Romulus and Remus

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Romulus and Remus, the central figures of the foundation myth of Rome. According to tradition, the twins were abandoned by their parents as babies, but were saved by a she-wolf who found and nursed them. Romulus killed his brother after a vicious quarrel, and went on to found a city, which was named after him.

The myth has been at the core of Roman identity since the 1st century AD, although the details vary in different versions of the story. For many Roman writers, the story embodied the ethos and institutions of their civilisation. The image of the she-wolf suckling the divinely fathered twins remains a potent icon of the city even today.

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Guests

  • Mary Beard 11 episodes
    Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge
  • Peter Wiseman No other episodes
    Emeritus Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter
  • Tim Cornell No other episodes
    Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester

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Programme ID: b01q02t7

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q02t7

Auto-category: 937 (Ancient Rome)

Hello (First sentence from this episode) Hello. The Capitoline Museum in Rome contains a small but magnificent room known as the Chamber of the She-Wolf.