Rome

A foundation myth does more than explain where a city came from. It gives its inhabitants a shared past and can suggest that their community enjoys divine favour. These stories connect Rome with the famous Trojan War, with Italian kings and with the gods Venus and Mars.

The prescribed account is from Livy’s The History of Rome. Livy acknowledges that traditions about Rome’s beginnings mix human and divine actions. He does not intend to confirm or deny them: he recognises that such stories make a city’s origins more sacred. We can therefore study what the myths meant to Romans without treating every episode as a proven historical event.

Aeneas leads the Trojans to Italy

Aeneas was the son of the mortal Anchises and the goddess Venus. After Troy fell to the Greeks, he led a group of Trojans in search of a new homeland. Livy explains that Aeneas had been spared because of an existing friendship with the Greeks and because he had supported peace and the return of Helen.

In Livy’s account, Aeneas travelled first to Macedonia, then to Sicily, and finally to Laurentum in Italy. The fates guided him towards a greater destiny. His leadership therefore preserves a defeated people and creates the possibility of a new beginning.

The arrival was not immediately peaceful. The Trojans had little left besides their weapons and ships, so they took supplies from the fields. King Latinus and the local people, whom Livy calls the Aborigines, armed themselves to resist the newcomers.

Livy gives two versions of what happened next. In one, Latinus was defeated in battle and then made peace with Aeneas. In the other, Latinus called Aeneas to a meeting before fighting began. Learning who the Trojans were and why they had come, he admired Aeneas as a leader equally ready for war and peace. They agreed a treaty, and their armies greeted one another peacefully.

Both versions lead to an alliance reinforced by marriage: Aeneas married Latinus’ daughter, Lavinia. This joined the newcomers to the local royal family. The Trojans built Lavinium, named after her, and finally gained a permanent settlement. Aeneas’ achievement is thus not simply military survival: he secures a home through leadership, diplomacy and family ties.

Alba Longa connects Aeneas with Rome

Aeneas’ son Ascanius subsequently founded Alba Longa. The three settlements must remain distinct: Lavinium was Aeneas’ foundation, Alba Longa was Ascanius’ foundation, and Rome belonged to a later generation.

In the prescribed passage, Livy describes Ascanius as the son born after Aeneas’ marriage to Lavinia. Other traditions give a different account of his mother; the important connection here is that Ascanius continues Aeneas’ family line.

The Alban kings bridge the generations between the Trojan settlement and Rome’s founders. Ascanius was followed by his son Silvius, who was born in a forest. The name ‘Silvius’ was retained by the kings of Alba. His descendants Aeneas Silvius and Latinus Silvius followed; Latinus Silvius established colonies whose people were known as the Ancient Latins.

Livy then traces the succession through Alba → Atys → Capys → Capetus → Tiberinus → Agrippa → Romulus Silvius → Aventinus → Proca. Some kings also explain familiar place names. Tiberinus drowned while crossing the River Albula, which was then called the Tiber. Aventinus was buried on the hill that bore his name. Romulus Silvius, who was killed by lightning, is an earlier Alban king, not Rome’s founder.

Proca had two sons, Numitor and Amulius. He left the kingdom to Numitor, the elder, but Amulius seized the throne. The story now turns from a long royal succession to a struggle over who has the right to rule.

Amulius tries to prevent rival heirs

Amulius killed Numitor’s son and made Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin. Vestals were priestesses of Vesta who were required to remain chaste. The appointment appeared honourable, but Amulius intended to prevent her from having children who might challenge his rule.

Nevertheless, Rhea Silvia gave birth to the twins Romulus and Remus and claimed that Mars was their father. Livy leaves uncertainty about this claim rather than simply confirming divine parentage. Within the myth, however, descent from the god of war gives Rome’s founders a powerful connection with military strength.

Amulius imprisoned Rhea Silvia and ordered the babies to be thrown into the Tiber. The river had flooded, preventing access to its main channel, so the men carrying out the order abandoned the twins in a basket in an overflow pool. As the water receded, the basket was left on dry ground.

A she-wolf heard their cries and suckled them. The herdsman Faustulus found them and took them home to his wife, Larentia, who raised them. Livy also records a less miraculous explanation: Larentia herself was nicknamed ‘she-wolf’ because of her sexual reputation, and the animal story may have developed from that nickname.

The rescue defeats Amulius’ attempt to extinguish Numitor’s family. Livy presents the flooded river as divine providence and says that the fates intended Rome to be founded. Human cruelty can endanger the twins, but it cannot prevent their destined future.

The twins become leaders and seek a new city

As they grew up, Romulus and Remus hunted, tended the flocks and fought robbers. They shared captured plunder with the shepherds and attracted a growing band of young followers. These details establish their strength, courage and ability to lead before they attempt to found a city.

The brothers eventually overthrew Amulius and restored their grandfather Numitor to power at Alba Longa. They then wanted to establish their own city where they had been abandoned and raised. Livy also gives a practical reason: the Alban and Latin populations were large, and the shepherds could add to the new settlement’s population.

But who should name and govern it? Neither twin could claim seniority through age. They agreed to seek a sign from the gods through augury, the interpretation of signs such as birds. Romulus watched from the Palatine Hill, while Remus watched from the Aventine Hill.

The disputed omen and the death of Remus

Remus saw six vultures first. Romulus then saw twelve. Each brother’s followers declared their own leader the winner: Remus’ supporters valued receiving the sign first, while Romulus’ supporters valued the greater number of birds.

The omen did not settle their rivalry because the two groups disagreed about how to interpret it. An argument became a violent struggle. Livy gives one version in which Remus was killed during this fighting.

He then records the more popular version: Remus jumped over Romulus’ new wall to mock it, and Romulus killed him. Romulus declared that anyone who leapt over his walls would die. The episode presents the city’s boundary as something that must be respected and defended, but it also makes Rome’s beginning deeply troubling: its founder secures sole power through his brother’s death.

Romulus named the city after himself and fortified the Palatine. Livy also describes him making sacrifices according to Alban ritual, while following Greek custom for Hercules on Evander’s instructions. The new city therefore carries forward religious traditions rather than beginning without a past.

What the stories meant for Rome

Together, the myths give Rome Trojan ancestry, Italian royal connections and divine associations. Aeneas’ descent from Venus and the twins’ claimed descent from Mars make Rome’s beginnings sacred. The Alban kings connect the two foundations across generations, while the Tiber, Aventine and Palatine tie the stories to recognisable features of Rome’s landscape.

The heroes also embody different aspects of leadership. Aeneas preserves his people and creates a settlement through an alliance. The twins gain followers through courage and generosity, but their rivalry exposes the danger of greed for kingship.

This tension matters to Livy. He wants readers to find examples worth imitating and actions worth avoiding. Rome’s foundation can express pride in divine destiny and strength while also warning that ambition and violence threaten relationships and communities.