How did cities begin? The people of Rome tell a story of how their city began 753 years before the birth of Christ.

Romulus and Remus were twins. They were born in the ancient city of Albalonga. The new king of Albalonga was King Amulius. He had just killed his brother, Numitor,  who had been the king. But Numitor's children were still a threat to Amulius. So he killed the sons of the old king  and he forced  the only daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a priestess. One day, however, Rhea Silvia had twin babies and their father was Mars,  the god of war.

King Amulius was furious and scared when the twins were born. First, he had Rhea Silvia killed. Both of the babies were boys who could one day avenge the death of their grandfather and uncles.  He dared not kill the twins in case he angered their father, Mars who was a powerful god. Instead, Amulius ordered that the baby boys be thrown into the Tiber River.

The boys were placed into a basket and floated out into the river. They floated and swirled down the river. No-one expected the boys to survive. Eventually, their basket was washed  into the reeds of the muddy river bank.  The crying  of the babies attracted a nearby wolf; a female wolf which had recently lost her pups. Instead of eating the defenceless babies, she adopted them. She fed the boys on her milk and they grew healthy.

Faustolo was a farmer living near the banks of  the Tiber River.  He often heard wolves growling in the forests near his farmhouse, but one night he heard  new noises. Bravely, Faustolo and his wife walked into the dark woods. What they saw totally amazed them. A large she-wolf stood  there and beneath  her were  two small boys who were drinking the wolf's milk.

Some time later, Faustolo and his wife succeeded  in taking the boys away from the wolf. They grew up in the farmhouse to be normal boys, though their wild and animal-like behaviour could often be seen. The boys were called Romulus and Remus.

As young men, the twin boys set out to build their own settlement. They disagreed over where the new city would be built. To settle their dispute, the young men decided to hold a competition. The one who could see the most birds would get to choose the site of their new city. Remus saw six birds and was amazed when Romulus claimed to have seen twelve birds. Remus accused his brother of cheating.

Romulus gathered together a band of young followers and began to build a city around a hill which was called The Palatin. Remus never forgave Romulus for cheating to win the competition. Romulus even called the city after himself. It was called Rome. One day, Remus made fun of Romulus and broke one of the city's laws. For this, Remus was killed.

The city of Rome grew and grew strong. Romulus provided wives for his men by kidnapping women from the Sabines, a group of people who lived nearby. Romulus ruled the city of Rome for nearly forty years. During this time, Rome became the a very powerful city. One day, during a storm, Romulus disappeared.