Legend of the foundation of Rome: April 21st, 753 BC

Legend of the foundation of Rome tells that on this day, April 21st 753 b.C., Romolus (first king of Rome to be) draw the boundaries of what was going to become Rome on the Palatine hill (first one of the seven hills on which the Kingdom of Rome was established).

It took him a terrible toll: he killed his twin brother, Remus, after a quarrel on which hill the city was to be founded.

Remus liked the Aventine better as he thought it was safer due to its isolation and the steep side that faced the Tevere river: on the right side of it the Etruscan powerful kingdom was a major threat for the Latin tribes.
Romolus thought the Palatine was better: it assured the control on both the river and the paths that connected with the east and the south of the area and would give them a major advantage on both the Etruscan and the Sabinis (a powerful Latin tribe that dominated the east of the region).

The twin brothers were the children of the God “Marte” and Rea Silvia, a vestal virgin, the daughter of Numitore, the former king of Alba Longa a strong and powerful city on the south of the region. 

Amulio, Numitore’s brother, and usurper of the crown of Alba Longa, was afraid that one day Romolo or Remus could take his crown and so ordered a servant to get rid of the twins.

However, the servant didn’t have the courage to kill them, so put the children in a basket and left them floating on the Tevere river. The basket was pushed by the current, until it stopped in an area which is near the actual Palatine hill.
Here the twins were found by a female wolf that fed them (it’s the main symbol of the City: a wolf milking two babies and this is why for us romans, the city is feminine) until a shepherd, whose name was Faustolo, found the twins and raised them.

It is probable that the wolf wasn’t an animal, but a prostitute: those women were called lupae – wolves -, after them the brothels were named “the lupanari”.

When Romolo and Remo grew up, they came back to Alba Longa, killed their uncle Amulio and put Numitore back on the throne.

Then the brothers decided to build a new town: the history of Rome was about to begin.