Rome's Founding Myth Kept it Alive For the Ages and A Bold Attempt to Fuse City

Most cities simply begin, but few can claim a birth story at all. But Rome, the “Eternal City,” refused to be ordinary even in its origins. Its founders weren’t merchants or settlers, but twin brothers fated by gods, betrayal, and blood. In a world where myth often explained the stars, Rome used myth to explain itself, as something destined, not built.

According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were the sons of the god Mars and the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia. To prevent rivals, their uncle Amulius ordered the newborns drowned in the Tiber River. Yet the river, defiant as the people who would one day live beside it, carried them to safety. There, beneath a fig tree, a she-wolf nursed the twins until they were found by a herdsman, Faustulus. From this wild rescue, Rome claimed both its ferocity and its divine favor.

When grown, the twins restored their grandfather to power and sought to found a new city where they’d been saved. But destiny demanded one final conflict. Romulus favored the Palatine Hill, Remus the Aventine. They turned to augury, reading the flight of birds for signs, but disagreement turned to rage. When Remus mocked his brother by leaping over his new city’s walls, Romulus struck him down. Thus, in 753 BCE, Rome was founded, with Romulus as his first king.

The rest is history. That myth would echo for millennia, shaping how Romans saw themselves: heirs of divine will and human struggle, destined to tame chaos as their founder once did. It fed the imagination of an empire that grew from a handful of huts to a republic, and from a republic to a world-spanning power. Even centuries later, when emperors ruled and legions marched, they carried within them the story of two brothers by a river, and the belief that Rome was never merely built, but chosen.Go deeper: Who really built Rome? - National Geographic

Craving more? Check out the source behind this Brain Snack!