The Romans were angry with the gods in many ways. This is especially true with regard to their sexual practices. Without intercourse with each other, men often and without consent take prey. This resulted in many unwanted children who were often left alone to fend for themselves.
Such was the case with Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers. The children were the sons of the god Mars and the holy priest and Vestal virgin of the goddess Vesta. Because of her seat within the temple, Silvia was not allowed to marry, nor was she supposed to consummate with any man.
Unfortunately, Mars doesn’t care about rules. He saw what he wanted and took it without the girl’s consent. The union gave birth to Romulus and Remus, twins.
The children of Numitor, his grandfather, and his brother Amulius, fought a constant battle against the kingdom of Alba Longa. Their father Numitorus and Amulius tried to divide the treasury between the two brothers. Bu Amulius did not care to share the kingdom with his brother and deposed him as king.
After his plan to prevent Silvia from failing to give birth to children, Amulius plotted the girl’s death. and his children. There are many different versions of the way the king used to drive the trio. Some had thrown them all into the river, others had enclosed Silvia, and had simply left the twins in case they should perish by exposure. But another letter has the virgin buried while the boys are killed by the servants.
Whatever letter he chose, the same thing happened. Silvia was somehow killed and the boys were left alone to fend for themselves somewhere in the desert.
While it seemed certain that they would die at the hands of the elements or become tasty food in the wildlife, that would not happen. But they were found by a wolf, who decided to raise them as his own. He fed them with his own milk and helped the peak to sustain the food.
At last, however, the wolf knew that he could care no longer, and took them to the place where they were to be found by the shepherd. The shepherd brought them back to his wife and they finished raising the children.
After they had reached adulthood, Romulus and Remus decided to take revenge on him who had left them to die. They killed Amulius, and restored their grandfather, Numitor, to the king. They did not want to stay with their grandfather, but instead but to make their lot.
At length they settled in that place, and began to build the city. But Remus dismayed his brother about the height of the wall which he was building around the city. Frustrated and angry, Romulus killed Remus and began to build a city for himself.
After the city was completed, Romulus adopted it and Rome was born. But the city did not have a very glorious beginning. Its original inhabitants fled from the assailants, the thieves. Romulus installed himself as supreme leader, and took charge of the inhabitants of the city. Since there was a small supply of women available for wives, Romulus devised a plan to obtain more wives.
He announced the celebration of the games of the founded city. He invited the Sabines to participate in the activities. While the men attend the games, Romulus invades the women’s camp, snatches the best specimens, and returns to Rome.
King Titus, when he learned what Romulus had done, vowed war to Romulus. But quite oddly enough the Sabines put an end to the struggle. At length the two kings reigned over their subjects with united forces, until Tatius was slain in another battle. After this, Romulus reigned alone, until one day he disappeared alone. His followers believed that the gods had taken him to heaven. At last the god Ouirinus was consecrated.
Little did he know when he began to build his city that he would lay the foundation of one of the greatest cultures in the world. That is, of course, if you believe the legend in the first place.
