![F0442 Louvre JL David Sabines INV3691 detail01 rwk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/F0442_Louvre_JL_David_Sabines_INV3691_detail01_rwk.jpg)
In
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...
, Hersilia was a figure in the foundation myth of Rome. She is credited with ending the war between Rome and the
Sabines
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
The Sabines divid ...
.
Battle of the Lacus Curtius
In some accounts she is the wife of
Romulus
Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...
, the founder and first King of Rome in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
's
founding myths. She is described as such in both
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
and
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
; but in
Dionysius
The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...
,
Macrobius
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
, and another tradition recorded by Plutarch, she was instead the wife of
Hostus Hostilius
Hostus Hostilius was a Roman warrior in the time of Romulus, and the grandfather of Tullus Hostilius, the third Roman king.
Legend
In reprisal for the Rape of the Sabine Women, the Romans were attacked by forces sent by several Sabine towns. Th ...
, a Roman champion at the time of Romulus. This would make her the grandmother of
Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, believ ...
, the third king of Rome.
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
tells this tale in his work ''Ab urbe condita'':
Just like her husband (who became the god Quirinus), she was deified after her death as Hora Quirini, as recounted in Ovid's ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...
'':
![Guercino - Hersilia Separating Romulus and Tatius - WGA10944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Guercino_-_Hersilia_Separating_Romulus_and_Tatius_-_WGA10944.jpg)
Very little concrete information is known about the deity Hora Quirini. According to Georg Wissowa, Ovid created the story of Hersilia's apotheosis into Hora Quirini. On the other hand, T.P. Wiseman argues that the story comes from an earlier Greek source.
[Wiseman, T. P. “The Wife and Children of Romulus.” The Classical Quarterly 33, no. 2 (1983): 445–52.]
See also
*
The rape of the Sabine women
The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...
*
Quirinus
In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''.
Name
Attestations
The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman sourc ...
References
External links
{{Commons category, Hersilia
Roman Myth IndexT. P. Wiseman: The Wife and Children of Romulus (The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp 445-452, 1983)
Characters in Roman mythology
Roman goddesses
Queens of Rome
8th-century BC Roman women