[MUSIC] Hello, everybody, and welcome back. A very important source of information for the history of Rome is the memory of the Ancients. The Ancients thought they knew the whole story. We have already met Aeneas, this nobleman who had to leave Troy burning and landed in Italy. According to the ancient memories, Aeneas came to Italy, founded a city on the coast of Latium Lavinium. His son, Ascanius, moved from Lavinium to the hinterland of the region and founded Alba Longa. The descendants of Ascanius founded Rome. This is one of the ways the Ancients recreated their history. But we know that Aeneas has been a later insertion in an original and older foundation myth. The myth of Romulus and Remus, the very famous twins reproduced here on this coin suckled by the she wolf. The whole story goes as follows. A wicked guy in Alba Longa forces his brother, the proper king, to renounce the throne. And he becomes the new king. Then he forces the daughter of the old King to be a Priestess of the goddess Vesta. This was a way to prevent her from becoming pregnant, so she could not give an heir to the old king. But the god Mars falls in love with this princess. And she gives birth to two children, Remus and Romulus. The whole story is painted on this fresco from a house in Pompeii. Where you can see the god Mars and the mother of the twins asleep here, waiting for the god. The wicked new king knows the story. And sends the two children onto the border of his kingdom from Alba Longa to Rome, as is depicted here in this fresco with the servants of the king carrying a basket with the twins inside. Possibly along the way, which would be later called the Appian Way from the Alban Hills to Rome. The kids are exposed and abandoned on the banks of the River Tiber. But the Tiber refuses to kill the children, and more than this they are suckled by a she wolf. A shepherd comes nearby, sees the scene and saves the children. From that moment on, Remus and Romulus grow up on the Palatine. At a certain moment they come to know the story. They go back to Alba Longa and save their mother, and they asked permission to found a new city in the place where they had been saved. They were twins, so there was no elder or younger brother. And they had to decide who was going to be the new king of the new city. And to understand this, they ask the king of the gods. And a way of asking the will of the god was to look at the birds flying in the sky. This was a very famous story that was reproduced in a number of Roman monuments like this one in a very large temple on the Quirinal Hill. In this huge sanctuary on one pediment of the temple, the scene was reproduced. And you can see Romulus sitting here and Remus sitting here watching the flying of the birds in the presence of his father god, Mars, and the other gods and goddesses. The will of the gods is that Romulus should be the new king. There's a fight and Remus is killed by his brother. But nonetheless, Romulus has to go on. And he celebrates a foundation right on the top of the hill of the Palatine Hill. Then he moves down. He uses a plough and traces a groove. This is the groove where the Palatine walls would be inserted. So the city is now born according to the ancient memory. It is indeed a very strange story, with clear mythical evidence the father god, she wolf, and things like this. But nonetheless, it's full of very interesting elements. For example, Tracing a groove with a plough was the usual way of founding a city in Latium and by the Etruscan people, as is demonstrated by this vote of offering. This is a small bronze statue, the man plowing obviously to found something. And more than this, We have the evidence of a very ancient story of heroes fighting one another according to the will of the gods. For example, this is a gold fibula of the seventh century BC found in Volte and Etruscan city. Here you can see two heroes fighting one another with birds flying over their head. This is a sign of response from the god. So we can suppose that the foundation myth of Rome is not the total myth. It's rather a legend. That is the story which is supposed to have happened in historical times. And even in full of mythical elements, it's a story containing something which could be relevant for the comprehension of the real history.