

After the death of Remus, Romulus secured and fortified the Palatine hill and declared himself king of Rome. Another version of the story is the pair of brothers fought each other over the augury and Romulus killed him during that dispute. Livy, or Titus Livius, said the more commonplace story is Remus jumped over the wall they built between their hills to mock Romulus, and then, Romulus killed him. There are two variations of the story regarding what happened next. They disagreed on which one saw the divine sign.


They used augury (oracle via birds) to decipher which hill to build the city upon - Remus saw six birds first, but Romulus saw 12. When the boys grew up, they killed Amulius and decided to start a city of their own. The wicked king Amulius put Romulus and Remus in a basket on the river Tiber.Ī she-wolf raised them and they were eventually brought to a shepherd’s family. Livy said Rhea Silvia, mother of Romulus and Remus, was a Vestal Virgin, who was assaulted by Mars. It’s said by different authors that Aeneas has two descendants, Romulus and Remus. He arrives on the Sicilian shoreline and soon engages in battle with Turnus and his army. Juno, the goddess, tries to thwart him partially due to his dalliance with Queen Dido - the queen of Juno’s patron city Carthage. Exiled from Troy when the Hellenes pillaged and destroyed the city, Aeneas launches a voyage with his fleet to find a home. In Virgil’s “Aeneid” - a national epic poem sometimes considered propaganda, other times considered subversive - Virgil details the journey and war of the hero Aeneas. ab urbe condita or “from the founding of the city.” The legendary origins of the city are recounted by authors like Livy and Virgil. Roman authors often dated important events using this date as a vantage point using the acronym A.U.C. On April 21, 753 B.C.E., Rome was founded, or so the myth goes. On the anniversary of Rome, here’s a brief look back at the founding of Rome, its transition from monarchy to republic, the fall of the republic, the fall of the empire and the inventions of Rome. Once the capital of a sprawling empire, Rome’s cultural history has influenced the world in several different ways. German author and poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe once said about Rome, “Only in Rome is it possible to understand Rome.” The city has a complex and rich history behind it. Friday is the anniversary of the founding of Rome.
