The Brothers of Romulus

Through an analysis of literary and legal representations of brothers, this text attempts to re-create the context and contradictions that shaped Roman ideas about brothers. It brings together expressions of brotherly love and rivalry around an idealized notion of fraternity.

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Stories about brothers were central to Romans' public and poetic myth-making, to their experience of family life, and to their ideas about intimacy among men. Through an analysis of literary and legal representations of brothers, this text attempts to re-create the context and contradictions that shaped Roman ideas about brothers. It brings together expressions of brotherly love and rivalry around an idealized notion of fraternity - fraternal "pietas", the traditional Roman virtue that combined affection and duty in kinship. Romans believed that the relationship between brothers was especially close since their natural kinship made them nearly alter egos. Because of this status, the fraternal relationship became a model for Romans of relationships between friends, lovers and soldiers.