by Imonikhe Ahimie

Created on: July 28, 2009

Romulus and Remus, twin brothers, were born sometime around 771 BC, and they are, in the legends of Rome, believed to the founders of the city. Like most other legendary figures, the twins were directly descended from a deity; in this case, Mars, the Roman war god.

The story, as it came down to the ancient Romans, and from thence to us, is fairly straightforward. After the destruction of Troy, Aeneas, a Trojan prince and the son of Aphrodite, was one of the survivors of the catastrophe that had befallen his city. With a band of survivors, the prince, it was said, fled and came to settle in Italy. His son, Ascanius, founded the city of Alba Longa in 1152 BC. In due course, two brothers, descendants of the founder, came to power in this city. Numitor, the elder, inherited the sovereign power, whilst his younger brother, Amulius, inherited the treasury, which included the wealth which their ancestor, Aeneas, had brought over with him from Troy. Not surprisingly, Amulius, utilising the funds at his disposal, overthrew his brother and took over all power.

It so happened that Numitor had a daughter, Rhea Silvia; Amulius, fearful that any children that this woman would have would be a threat to his and his posterity's enjoyment of the throne, forced her to become a Vestal Virgin, i.e. a priestess sworn to total abstinence. But, one day, as Rhea Silvia was out searching for fresh water, Mars, the Roman war god saw her, and, taking a fancy to her, seduced her and got her with child. The result of the pregnancy were the twin boys, Romulus and Remus.

Once it became clear that the Vestal was expecting, Amulius had her incarcerated, and, once the children were born sentenced mother and children to death. Rhea Silvia, it is said, was buried alive (the normal punishment for Vestals who broke their oath of celibacy), whilst the twin sons that she had were ordered to be exposed to death, i.e. left out in the open until death occurred. A better appreciation of his own history ought to have reminded Amulius that execution by exposure was chancy, at best. It was the same procedure that had been employed in Troy a few centuries earlier for Paris, whose later escapades brought about the destruction of that city, and the resettlement of his, Amulius', forbears in Italy.

The twins were left in a basket on the bank of the River Tiber, which, being in flood at the time, swept the basket away. However, the children were protected by the deity of the river, Tiberinus,

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