The
founding of Rome can be investigated through
archaeology, but traditional stories handed down by the
ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest
history of their city in terms of
legend and
myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of all
Roman myths, is the story of
Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a
she-wolf. This story had to be reconciled with a dual tradition, set earlier in time, the one that had the
Trojan refugee Aeneas escape to Italy and found the line of Romans through his son Iulus, the namesake of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty.