Thread by @FlintDibble, April 21st was Rome’s 2771st b-day & images of Romulus & Remus [...]

April 21st was Rome’s 2771st b-day & images of Romulus & Remus suckling at the teats of a she-wolf filled my #ClassicsTwitter feed

This #MythicalAnimals thread (18 tweets) explores the biology behind the myth & why we drink milk from cows & goats but not cats, pigs, or wolves
/1

Amulius deposed his brother and became King of the Latins. He killed his nephews and sentenced his niece, Rhea Silvia, to life as a Vestal Virgin

She later gives birth to twin children: Romulus and Remus (surprise!)
/2

Of course, the Roman historian Livy slut-shames Rhea Silvia (1.4.2)

“The Vestal... named Mars as the father of the doubtful offspring. Whether actually so believing or b/c it seemed less wrong if a god were the author of her fault” (Livy translations by Foster @PerseusDigLib)
/3

King Amulius cast the twins into the Tiber river. They didn’t drown and washed ashore where a thirsty she-wolf came upon them and “with her teats gave them suck so gently” (Livy 1.4.6)

Soon after, the twins were found & raised by the shepherd Faustulus w/ his wife Larentia
/4

Like a good, misogynistic historian – skeptical of myths – Livy downplays the wolf-story

“some think that Larentia, having been free with her favours, had got the name She-wolf among the shepherds, and that this gave rise to this marvelous story” (Livy 1.4.7)

Slut-shame #2
/5

Wow, so Livy’s quite the sexist. And the inventor of patronizing “Yo Momma” jokes

He had no problem dissing both the natural mother and the adoptive mother of Romulus and Remus. That’s like real patriotism (pater patriae, not mater matriae)

/6

Plutarch (Life of Romulus) tells us basically the same story (with the same slut-shaming rumors) but adds the detail that the twins were named for the Latin word “ruma” (teat or udder) “because they were seen sucking the wild beast” (6.2 translated by Perrin @PerseusDigLib)
/7

We romantically like to think that myths are based on “kernels of truth,” despite the skepticism of the Livies of the world.

So, what evidence can we use to consider whether the she-wolf sucking was even possible?
/8

The trope of feral children raised in the wild is a pervasive, cross-cultural myth

From the Greek huntress Atalanta suckled by a she-bear to Jangar suckled by wolves (an epic hero of the Central Asian Kalmyks) to Mowgli in Kipling’s Jungle Book or Pecos Bill raised by coyotes
/9

There are certainly more recent, exceptional examples of children raised in the wild. Even examples of those, such as four-year old Shamdeo below. “He was playing with wolf cubs.”

These are often unfortunate stories, not happy myths, but they exist
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151012-feral-the-children-raised-by-wolves
/10

Wolves are certainly wild animals who can be very dangerous to human infants (or adults)

But, while wolves and dogs seem so different, to our eyes, they are still technically the same species. The potential to be nurturing to humans theoretically exists in wolf DNA
/11

So, a one-in-a-billion super-nurturing she-wolf is within the realm of possibility

Of course, she also happened to be lactating and must have lost her pups in order to provide enough milk for Romulus and Remus

Seems “kernel of truth” plausible for a myth, right?
/12

If this myth was true, and wolf/dog milk was nutritious and given that there are nearly a billion dogs in the world, couldn’t their milk help feed us?

Turns out there are good reasons (other than taste) not to milk a dog. It’s not poisonous, but…
/13

Most of the mammal-species that we humans do milk (cow, goat, sheep, even elk) are part of the mammalian group called ruminants.

Like Romulus and Remus, these animals are named for their rumae (their large, graspable udders and teats!)
/14

The reason we don’t milk species like cats or pigs or dogs is because they have too many nipples! These animals have larger litters of tiny, growing pups. Many mouths to feed, but they don’t need more than a tiny sip.
/15

Romuls & Remus “whose size and beauty were more than human” (Plutarch Rom 3) would’ve needed more than 60 ounces of milk per day for up to six-months. No dog or wolf could produce so much for so long

It must’ve been a ruminant’s ruma that saved them (changed to a wolf later)
/16

Plutarch (Rom. 4) suggests that the place where Romulus and Remus were found was called Ruminalis, perhaps b/c “ruminating animals spent the noon-tide there”

Don’t youtube videos of people milking their pets. You can milk a cat, Focker & it’s worse than this gif
/17

In conclusion, biology shows the myth of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf is tenuous at best

History teaches us the ancient Romans (at least Livy and Plutarch) were misogynistic slut-shamers

(Unless otherwise noted, all images from Wikimedia, all gifs from giphy)
/end

PS: I found this photoblog in the course of my research, it’s called “Elephants Have Fabulous Tits” Click on it and read to the end

http://www.nathanmyhrvold.com/index.php/travel/essay/elephants-have-fabulous-tits

Did you scroll down all the way and see the final photo?

For more threads on my research into the ancient Mediterranean see #ClassicalZooarchaeology below