Romulus and Remus

The mother of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, was a vestal virgin who got pregnant by Mars, the God of war. Abandoned, they were found by a she-wolf who suckled them and brought them up. Romulus and Remus grew up into strong young men and decided to found their own city. They chose different sites, quarreled which site is better; and during this quarrel Romulus killed Remus.

After Romulus built the city, he held games in honor of the god Consus, and invited people from the Sabine communities to attend the games. While they were watching the games, Romulus and his friends seized the young Sabine women who were attending the games and kidnapped them. The Sabines tried to get the women back, but by this time they had married their abductors and some of them had become pregnant. The women pleaded their relatives and their husbands not to fight and Romulus and Tatius, the king of the Sabines, were made joint monarchs. After Tatius died, Romulus reigned alone for about forty years. Afterwards Romulus has ascended to heaven and continued to look after Rome's destiny as the god Quirinus.

The Roman historian Titus Livius (59 BCE - 17 CE.) wrote history, starting from the founding of Rome, giving dates as AUC (ab urbe condita, i.e., from the founding of the city). Plutarch (46 - 120) retold the story of founding of Rome, changing the she-wolf into a prostitute and Mars to someone dressed up as Mars in an attempt to make love to the mother of Romulus and Remus.