On the banks of the River Tiber, a small village was founded by two men who were born in the royal…

On the banks of the River Tiber, a small village was founded by two men who were born in the royal family of Alba Longa. It is said when they were infants, they were suckled by a wolf and raised by a shepherd. Surprisingly, this village would soon grow to be an empire. This empire would expand into domains that these brothers, Romulus and Remus, would never have dreamt of.

According to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia and the God of War, Mars. Rhea Silvia was the daughter of the King of Alba Longa, Numitor. According to Livy, Alba Longa was said to have been settled by Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, the Trojan prince who escaped the destruction of Troy and settled in Lavinium in Italy near Rome.

When Romulus and Remus were born, Numitor’s younger brother, Amulius, usurped the throne and tried to drown them in the Tiber River. Somehow, the infants survived and washed ashore near Palatine Hill, where legend says that a she-wolf suckled them until they were spotted by a local shepherd, Faustulus. They grew into adulthood by living with the shepherd’s family until they learnt about their past. By this time, they were part of a group of Shepherd warriors.

They went to Alba Longa, claimed the throne with the help of these shepherd warriors, and killed the usurper—Amulius. Romulus and Remus put their grandfather Numitor on the throne.

The twins went to establish their own city. They returned to the area where Faustulus had found them. It was the area of the seven hills. But as Livy puts it, they were disturbed by the ancestral curse of ambition of who would name this city and where it should be built. Eventually, following this conflict, Romulus killed Remus.

Thus, Romulus becomes the sole ruler of the city. He established the town on Palatine Hill and fortified it. Next, he adopted rites from the cult of Hercules. To expand the city, he welcomed people of low origin from neighbouring towns and spread the myth among them that they were the children of the soil. As the population grew, he appointed 100 patres (fathers) from the leading clans of the city to administer Rome. Thus, the patrician class of the Roman Senate was born.

It is said that at this period, Romans did not have enough female population. It posed a significant challenge to the expansion of Rome in the early days. Romulus organised games in honour of God Neptune and invited the neighbouring cities to the games. A lot of these tribes accepted the offer and came to the feast. But eventually, all the maidens were kidnapped by the young Romans. Romulus convinced these maidens that they would be given equal civil rights and share all property. Romans who kidnapped these maidens convinced them that they would make up for the parents they had lost. Thus, the girls decided to stay with the Romans. The parents of these maidens were not very happy with this event. The city of Caenina, which suffered the worst from this event, attacked Rome. But Romulus defeated them and killed their king. Romulus celebrated the first Roman triumph. The first temple to Jupiter was built. Then, Antemnae and Crustumerium attacked but were defeated. The towns were now under Roman occupation. People of Antemnae were given Roman citizenship at the request of Romulus’s wife, Hersilia, who was from Antemnae. Now, the Sabines, under their powerful King Titus Tatius, attacked Rome. They captured the citadel on Capitoline Hill due to the treason of the daughter of the governor of the citadel. Romulus attacked and fought the Sabines. The Sabine women intervened and asked them to arrange for a peace treaty. The Sabines agreed to unite with the Romans into one nation. Many Sabine families settled in Capitoline Hill following this peace treaty.

Titus Tatius and Romulus jointly ruled for five years until Tatius was killed in Laurentum following a conflict between him and the ambassadors of the Laurentes. Romulus refused to declare war on Laurentum but renewed a treaty with them instead. Then the city of Fidenae, jealous of the growing power of Romulus, attacked Rome, but they too were defeated, and their city was captured.

The city of Veii frequently raided to loot Roman territory. Romulus crossed the Tiber River with his army and defeated the Veientes. He could not capture the fortified city of Veii and, in anger, devastated the fields of Veii. With the loss sustained by the city of Veii, they sent envoys to Rome to sue for peace.

According to legend, after a reign of thirty-seven years, Romulus is said to have vanished in a thunderstorm at Campus Martius. For the story of Romulus, I relied mainly on Livy as my source. Even though many events can be very dubious, we can safely conclude that Romulus significantly impacted the foundation of Rome. He laid down the fundamental institutions that played a crucial role in the rise of Rome. His policy of integration of tribes was the fundamental policy that Rome undertook to expand into territories even he could not have imagined.

Sources-

Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter pr. (n.d.). https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0026