Ad multos annos

Today is the traditional anniversary for the founding of Rome. If the recognized authorities on the subject can be trusted, the city was established on 21 April 753 BC. That means that this is year 2761 AUC – ab urbe condita: “from the city having been founded.” Interestingly (at least to me), Rome’s special distinction as Urbs, that is, “The City,” comes from the early Latin word urvus, which denotes a furrow cut by a plow.

The story behind the plow business starts with Romulus and Remus. They have an entire early history involving being abandoned bastard god-children raised by a she-wolf, but I’ll focus on the city-founding part. Each had a different idea for where their city ought to be located. They determined that the best way to decide was to prophecy using vultures. Romulus saw six more than Remus and won the contest, so he started digging a furrow to mark the outskirts of the city, but Remus wasn’t happy about being an inferior bird-watcher, and started jumping over the boundaries to mock his brother.

Romulus decided the best way to handle this situation was to crush his brother’s skull with a spade and name the city Roma after himself (this is also what happens when you line-jump in grade-school dodge ball). You’d think two kids who grew up suckling the same wolf’s milk would have been more mutually attached, but who am I to judge? This is apparently the best way to found a city if you want to take over the world.