| Rhea Silvia |
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| ancient roman religion | |
| roman mythology | |
| vestal virgins | |
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According to legend, she was the daughter of Numitor , king of Alba Longa and descendant of Aeneas . Numitor's brother Amulius seized the throne and killed Numitor's son. Amulius forced Rhea Sylvia to become a Vestal Virgin , a priestess to the goddess Vesta . Vestal Virgins where sworn to celibacy for a period of thirty years. Amulius forced her to become a Vestal Virgin so that she (and through her, Numitor) would have no heirs. The god Mars , however, took a fancy to Rhea Sylvia and Rape d her, engendering the twins. When Amulius learned of this, he ordered Rhea Sylvia buried alive (the standard punishment for Vestal Virgins who did not remain celibate) and ordered a servant to kill the twins, but the merciful servant set them adrift in the river Tiber . The river-god, Tiberinus found the twins and gave them to a she- Wolf , Lupa, to suckle, and then he rescued and married Rhea Silvia. Romulus and Remus went on to found Rome and overthrow Amulius, reinstating Numitor as King of Alba Longa. The name Rea Silvia suggests a minor Deity , a demi-goddess of Forest s. ''Silva'' means woods or forest, and ''Rea'' may be related to ''res'' and ''regnum''; ''Rea'' may also be related to Greek ''rheô'', "flow," and thus relate to her association with the spirit of the river Tiber. Niebuhr connected the name Rhea Silvia with 'Rea' meaning 'guilty' and 'Silvia' 'of the forest' and so assumed that Rhea Silvia was a generic name for 'the guilty woman of the forest,' i.e. a woman who had been raped there. SEE ALSO |
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