THE FOUNDING OF ROME ©AMSA Junior Classical League

Aeneas ◦ Son of Anchises and Venus ◦ Left Troy when it was destroyed by the Greeks ◦ He wandered to many different places before coming to Italy ◦ He met King Latinus. ◦ King Latinus had gotten a prophecy from his father Faunus to marry off his daughter, Lavinia, to a foreigner, Aeneas. ◦ After defeating the Rutulian Prince Turnus for Lavinia’s hand he married her and founded a city Lavinium. ◦ His descendants would found Rome through…

Ascanius/Iulus ◦ Son of Aeneas and first wife, Creüsa ◦ He established the city of Alba Longa. ◦ Alba Longa was ruled by his successors for 300 years. ◦ One of his more famous successors and King of Alba Longa was…

Numitor, Amulius, Rhea Silvia ◦ Numitor and Amulius were brothers and descendants of Ascanius and Aeneas. ◦ Numitor was the King of Alba Longa during the events of the founding of Rome. ◦ Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, was a Vestal Virgin. ◦ She was visited by Mars and was impregnated with twins ◦ Amulius, the evil brother, noticed this and forced Numitor to kill his own daughter after she bore the twins. ◦ Amulius then threw the twins into the Tiber River. ◦ The twins were found and named…

Romulus and Remus ◦ Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Rhea Silvia and Mars. ◦ After being thrown into the Tiber they washed up underneath a fig tree ◦ They were rescued by a she-wolf named Lupa. ◦ She Nursed them until a shepherd, Faustulus, and his wife, Acca Laurentia, found the twins and raised them as their own.

Childhood ◦ When they were young, the twins discovered their identity as Princes of Alba Longa. ◦ They went back to Alba Longa where Amulius had deposed Numitor as king. ◦ They helped their Grandfather remove Amulius and take his throne back. ◦ Wanting to go out on their own, The Twins left to go found their city.

Quarrels and the Founding ◦ They argued over the omens that they both had received. ◦ Remus saw 6 vultures on the Aventine Hill first ◦ Romulus saw 12 vultures on the Palatine Hill Second. ◦ They began building their own cities, but Remus jumped over the sacred boundary of Romulus’ city, and his brother Killed him and founded the Roma Quadrata on April 21, 753 BC.