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Thread: Tomb of Romulus Discovered Beneath the Forum in Rome.

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    Gaius Baltar's Avatar Old gods die hard
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    Default Tomb of Romulus Discovered Beneath the Forum in Rome.

    Tomb of Rome's mythical founder Romulus unearthed




    A tomb that was buried thousands of years ago and revered by ancient Romans as the resting place of their city's mythical founder Romulus has now been rediscovered beneath the Forum in Rome.

    The underground tomb and the temple built around it are thought to date from the sixth century B.C., according to archaeologists.
    Ancient Romans believed the tomb held the remains of their city's founder, but the stone sarcophagus that archaeologists just found inside the tomb is empty.
    The underground temple — called a "hypogeum" in Greek — contains a votive altar that was dedicated to Romulus, said Alfonsina Russo, the director of the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo, which oversees the city's ancient ruins.


    The entrance to the tomb is hidden in the northwest of the Forum, underneath the building of the "Curia Julia," or Senate House, Russo told a news conference in Rome today (Feb. 21). The tomb itself would once have been beneath the "Comitium" — the central meeting place of the ancient city where votes by public assemblies were conducted, she said.
    The tomb is also near the "Lapis Niger" — meaning "Black Stone" in Latin — an ancient shrine paved in black marble and thought to cause bad luck, with a stone block marking the spot where Romulus was said to have been murdered by jealous members of the Senate.
    The temple was therefore "located in a highly symbolic place for the political life of Rome," Russo said.
    The empty 4.5-foot-long (1.4 meters) sarcophagus in the tomb was made of a light volcanic stone, called tuff, quarried from the Capitoline Hill beside the Forum, she said.




    Legendary founder

    Romulus was the legendary founder of Rome said to have lived in the eighth century B.C. — but most historians think he did not exist in reality.
    According to legend, Romulus and his twin brother Remus were the grandsons of Numitor, the deposed king of the Latin city of Alba Longa — the sons of his daughter, Rhea Silvia, and the war god Mars in human form.
    When the new king of Alba Longa ordered the infants Romulus and Remus thrown into the Tiber, the story goes, they were instead abandoned on the river bank; there, they were rescued by a she-wolf, who raised them until they were found by a shepherd.


    In later years, Romulus and Remus restored their grandfather to the throne of Alba Longa and decided to build a new city overlooking the spot where they had been abandoned as infants. But, according to legend, they could not agree on which hill to build it, and Remus was killed by Romulus or his supporters in the argument.
    Romulus established Rome on the Palatine Hill and became its first king; in later centuries, it became a republic led by the Senate, and then an empire.
    The tomb of Romulus in the Forum became a mystical site for Romans, and it is mentioned by the ancient Roman historian Marcus Terentius Varro, Russo said.
    The tomb was discovered in November beneath the steps of the Curia, by archaeologists investigating the work of the Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni, who excavated the Lapis Niger shrine and the Comitium in the early 20th century, she said.
    The underground site has now been documented with 3D laser scans, and the excavations will resume at the end of April, Russo said, when archaeologists will investigate more of the buried area.



    https://www.livescience.com/sarcopha...iscovered.html
    Last edited by Gaius Baltar; February 23, 2020 at 09:46 AM. Reason: add information

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    Default Re: Tomb of Romulus Discovered Beneath the Forum in Rome.

    To clarify, there is no concrete proof that the occupant of the tomb was Romulus. The hypothesis is based entirely on the approximate chronological identification and location of the monument. Practically speaking, determining the identity of the skeleton (if it's not actually a cenotaph, as some experts suggest) is essentially impossible, unless a remarkably ancient Latin inscription, even older than the Praeneste fibula, is discovered. The overconfident identification with Rome's founder mostly originates from journalist hype and a tendency of certain archeologists to reach some slightly arbitrary conclusions, which a bit coincidentally happen to link their findings with illustrious historical personalities. A similar and relatively recent case that comes to mind is the Kasta mound near the ruins of the town of Amphipolis, which the leading archaeologist absurdly defined as the mausoleum of Hephaestion. Instead of Philip II, of course!

