What legends teaches us about history

Thierry Camous

Les Belles Lettres, 336 pages, 2025

Why you should take a look at it:

√ An original and surprising reinterpretation of well-known legends at the heart of ancient Mediterranean civilization

√ A novel approach on the relationship between legend and history

√ An essential book for anyone interested in the history of Europe and its myths

Is there any historical basis for the Greco-Roman myths that have so deeply permeated Western culture? By revisiting eight well-known legends at the heart of Mediterranean civilizations, historian Thierry Camous reconsiders the relationship between legend and history.

Camous has observed that the more archaeological research progresses, the greater the distinction between history and legend becomes, adding fuel to a basic premise that legends, corrupted by myth and/or ideology, cannot be considered reliable historical documents. Camous seeks instead to rehabilitate their historical value by exploring eight well-known legends: the Trojan War, the Minotaur, the Labors of Hercules, Aeneas in Italy, Romulus and Remus, the Rape of the Sabine Women, the Rape of Lucretia, and the Capitoline Geese. Through these classic examples, he argues that beneath the mythical layers and ideological distortions, legends as a form of historical narratives should not be dismissed by historians. Delving into recent work by archaeologists, anthropologists, and epigraphers, Camous seeks to decode the grammar of legends, uncovering their enduring historical cores.

With impeccable scholarship and a keen sense of narrative, What Legends Teaches Us About History immerses the reader in an original and bold reinterpretation of the past, daring to suggest, among other possibilities, that the Trojan War may indeed have taken place, or that there was truly a founding moment in what might be called the “Romulean Age.”

Thierry Camous, professor of ancient history, has published numerous works on the kings of Rome such as Le roi et le fleuve : Ancus Marcius Rex, aux origines de la puissance romaine (Les Belles Lettres, 2004). Other publishers have released Romulus, le rêve de Rome (Romulus, the Dream of Rome); Tarquin le Superbe, roi maudit des Étrusques (Tarquin the Proud, Cursed King of the Etruscans) as well as various thematic monographs.