enzozerillo

[enzozerillo]

Post 1

Livy’s attempt to write a detailed history on a pre-history Mythical Rome leading to present time is fascinating to me. There is no distinct knowledge but there is a distinct oral trail leading back to Rome’s founding. His explanation of his fact seeking methods in separating fact from fiction bemused me, in the fact that he felt little need to do it. I had never considered the value of misremembering before I read his introduction to his first book on Rome’s history. 

He describes myth as being an integral part of history as it is the cultural history of Rome and all Romans. When we read it we do not learn much about early Rome, but a whole lot about the Rome when the history was written. You can see the values of a modern roman detailing his own history in the embellished fashion popular at the time in the connection to the Greeks and heroes of Troy, to the persistence of Romulus in founding Rome. It doesn’t really matter if any of this is true because we learn about what Romans feel make them Roman. 

Take the Rape of the Sabine’s for example; it is so unlikely that this was all one big event, but rather a series of skirmished with neighbors in which women were taken back to Rome. From this you know that Rome was lacking women, which explains the city’s humble origins as an assimilation of outcasts who welcomed anyone in if they wished to be Roman. Finding the fact within myth is more rewarding than separating the two. Myth adds color to the painting of history.