# @gettymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CN8mMjJn3iY
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34229383-gettymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/fca9d777a1.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-04-21T23:41:47.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Getty (@gettymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/gettymuseum

## Caption

Happy birthday to Rome! Do you know the legend of the city’s founding? Here’s our abridged version:

It all started in ancient Italy with twin boys Romulus and Remus.

The boys’ mother could not explain their conception, claiming they were of divine origin. The king, fearing the boys could be the rightful heirs to his throne, sentenced them to death and ordered them thrown in the Tiber River.

Luckily, the servant responsible for carrying out the deadly act took pity and placed them in a basket on the river’s edge. The river god Tiberinus calmed the river’s current, which safely carried the basket downriver.

The boys arrived unharmed at the base of a fig tree where they were found by a she-wolf who nursed them. They were then adopted by the shepherd Faustulus and his wife.

Fast-forward: Romulus and Remus, now adults, had a dispute with the king’s herdsmen, and Remus was taken prisoner. Romulus gathered a band of local shepherds to rescue his brother. The king did not recognize Romulus or Remus, and in the melee, Romulus killed the king. The brothers then restored the good king, their grandfather, to the throne.

Wanting to start their own new city, the twins consulted prophetic birds to decide the best location. They disagreed on the interpretation of the prophecy, but Romulus stubbornly decided to go forward, and began building trenches and walls for his city.

Remus mocked the height of these new walls, and Romulus, according to some accounts, became enraged and killed his brother.  Romulus named the new city after himself, thus founding Rome.

April 21, 753 B.C.

🏷: #rome #happybirthday #happybirthdayrome #ancientlife #ancientrome

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## Tags

rome, ancientlife, happybirthday, happybirthdayrome, ancientrome

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