King Numitor of Alba Longa was ejected by his younger brother Amulius. To make sure no one came hunting him down after ejecting the king, Amulius murdered Numitor’s sons and taunted Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia. Amulius took the thrown to himself. However Mars, the god of war, became enchanted by her beauty and forced her into marriage. The couple had twins, Romulus and Remus. Amulius had Rhea Silvia thrown into the Tiber River where she was caught beneath the waves by the river god. The twins were set adrift on the river by Amulius in a small basket. They floated downstream until the basket was caught in the branches of a fig tree. This was where the two young boys were found by a she-wolf who tortured them until a shepherd found them in the basket and took them home. As the two boys had grown to become men, the shepherd told them what had happened in their past with their father and Amulius. Amulius was slain in battle and Numitor was restored to his throne. The twins decided to find a new city close to where they had been washed ashore in the basket when they were little, caught by the fig tree. The twins discussed which hill their city should be built on, Romulus favoring the Palatine, Remus choosing another (possibly the Aventine).Taking the helps to read the will of the gods, Remus on his hill saw six birds, Romulus saw twelve. So it was decided that Romulus’ choice was the right one and he and his followers took to building their city on Palatine Hill. Romulus decided to mark the city’s sacred boundary with a plough drawn by a white bull and a white cow so nobody who didn’t follow Romulus could come into their city. Remus however leapt over the boundary line as a joke. This was an ill sign suggesting the city’s defense could easily be overcome. Remus was killed, either by Romulus himself or by one of his chief followers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *