The Construction Of Roman Identity In The Myths Of Rome's Origins And Foundation

The myths of Rome's origins and foundation are channels for shaping the image of Roman state and building the identity of“Roman”.The myth of Rome's origins constructs the Roman culture identity at the national level,while the myth of Rome's foundation constructs the identity of the“Roman”as a community.The traditional versions of the myths come from the writings of ancient witers,but the archaeological evidence of the early Latium and the city of Rome in modern times shows something different from the myths,It also shows that ancient writers constructed early Roman history from the perspective of identity.The construction of the Rome's origins comes first from the Greeks,who had traditionally shaping the Greek roots of gentiles,and incorporated Rome into the Greek mythology system.The Greeks fabricated the Greek root of Rome,and the Sicilian writers combined Trojan myths with Rome's origins,described the story of Trojan survivors who settled in Latium after a parade to the west.The Romans accepted Greeks'construction,combined the Trojan myths with the legends of the Latium,formed the tradition versions of Rome's origins.According to the integration and construction of the myth of Rome's origins,the Romans establish a consanguineous urban union with the Latin cities,but Rome's political status is higher than that of the Latin cities;on the other side,they establish relations with the Greek world,enter the Greek cultural circle and achieve the cultural status corresponding to the political status;otherwise,the Romans also establish the legitimacy of expansion.After the formation of the Trojan cultural identity at the national level,the Romans turn to the core of Roman identity.The Rome's foundation myths construct Roman identity from three aspects:Firstly,the myth of Romulus' foundation reflects Romans'divine blood and national characters,which is a sign that Romans are different from other nations.Secondly,the myth of Romulus' asylum construct Rome as an open society,and citizenship granting is the way the Roman state absorb members.Thirdly,the myth of raping Sabine women is the embodiment of the pluralism of the Romans.Through blood relationship and marriage,Roman absorb the population and culture of foreign nationalities,and construct the pluralism of the“Roman”.According to writing myths of Rome's origins and foundation,the Romans complete the construction of external cultural identity and internal self-identity,and demonstrate the destiny of the world ruled by the Roman Empire.