Cristiana Franco, Brutus the Ram. Poetics of the Flock Leader between Intertextuality and Ethnography - p. 267
In Accius’ Brutus (frr. I-II pp. 237-8 Dangel) King Tarquin dreams of a ram who sends him to the ground with a headbutt. The interpreters warn him that he should not underestimate someone he believes to be a dull beast (i.e. Junius ‘the Brute’), as he is in fact a knowledgeable person who will kick him out of the kingdom. By comparing ancient evidence with accounts of herding practices involving a trained flock leader in contemporary pastoral societies, this paper aims to highlight the relevance of the ram as the ‘distinguished’ (intelligent and skilful) sheep who could best play the role of the future first leader of the Roman res publica.
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