Analysis:

 What caused the conflict between Romulus and Remus?

The two brothers set out to find a good place to build a city. They separated,
and each looked for the best site. They eventually found sites that they considered to
be the best one. These were two adjacent hills. Romulus wanted to build the new city
on the Palatine Hill, while Remus wanted to construct it on the Aventine Hill. This split
led to a bitter dispute, and the two brothers had a violent confrontation.

There was a standoff and the two brothers began to quarrel as did their
respective followers. Romulus began to build walls and dig trenches around his site,
on the Palatine Hill. Remus was amused by this and began to mock his brother. On
one, occasion Remus would jump over the walls, making fun of Romulus' work and
efforts.
 How did Remus die?
There are several versions of Remus' death. Livy claimed that the Gods killed
him because he failed to observe the auguries and respect the signs from the divine.
The Gods struck him dead for his hubris.[6] Livy believed that Remus' death was that
the Gods favored Rome. However, Livy may have sought to exonerate Romulus with
his account of the myth because Romulus was believed to be the first ruler of Rome.

Several versions relate that Romulus murdered his brother. In most of the
texts, including that of the Greek historian Dionysus, Romulus killed his brother with
either a spade or a spear. There is even one account from the great Christian
theologian St Jerome that Remus was murdered by one of the supporters of
Romulus. Regardless of the circumstances of Remus' death, almost all of the
accounts attribute his death in one way or another to Romulus.

Interestingly all the sources indicate that Romulus was at least partly
responsible for the death of his twin but that it was fated by the divine. [7] The day of
the act of fratricide is widely considered to be the date of the foundation of Rome, the
21st of April, 753 BC.

 After the death of Remus

There is no evidence that Romulus existed, but Romans believed that he was
the central figure who founded and put Rome on its path to the Mediterranean.
Therefore while fratricide was one of the most heinous crimes in Roman law,
Romulus essentially got a free pass because he went on not only to found the city of
Rome but became its king for many years. He was seen as critical to its early growth
and development of the city. He helped transform Rome into power in central Italy.

Romulus later went on to conquer Alba Longa and the Sabines and their
allies. Many credit him with the foundation of the tremendous political institutions of
the Roman state. It is believed that he established the first Senate. There are some
accounts that when he died, he ascended into the skies. Romulus was ‘regarded as
god the son of a god, the king and the father of Rome.’

 The meaning of the death of Remus

The Romans accepted the death of Remus because they believed that it was
essential to their rise to greatness and part of a divine plan. They believed it was
some kind of blood offering to gods. Romulus was an instrument of fate, and he was
not condemned but was rather revered for his actions. By killing his brother, whom he
had earlier rescued, he showed that he was committed to the future glory of Rome.
The Romans, like other ancient societies, used myths to establish social
norms and instruct the population, how to behave. The murder of Remus was
justified because he was a reckless and disrespectful person. Remus's death was a
warning that those who did not have the Roman virtue of 'Dignitas' or self-possession
were unworthy of the city. The myth of the killing of Remus was central to the
development of the Roman worldview and also its sense of national identity.

 By 269 BCE, the now well-known image of the twin infants and the she-wolf
appeared on Roman coins. The she-wolf nurturing the twins became an
iconic symbol of Rome that can still be seen in various locations today.

 They held the sacred Ruminalis fig tree in respect and the nearby Lupercal
cave was pointed out as the she-wolf's lair. The wolf may be a legacy of
early Rome's debt to the Etruscans, who seem to have had a legend of a
she-wolf fostering children.

Setting:
 Alba Longa

Characters:

 Romulus- brother of Romus, believed to be the founder of rome.

 Remus or Romus- brother of romulus and was killed by him due to his
recklesness
 Rhea Silvia, the mother of the two brothers and was raped by the war god
ares
 Amulius, the grandfather of the two brothers, become king again bcs of his
grandsons
 She-wolf/Lupa- the she wolf who took care of remulus and romus
 Numitor- the uncle of the two brothers and also killed by them
 Faustulus- he found and took care of the two brothers along with his wife

STORY:

