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Long ago in northern Italy, there lived a king named Numitor, who ruled the city of Alba Longa. The king had a jealous younger brother named Amulius, who eventually seized the throne and forced Numitor into exile. Amulius spared the life of Numitor’s daughter, Rhea, but he forced her to serve in the palace temple.
One night in the temple, Rhea was visited by Mars, the god of war. Mars eventually fell in love with Rhea and she had twin boys. She named the boys Remus and Romulus.
Amulius found out about the babies and became furious. He ordered that Rhea, Remus, and Romulus were to be drowned in the Tiber River. Before she died, Rhea managed to put the babies in a basket. The boys floated safely downstream.
The basket came ashore and was found by a she-wolf. Upon hearing the crying of the babies, the she-wolf took them to her den. The she-wolf provided the babies nourishment. A woodpecker also befriended the boys and brought them fruit, nuts, and meat.
The boys grew up healthy and strong. One day a shepherd came upon the twins and took them home with him. The shepherd and his wife raised the twins as their own for ten years. The boys were well cared for and learned how to read and write. They also helped to defend their new family against attacks from bandits.
There came a time when the boys were unable to defend the farm against bandits. Romulus managed to escape, but Remus was captured and brought before the bandits’ leader. The leader took Remus to the local landowner in order to turn him in as the person who had been attacking and stealing from the community. The landowner was old and the bandits believed he could be easily fooled.
Before passing judgement, the landowner allowed Remus to tell his story. As Remus spoke, the landowner began to cry. The landowner was none other than the exiled king, Numitor, and Remus was the grandson he had never known. Numitor brought the boys back to their real family, and together they took the throne of Alba Longa back from King Amulius. All was well…for a time.
After a while, the boys grew tired of their life in Alba Longa. They wanted to rule a great city of their own. They traveled all over and eventually found themselves back where they had originally washed ashore as babies. They decided they would build a great city at that spot. Romulus felt he was better suited to rule and wanted to name the city Rome. But Remus felt he would make a better ruler and that Reme was a far better name.
They argued for days until they came up with a solution. Since they were the children of a god, they would let the gods decide. They climbed to the top of a hill and waited for an omen, or sign from the gods. Within moments, six large vultures soared down and circled Remus. Remus shouted in triumph that he would be king.
However, to the great surprise of Remus, twelve giant vultures came down and circled Romulus. Romulus began to make plans to build the great city of Rome, which he would rule. Unfortunately, Remus was a very bitter over losing and constantly taunted Romulus.
Finally, Romulus lost his patience and his temper. He drew his sword and attacked his brother. The sword of Romulus pierced the body of Remus and he slowly fell to the ground at Romulus’s feet.
