Rhe'a Sil'via, and, according to tradition, Mars the god of war, were the parents of two boys, who were no sooner born, than devoted by the usurper to destruction.7.The mother was condemned to be buried alive, the usual punishment for vestals who had violated their vows, and the twins were ordered to be flung into the river Tiber.8.

It happened, however, at the time this rigorous sentence was put into execution, that the river had, more than usual, overflowed its banks, so that the place where the children were thrown being distant from the main current, the water was too shallow to drown them.

It is said by some, that they were exposed in a cradle, which, after floating for a time, was, by the water's retiring, left on dry ground; that a wolf, descending from the mountains to drink, ran, at the cry of the children, and fed them under a fig-tree, caressing and licking them as if they had been her own young, the infants hanging on to her as if she had been their mother, until Faus'tulus, the king's shepherd, struck with so surprising a sight, conveyed them home, and delivered them to his wife, Ac'ca Lauren'tia, to nurse, who brought them up as her own.9.Others, however, assert, that from the vicious life of this woman, the shepherds had given her the nickname of Lupa, or wolf, which they suppose might possibly be the occasion of this marvellous story.
10.

Romu'lus and Re'mus, the twins, in whatever manner preserved, seemed early to discover abilities and desires above the meanness of their supposed origin.

From their very infancy, an air of superiority and grandeur seemed to discover their rank.