Science Source ftp Apr 2015

According to the Roman mythology, the founders of Rome were Romulus and Remus. The story begins with the deposition of Numitor (their grandfather and king of Alba Longa), by his brother Amulius. The twin-brothers were the sons of the god Mars and the Vesta priestess (vestal virgin) Rhea Silvia (Numitor's daughter). Amulius took the twins, had them placed in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber. They were found by a she-wolf, who looked after them and fed them with her milk and by a woodpecker who brought them food (animals were sacred to Mars). They were discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought the children home to his wife, Acca Larentia, where they were raised as their own. Upon reaching adulthood, Romulus and Remus killed Amulius and reinstated Numitor, their grandfather, as King of Alba Longa, then they decided to found a town of their own. Romulus and Remus chose the place where the she-wolf had nursed them. Romulus began to build walls on the Palatine Hill, but Remus jeered at them because they were so low. He leaped over them to prove this, and Romulus in anger killed him. Romulus continued the building of the new city, naming it Roma (Rome) after his own name.