Romulus and Remus, twin brothers born of Mars and a Vestal Virgin, were said to have been nursed by a she-wolf and raised by a shepherd. Romulus killed Remus and went on to found Rome, establishing the Roman legions and Senate. The story may have been partly true, but was likely embellished. Romulus was known for brutal measures and a fractious relationship with the Senate. The myth of Romulus and Remus is supported by the discovery of a cave used for worship in the area where they were allegedly raised.
Romulus and Remus are two brothers in Roman mythology who are credited with founding Rome. Historians believe that Romulus and Remus may have existed in one sense, but their story was likely largely made up. The city of Rome takes its name from Romulus, who turned out to be the dominant twin.
The story of Romulus and Remus is certainly interesting. According to legend, the brothers were actually twins, born of Mars, the god of war, and the Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia. When the two children were born, they were cast adrift in the River Tiber and discovered by a she-wolf, who chose to nurse them rather than kill them. The two were discovered by a shepherd, Faustolo, who raised them until adulthood, and deposed the usurper-king of Alba Longa, a city in central Italy, to later found Rome.
The relationship between the brothers was not, however, without discord. Legend has it that Romulus was chosen as king of Rome by a flock of ravens, and the two brothers fought bitterly before Romulus killed Remus. Romulus went on to establish the Roman legions and Senate and proved a skilled conqueror, by all accounts, spreading Roman influence across Italy in 700 BC and laying the foundations for the mighty Roman Empire.
By all accounts, Romulus probably wasn’t a very nice person. He certainly wasn’t afraid to pursue brutal measures to protect his empire from him, including the abduction of women from the Sabines, a powerful tribe, to help populate his new city. Romulus also had a fractious relationship with the Senate, despite the fact that he founded it, and in many stories he is depicted as a dangerous and paranoid man in his last years.
Romulus and Remus feature in much of Roman iconography, as does the she-wolf who is said to have suckled them. In 2007 a large cave was found in the vicinity of the area where Romulus and Remus were allegedly raised, and evidence suggests that the cave was used as a place of worship by the Romans, lending credence to the myth of Romulus and Remus. The practice of infanticide through exposure was, after all, widely practiced at the time; perhaps Romulus and Remus were real people who managed to survive to become leaders despite extraordinary circumstances in their early lives.
It’s also possible that the story was largely made up by the real Romulus to give more weight to his reign, and it certainly worked; Romulus was treated as a god after his death.
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