1. Rome and You: The Early Years

2. The ancient Romans traced their heritage back to the great Trojan hero Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus.

3. The Trojans fought a war with the Greeks for ten years.

4. Eventually, the Greeks devised a trick to destroy the city of Troy.

5. Aeneas fled the city carrying his father on his shoulder and leading his son while his wife Creusa followed behind.

6. During the escape from the city, however, Aeneas lost his wife Creusa.

7. Aeneas experienced a series of wacky adventures on his way to Italy.

8. Eventually, Aeneas finally arrived in Italy.

9. He settled in Latium and established the race which would one day found Rome.

10. Romulus and Remus: The True Story

11. Rome traces its heritage to a pair of twins: Romulus and Remus.

12. According to legend, their grandfather Numitor ruled the area.

13. His brother Amulius, however, deposed him as king and ran him out of town.

14. In order to prevent a rightful heir to the throne, he forced Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silva, to become a Vestal Virgin.

15. Although she was a Vestal Virgin (a priestess), she allegedly had an “encounter” with Mars, the god of war.

16. Because their mother, Rhea Silva, had broken her vow of chastity, she was executed after giving birth to the twins.

17. The two boys were then left by the river in a basket where a wolf nursed them.

18. Eventually, a shepherd found the two boys and raised them as his sons.

19. One day, Romulus and Remus decided to make their own city.

20. While building the wall of the city, Remus joked that a fox could jump over Romulus’ section since it was so low.

21. So Romulus killed Remus because of that joke.

22. As a result, the new city was named Rome (after Romulus).

23. Another version states that Remus saw six vultures in the sky, signifying that he should be king.

24. Romulus said that he saw twelve vultures and that meant that he should be king.

25. A fight ensued, and Romulus killed Remus.

26. There was a slight problem - Rome did not have any people, so Romulus made the city a refuge for criminals and murderers.

27. One problem - Romulus had no women in his city, but he came up with an idea.

28. There was a neighboring tribe called the Sabines.

29. Romulus invited the Sabines to a cookout with the Roman men.

30. But during the cookout, Romulus and the Roman men stole all of the Sabine women.

31. One man named Talassius wanted a particular woman, so the men yelled “Talassio” when they were taking the women.

32. The Romans incorporated this yell into their wedding ceremony as a shout of good luck.

33. The Sabine men were unhappy about this and sought to do something about this.

34. As a result, they declared war against the Romans.

35. The war took a year to prepare and during that time, the Sabine women “married” the Roman men and had children.

36. Finally the war was ready to begin, and the Sabines prepared to attack Rome.

37. As the battle began, the Sabine/Roman women, rushed out into the middle of the battlefield.

38. Holding their newborn babies, they exclaimed, “If you attack the Romans, then you will have to go through us first!”

39. This battle is our fault! Don’t make us widows and orphans on the same day!”

40. Thanks to the women, the Sabine men realized that they were wrong, and they went back home.

41. The Romans and Sabines lived happily ever after

42. The Death of Romulus

43. With a new city full of men and women, Romulus became king.

44. One day, Romulus and friends went onto the top of a hill.

45. When suddenly, a cloud covered the hill.

46. When the cloud left, Romulus was gone!!

47. The Romans believed that Romulus had been taken to Mt. Olympus in the cloud and had become a god.

48. Many historians believe that Romulus was actually murdered on the hill; the story was fabricated to explain his disappearance.

49. Without a king, the people of Rome panicked.

50. The Romans fought over who would be the next king – some wanted the new king to be of Sabine blood, while others wanted a Roman.

51. The Romans came up with an idea, but would it work?

52. To calm the masses, the Roman senate came up with an idea.

53. Instead of having a king, the senate decided to divide themselves into ten groups of ten men.

54. Each group of 10 men ruled for 50 days, with one man having complete power for 5 days and then it was handed to another man for 5 days.

55. The senate thought that this would solve the problem.

56. The people, however, did not like this idea, complaining that instead of one master, they now had 100.

57. To calm the people, the senate chose a Sabine man named Numa to be the next king.

58. Numa was a very well-respected man who was known for his justice and piety.

59. Everyone thought that Numa would be a great man to replace Romulus. But was he?!!