#grand lancer

The Grand Lancer shown in Lostbelt 5.2, Romulus=Quirinus, is personally one of my favourite Grand Servants. I want to bring to light some of the connections I found between his in-game and real-life versions and hopefully bring up something you might not have known. 

Why is he ‘Romulus=Quirinus’? This is because, after his death, Romulus was deified as Quirinus, a deity of the Sabines. This could be due to multiple reasons but the explanation I think F/GO uses is the one shown in Plutarch’s Life of Romulus, where Romulus actually disappears instead of dying and tells a noble named Proculus Julius to tell the people of Rome that he takes the form of the god Quirinus. Romulus was later deified as Quirinus historically cementing the relationship between these two figures. 

Why is he Grand Lancer? This is mostly due to the etymology of Quirinus as a name. Life of Romulus states that Quirinus is derived from ‘quiris’ which means spear-head. As such Quirinus was a surname given to Romulus because he was the ‘spear wielding’ god. The fact that Romulus himself was already a Servant of great renown, pathing the way for possibly the greatest empire in human history gives another meaning to the term spear-head as his bio states he “clear[s] the way for civilisation”. 

Does he have a connection with Heracles? Romulus=Quirinus’ bio, which I had to get of the wiki as I don’t have him :(, states that he has a Noble Phantasm which is unused in-game called Nine Lives Rome. This is stated to be a version of Heracles’ Slaying A Hundred Heads that he developed after Mars, Romulus’ father, watched Heracles fight. However, there is a tidbit of information that may show a connection between these two figures, although there’s a larger than not possibility that it's a coincidence. Quirinus is stated in a report I found to be a potential last name of Heracles, or at least has some sort of connection with him, this could be the reason why he has this Noble Phantasm. The report used is also really interesting, although it is in french so copious use of google translate might be required.

Why is he so powerful? Romulus=Quirinus acts as the deus ex machina of Lostbelt 5.2, helping Chaldea out against Lostbelt King Zeus, who was capable of destroying the planet. How is our Grand Lancer supposed to be similar in strength to that? Is there some mythological reason? There’s not too much known about Quirinus as a god, seeing as he seems to predate the founding of Rome. However, we do have some info to go on. In OG Romulus’ materials bio (from FGO Materials I, which I’ve linked below) it is said that Quirinus has a connection with both Zeus and Mars. This connection is reflected in real life as the grouping of Zeus, Quirinus and Mars is thought to be the precursor group to the Capitoline Triad of Gods called the Archaic Triad. Though this grouping is disputed by scholars it's interesting that the materials display this stark connection. Perhaps this is the reason why Romulus=Quirinus can compete against Zeus, as he was part of a triad with the king of the gods himself. It really makes the final fight against Zeus, with Ares assisting us, a whole lot more interesting if there's more of a connection there.

What's up with his summoning? In Lostbelt 5.2 Grand Lancer is summoned in a pretty convoluted way, with Ares and Caligula being used for a chain summon of Romulus=Quirinus. Caligula being used makes some sense, being a fellow emperor of Rome, but what about Ares? Mars was said to be the father of Romulus and there’s the connection of the Archaic Triad but is that all? Another interesting connection, which again is probably a coincidence but I find fascinating, comes in the form of the God Enyalius. Enyalius is another war-like deity that is frequently syncretised with Ares, but other times isn’t. The interesting part comes from when these Greek deities were referenced by the Roman writer Polybius in his history (I found a book on Enyalius which brings this up). Whilst Ares is referred to as Mars, Enyalius is referred to as Quirinus. Even if unintentional that's a really interesting connection. 

Hopefully, this was interesting, again Romulus=Quirinus is one of my favourite Grand Servants up there with Gramps himself. If you find anything interesting about Romulus please let me know, he’s such an interesting figure. 

Plutarch’s Life of Romulus: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/romulus*.html

Quirinus, an ancient thundering god? New hypotheses on its etymology and primitive nature: 

Romulus’ Materials Translation: 

I LOVE QUIRINUS SO MUCH THANK YOU FATE FOR INCLUDING ARCHAIC ROMAN RELIGION IN THIS GAME

Me before this year: I cannot WAIT for the Greek chapter of Fate!

Me now: I LOVE QUIRINUS I LOVE ARCHAIC ROME WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE GREEKS HERE I DON'T CARE

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