The Birth Of Rome: The Story Of Romulus And Remus

People say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but is this really true? If the phrase is taken literally, then of course not, but if it is looked at in another way, it just might. Questions that should be answered is how did Rome even start? Where did the idea of Rome begin? The answer is not set in stone, but myth has it that twin boys by the name of Romulus and Remus began the city. The story of Romulus and Remus explains the birth of Rome, deeply impacts Roman belief, and is currently being studied upon today with a possibility of their story being an actual occurrence. The myth of Romulus and Remus explains how Rome began, or where the idea of Rome started. After the Greek Trojan War, a group of soldiers set sail to find land to begin a new settlement.

But, as the babies were drifting down the river, their basket snagged onto a fig tree, and a she-wolf heard the boys crying. Instead of eating them, however, she suckled them. One day, a shepherd had found the boys, and took them in as his own. The boys grew up with the shepherd and learned of their true identity. Knowledge of their heroic status pushed the boys to march to Alba Longa, and slay Amulius. Joined by Numitor’s followers as a militia, they killed Amulius in battle, and Numitor had control once again. The twins, exhausted, decided to found a city nearby and rest. It was then that the brothers began to disagree. Romulus wanted to found the city on one hill, while Remus wanted to found it on another. They both split, building their own, and one day, Remus came over to Romulus’s city. He jumped over the base of his wall, and because this was a bad omen (jumping over the base meant it would easily be sacked and destroyed, and was bad luck), Romulus killed his brother Remus (Blohm). From then on, everyone helped to complete Romulus’s newly founded city Roma (Carvazzi).

The hills mentioned in the myth are actually real. The story explains how the two twins bickered over where to build their city. One was on one hill, while the other was on another one. This may have just been a simple observation

Recently in the Roman Forum, an outline of an old, tattered wall and a palace was found buried, leading many historians to believe this was the place where Romulus built the heart of Rome. Several debates have occurred discussing this find, but not enough sufficient evidence has been found to confirm this. However, experts have been arguing ever since this was found (Slayman). Another support for this myth is the word she-wolf itself. In latin, it is pronounced lupa, which has two meanings - mother wolf and prostitute. The reason this is important is because a she-wolf might sound ridiculous, but people say the shepherd’s wife could have been a prostitute, which is more believable to people (Cavazzi). Lastly, skeletons in the royal burial can be dated back to nearly 1000 BC, around the time the area began getting settled. This does not specifically point out that the myth is true, but scholars believe that Romulus and Remus would have been around during this time period (Slayman). There is all-in-all a lot of evidence that pushes toward this myth being