In
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...
, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infant
Romulus
Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...
(the future founder of the city of Rome) and his twin brother
Remus along the banks of the
Tiber River as they were being suckled by the she-wolf,
Lupa.
According to legend, Faustulus carried the babies back to his sheepfold for his wife
Acca Larentia to nurse them.
Faustulus and Acca Larentia then raised the boys as their own. Romulus later
defeated and killed King
Amulius
In Roman mythology, Amulius () was king of Alba Longa who ordered the death of his infant, twin grandnephews Romulus, the eventual founder and king of Rome, and Remus. He was deposed and killed by them after they survived and grew to adulth ...
of Alba Longa, with the help of Faustulus, and his brother Pleistinus. Romulus and Remus set out to build their own city, but then had a falling-out. In the ensuing skirmish, Faustulus and Pleistinus were killed. Romulus went on to found
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Representation in Livy's ''From the Founding of the City''
The Roman historian
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a 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 traditional founding i ...
details the story of the infants Romulus and Remus in his work ''
Ab urbe condita libri'' (From the Founding of the City). According to Livy, after the rape of the Vestal Virgin
Rhea Silvia
Rhea (or Rea) Silvia (), also known as Ilia, (as well as other names) was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome.Livy I.4.2 This event was portrayed numerous times in Roman art. Her story is told in the ...
, who later claimed Mars as the father (either out of truth or for the respectability that came of divine providence, as Livy points out),
King Amulius, the twin's great-uncle, ordered the infants put into a basket and sent down the
Tiber River to their deaths by drowning. In this year, the Tiber had flooded and as such, carried the boys into a flatland. When the water receded, it dropped the boys on a flat piece of land where the she-wolf, known as
Lupa, found and nursed them. According to Livy, some shepherds referred to Acca Larentia as the 'she-wolf' because of her sexual promiscuity, and this may be how the tale of the twins suckling at the teat of the she-wolf came to be. Either way, Faustulus carried the infants back to his sheepfold where he presented the children to his wife to rear. Faustulus and Acca Larentia raised the boys as their own, and they grew to be shepherds. According to Livy, Faustulus was aware of the royal lineage of the twins from the beginning, writing:
From the very beginning Faustulus had entertained the suspicion that they were children of the royal blood that he was bringing up in his house; for he was aware both that infants had been exposed by order of the king, and that the time when he had himself taken up the children exactly coincided with that event.
Faustulus withheld his knowledge of the twin's lineage, choosing instead to wait "until opportunity offered or necessity compelled."
According to Livy, necessity came first, as Remus had been captured by
Numitor, the former King, a descendant of
Aeneas, father of Rhea Silvia, and maternal grandfather of Romulus and Remus.
Faustulus revealed the true nature of the twin's birth to Romulus. At the same time, Numitor realized the boy he held in custody was his grandson Remus, and so a plan was hatched to slay King Amulius. Romulus gathered a band of shepherds and, combined with Remus's forces from the house of Numitor, attacked and killed the king. The twins declared the death of the tyrant and named their grandfather king. According to Livy, this was followed by a "shout of assent...from the entire throng
hichconfirmed the new monarch's title and authority."
Representation in Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives''
Greek philosopher, biographer, and essayist
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
, addresses Faustulus in his section, ''The Life of Romulus,'' in his work ''
Parallel Lives
*
Culture of ancient Greece
Culture of ancient Rome
Ancient Greek biographical works
Ethics literature
History books about ancient Rome
Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius
Cultural depictions of Mark Antony
Cultural depictions of Cicero
...
.'' Plutarch largely follows Livy's description of Faustulus in his work, ''
From the Founding of the City,'' while offering some additional information and contending ideas. Plutarch notes that the servant whom King Amulius ordered to set the twins down the Tiber was referred to by some as Faustulus. Plutarch also claims that Numitor most likely knew of Faustulus and Acca Larentia's raising Romulus and Remus, and "secretly aided the foster-parents in their task."
According to Plutarch, Faustulus was at one point brought before Numitor to confirm the livelihood of the boys.
Etymology
Faustulus' name being tied to that of ''faunus'' is generally rejected by the scholarship, with many detailing how Faustulus is derived from ''faveo'' (Latin: befriend, support, back up). The name Faustulus is further derived from ''favestos'', as the "verbal adjective underlying his name, must be linked to the religious sense of ''faveo'' expressed in the ritual formula ''favete linguis"''
meaning 'be silent'. These Latin roots help to explain why Faustulus remained silent about the nature of Romulus and Remus' lineage for so long. Many have historically viewed Faustulus as a "wolfish" character, but this has no historical or etymological basis, and is generally thought to be the result of popular association of fauna and Faustulus.
Death
According to Plutarch, Faustulus, along with his brother Pleistinus, was killed in the same skirmish that resulted in Romulus slaying his brother Remus before the founding of the city of Rome.
Representations in art
File:Mignard - The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife.jpg, Painted in 1654 by French artist, Nicolas Mignard, this example of late 17th century French art depicts Faustulus presenting the infants Romulus and Remus to his wife (their adoptive mother), Acca Larentia. This work is housed in the Dallas Museum of Art.
File:Cortona Romulus and Remus Given Shelter by Faustulus 01.jpg, This 1597 work by Pietro de Cortona depicts the presentation of Romulus and Remus to his wife, Acca Larentia. This work is housed in the Denon wing of the Louvre.
File:Romolo e remo.jpg, ''Romulus and Remus
In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...
'' by Peter Paul Rubens, 1615. One can view Faustulus (right) approaching the infants Romulus and Remus as they are suckling at the teat of the she-wolf. Housed in the Pinacoteca Capitolina in Rome.
File:Lupa Capitolina, Rome.jpg, The Capitoline Wolf housed in Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy, depicts the she-wolf, Lupa, suckling the mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
References
{{Authority control
8th century BC in the Roman Kingdom
Fictional shepherds
Characters in Roman mythology
She-wolf (Roman mythology)