Amulius
Amulius (died 752 BC) is an antagonist in Roman mythology. He was the brother of Numitor, the king of the pre-Roman city of Alba Longa. Amulius usurped the throne from his brother and later ordered the killing of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who would found Rome.
There are several accounts of the legend, with some characters and exact events varying, with the one told here being one of the most popular.
Biography[]
Numitor and Amulius were born in that order to Procas, a descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, sometime in the 9th century BC. After Procas' death in 794 BC, Numitor, the oldest son, became king. However, the envious Amulius usurped the throne, becoming the new king. To prevent lawful successors, Amulius killed Numitor's son and forced his daughter Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, meaning she could not bear any offspring.
To Amulius' anger, Rhea Silvia became pregnant not of a mortal man, but of the god Mars himself, and gave birth to a pair of twins, Romulus and Remus. Amulius ordered that the two be drowned in the Tiber river, but instead of doing that his men just placed the casket containing the twins on the bank of the river, unbeknownst to the king. With the help of a female wolf who decided to raise them, Romulus and Remus survived and were later adopted by Faustulus, a shepherd.
Years later, Romulus and Remus, who had become natural leaders much liked by the community, joined an uprising to overthrow Amulius and restore Numitor to the throne. During that dispute Remus was imprisoned but later rescued by his brother. In the end, the twins, alongside Numitor, managed to kill Amulius and restore Numitor to the throne of Alba Longa.
After their victory, the twins gathered their followers and decided to build their own city nearby. However, after a disagreement about where the city should be constructed resulted in a fierce fight, Romulus ended up killing Remus and became the first king of Rome.
