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Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Department of Classics and Religious Studies: Faculty Publications
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Hercules, Mummius, And The Roman Triumph In Aeneid 8, Matthew P. Loar
Hercules, Mummius, And The Roman Triumph In Aeneid 8, Matthew P. Loar
Department of Classics and Religious Studies: Faculty Publications
Book 8 of the Aeneid opens with Aeneas finally reaching the future site of Rome, where he meets Evander and the Arcadians sacrificing to Hercules in a grove near the banks of the Tiber. Evander invites the Trojans to share the Arcadians’ feast, and after he sates his guests with food and wine he recounts the origins of the Arcadians’ ritual, relating how Hercules vanquished the robber-monster Cacus, erstwhile landlord of the Aventine. Evander’s initial description of Hercules reveals a triumphant hero, a victor arriving in Rome with the spolia from his prior conquest in tow (8.200–204):
attulit et nobis …