Ficus Ruminalis
Okay, so a long, long time ago in ancient Roman times, there was a group of people called the Vestal Virgins. They were important ladies who took care of a special fire that was supposed to always be burning in a temple.
Now, one day, one of these ladies named Rhea Silvia was out in the forest gathering water when she saw a really handsome man. She didn't know it at the time, but he was actually the god of war Mars! They talked, and Rhea Silvia ended up having two babies. But here's the thing: she wasn't supposed to have babies because she was a Vestal Virgin and it was against the rules.
The king at the time, King Amulius, was really, really mad when he found out that Rhea Silvia had broken the rules and had babies. So he threw the babies into the Tiber River to get rid of them! :(
But, luckily, the babies didn't drown. They were found by a nice lady wolf who actually took care of them. Later, they were found by a shepherd who raised them.
One of the boys grew up to be a man named Romulus, and the other grew up to be a man named Remus. They were really great friends and decided to build a city together.
Now, they wanted to know where to build the city, so they asked the gods for help. The gods sent them a sign — it was a bunch of birds flying overhead. Romulus thought that was a sign to build the city on a hill called Palatine Hill, but Remus thought it was a sign to build the city on a different hill called Aventine Hill.
So, they got into a big argument! They couldn't decide who was right, so they decided to ask the gods for another sign. This time, Remus saw six vultures and Romulus saw twelve.
Romulus said that since he saw more vultures, that meant they should build the city on Palatine Hill. Remus didn't like that, and he made fun of Romulus for it. So, Romulus got really mad and ended up killing Remus!
But Romulus still needed a way to mark where the city should be built. Do you know what he did? He marked it with a special tree called a Ficus Ruminalis!
A Ficus Ruminalis is a type of fig tree, and it's a really important symbol in Roman mythology. It's said to have grown from the spot where the nice lady wolf found Romulus and Remus when they were just babies. Nowadays, people in Rome still like to visit the Ficus Ruminalis and see where the city got its start!
Now, one day, one of these ladies named Rhea Silvia was out in the forest gathering water when she saw a really handsome man. She didn't know it at the time, but he was actually the god of war Mars! They talked, and Rhea Silvia ended up having two babies. But here's the thing: she wasn't supposed to have babies because she was a Vestal Virgin and it was against the rules.
The king at the time, King Amulius, was really, really mad when he found out that Rhea Silvia had broken the rules and had babies. So he threw the babies into the Tiber River to get rid of them! :(
But, luckily, the babies didn't drown. They were found by a nice lady wolf who actually took care of them. Later, they were found by a shepherd who raised them.
One of the boys grew up to be a man named Romulus, and the other grew up to be a man named Remus. They were really great friends and decided to build a city together.
Now, they wanted to know where to build the city, so they asked the gods for help. The gods sent them a sign — it was a bunch of birds flying overhead. Romulus thought that was a sign to build the city on a hill called Palatine Hill, but Remus thought it was a sign to build the city on a different hill called Aventine Hill.
So, they got into a big argument! They couldn't decide who was right, so they decided to ask the gods for another sign. This time, Remus saw six vultures and Romulus saw twelve.
Romulus said that since he saw more vultures, that meant they should build the city on Palatine Hill. Remus didn't like that, and he made fun of Romulus for it. So, Romulus got really mad and ended up killing Remus!
But Romulus still needed a way to mark where the city should be built. Do you know what he did? He marked it with a special tree called a Ficus Ruminalis!
A Ficus Ruminalis is a type of fig tree, and it's a really important symbol in Roman mythology. It's said to have grown from the spot where the nice lady wolf found Romulus and Remus when they were just babies. Nowadays, people in Rome still like to visit the Ficus Ruminalis and see where the city got its start!