The female wolf, feeding baby twins Romulus and Remus
According to the legend, the twins Romulus and Remus founded Rome on April 21, 753 B.C. The legend says that both twins were suckled by a she-wolf as orphaned infants.
Legendary Founding of Rome by Romulus
Actually, the Romulus and Remus myth originated sometime in the fourth century B.C., and the exact date of Rome’s founding was set by the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in the first century B.C.
On this day: The founding of Rome
Furthermore, following the legend, “Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia, the daughter of King Numitor of Alba Longa.”
A map of early Rome when it's walls were still square according to Romulus' ploughed furrow.
On the southeast of what would become Rome, was located the mythical city of Alba Longa. King Numitor was overthrown by his brother Amulius, before the twins were born.
The history of Rome begins with a myth, that of its founding by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus. Abandoned as infants and nursed by a she-wolf
However, Amulius forced Rhea to become a vestal virgin so that she would not give birth to rival claimants to his title. Nevertheless, “Rhea was impregnated by the war god Mars and gave birth to Romulus and Remus. Amulius ordered the infants drowned in the Tiber, but they survived and washed ashore at the foot of the Palatine hill, where they were suckled by a she-wolf until they were found by the shepherd Faustulus…
Nicholas Mignard | The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife, 1654 | Dallas Museum of Art | Image and data from the Dallas Museum of Art
…The twins then decided to found a town on the site where they had been saved as infants. They soon became involved in a petty quarrel, however, and Remus was slain by his brother. Romulus then became ruler of the settlement, which was named “Rome” after him.