Numitor and his brother Amulius were King and Royal Treasurer of the Italian kingdom of Alba Longa. Amulius dethroned his brother, Numitor and, fearing Numitor’s daughter Rhea Silvia would produce children who might one day overthrow him, forced Rhea to become a Vestal Virgin, a priestess sworn to celibacy. But Mars, Roman God of War was said to have already seduced Rhea in the woods while she was searching for fresh water.

King Amulius noticed that Rhea was pregnant and had her imprisoned until she gave birth to twin boys of remarkable size and beauty, later named Romulus and Remus. Amulius was enraged and ordered Rhea and the twins killed. Some Roman authors speculate that Amulius, not Mars, was the father of the twins and, to avoid having two illegitimate heirs, decided to kill them; Rhea by being buried alive (the standard punishment for Vestal Virgins who violated their vow of celibacy) and the boys by exposure. In another tradition he ordered Rhea and the twins thrown into the River Tiber.

The servant ordered to kill the twins could not, however, because they were too beautiful and innocent. The servant placed them in a basket on the banks of the Tiber river and went away. The river rose and gently carried the basket and the twins downstream.

Romulus and Remus were kept safe by the river deity Tiberinus, who made the cradle catch in the roots of a fig tree. He then brought the infant twins up onto the Palatine Hill. There, they were found and nursed by a she-wolf; 'La Lupa' in Latin. The boys were nurtured underneath a fig tree and were fed by a woodpecker named Picus. Both animals were sacred to Mars.

'La Lupa' is also a name for the priestesses of a fox goddess, leading to an alternative theory that the she-wolf was human. Another interpretation suggests that the nurturers were harlots ('Lupa' or 'she-wolf' being a nickname for prostitutes in ancient Rome).

Romulus and Remus were discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought the children to his home. Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the boys as their own. Because of her supposed immoral character, some traditions identify Larentia as the ex-prostitute 'she-wolf' who suckled Rome's founders.

As the two boys grew to men, they were told of their true origins. They raised an army and marched on Alba Longa. Amulius was slain in battle and Numitor was restored to his throne.

The twins decided to found a new city close to where they had been washed ashore, caught by the fig tree. The twins disputed which hill their city should be built on, Romulus favouring the Palatine, Remus choosing another (possibly the Aventine).

Taking the auspices to read the will of the Gods, Remus on his hill saw six birds, Romulus saw twelve. So it was decided that Romulus’ choice was the right one and he and his followers took to building their city, named 'Roma' or 'Rome' in honour of Romulus, on the Palatine Hill.

Romulus marked the city's sacred boundary with a plough drawn by a white bull and a white cow. Remus however leapt over the furrow, either in jest or derision. This was an ill omen suggesting the city’s defences could easily be overcome. Remus was slain, either by Romulus himself or by Celers, one of his followers.

From the founding of Rome until his death, Romulus waged wars and expanded his, and thus Rome's, territory for over two decades. He conquered many of the neighboring cities.

Eventually Numitor, king of Alba Longa and Romulus’ grandfather, died. The people of Alba Longa freely offered the crown to Romulus, as the blood heir to Numitor through Rhea, and Romulus accepted.

During later years, Romulus became dictatorial and widely hated, but the people and Senate feared him too much to defy him openly and show him their displeasure.

One day, when Romulus and all the people had gone to the Campus Martius (or 'Field of Mars'), a sudden storm arose. The darkness became so great that the people fled in terror. When the storm was over, the Romans returned. To their surprise, however, Romulus had disappeared. The people sent for him, but none could find him. The people were amazed, and were all talking about his sudden disappearance, and wondering what could have become of their king, when a Senator stood up and called for silence.

The Senator calmed the assembled Romans, saying that he had seen Romulus being carried up into the heavens. Romulus, the Senator said, had called out that he was going to live with the Gods, and wished his people to worship him as the God Quirinus. The Romans built a temple on the hill where the Senator said that Romulus had risen to heaven. This hill was called the Quirinal Hill in Romulus' honour, and for many years the Romans worshiped Romulus, the founder of their city and their first king, from that very spot.

Compiled from various sources