posted November 20, 2007 12:52 PM         

Decorated with seashells and colored marble, the vaulted sanctuary is buried 52 feet inside the Palatine hill, the palatial center of power in imperial Rome, the archaeologists said at a news conference.
In the past two years, experts have been probing the space with endoscopes and laser scanners, fearing that the fragile grotto, already partially caved-in, would not survive a full-scale dig, said Giorgio Croci, an engineer who worked on the site.

The archaeologists are convinced that they have found the place of worship where Romans believed a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the god of war Mars who were abandoned in a basket and left adrift on the Tiber.

Thanks to the wolf, a symbol of Rome to this day, the twins survived, and Romulus founded the city, becoming its first king after killing Remus in a power struggle.

Ancient texts say the grotto known as the "Lupercale"_ from "lupa," Latin for she-wolf — was near the palace of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, who was said to have restored it, and was decorated with a white eagle.

That symbol of the Roman Empire was found atop the sanctuary's vault, which lies just below the ruins of the palace built by Augustus, said Irene Iacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine and the nearby Roman Forum.

Augustus, who ruled from the late 1st century B.C. to his death in the year 14, was keen on being close to the places of Rome's mythical foundation and used the city's religious traditions to bolster his hold on power, Iacopi said.

"The Lupercale must have had an important role in Augustus' policies," she said. "He saw himself as a new Romulus."

Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University and an expert on the Palatine, said the grotto is almost certainly the "Lupercale."

The chances that it's not are minimal," said Carandini, who did not take part in the dig. "It's one of the greatest discoveries ever made."

Most of the sanctuary is filled with earth, but laser scans allowed experts to estimate that the circular structure has a height of 26 feet and a diameter of 24 feet, Croci said.

Archaeologists at the news conference were divided on how to gain access to the "Lupercale."

Iacopi said a new dig would start soon to find the grotto's original entrance at the bottom of the hill. Carandini suggested enlarging the hole at the top through which probes have been lowered so far, saying that burrowing at the base of the hill could disturb the foundations of other ruins.

The Palatine is honeycombed with palaces and other ancient monuments, from the 8th-century B.C. remains of Rome's first fledgling huts to a medieval fortress and Renaissance villas. But the remains are fragile and plagued by collapses, leaving more than half of the hill, including Augustus' palace, closed to the public.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said the first area to benefit from an extensive, $17.5 million restoration of the hills' ruins will be Augustus' palace, scheduled to reopen in February after being closed for decades.

Source, yahoo news

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted November 20, 2007 05:49 PM         

Archaeologists tell us that the hill country of western Italy had been settled by Indo-European tribes around 1200 BC, and by 1000 BC the area along the Tiber river that would one day be known as Rome already possessed a thriving agricultural population. As did other Mediterranean farmers, the people who settled along the Tiber found the countryside uniquely suited to the cultivation of grapes, wheat, and olives. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were also raised on the hillside, and as with other tribal people, they were governed by a council of elders and led by chieftains.

In keeping with their Indo-European roots, these tribal peoples reverenced the role fire played in their lives, and the religion of the village came to be manifested in the worship of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The focus of the village's religious life was a central fire, tended by four women, the Vestal Virgins, who had been chosen in childhood and devoted to the goddess. Since Vesta was a virgin goddess, as is appropriate for a goddess who symbolizes the purity of fire, her priestesses were also expected to remain chaste for their period of service, which lasted for thirty years. For a Vestal Virgin to compromise her chastity during her period of service was an unspeakable sin, and the punishment for such an action was to be whipped to death or sealed alive in a tomb. In light of such penalties, it is not surprising that only twenty Vestals yielded to desire in the course of eleven centuries. Interestingly, it was one of these instances that led to the founding of Rome.

According to legend, when the Greeks under Agamemnon destroyed the city of Troy, Aeneas, a prince of the region, fled to the west, carrying with him the sacred relics of that city. He settled in what is now Italy, married a princess of the region, and had a son known as Ascanius. Ascanius, in turn, established a dynasty at Alba that lasted twelve generations.

The twelfth king of Alba was Numitor, the last descendent of Aeneas. Numitor had a brother named Amulius, who sought the throne for himself. A coup was initiated, in the course of which Numitor was exiled and his sons were put to death. The young daughter of Numitor, Rhea Silvia, was then dedicated to the service of Vesta, in the belief that the enforced vow of chastity would prohibit any further heirs to the throne. The keeping of the Vestal Virgins was supposedly the most secure of environments. The ways or the pleasures of the gods, however, have a tendency to disrupt the best laid plans of men.

Rhea Silvia grew to be a beautiful woman, and one night the Vestal lay down beside a stream to sleep. According to the story, she loosened the front of her tunic and "opened her bosom to catch the breeze." That night, Mars, the Roman god of war, was taking a late-night stroll, came across the sleeping virgin, and was overcome with her beauty. She, in turn, was also overcome, and in due course discovered that the god had left her with a gift of twins. Since she was the daughter of the king, the usurper felt that it would be wise to imprison the princess for transgressing her vow, rather than have her executed. The newborn twins, on the other hand, were placed in a sifting basket and the basket was given the Tiber river. The god of the river realized the sacred nature of that which had been placed in his care, and he caused the river to overflow, depositing the basket under a fig-tree in Lupercal, the 'Valley of the Wolves.' The tradition maintains that a she-wolf nursed the infants until they were adopted by a shepherd and his wife, though another, more skeptical account (Livy) maintains that the children were nursed by the wife of the shepherd, who was called 'she-wolf' because of the manner in which she indiscriminately bestowed her affections.

When the boys reached maturity, they led a revolt against the usurper. Amulius learned of their royal pedigree when he captured Remus. The knowledge, however, came late, for Romulus had also became aware of his identity and had amassed an army. The forces of Romulus defeated Amulius, freed their mother from captivity, and restored their grandfather on the throne of Alba.

Tradition maintains that Romulus and Remus then decided to establish a city on the site where they had emerged from the Tiber river. The landscape of the area was made of seven hills, and the land was divided between the two brothers through the use of an augur who possessed the gift of interpreting the flight of vultures. As they approached the hills, a group of eighteen vultures flew overhead. Twelve of the vultures then settled on the hill that was the portion of Romulus, and six went to the hill of Remus. With such a supernatural blessing the brothers set out building their cities. According to tradition, this occurred in the year 753 BC.

As was the custom of the Latin people, Romulus began his city by plowing a sacred furrow with a white bull and cow about the perimeter. Remus, however, ached over the fact that his site had received only half the blessing that the gods had bestowed upon his brother. In anger he approached the site where Romulus was working, and jumped over the sacred furrow in contempt. Romulus promptly slew his brother and vowed that anyone who attempted to breach his walls in the future would meet the same fate.

In order to populate his city, Romulus began to recruit men from other countries, and to establish a breeding population, he simply abducted a number of eligible young women from a neighboring tribe. According to the story, Romulus arranged for a number of neighboring peoples to attend a series of public games. During the competition, the Romans seized the women of the Sabine tribe and drove the men away. When the Sabine King heard what had happened he declared war and advanced on Rome. The Sabine women, however, were aware of the compliment that had been given them by their capture, secured a truce, arguing that if the Sabines won the conflict they would lose their husbands, and if the Romans won, they would lose their fathers and brothers. The quick-witted Romulus then persuaded Tatius, the king of the Sabines, to join his tribe to Rome. For later artists, 'The Rape of the Sabine Women' is perhaps the most frequently depicted event in Roman history.

After a long reign, legend asserts that Romulus was taken by a whirlwind up into the heavens, and after this ascension he was worshiped as the god Quirinius.