]
[[Category:People from Alba Longa]]
[[Category:Rhea (mythology)]]
[[Category:Characters in Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Vestal Virgins]]
[[Category:Mythological Italian people]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]