Romulus

Also known as: Quirinus · Family: Rome · Role: founder and king · First appears: Theseus

Romulus, also known as Quirinus, was said in different accounts to be the son of Aeneas and Dexithea, of Aemilia and Mars, or of Ilia; Roma was also named as his mother. Ilia gave birth to him and his twin brother Remus, but Amulius ordered the infants abandoned. Faustulus and Acca Larentia secretly raised them, and Romulus and Remus later led a revolt that captured and killed Amulius. They returned rule to their grandfather, honored their mother, and resolved to build a city where they had been raised.

As the city was founded, Remus mocked and obstructed its walls; when he leapt over them, he was killed, according to some accounts by Romulus and according to others by Celer. Faustulus and his brother Plistinus also died in the ensuing struggle. Romulus then established Rome, defeated Acron after vowing to Jupiter that he would dedicate his enemy’s armor, and took nearly eight hundred Sabine women, choosing Hersilia for himself. When conflict followed, Hersilia helped bring the Romans and Sabines together: they shared the city, and Romulus and Tatius agreed to govern jointly.

After Tatius was killed by the relatives of murdered ambassadors, Romulus buried him with honor and did not seek revenge. Romulus later disappeared during a storm, leaving no body; Julius Proculus reported that he had been taken up into heaven. He was remembered as Rome’s founder and king, and as a rival of Theseus.