103- The Silent Tomb?

About this episode

The episode explores the mysterious disappearance of King Romulus and various theories surrounding it.

It's 5th July, 716 BCE. Campus Martius. One way or another, King Romulus of Rome disappears. But how? Did he become a god? Did the Senate do him in? Was there an uprising by the people? Let's pick our way through the different versions of events... Sources for this episode: Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press. Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd. Ovid (1968), The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd. Pliny's Natural History (TBA). Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc. Sextus Aurelius Victor (TBA). Wiseman, T. P. (1983), The Wife and Children of Romulus. The Classical Quarterly 33(2): 445-452. Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), Solar eclipses of historical interest…

People in this episode

Hosts: Vince, Cassie

Topics covered

• King Romulus
• Roman history
• disappearance
• mythology
• historical sources

Keywords

• Romulus
• disappearance
• Senate
• uprising
• historical sources

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA, Wikipedia

Books & works: Dio's Roman History, The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus, The Early History of Rome, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Plutarch's Lives, The Wife and Children of Romulus

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