The story of the founding also went through variations. Roman tradition
ascribed it to Romulus, whose name means simply 'man of Rome', but Greek writers
from at least the fifth century BC attributed it to the Trojan exile Aeneas. By the first
century BC the two versions had coalesced. After the fall of Troy (conventionally
dated to 1184 BC), Aeneas went to Central Italy and married Lavinia, the daughter of
the local king, Latinus. From them sprang a line of kings who ruled Alba Longa
(twelve miles south-east of Rome) down to Numitor, whose throne was stolen by
Amulius, his younger brother. Amulius forced Numitor's daughter Rhea Silvia to
become a Vestal Virgin or a priestess of the Roman goddess Vesta so that she
would bear no children to challenge him. Rhea Silvia, however, was raped by the war
god, Mars and bore twin boys, Romulus and Remus (or Romus). (next slide)

Amulius imprisoned the daughter and condemned the babies to death by

drowning in the river Tiber. However, the servant in charge of the task took pity on
them and instead placed the twins into a basket and pushed them down the River
Tiber, in some other versions, they were saved by the god of the river, Tiberinus, who
had others care for them.(next slide) They were safely carried to the area of the
seven hills, in some other version, they were miraculously washed up beneath a fig
tree, called Ruminalis, near the Palatine Hill. The helpless infants were then found,
nurtured, suckled them and thus giving them the strength to survive by a she-wolf in
her lair in Palatine Hill. (next silde) Eventually, a shepherd named Faustulus found
them and took them home, according to one version, a woodpecker helped to feed
them: both the wolf and the woodpecker were beasts of Mars.The twins were then
raised by the shepherd and his wife, and they became shepherds themselves. They
were not sons of the war god for nothing and they grew up bold, vigorous and the
leaders of the local shepherd boys.

Once they were told of their tragic background, however, the twins attacked
King Amulius and restored Numitor to the throne. Seeking to establish their own
settlement, Romulus finally built a wall around the Palatine Hill, the location he had
chosen for the founding Rome. When seeking the perfect location for their new city,
the twins wandered across the seven hills (Aventine, Celio, Capitol, Esquiline,
Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal). Remus wished to start the city on the Aventine Hill,
while Romulus preferred the Palatine Hill. (next slide) In order to decide which
brother was right they agreed to consult augury, where birds are examined to see
what the gods favored. Remus claimed to have seen six birds, whereas his brother
had seen twelve. Even though Romulus had seen more birds, Remus argued that he
had seen them first and therefore the city should be built on the Aventine Hill.
Meanwhile, Romulus began to build a wall on his hill, which Remus decided to jump
over. Angered by his brother’s action, Romulus killed him.

The founder of Rome thus made one thing clear from the start: anyone
attempting to breach the fortifications of Rome would be severely punished. "Those
who violate the laws of Rome will meet the same fate as my brother," he proclaimed.

To secure the new settlement's future population, Romulus organised the

rape of the Sabine women. After a reign of forty years or so, he mysteriously
disappeared in a violent thunderstorm, perhaps whirled up into the sky to join the
gods.

Thus is founded a city that goes on to become the center of the ancient world.
Many wars follow - against the Etruscans, Celts, Greeks, Germanic tribes - and
Rome triumphs every time for many hundreds of years. Eight hundred years after the
founding of Rome, the Roman Empire rules the known world, from Portugal to
Arabia. Many different people live within the borders of the empire, probably the
world's first multi-ethnic state. And the Eternal City, itself a metropolis of millions, lies
at the heart of this mighty empire.

Theme:

One of the main theme of the story is viciousness in which Romulus showed
thru the act which he did towards his brother, Remus. In addition, a social norms.
Why? Due to the revenge which the two brothers did to their uncle or King Amulius.
As we all know, in society there is a kind of belief or a concept which if a one person
did something wrong to you or anyone important to you, there is an expected act that
will you do to them, in a more direct way, a revenge.
Lastly, we have perseverance, in the end of the story, Romulus was indeed
an example of a true hardworking man, from building his own kingdom up until he
was able to make it rise from the mud.

Moral of the story:

Be true to your words. In the story, Romus was not able to become true to his
words. As we encountered in the story, the brothers made a deal to consult an
augury but at the end Romus was not being serious in the bet they were agreed to
make. At the end, Romus only suffered from his own foolishness.
Think before you act. We are all aware that Romus died because of his own action
that triggers his brother to kill him. Romus acted first before he thinks the possible
consequences of it, at the end he payed for it through death.