If Remus had won, Rome would be called Reme...

The story of Romulus and Remus is the foundation story of Rome. It goes like this...

Once upon a time there was a Vestal Virgin named Rhea Silvia. Vestal Virgins were a group of young women who served as priestesses. Their job was to attend to the goddess Vesta, who was the goddess of the hearth and was extremely important to everyone, rich or poor, in Rome. The Vestals took vows of chastity to serve this goddess and to be chosen as a priestess was a real honor to one's family.

So, on with the story. Rhea Silvia was the daughter of a man named Numitor. Numitor was the rightful leader of his town but was pushed into exile by his evil brother, Amulius. To ensure that his rule would never be challenged, Amulius killed Numitor's male children and made Rhea Silvia a Vestal Virgin so that she would never have kids. As is turns out, Rhea Silvia was raped by the god of war, Mars. This really could happen!

When Amulius learned that Rhea Silvia was pregnant, he waited until the birth. Rhea Silvia had twin boys and Amulius immediately took them from her. Amulius handed the infant twins to a couple of thugs and told them to drown the babies in the Tiber river. Incidentally, this practice was not uncommon in Rome's early history. Being thugs, they were lazy by nature and decided to place the babies in the shallows of the river, rather than the deep water.

After spending several hours in a shallow pool, the babies were discovered by a lactating she-wolf. She cares for the infants and feeds them. Then, the babies and the wolf are found by a shepherd. The shepherd takes the twins home to his barren wife and raise them through their teenage years.

As teenagers, Romulus and Remus decide to leave home and found their own village. They return to the bend in the river where they were discovered and choose that location as their new village. Then they begin to squabble...They have dug the foundations for the walls of the village and start to fight about who'll rule the town. In true Etruscan fashion, they look to the gods (via an analysis of the flight of birds) to answer the question. Romulus sees 6 birds flying toward him. Shortly thereafter, Remus sees 12 birds flying toward him. Now there's a real interpretation problem, who is the chosen one? The guy who saw the birds first, or the guy who saw the most birds? Romulus did not want to mess around with divine intervention anymore. He killed his brother and became ruler of the village, which became a town, then a city, and finally a empire.

This story embodies many of the qualities that the Roman people valued. Romulus overcame several challenges in his life that lead him to the foundation of his village. He's the child of the god of war which explains why the Romans were such a militaristic civilization. Respect for the will of the gods is valued, but only to the degree that it doesn't interfere with the ambitions of an individual. I could go on...