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The mythical founding of Rome begins with the fall of Troy, as the Trojan prince Aeneas fled the destruction with a group of survivors.

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They eventually reached Italy, founding the city of Lavinia, and his son Ascanius, the city of Alba Longa.

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For generations, son after son ruled as king in Alba Longa, until we get to King Numitor, his daughter Rhea Silvia, and his brother Amulius.

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Hungry for power, Amulius expelled his brother from the throne

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and forced his niece to become a vestal virgin priestess

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so she would bear no sons to contest his rule.

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But Rhea's suffering would continue

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as the god Mars forced himself on her against her will,

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resulting in a pregnancy and birth of the twins Romulus and Remus.

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Amulius, in fear of potential rivals,

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ordered the twins thrown into the Tiber River.

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Fortunately for the twins, the river was in flood

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and were spared from the stronger currents.

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As they washed ashore, a wolf heard their cries and came to their aid,

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sheltering and nourishing them with her own milk.

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Faustulus, a herdsman, soon came upon them.

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With compassion, he took them in and raised them as if they were his own children.

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Romulus and Remus were not only diligent in their duties at home,

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but also steadfast in the defense of their people.

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They would chase down and attack bandits, sharing the spoils with their fellow herdsmen.

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Because of this, a loyal following grew around them.

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Later, during the festival rite of the Lupercal, the bandits sought their revenge.

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Enthralled in the celebrations, the villagers were ambushed and Remus was captured.

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They brought him to Amulius as prisoner on trumped-up charges.

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Remus served his imprisonment in Numitor's home.

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While questioning him, he soon grew to realize that Remus and Romulus were his long-lost

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grandsons.

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Romulus, with his followers, mounted a rescue, killing Amulius himself.

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With Numitor restored to the throne of Alba Longa, the twins set out to found their own

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city at the very spot where they were once left to die.

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But discord grew between the brothers as they quarreled over which hill to start building

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on.

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Romulus and his followers occupied the Palantine Hill, while Remus and his followers occupied

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the Aventine, hoping for a sign from the gods to settle their dispute.

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The sign came first as six vultures appeared over Remus, but then double that number appeared

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above Romulus.

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sides argued over what was more significant, who was answered first versus the greater

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number of birds. In defiance, Remus leapt over his brother's partially built walls to

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which Romulus answered with violence, killing his brother. Romulus was now the sole ruler

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of the city to which he gave his name, Rome. The ambitious Romans wanted to grow quickly

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so they opened the city to any who would come, runaway slaves, criminals, and the dispossessed.

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While many men did come, the city lacked for women, and would not last beyond a generation.

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Romulus reached out to the neighboring cities, seeking alliances through marriage rights.

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But with all of his attempts rebuffed, he turned to force.

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Romulus organized a series of games and festivities to be held in Rome, and invited the neighboring

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populace.

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As the city filled with guests, most notably the Sabines, Romulus set his devious plot

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in motion by giving a pre-arranged signal to his men.

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They abducted all the unmarried young women from the crowd, and against their will, made

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them their wives.

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Naturally, these actions led to war.

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While the Romans defeated the rest of their neighbors easily enough, the Sabines proved

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to be a greater challenge.

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And it was only the intervention of the true victims, the Sabine women themselves, that

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could put a stop to it.

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They fearlessly entered the battlefield, positioning themselves between the battle lines.

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Appealing to both sides, they cried out,

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only one side can win this fight. As for us, it is better to die than to live, for we must do so

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either as widows or as orphans. Their impassioned plea was successful. The Romans and Sabines

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combined into one people, with the Sabine leader, Titus Taddeus, ruling jointly as king with Romulus.

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Though he would be murdered in a nearby city years later, and Romulus would again be the sole ruler

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of Rome. Romulus' reign was long and prosperous, as Rome's power and influence grew. But one rather

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innocuous day while inspecting the troops, a thunderstorm descended, obscuring the king

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from his soldiers. The storm quickly abated, but Romulus was gone. Proculus Iulius, a trusted

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and respected Roman, later confirmed his fate. He claimed that Romulus came down from the

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heavens and spoke to him, saying, Go, announce to the Romans that the gods in heaven will

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my Rome to be the capital of the world. Accordingly, let them cultivate the art of war, let them

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realize and let them teach their descendants that no human power can withstand Roman supremacy.

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He ascended once more and vanished as once founder and now immortal god of Rome. This version of the

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myth is based on Livy's account, a first century BC Roman historian, as translated by T.J. Luce.

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Livy recounts multiple versions of the founding myth. For brevity's sake, I've condensed and

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simplified it here. The founding myth is obviously puzzling for a modern audience in terms of ethics,

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morality and the supernatural, but it was a bit of a head scratcher for the Romans as well.

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Livy himself was skeptical about much of the story. As to what parts of the myth,

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if any, can be supported by archaeology is a matter for another future video.