According to Roman tradition, the city of Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC by Romulus, a legendary warrior who became its first king. The story combined divine ancestry, heroic adventure, family conflict and political ambition. Although modern archaeology presents a more gradual account of Rome’s development, the traditional foundation story remained central to Roman identity for centuries.
Aeneas and the Trojan Legacy
The traditional story begins before the birth of Romulus, with the destruction of Troy. Aeneas, a Trojan prince and the son of the goddess Venus, escaped the burning city with a group of survivors. After a long journey across the Mediterranean, he reached the western coast of Italy.
Aeneas formed an alliance with King Latinus, ruler of the local Latin people, and married his daughter Lavinia. He founded the settlement of Lavinium, named in her honour. Through Aeneas, the Romans claimed descent from both the heroes of Troy and the goddess Venus.
Aeneas’s son Ascanius, also known as Iulus, later founded the city of Alba Longa in the Alban Hills. Roman tradition regarded Alba Longa as the ancestral home of the royal family from which Romulus and Remus eventually descended. The Julian family, including Julius Caesar and Augustus, claimed descent from Iulus and therefore from Venus herself.
The Kings of Alba Longa
Many generations after Aeneas, the throne of Alba Longa belonged to King Numitor. His younger brother, Amulius, seized power and forced Numitor into exile. To prevent Numitor’s family from producing a future rival, Amulius killed or removed his male descendants and compelled Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a Vestal Virgin.
Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, and were required to remain unmarried and childless during their service. Amulius believed this would ensure that Rhea Silvia could never produce an heir. According to the legend, however, she was visited by Mars, the god of war, and gave birth to twin sons named Romulus and Remus.
Romulus and Remus
Fearing that the twins would one day challenge him, Amulius ordered them to be drowned in the River Tiber. The servants entrusted with the task placed the infants in a basket and abandoned them near the river. The floodwaters carried the basket to the foot of the Palatine Hill, where it became caught among the reeds.
A she-wolf discovered the twins and nursed them in a cave traditionally known as the Lupercal. A woodpecker was also said to have brought them food. Both animals were associated with Mars, strengthening the claim that the god was their father.
The twins were eventually found by a shepherd named Faustulus. He and his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the children as their own. Romulus and Remus grew into strong and courageous young men who became leaders among the local shepherds.
The Restoration of Numitor
As young men, Romulus and Remus became involved in a dispute between the supporters of Numitor and Amulius. Remus was captured and brought before Numitor. The former king noticed the young man’s noble character and began to suspect his true identity.
Faustulus revealed the circumstances in which he had found the twins, and their royal ancestry was discovered. Romulus and Remus then gathered their followers, attacked Alba Longa and killed Amulius. They restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne.
Rather than remain in Alba Longa, the brothers decided to establish a new settlement near the place where they had been rescued. The location beside the Tiber offered access to water, fertile land and important routes connecting inland communities with the coast.
The Dispute Over the New City
Romulus and Remus disagreed about where the new city should be built. Romulus favoured the Palatine Hill, while Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. Because neither brother would give way, they sought a sign from the gods through augury, the interpretation of the flight and behaviour of birds.
Remus reportedly saw six vultures, while Romulus later saw twelve. The brothers argued over whether the first sighting or the greater number represented divine approval. Their followers joined the dispute, and the disagreement became violent.
Romulus began constructing a defensive wall around his chosen settlement on the Palatine. Remus mocked the wall by jumping over it, demonstrating how easily an enemy might enter. In anger, Romulus or one of his supporters killed him.
Romulus was said to have declared that the same fate should befall anyone who crossed his walls. The death of Remus gave the foundation story a tragic character. Rome was born through both divine favour and violence, themes that repeatedly appeared in Roman accounts of their own history.
The Founding of Rome
Romulus became the sole ruler of the new city, which was named Rome after him. Roman tradition dated its foundation to 21 April 753 BC. The Romans later celebrated the anniversary during the festival of the Parilia, originally a rural ceremony associated with the protection and purification of livestock.
Romulus established religious rites, organised the population and created political institutions. He selected leading men to serve as advisers in a council traditionally identified as the first Senate. These men were called fathers, and their descendants became associated with Rome’s patrician class.
The early settlement attracted shepherds, adventurers, fugitives, exiles and people seeking a new beginning. Romulus reportedly established a place of refuge where outsiders could join the community. This tradition presented Rome as a society capable of absorbing people from different backgrounds.
The Sabine Women
The new settlement had many male inhabitants but few women, threatening its future. Romulus approached neighbouring communities and requested permission for Roman men to marry their daughters. The neighbouring peoples refused, viewing the Romans as an uncertain and disreputable population.
Romulus then invited nearby communities to attend a religious festival and public games. During the celebration, the Romans seized unmarried Sabine women and carried them away. This event became known as the abduction of the Sabine women.
The Sabine king Titus Tatius later led an army against Rome. The conflict ended when the Sabine women placed themselves between the opposing forces and appealed to their Roman husbands and Sabine relatives to stop fighting. They argued that victory for either side would bring suffering to their families.
The Romans and Sabines agreed to unite as one community. Romulus and Titus Tatius ruled together for a time, while many Sabines settled in Rome. The story reflected the Roman belief that conflict could be followed by political integration and that former enemies could become members of the same state.
The Rule and Disappearance of Romulus
Romulus was traditionally credited with ruling Rome for nearly four decades. He organised the army, fought neighbouring peoples and expanded Roman territory. Later generations regarded him as the creator of many of Rome’s earliest military, religious and political traditions.
The accounts of his death differ. In one version, Romulus disappeared during a violent storm while reviewing the army. A Roman named Proculus Julius later claimed that Romulus had appeared to him in divine form and announced that Rome was destined to become a great power.
Romulus was subsequently worshipped as the god Quirinus. Another, darker tradition suggested that dissatisfied senators murdered him and secretly divided his body. As with the death of Remus, the story connected the beginnings of Roman political life with rivalry and violence.
Tradition and Archaeology
Modern historians do not treat every part of the traditional foundation story as a literal account of events. Archaeological evidence indicates that settlements existed on several of Rome’s hills long before the conventional foundation date. These communities appear to have developed and gradually joined together over many generations.
The Palatine Hill contained settlements by at least the tenth or ninth century BC. During the eighth and seventh centuries BC, the communities around the hills became increasingly connected. Shared religious spaces, drainage projects, trade and political organisation contributed to the emergence of an urban centre.
The traditional date of 753 BC falls within an important period in this development, but Rome was probably not created in a single ceremony by one individual. The legend may preserve distant memories of conflicts, alliances and the unification of separate Latin and Sabine communities.
The Importance of the Foundation Legend
The legend of Romulus and Remus explained how Romans understood their city and its character. Their descent from Mars associated Rome with military strength, while their connection to Aeneas gave the city a prestigious Trojan and divine ancestry.
The story also portrayed Rome as a community formed from different peoples. Trojans, Latins, Sabines, shepherds, refugees and outsiders all contributed to its beginnings. This helped later Romans present their expansion and extension of citizenship as part of an ancient tradition of inclusion.
At the same time, the killing of Remus warned that political ambition and internal conflict could threaten the Roman community. Roman writers often used the brothers’ rivalry as an early example of the civil violence that troubled the Republic many centuries later.
The traditional foundation of Rome was therefore more than a simple story about the creation of a city. It connected Roman religion, politics, warfare and identity to a legendary past. Whether celebrated in public festivals, represented in art or retold by historians and poets, the image of the twins and the she-wolf became one of the most enduring symbols of ancient Rome.