    Of course, the anonymity, either literal or figurative, of the occupant reduces neither the importance nor the beauty of the findings, but it unfortunately harms the prestige and financing of the excavating mission.

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    Gaius Baltar's Avatar Old gods die hard
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    Default Re: Tomb of Romulus Discovered Beneath the Forum in Rome.

    Quote Originally Posted by Abdülmecid I View Post
    To clarify, there is no concrete proof that the occupant of the tomb was Romulus. The hypothesis is based entirely on the approximate chronological identification and location of the monument. Practically speaking, determining the identity of the skeleton (if it's not actually a cenotaph, as some experts suggest) is essentially impossible, unless a remarkably ancient Latin inscription, even older than the Praeneste fibula, is discovered. The overconfident identification with Rome's founder mostly originates from journalist hype and a tendency of certain archeologists to reach some slightly arbitrary conclusions, which a bit coincidentally happen to link their findings with illustrious historical personalities.
    Likely a cenotaph, but arguably an important one by an individual who had reached mythological status less than 200 years after his death. The argument as to whether Romulus represents a real individual will always be an academic one. But I think it is likely he was a real individual who was revered by his peers and later generations of Romans.

    A similar and relatively recent case that comes to mind is the Kasta mound near the ruins of the town of Amphipolis, which the leading archaeologist absurdly defined as the mausoleum of Hephaestion. Instead of Philip II, of course!
    I have some theories about the Kasta Tomb as well, but that is likely a better topic for that particular thread. But basically I think the female skeleton is Olympias, the two male skeletons are Brutus and Cassius, and the cremated remains are Alexander himself.

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    Roma_Victrix's Avatar Call me Ishmael
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    Default Re: Tomb of Romulus Discovered Beneath the Forum in Rome.

    Quote Originally Posted by Abdülmecid I View Post
    To clarify, there is no concrete proof that the occupant of the tomb was Romulus. The hypothesis is based entirely on the approximate chronological identification and location of the monument. Practically speaking, determining the identity of the skeleton (if it's not actually a cenotaph, as some experts suggest) is essentially impossible, unless a remarkably ancient Latin inscription, even older than the Praeneste fibula, is discovered. The overconfident identification with Rome's founder mostly originates from journalist hype and a tendency of certain archeologists to reach some slightly arbitrary conclusions, which a bit coincidentally happen to link their findings with illustrious historical personalities. A similar and relatively recent case that comes to mind is the Kasta mound near the ruins of the town of Amphipolis, which the leading archaeologist absurdly defined as the mausoleum of Hephaestion. Instead of Philip II, of course!

    Of course, the anonymity, either literal or figurative, of the occupant reduces neither the importance nor the beauty of the findings, but it unfortunately harms the prestige and financing of the excavating mission.
    You beat me to it! I will add to this that the tomb is still very significant for dating to the 6th century BC, but to connect it to Romulus is just silliness. It has other value, though, in demonstrating Roman architectural and funerary traditions extending back to the early republican or late monarchical phase of their civilization.

    Quote Originally Posted by Van Zandt View Post
    Likely a cenotaph, but arguably an important one by an individual who had reached mythological status less than 200 years after his death. The argument as to whether Romulus represents a real individual will always be an academic one. But I think it is likely he was a real individual who was revered by his peers and later generations of Romans.

    I have some theories about the Kasta Tomb as well, but that is likely a better topic for that particular thread. But basically I think the female skeleton is Olympias, the two male skeletons are Brutus and Cassius, and the cremated remains are Alexander himself.
    Alexander the Great wasn't cremated, though, he was embalmed and put on display in a tomb of Alexandria for centuries. His former general Ptolemy I Soter, who founded the Ptolemaic dynasty, famously diverted his body to Egypt shortly after his death. Even Roman emperor Octavian/Augustus visited the site of his remains after taking Ptolemaic Egypt from Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony.

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    realIK17's Avatar Foederatus
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    Default Re: Tomb of Romulus Discovered Beneath the Forum in Rome.

    Yes I do remember about Alexander the Great's body being preserved in Egypt during the classical era. Also, Italians are really lucky because all their historical monuments and buildings were built with stone. Italian archeologists are really fortunate.

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