Today, 2,771 years ago, on April 21, 753 BC, the city of Rome is founded (In myth of course but this is the date the Romans recorded that the city was founded). Romulus and Remus, who would have been born around 771 BC if they are taken as historical figures. They were said to be sons of Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war. They were abandoned at birth, in the manner of many mythological heroes, because of a prophecy that they would overthrow their great-uncle Amulius, who had overthrown Silvia's father Numitor. The twins were abandoned on the Tiber River by servants who took pity on the babies, despite their orders. The twins were then found and nurtured by a female wolf until a shepherd named Faustulus found the boys and took them on as his own sons. Faustulus and his wife Acca Larentia raised the twin children. When Remus and Romulus became adults, they killed eventually Amulius and restored Numitor as the king of Alba Longa. The twins then decided to set up a city however, they argued over the site of the coty would be founded, and Romulus killed his brother in anger. Romulus then named the city Rome after himself and crowned himself as the first king. Making Rome started out with with a fratricide, a story that was later taken to represent the city's history of internecine political strife and bloodshed. Such as with Caesar and Pompey, and before that Sulla and Marius in the late republic.
Rome, Italy
