Rhea Silvia From Roman Mythology

Legend tells us that long ago in the kingdom of Alba Longa there was a king named Proca who had two sons, Numitor and Amulius.  Numitor was the eldest, and to him the kingdom was bequeathed, but his younger brother Amulius was wicked and hungry for power.  Amulius drove Numitor away and took over the throne.  He killed Numitor’s two sons, fearing that they or their heirs might one day come back to depose him. 

Numitor also had a daughter, Rhea Silvia.  Amulius had heard it prophesied that Rhea Silvia’s children would threaten his dominance, but he could not simply kill her as he had done to her brothers. Murdering a maiden would bring the wrath of the people down upon him, so Amulius instead said he would honor Rhea Silvia by sending her off to serve the goddess Vesta as a Vestal Virgin.  The Vestal Virgins took a vow of celibacy, so it would be ensured that Rhea Silvia would never have children. 

Mars and the Vestal Virgin by Jacques Blanchard, Wikimedia Commons

One day as Rhea Silvia was sleeping in the forest, the god Mars came upon her.  He was captivated by her beauty and raped her as she slept.  Breaking the vow of celibacy for a Vestal Virgin was punishable by death. When she was found to be pregnant, Rhea pleaded that she had been raped by a god, but no one believed her.  She was thrown into prison to await her fate of being buried alive, and her twin sons were ordered to be cast into the Tiber river and drowned.  The river god Tiberinus took pity on Rhea Silvia, and caused the river to flood.  He swept Rhea Silvia away and she became his wife, living with him in his watery realm.

Mars and Rhea Silvia by Peter Paul Rubens Wikimedia Commons

Since the river was in flood stage, the servant who was ordered to drown the babies was not able to get close to the deep, swiftly flowing part of the river, so he just set the basket down in the shallows among the reeds.  When the flood waters receded, the babies were found and suckled by a she-wolf, and later raised by the shepherd Faustulus.  When they grew up, Romulus did in fact slay the tyrant Amulius, and Numitor was restored to the throne that was rightfully his.