Legend of Romulus and Remus: Founders of Rome Romulus and Remus’ family were of royal descent. Their grandfather, Nimitor, was a king of Alba Longa a city of Latium in central Italy, or at least until his younger brother overthrew him. Amulius, the younger brother, inherited Alba Longa’s treasury and then was able to overthrow his elder brother and claim the throne as his. Rhea Silvia who was the daughter of Nimitor, was also the mother of Romulus and Remus. Amulius wanted to avoid conflict of power of any sort, and so he killed all his elder brother’s male heirs, Also to prevent from any more being born, he made Rhea Silvia become a Vestal Virgin. A Vestal Virgin is a priestess of Vesta, the patron goddess of the hearth, and they are out in charge of a so called ‘sacred’ fire that cannot, under any circumstances, be extinguished, and live a life of celibacy. Rhea Silvia was found to be pregnant, and the father of Romulus and Remus is not known for a fact. In the many different versions of the legend comes with different ideas of the father of the twins. The possible fathers could be Mars, God of War, or Hercules, the half god, but most likely what happened is that she was raped by an unknown man. To cover that the fact she might have been raped or some other circumstance, and to protect her life and the life of the unborn child (child; singular because at this time they could not tell if a woman was to have a multiple pregnancy), Rhea Silvia claimed that her pregnancy was of divine nature. Normally when a woman broke the vows of celibacy of being a Vestal Virgin they had to suffer punishment, and the punishment is death by being buried alive. Amulius believed that a god (Mars or Hercules) to be the father, and did not want to be punished for killing Rhea Silvia and the unborn child. So Amulius waited to do any action until after Rhea Silvia gave birth. When she did deliver, she was surprised to find out that she had twins, but she had no time to celebrate the births of her sons. Amulius then imprisoned her, and for the newborn twin boys, Romulus and Remus, he decided that they should be killed. They were not to be killed by sword though, but left to die by the elements. Amulius decided it this way because he felt since he did not directly kill the boys that the paternal father, who Amulius thought was a god, would not punish him for killing the offspring of a god. Amulius then ordered a servant to take Romulus and Remus to the Tiber River and leave them. The servant of course ended up feeling sorry for the twins and placed them in a basket and sent the flowing down the river. As the boys started drifting away, the god of the Tiber River, Tibernus, made sure that the boys stayed safe by calming the flow of the water. Tibernus made sure that they would be found by causing the basket to get stuck in roots of a fig tree. Here, at the bottom of Palentine Hill, was where the she-wolf that shared her milk with the twins. Also with the help of a woodpecker, who brought the boys food and water, did they raise Romlus and Remus. “Interesting enough both these were sacred to Mars.” (www.unrv.com) Which makes many people leans towards Mars as being the paternal father of Romulus and Remus. After the animals brought the twins back to health did a shepherd, Faustulus, and his wife, Acca Larentia (Loba) discover the twins. They then continued to care for and raise them into men. “According to Livy, some said that Loba, wife of Fautulus had suckled them, not a female wolf. Indeed, her name meant wolf which was Lupus in Latin.” (www.unrv.com) Romulus and Remus, now grown men, are shepherds just like Faustulus, and while herding their sheep one day, they unexpectedly met shepherds of Amulius. They began to fight with Romulus and Remus. Amidst the fight, Remus ended up being captured and held prisoner, and taken back to King Amulius. Romulus rounded up a group of other shepherds to go rescue his brother. During the rescue, Amulius did not recognize Romulus or Remus because he believed that Rhes Silvia’s sons were dead. Romulus ultimately ended up killing Amulius when he freed his brother, Remus. After Romulus killed Amulius, the boy’s grandfather, Numitor, gained back the throne once again because Romulus and Remlus declined the offer of them taking the throne. They decide to set out and found their own city. The brothers could not decide where to start the construction of their new city, and began to quarrel. Romulus wanted to build on Palentine Hill where they were found and saved by the wolf and woodpecker, and Remus wanted to start the city on Aventine Hill. “In order to settle their disagreement, they agreed to consult augury; augury is a type of prophecy in which birds are examined and observed to determine what actions or persons the gods favor.” (www.ancient.eu) So the brothers created sacred spots on the hill that they each personally favored. After watching for birds for an undetermined amount of time, Remus said he saw six birds at Aventine Hill. Romulus claimed that he saw twelve birds on Palentine Hill, and that he won by six. Remus of course argued and said that he won because he saw his birds Romulus saw any at all. Since they could not come to an agreement, Romulus saw an opportunity and began to dig trenches and build up walls around Palentine Hill. Remus took one look at the walls and made fun of how low they were, and how that they would not be able to protect the city. He taunted Romulus by repeatedly jumping over one of the walls. Romulus angered by his younger brother’s taunting, killed Remus. In each version of the founding of Rome, comes a different version of how Remus really was killed. “In Livy’s version, Remus simply died after jumping over Romulus’ wall, which is thought to be a sign from the gods of Rome’s power and fate. According to St. Jerome, Remus was for his mockery by one of Romulus’ supporters, either Fabius or Celer, who killed Remus by throwing a spade at his head. Afterwards, Romulus mournfully buries his brother, bestowing upon him full funeral honuors. However, most sources would convey that Romulus killed Remus. Remus’ death and founding of Rome are dated by Livy to April 21st, 753 BCE.” (www.ancient.eu) Following the death of Remus, Romulus continued and completed the construction of the city. He named the new found city Roma or Rome after his own name. The government Romulus created used senators and aristocrats. The first citizens of Rome were fugitives, people that were exiled from their homes, run away slaves, criminals, and many others who were outsiders that did not belong anywhere. With the growing population, Romulus noticed a problem; there simply were not enough women for all of the men in the city. Romulus did however devise a plan to solve the crisis of the shortage of women. Romulus invited the Sabines, which was an Italian tribe, to a festival of Cronus at the Circus Maximus. While all the men were distracted at the festival, the Romans, set out and abducted the women of the Sabines. Most of the women were talked into marrying their captors, and many grew attached, even fell in love with them. This abduction was called the “Rape of the Sabine Women”, and even became a subject for many painters later on. In response of being fooled and having their women stolen from them, the king of the Sabines, Titus Tatius, waged war on Rome. However, it was the abducted women who had the main part in stopping the war, and kept Rome from being seized. Titus Tatius was ultimately the one who was seen as defeated. Titus Tatius and Romulus wrote a peace between the two cities, and co-ruled as kings together until Titus Taius passed away. There are different opinions on how Titus Tatius died. One is that he died in battle, and the other is that he was caught sheltering allies of his who had robbed the neighboring Lavinians and had killed some of the ambassadors there. Titus Tatius was forced to go to the Lavinians and sacrifice himself for his crimes. Romulus once again was the sole king. He ruled alone for the rest of his life. It is said that he did not necessarily die, but disappeared in a violent storm, which is when he ascended to the heavens and became a god. The people worshipped him as the god, Quirinus. Obviously most major parts of the legend are just not true. It seems that the legend combines Roman and Greek storytelling techniques. For the example of Greek influence would be the general story of how Rome got its name. The Roman example would that of the abduction the Sabine women portrays the Roman tradition of brides being taken from the family homes on their wedding days with a sense of force. It’s hard to say whether or not Romulus and Remus were actually real men or not, and if they were it is definitely not know for sure what foundation of the various versions of the legend are true.

Resources www.historylearningsite.co.uk/romulus_and_remus.htm www.ancient.eu/Romulus_and_Remus www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509038/Romulus-and-Remus www.unrv.com/culture/romulus-and-remus.php