Romulus and Remus, Mythical Founders of the Ancient City of Rome

The new king forced the beautiful Silvia to become a vestal virgin, banishing her to the Temple of Mars to insure she did not give birth to a son that would rival his claim to the throne.  However, at the temple she married and was impregnated with the twins by Mars, the god of war, enraging Amulius who ordered the two new born babies to be drowned in the Tiber River. 

The boys were placed in the water in their cradle by servants of Amulius, who then reported to their lord that the deed was done.  The cradle however, did not over turn or sink as expected and the twins floated down the river, eventually coming to rest in a clump of rushes at the foot of the Palatine hill. 

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As the babies got hungry, they started to cry and a she-wolf, who happened to be in the area, responded and took them to a near by cave where she suckled them and reared them as if they were here own pups.  As they grew stronger and stronger as the months passed by, they began to venture out further and further from the cave until one day they were noticed by a passing shepherd. 

He followed them back to the cave and was amazed to see that they were being raised by the female wolf.  The shepherd and his wife were childless so that night, he waited until the wolf was asleep, and took the children to his home, bringing them up with his wife, giving them love and taking great care of them as the she-wolf had done before them.

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Over the years, the brothers grew into strong and hansom young men.  They became known for their upstanding characters as they would apprehend thieves and return the goods they had stolen to there rightful owners.  Stories of the boys reached far and wide as they developed into fine warriors and eventually the stories got back to Numitor, their grandfather. 

The deposed king had been banished all these years and had led a lonely life.  The stories interested him so he sent his servants to find the boys and bring them to meet him.   On seeing their resemblance to his daughter Silvia and hearing their story, Numitor realised who the boys were. 

Once they learned their true identities they raised a band of men from the shepherds they had helped over the years and attacked the city of Alba Longa, killed the usurper Amulius and restored their grandfather to the throne.  Next, they took their army to the Temple of Mars to rescue their mother and returned her to the castle with her father.

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The brothers decided to found a city on the site where they had been saved by the she-wolf years before to commemorate their victory, Romulus designed the streets and houses and Remus the temples and baths.  When it came time to name their city, they got involved in a bitter dispute, Remus wanted to name it Rem after himself but Romulus believed the city should be called Rome, taken from his own name.  On April 21st 753 BC, so the legend goes, a savage fight broke out between the twins ending when Romulus killed his brother, and named the city as he had wished it, Rome.

Romulus realised he needed to attract a population to his new settlement so he invited fugitives and exiles, offering them asylum.  Next he needed women so he invited the neighbouring people of Sabine to a festival and abducted their women.  A war ensued and Rome was almost seized but was spared by the Sabine king Titus Tatius at the intervention of the women. 

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A peace treaty was signed and the two communities merged, with Romulus and Tatius sharing power, however Romulus soon had his co-ruler killed and leaving him as sole ruler.  Romulus ruled for many years and had a successful reign as a reward from the gods for his great deeds.  Upon his death, Romulus was so favoured by the gods he was himself transformed into one, becoming known as Quirinus.