Rome (AFP)

The discovery is considered "exceptional" by archaeologists. What could be the tomb of Romulus, the founding king of Rome, is presented for the first time to the public this Friday, bringing the Eternal City back to its origins three thousand years ago.

The site was known to specialists, and in particular to the Italian Giacomo Boni (1859-1925) who from the 19th century had hypothesized that on the Roman Forum, around the Comitium (space provided for public meetings in antiquity ) could be a heroon, a monument erected in memory of an illustrious or heroic character, in this case the founder of the city.

Recent excavations, based on his work, carried out by the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, have confirmed this hypothesis by bringing to light "a tuff sarcophagus (known from Giacomo Boni) about 1.40 meters long, associated with a circular element, probably an altar ", the two elements dating back to the sixth century BC, announced the Park in a press release.

The excavations and the project to develop this discovery, described as "exceptional", must be presented this Friday at a press conference by the park's director, Alfonsina Russo.

The legendary foundation of Rome was set for April 21 of the year -753 BC. AD by Romulus, the latter having killed his brother Remus for having crossed the furrow which he had drawn to mark the enclosure of the new city.

Popularized by ancient authors like Tite-Live (-59.17), Ovid (-43.17) or Plutarch (46-125), the existence of the two twins suckled by a she-wolf - figure become the symbol of Rome - has always divided historians.

Rather than a historical truth, certain authors, like the German Théodore Mommsen (1817-1903), considered this twinning as the symbol of the double Roman consulate while the Italian Ettore Pais (1856-1939) saw in it the plebs opposition -patriciat.

- Myth and reality -

An episode of this legend was brought to light by archeology in the late 1980s by a team of scientists, led by Italian archaeologist Andrea Carandini, who in an incompletely explored area of ​​the Forum discovered a long and deep cut staked large stones. For Carandini, this was indeed the pomoerium, the "sacred furrow" drawn by Romulus.

The death of Romulus also oscillates between myth and reality. The version most often used is that he was killed by angry senators who, after dismembering him, dispersed the pieces of his body in different places in the city. A theory which pleads for an absence of corpse, and therefore of grave.

According to another tradition, carried by the ancient author Varron (in the 1st century BC), the tomb of Romulus would be in a place located on the Comitium and where the first of the seven kings of Rome would have been killed.

"The fact Romulus has existed or not is not essential, what matters is that this figure is considered as the starting point chosen by the ancients to mark the political birth of the city", explains to AFP archaeologist Paolo Carafa.

"The archaeologists of the Colosseum Park propose to recognize these two objects - the sarcophagus and stone cylinder - like the tomb of Romulus but I would say that from this discovery must now open a scientific debate", believes this specialist from Roman Antiquity at La Sapienza University in Rome.

© 2020 AFP