King Numitor of Alba Longa was forced to relinquish his throne to his brother Amulius and to live quietly in his estate. In order to reinforce his rights to the kingdom, the new ruler ordered Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Sylvia, to become a Vestal Virgin, forbidden to marry and have children who could potentially claim the throne.
One morning, Rhea Sylvia falls asleep on the shore of a nearby stream. She dreams of a great and handsome warrior. When she comes back to the temple, she tells her Vestal companions a different dream: at the Vestal’s altar, the woollen strand holding up Rhea Silvia’s hair falls next to the sacred fire. Two palm trees start to grow there; one has branches that cover the whole world. Amulius arrives with a big axe and tries to cut down the tree, but a woodpecker belonging to the god, Mars, intervenes. The Vestals do not understand the meaning of the dream.
Time passes, and Rhea Sylvia realizes that she is expecting a baby. She is terrified, knowing that a Vestal’s punishment for losing her virginity is death. She has no recollection of anything like that ever happening. The dream she had of the warrior was vague and unspecific. In the city square, a statue of Mars speaks to her. Rhea Silvia recognizes him as the warrior of her dream. Now convinced of the child’s paternity, she informs Amulius about it, but he does not believe her. However, Amulius is concerned about a possible reaction of his universally respected brother and lets Rhea Silvia live, transferring her to a dungeon, where in due time, her twin sons are born.
For fear of punishment from the gods for executing members of his own family, Amulius leaves his brother’s daughter rot in the dungeon and orders the newborns to be left in a cradle on the waters of the river Tiber, in an isolated and unfrequented place. The crying infants are washed up on the shore, where a she-wolf comes to nurse them, and they survive. Eventually, Faustulus, a shepherd looking for a lost ewe, finds them and takes them home to his wife, Larentia. The twins grow up active and strong and, like their adoptive father, become shepherds of herds belonging to Amulius.
The other main landowner of the region is Numitor, who is still well respected by the population, while Amulius is resented as a tyrant. The twins openly express their disapproval of the king and become leaders of the opposition against his rule. A dispute between Amulius’ and Numitor’s shepherds results in the brothers being recognized as Rhea Sylvia's sons, when the royal cradle preserved by Faustulus is provided as evidence. They lead the revolt against Amulius, who dies in the conflict, and the throne is restored to the boys’ grandfather, Numitor. Rhea Silvia rejoins her father in the royal palace.
The boys – Romulus and Remus – feel restless after the excitement of the revolt and decide to visit the shores of the river Tiber, where the she-wolf had rescued them. Along with their companions, they decide to found a city on the Tiber. Numitor is relieved to see his grandsons and their boisterous former rebel companions leave Alba Longa.
A dispute breaks out between the brothers about the choice of the hill on which the city should be built. Unable to agree, they decide to rely on omens. Unfortunately, when Remus claims to have seen six vultures, Romulus counters by allegedly having seen twelve such birds. Amidst accusations of cheating, a fight between the brothers begins. By mistake the enraged Romulus strikes Faustulus, who tries to intervene, and then kills Remus. Romulus builds the city and prospers. He creates an army and a senate, and Rome becomes a place of refuge where protection is offered to all asylum seekers. Yet, now and then, Romulus mourns for his brother on the shore of the river where they were both washed up as infants. Sometimes a she-wolf supposedly joins him, and they look together at the flowing waters of the Tiber.
At the end, there is, as usual for the series, a Pour en savoir plus [To learn more about it] section with basic information about the characters and the sources of the myth. This data is provided in easy to read, short, individual paragraphs containing a question and an answer, e.g., How do we know this story? Who is Ovid? Who is Plutarch? Why was a flight of birds selected as an omen?
