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The young man boldly said, "I will conceal nothing from you, for you seem more like a king than Amulius. You hear and judge before you punish, but he gives men up to be punished without a trial. Whether they be true or not, we must now put to the test.
These circumstances, therefore, did not a little to confirm the tale of the mother of the children, that their father was Mars, though some say that she was deceived by Amulius himself, who, after condemning her to a life of virginity, appeared before her dressed in armour, and ravished her.
There are variations in this legend also; but, generally speaking, it runs as follows: The dynasty established by Aeneas at Alba Longa, came down to two brothers, Numitor and Amulius. Amulius offered his brother the choice between the sovereign power and the royal treasure, including the gold brought from Troy. Numitor chose the sovereign power.
The herdsmen of Numitor in the course of the quarrel drove away some of the cattle which were claimed as belonging to the herdsmen of Amulius. Romulus and Remus headed a band which they hastily called together, to pursue the depredators and bring the cattle back. They succeeded in this expedition, and recaptured the herd. This incensed the party of Numitor, and they determined on revenge.
Here, according to tradition, reigned Ascanius, the son of Æneas, and his descendants for three hundred years were the Latin tribes. After eleven generations of kings, Amulius usurps the throne, which belonged to Numitor, the elder brother, and dooms his only daughter, Silvia, to perpetual virginity as a Vestal. Silvia, visited by a god, gives birth to twins, Romulus and Remus.
In the course of the negotiations which ensued, Amulius proposed that his father's possessions should be divided into two portions, the kingdom to constitute one, and the wealth and treasures the other, and that Numitor should choose which portion he would have.
Only, the images from Troy turned back a second time to Lavinium. After the death of Ascanius it was not Ascanius's son Iulus who became king, but Æneas's son by Lavinia, Silvius, or, according to some Ascanius's son Silvius. Silvius again begat another Æneas, and he Latinus, and he Capys. Capys had a child Tiberinus, whose son was Amulius, whose son was Aventinus.
It is related, then, that soon after the birth of Romulus and his brother Remus, Amulius, King of Alba, fearing that they might one day undermine his authority, ordered that they should be exposed on the banks of the Tiber; and that in this situation the infant Romulus was suckled by a wild beast; that he was afterward educated by the shepherds, and brought up in the rough way of living and labors of the countrymen; and that he acquired, when he grew up, such superiority over the rest by the vigor of his body and the courage of his soul, that all the people who at that time inhabited the plains in the midst of which Rome now stands, tranquilly and willingly submitted to his government.
Remus, therefore, they delivered up to King Amulius, accusing him of many things, and chiefly of this, that he and his companions had invaded the land of Numitor, dealing with them in the fashion of an enemy and carrying off much spoil. To Numitor, therefore, did the king deliver Remus, that he might put him to death.
Accordingly, they armed themselves, and coming suddenly upon the spot where the shepherds of Amulius were celebrating the games, they made a rush for Remus, who was at that time, in accordance with the custom, running to and fro, half-naked, and armed only with goat-skin thongs. They succeeded in making him prisoner, and bore him away in triumph to Numitor.