1. Romulus and Remus
This is the myth of the founding of Rome by the twin brothers, Romulus
and Remus. Their grandfather was the rightful king of Alba but he had been
deposed by his brother. Their mother was supposed to be a virgin priestess of the
goddess Vesta, but she got pregnant, some say by Mars, the god of war. Their
great-uncle recognised that Romulus and Remus were more than human and
attempted to have them killed. The servant entrusted with this task abandoned
them by the river Tiber, which was in flood. They were found by a she-wolf who
suckled them, and a woodpecker, who fed them. A swineherd later found the
babies and brought them up.
Romulus and Remus grew up into strong young men, born leaders of the
shepherds and outlaws in the surrounding countryside. Remus was captured in
a brawl with some of his grandfather's shepherds. Romulus attempted to rescue
his brother, and the presence of twins of about the right age uncovered the secret.
With their own followers and their grandfather's men, they deposed their great-
uncle and restored their grandfather to his throne. Romulus and Remus did not
want to serve anybody else as king, so they left Alba to found their own city.
They chose different sites, and decided to seek omens for which would be
better. Remus looked round and saw six vultures, a good omen, whereupon
Romulus claimed to have seen twelve, even better. While they were arguing,
Remus jumped contemptuously over the walls Romulus had built. Romulus was
made even angrier by this, and in a fit of rage, killed his brother.
Romulus buried Remus, and carried on with building his city. There was
one problem: all the inhabitants, being shepherds, runaway slaves, and brigands,
were men. Romulus held games in honour of the god Consus, and invited people
from the Sabine communities roundabout. While they were watching the games,
Romulus gave a signal and the Romans seized the young Sabine women who
were attending the games and made off with them. The Sabines later tried to get
the women back, but by this time they had married their abductors and some of
them had become mothers. The women interposed themselves between the two
armies, and pleaded not to be forced to choose between their relatives by blood
and their relatives by marriage. Peace was restored and Romulus and Tatius, the

2. king of the Sabines, were made joint monarchs. Tatius was killed after only five
years, and Romulus then reigned alone.
After having reigned over Rome for 38 years, Romulus disappeared in a
violent storm, and it was announced that he had been taken up to heaven, from
where he would continue to look after Rome's destiny as the god Quirinus.