Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders ofRome. Traditionally, they were the sons ofRhea Silvia, daughter ofNumitor, king ofAlba Longa.

Numitor had beendeposed by his younger brotherAmulius, who forced Rhea to become one of theVestal Virgins (and thereby vow chastity) in order to prevent her from giving birth to potential claimants to the throne. Nevertheless, Rhea bore the twins Romulus and Remus, fathered by the war godMars. Amulius ordered the infants drowned in theTiber River, but the trough in which they were placed floated down the river and came to rest at the site of the future Rome, near theFicus ruminalis, a sacredfig tree of historical times. There a she-wolf and a woodpecker—both sacred to Mars—suckled and fed them until they were found by the herdsmanFaustulus.

Reared by Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, the twins became leaders of a band of adventurousyouths, eventually killing Amulius and restoring their grandfather to the throne. They subsequently founded a town on the site where they had been saved. When Romulus built a city wall, Remus jumped over it and was killed by his brother.

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Romulus consolidated his power, and the city was named for him. He increased its population by offering asylum to fugitives and exiles. He invited the neighbouringSabines to a festival and abducted their women. The women married their captors and intervened to prevent the Sabines from seizing the city. In accordance with a treaty drawn up between the two peoples, Romulus accepted the Sabine kingTitus Tatius as his coruler. Titus Tatius’s early death left Romulus sole king again, and, after a long rule, he mysteriously disappeared in a storm. Believing that he had been changed into a god, the Romans worshipped him as the deityQuirinus.

Thelegend of Romulus and Remus probably originated in the 4th centurybce and was set down incoherent form at the end of the 3rd centurybce. It contains a mixture of Greek and Roman elements. The Greeks customarily created mythicaleponymous heroes to explain the origins of place-names. The story of the rape of the Sabine women was perhaps invented to explain the custom of simulated capture in the Roman marriage ceremony. By including Mars in the legend, the Romans were attempting to connect their origins with that important deity. In the early 21st century, archaeologists discovered remains from the 8th centurybce of a cave, possible boundary walls, and a palace that demonstrate parallels between history and legend.

The famous bronze statue of a she-wolf now in theCapitoline Museums in Rome is believed to date to the early years of theRoman Republic (late 6th to early 5th centurybce); the suckling twins were added in the 16th centuryce. Some scholars, however, have claimed that the statue is from themedieval period.