Rhea Silvia, Princess of Alba Longa

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Ledd 87

Rhea Silvia f ca 808 f,Kr. var vetalinne eller prestinne for Vesta.Tradisjonen forteller at hun etter å ha blitt voldtatt føddte tvillinger, to gutter Romelus og Remus. I følge tradisjonen ble disse guttene satt ut i en kurv på elven. men ble berget av en ulvinne. Hun fikk også en datter Silvia

[edit] The legend

According to legend, she was the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa and descendant of Aeneas. Numitor's brother Amulius seized the throne and killed Numitor's son. Amulius forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, a priestess to the goddess Vesta, so that she (and through her, Numitor) would have no heirs; Vestal Virgins were sworn to celibacy for a period of thirty years.

The god Mars, however, was attracted to Rhea Silvia and raped her in the forest, thereby conceiving the twins. When Amulius learned of this, he ordered Rhea Silvia buried alive (the standard punishment for Vestal Virgins who did not remain celibate) and ordered a servant to kill the twins, but the merciful servant set them adrift in the river Tiber. The river-god, Tiberinus found the twins and gave them to a she-wolf, Lupa, who had just lost her own cubs, to suckle. Subsequently, Tiberinus rescued and married Rhea Silvia.

Livy presents a somewhat different version of this tale. In Ab Urbe Condita, the Tiber had overflown and the soldiers were ordered to expose the babies to the Tiber, thinking that the muddy flooded ground would be sufficient to drown the twins. Livy also casts doubt on whether the twins were actually suckled by a wolf. Livy commented that it was believed that the wife of the shepherd who would eventually raise the twins, was a prostitute known to the other shepherds as the Wolf. Romulus and Remus went on to found Rome and overthrow Amulius, reinstating Numitor as King of Alba Longa.