Romulus

In this course

Romulus appears here as a mythological precedent for Peter Thiel's framing of tech entrepreneurs as quasi-monarchical "founders" establishing new orders—a rhetorical move that casts startup creation in quasi-legendary, civilization-building terms. The reference enables Thiel's argument that technological entrepreneurs possess a foundational, almost sacred role in reshaping society, much as Romulus did for Rome, which naturalizes the outsized power and autonomy granted to tech leaders. This mythological deployment is crucial to understanding how Silicon Valley legitimizes its own authority through classical resonance rather than democratic or collective deliberation.

Background

Romulus was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these traditions incorporate elements of folklore, and it is not clear to what extent a historical figure underlies the mythical Romulus, the events and institutions ascribed to him were central to the myths surrounding Rome's origins and cultural traditions.

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