753 BCE: A Very Brief History Of Rome

753 BCE
The legendary founding date of Rome.

There are two myths about the creation of Rome, and they are interconnected and support each other, which is very much curious, taking in to account that they come from two different sources.
Early settlements of the Palatine Hill discovered by archaeologists, date back to ca 750 BC, that factual date is very close to what the legend tells us about the birthday of Rome - 21 April 753 BC - celebrated in Rome with the festival of Parilia.

“According to legend, Ancient Rome was founded by the two brothers, and demi-gods, Romulus and Remus, on 21 April 753 BCE. The legend claims that, in an argument over who would rule the city (or, in another version, where the city would be located) Romulus killed
Remus and named the city after himself. This story of the founding of Rome is the best known but it is not the only one. Other legends claim the city was named after a woman, Roma, who traveled with Aeneas and the other survivors from Troy after that city fell. Upon landing on the banks of the Tiber River, Roma and the other women objected when the men wanted to move on. She leads the women in the burning of the Trojan ships and so effectively stranded the Trojan survivors at the site which would eventually become Rome. Aeneas of Troy is featured in this legend and also, famously, in Virgil's Aeneid, as a founder of Rome and the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, thus linking Rome with the grandeur and might which was once Troy.”

We may conclude that to certain levels (not in full) based on archeological and text of archaic inscriptions added together with history writings from prominent individuals live witnesses of those times we may accept part of those “myths”.

I believe a reliable method to tease out useful information from the “myths” the Romans told about their early history would be by comparison with other documents from that period produced by other than Romans sources, like Greeks for example, and archeological work in those areas that may bring material confirmation to some of those “myths”.

Our current knowledge about early Romans is derived from two main documented sources: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43); Livy (Titus Livius – 59 B.C.
to A.D. 17) – Roman writers and Diodorus Siculus (mid to late 1 B.C.); Cassius Dio (2 to 3 A.D.); Dionysius of Halicarnassus (late 1 B.C.) and Plutarch (before A.D. 50 to after 120) all Greek writers.

The debate about whether Romulus and Remus were real men or simply a myth or maybe a mix of both, is ongoing and may not be decided soon. The majority of the scholars believe that the myth about Aeneas, the motivation of the foundation of Rome, may have some foundation in some folktale, his Roman mythology was not largely accepted until “Augustus commissioned Vergil's epic The Aeneid”.

Romulus' and Remus' story is somewhat incredible to be taken plainly, but there is indication by some scholars that their characters may be based on some historic truth. Foundation myths are often tangled with a mix of fiction and non-fiction. While is true that we may never be sure if Romulus and Remus were or depicted real historical figures, what is certain is that the myth of “Romulus and Remus” was regarded with tribute even by the ancients.

“Dates of Rome’s Kings, according to Varro”
Romulus
Numa Pompilius
Tullus Hostilius
Ancus Marcius
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (Tarquin the Elder)
Servius Tullius
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud)
c. 753-715 BCE
c. 715-673 BCE
c. 673-642 BCE
c. 642-617 BCE
c. 616-579 BCE
c. 578-535 BCE
c. 534-510 BCE