After the death of king Proca of Alba Longa, the city was left to his two
sons, Numitor and Amulius. Being the older son, Numitor ruled Alba Longa but
allowed his younger brother Amulius to control the treasury of riches brought
from Troy by their ancestors. Using the money, Amulius started a revolt and
deposed his brother to put himself on the throne. To avoid future
retribution, Amulius forced his niece Rhea (AKA Ilia) Silvia to become a
Vestal Virgin so that she would never bear any children who might seek
revenge.
During an eclipse on November 12, 772 BC, the god Mars (thought to be Amulius
in disguise or perhaps a story constructed to cover up the breaking of Rhea's
vow of chastity) entered Rhea's bedchamber and raped her. She bore twin sons,
Romulus and Remus, on August the 7th, 771 BC. Though it was told she was
raped, Amulius was furious and nearly ordered Rhea's execution. Amulius
spared her life at the request of his daughter. Instead, Rhea was put into a
prison. Amulius ordered that the sons of Rhea be thrown into the Tiber river.
Luckily, the Tiber was overflowing its banks at the time, and the soldier sent
to cast the children into the water, simply placed them in a trough at the
river's shallow edge. When the water receded, the infants landed on a piece
of land called Cermanus (which was at an earlier date known as Germanus after
the Latin word for brother). A wolf nursed them for a short time until
Faustulus found them and brought them back to his home where his wife, Acca
Larentia, took the children as her own. Faustulus named the infants Romulus
and Remus (from the Latin word "ruma", meaning breast, because he found them
suckling a wolf) and raised them as shepherds. The brothers were educated in
Gabii and grew to become courageous and handsome men. They enjoyed hunting and
were even known to ambush brigands when loaded with plunder and distributed
what they took among the other shepherds to gain their favor.
After a quarrel arose between Numitor and Amulius' cowherds, Numitor's
supporters rallied together in preparation for a rebellion. During the
Lupercalia rites on February 15, 753 BC, a group of Numitor's men captured
Remus, for he was one of Amulius' shepherds, and delivered him to Numitor on
false accusations. Fearful of his brother's power, Numitor sent Remus to
Amulius, but the king did not want to be bothered with such trivial matters
and returned the youth to Numitor with a message to deal with the offender as
he saw fit. After a long discussion with Remus, Numitor realized the boy's
origins and quickly called Romulus away from the rites he was performing. The
three of them made a plan to overthrow Amulius, free Rhea Silvia, and
reinstate Numitor as king. With the help of many Albans who disliked the king,
Romulus and Remus gained access into the palace and savagely murdered Amulius.
After returning the throne of Alba Longa to their grandfather, Romulus and
Remus decided to found a new city next to the river they floated down as
infants. Since both men were the same age, they couldn't decide which should
be the one to found the city, so they sought the advice of the gods. Romulus
sat on the Palatine hill and Remus sat on the Aventine to await a sign. Soon,
six vultures, the bird of Mars, flew over Remus' head, and his supporters
cheered for their leader. Directly after that, though, a dozen vultures flew
over Romulus, signifying that he was the true victor. Remus was furious and
started a fight with his brother, but the skillful Romulus killed him.
Romulus officially founded his new city on April 21, 753 BC Rome began as a
small settlement on the Palatine hill, called Roma Quadrata, and Romulus knew
that he had to increase the population if his city should survive. Therefore,
Rome became the refuge of anyone who wandered inside the walls, including many
criminals. The only problem with this is that no women were coming to Rome,
and Romulus' subjects were becoming restless. The neighboring towns would not
give their daughters to Rome's criminals, so the bachelors had to get their
wives through deceit. King Romulus of the newly founded city of Rome invited
everyone from the surrounding cities to the Consualia Games in honor of
Neptune. The stadiums were filled with
Sabine couples, and just before the games began, a hoard of crazed Romans ran
into the crowd and took the women away. Romulus himself claimed his wife
Hersilia during the chaos. The Sabines wanted to declare war against Rome, but
their wives and daughters stopped the soldiers and said that they would rather
marry the Romans than see any blood shed. Reconciliation was made between the
two peoples, and Titus Tatius, a Sabine, jointly ruled with Romulus as king of
Rome.
After many years and many triumphs, Romulus' reign over Rome finally ended on
July 7, 716 BC The king was in Capra Palus (Goat's Marsh) during a lightning
storm when a bright light suddenly surrounded him. A flaming chariot carried
Romulus into the heavens, where he was deified as the god Quirinus. Of course,
this is the account of a senator named Julius Proculus, and ambitious
politicians probably murdered Romulus. By his wife Hersilia, Romulus fathered
Abillus and Prima.
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