Romulus: Rex Luporum: A Latin Novella (Historia Romana (Roman History))

by Madelyn Waehner

Historia Romana Liber I (Roman History Book 1)
Romulus is a lot of a shepherd boy, a robber, a leader, a murderer, a king, a kidnapper, a god. But most importantly, he’s the founder of the city of Rome.
Fathered by a god, left for dead by a king, and raised by a wolf, Romulus won’t rest until he rules the most powerful city in the world. And he won’t give in to any of the obstacles in his way—not even his own twin brother!
Experience the beginning of the eternal city in this page-turner of a novella. Romulus Rex Luporum is an intermediate level text perfect for students in their second or third year of Latin.

Reading Intermediate
Word 5,170
Unique Word 566

From Prima Luce books

119 pages, Paperback

Published June 12, 2022

Reviews

[Preston B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romulus: Rex Luporum: A Latin Novella was a thrilling and captivating read. Madelyn Waehner magically transports you into the world of the mythical Romulus and Remus with a truly compelling story.

[Brian Chun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romulus: Rex Luporum is a latin Novella by Madelyn Waehner. The story heavily draws from the legend of Romulus and Remus, though with many creative liberties included. Most of the story is told from Romulus' persepctive, though up until Remus is killed, he also gives his persepctive. Hersilia also gives her perspective later on. The story begins with Romulus and Remus as sons of a shepherd, with Romulus obsessed with being a wolf and Remus wanting to be a king and found a city. Remus ends up convicted of attempted theivery that Romulus was suggesting to their little group called the "Sons of Wolves." The twins' father then explains that the judge, Numitor, was the old king of Alba Longa and their grandfather. He also explains their divine blood. The twins outsmart the guards and overthrow the tyrannical pretender, but Romulus kills him against Remus' wish of mercy. Cracks spread, and later, when the twins found two cities, Remus taunts Romulus, resulting in the latter killing his brother. Romulus goes on a power trip and decides to kidnap Sabine women, leading to a war. He becomes co-king with Titus Tatius, the Sabine king, and then has him killed through deception. Later, the Senate get fed up with him and kill him, then say he has become the god Quirinus.
Overall, the Latin is quite comprehensible, and there is a dictionary avaliable at the back. The illustrations aren't too helpful, but the language is simple enough that readers can watch Romulus become an absolute jerk. I didn't really learn anything from the book, as it was a recreation of a popular myth. Overall, not the best of novellas, but it's not terrible.

[Alexander Fiol · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Romulus Rex Luporum, Madelyn Waehner portrays the popular myth of Romulus and Remus into a simple story. It begins with the origins of the two brothers, who are the sons of a shepherd. The defining character trait from Romulus is that he wants to be seen as a wolf, and Remus wants to become a leader/ruler. Even from the beginning of the book, Romulus and Remus quarrel until Romulus eventually kills Remus in a dispute over their founding cities. The story continues with the introduction of Sabine Women and Hersillia as Romulus tries to keep control over his expanding kingdom. I really enjoyed the ending where the senators got fed up with Romulus, killed him, and then told the Roman public that he became a god.
Something to note about this story is that the author used a lot of creative liberties, as described in the author's note. I found that reading this section certainly took away from the book because not everything was even based in Roman mythology. Another detriment to this book was the stilted writing style. Hearing Romulus talk in very basic terms like "I am a wolf" over and over again became old fast. The grammar choices sometimes made it difficult to continue reading the book.

[ALex S · Rating 2 out of 5]

While a fine book. Romulus keeps reffering to himself as a wolf/ wolf king. This leads me to believe that he is a furry. Also the drawings were clearly drawn by a latin teacher. Overall I give it 4 stars. The charchters were unlikable but some of them die so its' fine.

The language was moderately easy I didn't have to look up any words other than the ones at the bottom of the page. I think it is easier than some of the other books on intermediate mid.

[Garrett Saul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good low intermediate reader that held my attention. I appreciated the repetitive language to help me solidify certain constructions and gain fluency to read original text.