by Michael Fassbender

Created on: July 27, 2009   Last Updated: February 27, 2010

Every civilization has its legends about its own foundation. These legends are usually based upon facts. Clearly, this was easier to accomplish for modern Americans than for ancient Romans. At the same time, fanciful elements always creep into the legend, even when the true events were comparatively recent. These, too, can teach us much about the people who preserved the legend, because they show us how those people understood themselves, even when the facts were wrong. The tale of Romulus and Remus is a fine example of the principle.

It is a story rich in drama and choked with blood. It is also, however, very specifically the story of how the city of Rome was founded. The Latin people were believed to have inhabited the area for four centuries before the twins, ever since the Trojan prince Aeneas settled the area. From the time of Aeneas' son, the people of Latium were ruled from the city of Alba Longa. Its kings, therefore, took their lineage from the proud race of the Trojans, and its people were not mere pastoralists, but by right the equal of the Greeks.

In the eighth century B.C., this royal family was wracked by a dynastic struggle. The lawful king, Numitor, fled in the face of his brother's armed uprising. The usurper, Amulius, killed his nephews and ordered his niece Rhea Silva to become a Vestal Virgin, so that no descendent of Numitor might arise some day to press his claim to the throne.

Somehow, Rhea Silva became pregnant anyway. She claimed that the father was none other than Mars, the god of war; the story spared her own life, which would normally have been forfeit, but extended no protection to her twin sons when they were born. Divine or not, they were also grandsons of Numitor, and so they were thrown into the river Tiber.

By some miracle, they survived drowning, and were found by a she-wolf. She took them back to her cave and nursed them, keeping them alive long enough to be found by a shepherd. They grew up in these humble conditions, unaware of their own lineage, until by chance Remus was caught under suspicion of cattle thieving, and taken to a respected elder for judgment. This elder was, in fact, the exiled king Numitor, and he discerned the young man's kinship with him. He also saw that the time had come when he might regain his throne.

With the aid of young Romulus and Remus, Numitor succeeded in reclaiming the seat of Alba Longa. For their part, his grandsons wished to build a city of their own and chose the place where they had been

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