Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119
Life of Romulus
ῬωμύλοςPlutarch's Life of Romulus tells of the founder of Rome, from the competing stories of his birth and descent to his disappearance in the thirty-eighth year of his reign, at the age of fifty-four. It covers the twins' rescue by a she-wolf, the founding of the city and the death of Remus, the rape of the Sabine women, the wars with neighbouring peoples and the origins of many Roman festivals and customs. It is paired with the Life of Theseus, and the Comparison of Theseus and Romulus closes the pair.
Contents · 15 passages
- 1.1–2.6Where Rome got its name; the lineage of Romulus; Tarchetius and the phantom in the hearth825 words
- 3.1–6.3Romulus and Remus: Amulius, the Vestal Ilia, the she-wolf and Faustulus; the two Larentias1298 words
- 7.1–8.7Remus taken captive, Numitor's discovery and the death of Amulius1114 words
- 9.1–10.2Founding Rome: the sanctuary of asylum, the vultures and the death of Remus760 words
- 11.1–13.6The ritual founding of Rome, the Parilia, the date of foundation and the first senate1290 words
- 14.1–15.5The rape of the Sabine women and the cry of Talasius1029 words
- 16.1–8Romulus kills Acron and dedicates the first spolia opima680 words
- 17.1–18.7Tarpeia's betrayal, the Sabine attack and Zeus (Jupiter) Stator1077 words
- 19.1–20.6The Sabine women stop the battle; the two kings, the tribes and the sacred cornel-tree1089 words
- 21.1–22.4Roman festivals: the Matronalia, Carmentalia and Lupercalia; the Vestals and laws of Romulus1019 words
- 23.1–25.5The death of Tatius, a plague and the war with Veii1117 words
- 26.1–27.8Romulus takes on royal state; his disappearance on the Nones of July and the two accounts of it882 words
- 28.1–8Julius Proculus, Romulus as Quirinus and the divinity of the soul766 words
- 29.1–7Quirinus, the Capratine Nones and the maidservant Philotis680 words
- comp.1.1–comp.6.5Comparison of Theseus and Romulus1725 words
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English translation by Bernadotte Perrin (1914). Original text: Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 1, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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