Twins of Roman legend who were the legendary founders of Rome .
They were the offspring of Mars and Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin and princess in Alba Longa. As infants they were thrown into the Tiber River by their great-uncle Amulius, who feared they would lay claim to his title. Suckled by a she-wolf and raised by a shepherd, the twins later deposed Amulius, restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne, and founded a city on the site where they had been saved from the river. When Romulus built a city wall, Remus jumped over it and was killed by his brother. The city was named for Romulus, who ruled until his disappearance in a storm. Believing that he had become a deity, the Romans worshiped him as Quirinus .
Romulus and Remus with their wolf foster-mother, bronze sculpture; in the Museo Nuovo in the ...
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