The twins Romulus and Remus were the mythical founders of Rome. According to legend, they were the sons of the god Mars. Left to die as infants, they survived after being suckled by a she-wolf.
The legend of Romulus and Remus has been in existence at least since the time of Roman historian Fabius Pictor, who lived in the late third century BCE. Fabius wrote a history of Rome that included an account of its founding. Scholars believe that Fabius based his work on that of Greek historian Diocles of Peparethos, who probably also lived in the third century BCE. Earlier Greek historians had referred to Rhomos, a son or brother of Aeneas—or even to Rhomulos and Rhomos—in their accounts of the founding of Rome.
A character called Rhome, described either as Aeneas’s daughter, a Trojan captive of the Greeks, or a Trojan refugee, also features in some Greek versions. It is difficult to tell when, and under what circumstances, the brothers Rhomulos and Rhomus might have become the twins Romulus and Remus of classical legend. However, we do know that the legend was well established by the end of the third century BCE, since a statue of a wolf nurturing the twins was erected in Rome in 206 BCE.
Fabius Pictor’s work is now lost. However, his version of events was recounted by two later writers, Dionysius of Halicarnassus (first century BCE) and Livy (59 BCE—17 CE). The version of the story of Romulus and Remus that is familiar today is largely drawn from the work of these two writers. The story tells of an Italian noble named Amulius, who lived in Alba Longa, a settlement in the mountains near the present-day site of Rome. Amulius gave his older brother Numitor the choice between the family’s wealth and the Alban kingship. Numitor chose the kingship, but Amulius later deposed Numitor and killed Numitor’s son. Amulius also forced Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a vestal virgin. The vestal virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, who vowed to remain chaste all their lives. Amulius wanted to ensure that Rhea would never produce offspring who could one day avenge their grandfather.
World History
