Remus
Subtitle: a Roman myth
By: T.P. Wiseman.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York, NY, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 243
Subjects: Remus (Twin of Romulus, King of Rome); Mythology, Roman.; Rome -- History -- To 510 B.C. -- Historiography.
Description: Romulus founded Rome - but why does the myth give him a twin brother Remus, who is killed at the moment of the foundation? This mysterious legend has been oddly neglected. Roman historians ignore it as irrelevant to real history; students of myth concentrate on the more glamorous mythology of Greece, and treat Roman stories as of little interest.

In this book, Professor Wiseman provides, for the first time, a detailed analysis of all the variants of the story, and a historical explanation for its origin and development. His conclusions offer important new insights, both into the history and ideology of pre-imperial Rome and into the methods and motives of myth-creation in a non-literate society.

In the richly unfamiliar Rome of Pan, Hermes and Circe the witch-goddess, where a general grows miraculous horns and prophets demand human sacrifice, Remus stands for the unequal struggle of the many against the powerful few.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 220-235) and index.