Romulus and Remus

Hello! My voice comes to you from a very, very long time ago. My name is Romulus, and I want to tell you about my twin brother, Remus, and a great city we dreamed of building. Our story begins in a basket, bobbing on the cool, swirling water of the Tiber River in ancient Italy. We were just babies, but even then, a grand adventure was waiting for us. This is the story of Romulus and Remus, the tale of how a great city was born from a brotherly dream.

The river didn't carry us away to danger. Instead, it gently pushed our basket to the shore, right near the roots of a fig tree. We were found by a mother wolf! Now, you might think a wolf would be scary, but she was kind and gentle. She cared for us just like we were her own cubs, keeping us warm and safe. A friendly woodpecker would even bring us berries to eat. Soon after, a kind shepherd named Faustulus discovered us. He and his wife took us home and raised us as their own sons. We grew up strong and brave, not knowing we were descended from kings.

When we grew up, Remus and I learned the secret of who we really were. We were brave heroes who restored our grandfather to his throne. After our great victory, we decided we didn't want to live in someone else's city. We wanted to build our own! We went back to the very place where the she-wolf had found us, near the seven hills by the Tiber River. But we had a big disagreement about which hill was the best one to build on. It was a sad argument because we had always agreed on everything before. In the end, I built the city on my chosen spot, the Palatine Hill, on April 21st, 753 BCE. I named it Rome, after myself.

My city, Rome, grew and grew into one of the most famous places in the world. And our story—of two brothers saved by a wolf—became a legend that people have told for thousands of years. It’s a story about how even the smallest and most helpless babies can grow up to do amazing things. Artists have painted pictures of us with our wolf mother, and you can still see statues of her in the city of Rome today. Our myth reminds everyone that great things can come from humble beginnings and that the love of family, whether it’s a brother or even a kind wolf, is a powerful thing. It’s a story that still sparks the imagination, helping us dream of building wonderful things.