I wrote up a piece about Romans which I hope doesn't offend too many people:
The Romans have always fascinated me. I remember as a child visiting a friend and going through their Encyclopedia Brittannica and seeing the picture of a standing bronze wolf with two little human toddlers feeding from its teats. There was movie “Romulus and Remus”, the two twin infants and the legend was that the wolf suckled them and raised them. But wolves live in packs so it wouldn’t be realistic. ‘Wolf’ is in the Italian, or Latin slang, is a prostitute. Similarly “cougar” in the English language refers to an older woman seeking a younger male lover. So actually the twins were raised by a prostitute. In those times life was difficult especially for a woman. Women often lost their husbands and family through wars so this woman had to survive in whatever fashion she could and her motherly instinct led her to adopt these orphans whose parents were probably killed. Naturally Romulus and Remus were outcasts as this woman, their wet nurse and erstwhile mother, was of low status.
Rome was formed by a bunch of outcasts. They were all men with no real future but horny as hell. They were smart enough to build a community but no decent woman would marry these guys for sure. Probably in those times marriages were arranged as the daughters were married off to rich guys or upper class members of the community or neighbours. Roger Moore, the third James Bond after Sean Connery, early in his career starred in the movie “The Rape of the Sabine Women”. Roger played the part of Romulus. Romulus and his twin brother Remus fought over leadership of Rome. Romulus survived so we have the city of Rome instead of Remus. Hmm, Remussian Empire doesn’t quite have that ring to it.
As I mentioned, the outcast Romans were horny and the neighbouring Sabine had lots of women so they hatched up a scheme to steal those women. This is an indication that the Romans were originally steppe people as was the custom in the steppes tribes often raided other tribes to steal women. I think women died often in the harsh steppes in childbirths so there was always a shortage of women who thus became prized items. It was also a practice in the steppes for men to share a wife. In the Mahabharat, ‘maha’ means great and Bharat is the name of the founding Indian King. India is named after Bharat. “India” is a British invention. The Mughals called India Hindustan. Mahabharat is a grand epic of the Indian Kingdom. King Bharat’s grand children would fight over the kingdom. They were dived into two groups. The virtuous Pandavas, but rather stupid, group had five brothers who shared a wife against the cunning Kauravas group. Each camp got their allies and the whole of India, or Bharat, was divided into two great groups. Of interest, the mythical God Krishna was on the side of the Pandavas. Most likely Krishna was a real king but got deified over the years. They fought in the epic Kurukshetra War that decimated the Indian population by 40%. There was a depression after this war. This ‘brothers sharing of a wife’ is a steppe tradition so the Indian Aryans shows they were originally steppe people.
To get back to Rome, so one can easily see why Rome became a world power with such daring people. The scheme was to lure the Sabines in a phoney festival. Once the Sabines came to the festival they plied them with wine. Once they passed out they picked up the men and their wives and drove them back to their community. They captured and hid the younger women and raped them. Strangely the women did not go back to their own community. The enraged Sabines waged a war against the Romans and the stolen women backed the Romans. It shows women were romantic and loved men of daring and felt loved by the Romans as they would rather have a virile adventurer than be married off in an arranged marriage to an older person.
The Rape is supposed to have occurred in the early history of Rome, shortly after its founding by
Romulus and his mostly male followers. Seeking wives in order to found families, the Romans negotiated unsuccessfully with the
Sabines, who populated the area. Fearing the emergence of a rival society, the Sabines refused to allow their women to marry the Romans. Consequently, the Romans planned to abduct Sabine women. Romulus devised a festival of
Neptune Equester and proclaimed the festival among Rome's neighbours. According to Livy, many people from Rome's neighbours attended, including folk from the
Caeninenses,
Crustumini, and
Antemnates, and many of the Sabines. At the festival Romulus gave a signal, at which the Romans grabbed the Sabine women and fought off the Sabine men. The indignant abductees were soon implored by Romulus to accept Roman husbands.
Romulus pleaded with the abducted women:
Livy is clear that no sexual assault took place. On the contrary, Romulus offered them free choice and promised civic and property rights to women. According to Livy, Romulus spoke to them each in person, "and pointed out to them that it was all owing to the pride of their parents in denying the right of intermarriage to their neighbours. They would live in honourable wedlock, and share all their property and civil rights, and—dearest of all to human nature—would be the mothers of free men."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women
This story, of course, is only a legend. The actual growth of Rome is less exotic and interesting. The city of Rome grew out of a number of settlements that existed around seven hills that were near the River Tiber. The settlements were near the river for the obvious reasons of a water supply. The Tiber was also narrow enough at this point to be bridged. However, the area also suffered because of the nearness of the river. Each settlement was separated from the other by marshland. Each individual settlement was vulnerable to attack as a single settlement. By joining together they were stronger. To join together, the marshland had to be drained. This was something that took years to do. The legend of Romulus and Remus gives the impression that Rome was created very quickly; the truth was very different.
The early people of Rome were from a tribe called Latins. They were from the Plains of Latium. The Latins were successful farmers and traders and they became rich and successful. Therefore, Rome from its early days was a rich city. This was to create jealousy and to bring the city of Rome into conflict with areas surrounding the city. In particular, the Romans fought against the Etruscans and the Samnites.
For this reason, the leaders of Rome invested in an army. This skilled force both protected the city and expanded its power. By 300 BC, the Romans controlled most of the Italian peninsula.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/romulus_and_remus.htm
It seems unlikely that any part of this legend is true. Almost certainly it is a copy of a Greek tale, invented to explain the name of Rome and certain customs. For instance Roman brides were taken from their families on their wedding days with a pretense of force, and this probably accounts for the story of the Sabine women.
UNRV History
