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Romulus and Remus
The Myth and Legend of Romulus and Remus
The Myth and Legend of Romulus and Remus
- their Mother and Father
Numitor and Amulius were
two brothers who jointly ruled a region in ancient Italy.
Amulius, the younger brother, seized the kingdom; and
Numitor, who was of a peaceful disposition, made no
resistance to his brother.
Amulius, fearing that the two
children of Numitor might not submit so quietly to his
usurpation had his only son to be murdered and made his
daughter, Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgins. As a Vestal Virgin
Rhea Silvia was compelled to live and die as an unmarried
virgin. But the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia became the mother
of twins who were fathered by Mars, the god of war. She was,
in consequence, put to death, because she had broken her
vow, and her twin sons were doomed to be drowned in the
river Tiber.
The Myth and Legend of Romulus and Remus
and the She-Wolf
The Tiber had overflowed its banks far and wide; and the
cradle in which the babies were placed was stranded at the
foot of the Palatine, and overturned on the root of a wild
fig-tree. A she-wolf, which had come to drink of the stream,
carried them into her den hard by, and suckled them; and
when they wanted other food, the woodpecker, a bird sacred
to Mars, brought it to them. At length, this marvelous
spectacle was seen by Faustulus, the king's shepherd, who
took the children away from the she-wolf and home to his
wife, Acca Larentia. They were called Romulus and Remus, and
grew up along with the sons of their foster-parents on the
Palatine Hill. Romulus and Remus grew up to avenge the
wrongs which their family had suffered killing Amulius and
placed their grandfather Numitor on the throne of Alba.
Romulus and Rebus originated from ancient city of Latium, Italy, in the Alban
Hills about 12 miles southeast of Rome which was under the
dominion of the Etrurians.
Romulus and Remus decide
to found a new city
Romulus and Remus loved their old home on the Palatine Hill,
and therefore left Alba to found a city on the banks of the
Tiber. But a dispute arose between the brothers exactly
where the city should be built, and after whose name it
should be called. Romulus wished to build it on the
Palatine, Remus on the Aventine. It was agreed that the
question should be decided by the gods; and each took his
station on the top of his chosen hill, awaiting the pleasure
of the gods by some striking sign. The night passed away,
and as the day was dawning Remus saw six vultures; but at
sunrise, when these tidings were brought to Romulus, twelve
vultures flew by him. Each claimed the augury in his own
favor; but it was decided that Romulus was the favored
brother.
The Reign of Romulus
(753-716BC)
Romulus proceeded to mark out the boundaries of his city. He
yoked a bullock and a heifer to a plough, and drew a deep
furrow around the Palatine. This formed the sacred limits of
the city, and was called the Pomoerium. To the original city
on the Palatine was given the name of Roma Quadrata, or
Square Rome, to distinguish it from the one which
subsequently extended over the seven hills. The city was
founded on the 21st of April, 753BC and named after Romulus.
He reigned for thirty-seven years until one day the sun was
suddenly eclipsed, and a dreadful storm dispersed the
people. When daylight returned Romulus had disappeared, for
his father Mars had carried him up to heaven in a fiery
chariot. Shortly afterward he appeared in more than mortal
beauty to a senator named Proculus Sabinus, and bade him
tell the Romans to worship him under the name of the god
Quirinus.
Romulus and Remus
So ends the myth and legend
of Romulus and Remus. The content of this Romulus and Remus
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