Friday, October 22, 2010

Romulus and Remus


An altar to Mars and Venus. Rome, ca 120 AD. Her you see the she-wolf nursing the twins, the national eagle of Rome, the Tiber (river god) and the shepherds that are to find Romulus and Remus.

"The tradition is, that when the water, subsiding, had left the floating trough, in which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf, coming from the neighbouring mountains, directed her course to the cries of the infants, and that she held down her dugs to them with so much gentleness, that the keeper of the king's flock found her licking the boys with her tongue. It is said his name was Faustulus; and that they were carried by him to his homestead to be nursed by his wife Laurentia."

Livius - Ab Urbe Condita I. 4
Translation by D. Spillan 1853

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