Unit 4 Lesson 2 Read Aloud The Legend of Romulus and Remus

early on chilly spring morning man picked his way through the tall grass along the banks of the river tiber in his arms he carried large basket in which two infant brothers were bundled up in blankets from the basket the two infants could see the blue sky dotted with puffy clouds they could hear the birds singing from the perches in the trees and they could hear the rushing river tiber which at the time was full to the brim with the melted snow of the northern mountains the twins were too young to understand that the man carrying them was servant for their wicked uncle king emulius out of jealousy or perhaps out of fear that one day the handsome twins would become too powerful and try to take his crown the king had sent his servant to kill the baby boys but the servant was good man he had wife and two children of his own with one look into those boys eyes the servant knew that he could never bring himself to kill them the servant sat there in the grass on the riverbank all morning thinking about what he should do and knowing that the king would kill him if he ever discovered that he had failed to do what he was asked of him suddenly above the sound of the rushing river the servant heard number of men on horses nearby peering through the weeds he saw some of the king's soldiers perhaps they were just out on routine patrol or perhaps the king had sent them to make sure the dark deed had been done either way the soldiers would think it's strange to find man there with two babies in basket so the servant wasn't going to take any chances seeing no alternative he placed the basket babies and all into the rushing waters of the river tiber he watched as they floated and bobbed slowly along the bank of the river but moment later the basket was caught in the river current and away it went rocking and reeling out of sight down river the soldiers thought nothing of the man they saw there on the bank they nodded and said good morning the man waved back and acted as though he was just undressing to take morning bath little did they know how his heart raced because he had defied the king's orders but he had also saved two young lives and for that he felt happy the twins remained calm and rather content as they floated down river water splashed on them and soaked them but thankfully the basket did not sink eventually the basket wound its way into some tall strong reeds and there it sat some say it was the river god tiberanus who must have protected and saved them cradling their basket boat in his watery hands and gently guiding them to shore where they fell asleep in the shade it so happened that she-wolf was having drink of water there at the river she saw the basket and its precious cargo the she-wolf had tender heart and took pity on them the she-wolf dragged the basket to her den and when the boys awoke she fed them the same milk she fed her puppies the twins remained in the den for few days until finally the wolf saw shepherd leading his flock of sheep down the river when the shepherd saw the sheep wolf he instinctively held up his staff to warn the wolf that he was ready to fight to save his sheep but the wolf was not interested in his sheep on this day instead she dragged the basket closer to the shepherd and then darted away puzzled the shepherd went up to the basket saw the handsome baby boys and decided to take them home what does this legend have to do with rome you ask well these twin brothers were named romulus and remus and they became quite famous they were raised by the shepherd and they grew up to be shepherds themselves when the boys grew older they decided to find their home and when they found out that king emulius had tried to kill them they got their revenge by fighting and overthrowing him the legend of romulus and remus was very important to the ancient romans and later to the history of the country of italy the fact that the she-wolf did not try to harm the boys but instead saved them and took care of them like her own pups is favorite part of the story ancient romans decorated some of their buildings with statues and other types of artwork depicting this famous she-wolf and the two and the twin brothers at the time of romulus arimis around 753 bce the area that is now italy was broken up into lots of little kingdoms with lots of kings who were constantly bickering and fighting with one another romulus and remus had enough of those other kings so they set off with some friends to build their own city near the tiber river where they had once been rescued by the she-wolf can you guess what the city was named perhaps it could have been named rheem after remus but that's not how the story goes instead it was named rome after romulus what happened to remus well remus and romulus couldn't agree on where exactly to build their city they agreed that they needed to build it on hill there are seven large hills in the area that is now roam remus wanted to build the city on one hill but romulus wanted to build it on another hill they bickered for while and then decided to ask the gods for help each brother went to his preferred hilltop and waited for sign from the gods later in the afternoon remus finally got his sign six big vultures flew in circle above his head shirley thought remus the gods have sent these birds as sign that we should build our city here but few moments later romulus saw not six but twelve vultures flying overhead as he waited on his chosen hilltop unfortunately this in no way settled the argument remus believed the gods had chosen his hill because he had sent the birds to him first romulus had seen more birds and therefore believe the signs were in his favor the brothers could not agree so they went their separate ways to see who could build the best city few weeks later remus came to visit his brother romulus had been working hard all day and night with his friends to build his city into strong fortress with tall walls however it takes long time to build strong walls remus laughed as he stepped easily over the wall romulus had started to build well it seems i've found way into your grand city after all that wasn't so difficult remus jeered kicking stone off the wall this made romulus very angry and they started to fight forgetting they were brothers in those moments they fought with all their might after some time remus fell to the ground and died when romulus realized what he had done he cried because he did not intend to kill his brother this is the legend of how the great city of rome was founded this legend as sad as it may seem is what many ancient roman children have been told as they were being tucked into bed at night and this legend is still being told today in its various forms the story's end had an important message for the roman people romans should always protect their beloved city of rome and for protection the romans should surround themselves with strong walls not just in rome but everywhere they settled this picture was taken in present-day england hundreds of miles from the city of rome here you can see the ruins of hadrian's wall large wall built by romans to guard against invaders from the north romulus beloved city would become the capital of very powerful empire and you'll hear much more about this memorable city and the empire over the next few days