> Kevin P. Edgecomb has left a comment on my post dealing with the ancient Roman cave that many people believe it was the shrine of the Lupercale, the sacred place where according to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were suckled by a wolf. Kevin left a link to an article in which another Italian archaeologist claims that the cave is not the Lupercale.

The following is an excerpt of the article:

A LEADING Italian archaeologist said that the grotto whose discovery was announced this week in Rome is not the sacred cave linked to the myth of the city’s foundation by Romulus and Remus.

The Culture Ministry and experts who presented the find said they were “reasonably certain” the cavern is the Lupercale – a sanctuary worshipped for centuries by Romans because, according to legend, a wolf nursed the twin brothers there.

But Adriano La Regina, Rome’s superintendent of archaeology from 1976 to 2004, said ancient descriptions of the place suggest the Lupercale is elsewhere – 50 to 70 metres northwest of the cave discovered near Emperor Augustus’ palace.

“I am positive this is not the Lupercale,” Mr La Regina told Reuters in an interview.

Instead, he believes the cave – which ministry pictures show is decorated with well-preserved seashells and coloured mosaics – was a room in Nero’s first palace on the Palatine Hill, which burnt down in 64 AD in the great fire of Rome.

I want to thank Kevin for the link. The original intent of my post was not to defend the statement that the cave was the Lupercale. Rather, my post asked the question whether archaeology could prove mythology and my answer was that it could not.

The debate on the significance of the cave is important because it allows archaeologists to ascertain the real nature of the cave.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Lupercale