Three of a Kind - Part Three

In reality, when the time came, what Juno had predicted did not materialise. Rhea Silvia, now married to Tiberinus, had not been told by her husband, who wanted to spare her further pain, that her twins were alive.

Rufus, the apple of his mother's eye, stayed with her until her dying days.

He had grown up together with Tarpeia, the Vestal Virgin who, wanting to atone for having revealed Rhea Silvia's sexual intercourse with Marcus to the High Priestesses, had helped her to escape with the newly born Rufus.

Six years older than him, they became fonder of each other and eventually fell in love, got married, and had a son they named Numa Pompilius.

He would, years later, become the second king of Rome and regulate the purpose of the Vestal Virgins and the 30-year chastity rules that had been misused against his grandmother.

The 30 years were divided into three decades:

the first for learning their duties, the second for performing them, and the third for instructing others.
 

OOO 

Romulus and Remus knew they had been adopted, but not who their parents were.

Raised by Faustulus, a shepherd of Alba Longa, they did not fancy following in their adoptive father's footsteps, left the family's farm and leased two plots of land, Romulus on the Palatine Hill, where he laid the foundations for a new city, and Remus on the Aventine Hill.

They both got involved in local politics and vied for supremacy.

The former supported Amulius, the usurper king, and the latter Numitor, the dethroned monarch.

The two came to blows when Numitor's followers had an acrimonious encounter with their rivals, and in the fight that ensued, Amulius suffered a mortal wound and died.

An enraged Romulus killed his twin, Remus, in revenge and proclaimed himself king of the city, which he named Rome, after himself.

The death of Amulius reawakened Numitor's hope of reclaiming the lost crown from the incumbent despot, but failed to muster troops strong enough to oppose the military might of the self-proclaimed king of Rome.

He was heavily defeated and retreated to Alba Longa, chased by Romulus, who entered the town in triumph.

The inhabitants gathered in the main square were afraid of what was to come, but also curious to see what the conqueror looked like.

Among the crowd was Rhea Silvia, who, on seeing him, gave a loud gasp.

The man in front of her was the spitting image of Rufus.

She realised that Romulus must be one of her abducted twins.

The two boys, now facing each other, were like two peas in a pod.

On spotting Rufus, Romulus gave an exscruciating cry.

“Remus? It can't be. You are dead.”

He was convinced that the ghost of the brother he had killed was there to punish him.

The emotional stress was intense and made him collapse in a heap.

He was rushed into a tent for treatment, out of sight of the general public.

Conflicting versions of the incident and its aftermath have been recorded.

Some say that he recovered and returned to Rome, where he governed with an iron fist until he vanished during a storm. 

(His friend Julius Proculus swore that the gods had taken him to Olympus.)

Others speculate that he died in Alba Longa and was replaced by Rufus, who, to prevent a Roman uprising, secretly assumed the dead dictator's identity and reigned in his place until succeeded by his son Numa Pompius, after feigning his own disappearance.

One thing the Romans noticed was that, in his last days, Romulus had become much more benign than before.