Sol Invictus
03-01-2009, 03:02 AM
Information submitted by Marcus Moravius Piscinus Horatianus of Nova Roma.
M. Moravius Piscinus Horatianus Quiritibus et omnibus salutem
plurimam dicit: Di Deaeque vos bene ament.
Hodie est die pristini Kalendas Martias; haec dies comitialis est:
Felices natalis Gai Iuli Iuliane! Di dent tibi, noster Flamen
Florialis, quae veils.
The Ancestry of Romulus
"At length, after many kings had reigned in this city, Numitor and
Amulius became joint sovereigns. But Amulius, having deprived
Numitor, who was the elder, of his share of the throne, condemned his
daughter Rhea to perpetual virginity, that no male offspring of
Numitor's family might arise to claim the crown, palliating the
injury by an appearance of honour, so that she might not seem to have
been compelled, but to have been chosen one of the vestal virgins.
Being shut up, accordingly, in a grove sacred to Mars, she gave birth
to two boys, whether the offspring of an illicit connexion with a
mortal, or of the god Mars, is uncertain. This affair becoming known,
Amulius, whose fears were increased by the birth of twins, ordered
the children to be exposed, and threw his niece into prison, of which
ill-treatment she died. Fortune, however, having a care for the
raising of Rome, threw the children in the way of a she-wolf to be
suckled, which, having lost her cubs, and longing to empty her
overcharged teats, offered herself as a nurse to the infants. As she
made frequent returns to the children, as if they had been her own
offspring, Faustulus, a shepherd, observed her proceedings, and,
withdrawing them from the beast, brought them up in a rude way of
life among his cattle. That they were the sons of Mars, was believed,
as on plain proof, either because they were born in the grove of
Mars, or because they were nursed by a wolf, which is under the
protection of Mars. The names of the boys were Remus and Romulus. As
they grew up among the shepherds, daily contests in strength
increased their vigour and agility. While they were frequently
engaged, with great activity, in preventing robbers from seizing the
cattle, it happened that Remus, having been taken by the robbers, was
brought before the king, as if he had himself been guilty of that
which he was endeavouring to prevent in others, and had been
accustomed to make depredations on Numitor's flocks. He was
consequently given up to Numitor for punishment. But Numitor, who was
touched with compassion for the stripling's youth, was led to suspect
that he might be one of his exposed grandchildren, and while the
resemblance of his features to those of his daughter, and his age
corresponding with the time of the exposure, kept him in suspense,
Faustulus unexpectedly came in with Romulus, and the origin of the
youths being ascertained from him, a conspiracy was formed, the young
men taking up arms to revenge the death of their mother, and Numitor
to recover the throne of which he had been deprived."
~ M. Iunianus
Iustinus, Historia 43.1
M. Moravius Piscinus Horatianus Quiritibus et omnibus salutem
plurimam dicit: Di Deaeque vos bene ament.
Hodie est die pristini Kalendas Martias; haec dies comitialis est:
Felices natalis Gai Iuli Iuliane! Di dent tibi, noster Flamen
Florialis, quae veils.
The Ancestry of Romulus
"At length, after many kings had reigned in this city, Numitor and
Amulius became joint sovereigns. But Amulius, having deprived
Numitor, who was the elder, of his share of the throne, condemned his
daughter Rhea to perpetual virginity, that no male offspring of
Numitor's family might arise to claim the crown, palliating the
injury by an appearance of honour, so that she might not seem to have
been compelled, but to have been chosen one of the vestal virgins.
Being shut up, accordingly, in a grove sacred to Mars, she gave birth
to two boys, whether the offspring of an illicit connexion with a
mortal, or of the god Mars, is uncertain. This affair becoming known,
Amulius, whose fears were increased by the birth of twins, ordered
the children to be exposed, and threw his niece into prison, of which
ill-treatment she died. Fortune, however, having a care for the
raising of Rome, threw the children in the way of a she-wolf to be
suckled, which, having lost her cubs, and longing to empty her
overcharged teats, offered herself as a nurse to the infants. As she
made frequent returns to the children, as if they had been her own
offspring, Faustulus, a shepherd, observed her proceedings, and,
withdrawing them from the beast, brought them up in a rude way of
life among his cattle. That they were the sons of Mars, was believed,
as on plain proof, either because they were born in the grove of
Mars, or because they were nursed by a wolf, which is under the
protection of Mars. The names of the boys were Remus and Romulus. As
they grew up among the shepherds, daily contests in strength
increased their vigour and agility. While they were frequently
engaged, with great activity, in preventing robbers from seizing the
cattle, it happened that Remus, having been taken by the robbers, was
brought before the king, as if he had himself been guilty of that
which he was endeavouring to prevent in others, and had been
accustomed to make depredations on Numitor's flocks. He was
consequently given up to Numitor for punishment. But Numitor, who was
touched with compassion for the stripling's youth, was led to suspect
that he might be one of his exposed grandchildren, and while the
resemblance of his features to those of his daughter, and his age
corresponding with the time of the exposure, kept him in suspense,
Faustulus unexpectedly came in with Romulus, and the origin of the
youths being ascertained from him, a conspiracy was formed, the young
men taking up arms to revenge the death of their mother, and Numitor
to recover the throne of which he had been deprived."
~ M. Iunianus
Iustinus, Historia 43.1