Romulus
Romulus EuropeLegendary founder and first King of Rome. Romulus and Remus were sons of Mars and a Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia. The war god having forced Rhea Silvia, the infants were set adrift in a small boat on the flooded Tiber, but it was washed ashore and they were rescued and suckled by a she wolf. Faustulus, the royal herdsman, discovered and adopted them. Grown to man's estate, they founded Rome, but strife arose between the brothers, in which Remus was slain. The city, a haven for runaway slaves and homicides, suffered from a shortage of women, which Romulus overcame by arranging for the capture of Sabine maidens at a festival. After ruling for forty years Romulus vanished and became the god Quirinus.
During the late fourth century BC the Romulus myth first rivalled that of Aeneas as the supposed city founder. The she wolf had been the symbol of nationality since the establishment of the Republic in 510 BC. Although imperial patronage gave to...
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