Heroes and Founding Myths
Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, and the legends Rome told about its own beginning. This cluster covers the legendary figures and stories Rome told about how the city itself began, from Troy to the Tiber.
Aeneas: The Trojan Hero Who Became Rome's Ancestor
Before he was Rome's mythic ancestor, Aeneas was a Trojan refugee carrying his father and his household gods out of a burning city.
Romulus and Remus: The Twins Who Founded Rome
Raised by a wolf, torn apart by a quarrel over a wall: the legend behind Rome's traditional founding date of 753 BC.
The Seven Kings of Rome and Their Myths
Seven kings, 244 years, and one implausible math problem: a guide to Rome's legendary monarchy and its most famous rulers.
Numa Pompilius: The King Who Gave Rome Its Religion
Rome's second king supposedly never fought a war. Instead, legend says, he gave the city its gods, its calendar, and its priests.
Rhea Silvia: The Vestal Who Became Mother to Rome's Founders
A forced vow of chastity, a god, and two sons who would found Rome: the legend behind Romulus and Remus's mother.
Aeneas in Italy: Latinus, Lavinia, and the War with Turnus
Troy and Dido get the fame, but half of Virgil's epic is a war fought in Italy over a king's daughter and a rival claimant.
Hercules at Rome: The Ara Maxima and a Greek Hero's Roman Cult
Before Romulus, legend says Hercules already visited the future site of Rome, and Romans never stopped worshipping him there.
The She-Wolf and the Myth of Rome's Beginning
Rome's most famous statue might be younger than you think, and the wolf-and-twins myth behind it is older and stranger than the bronze.
How the Aeneid Rewrote Rome's Founding Myth
One poet, writing for one emperor, turned scattered legends into the founding story Rome told about itself ever after.