She-wolf (Roman mythology)

In the Roman foundation myth, it was a she-wolf that nursed and sheltered the infant Romulus and Remus after they were abandoned in the wild by order of King Amulius of Alba Longa. Romulus would later become the founder and first king of Rome. The image of the twins and the she-wolf has been a symbol of Rome since ancient times and is one of the most recognizable icons of ancient mythology.

She cared for the twins at her den, a cave known as the Lupercal, until they were discovered by shepherds and rescued.

There is evidence that the wolf held a special place in the world of the ancient inhabitants of Italy. One legend claims that when the Hirpini people set out to found their first colony, were so named because they were led to the spot by a wolf (from the Sabine word for wolf: hirpus). The tale of the Lupercal is central to that of the twins, and probably predates theirs. To the Roman god Mars the wolf is a sacred animal. There is an ongoing debate about a connection to the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia.

In Greek mythology, Apollo's mother Leto is reported to have given birth to him as a she-wolf, to evade Hera.

The 3 "canonical" versions of the myth--those of Livy, Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus--all draw heavily on Quintus Fabius Pictor. He is considered one of Rome's earliest historians and his now lost work describes the she-wolf and her episode with the twins. The twins were abandoned at the order of Amulius. Some tales claim that they were to be left along the riverbank, others that they were to be cast into the water. The servant charged with the task either thought better of it, or could not get close enough to do the deed because of the flooding. Instead, he left them in the standing water that had formed at the foot of Palatine Hill. The twins were found either after their basket had been left at the foot of the fig tree, or came to rest there after floating in the water. In each case, the she-wolf rescued them and gently cared for them in or near the Lupercal. Later, they were discovered by local shepherds.

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