Alba Longa in the context of "Amulius"

The founding of Rome was a prehistoric event or process later greatly embellished by Roman historians and poets. Archaeological evidence indicates that Rome developed from the gradual union of several hilltop villages during the Final Bronze Age or early Iron Age. Prehistoric habitation of the Italian Peninsula occurred by 48,000 years ago, with the area of Rome being settled by around 1600 BC. Some evidence on the Capitoline Hill possibly dates as early as c. 1700 BC and the nearby valley that later housed the Roman Forum had a developed necropolis by at least 1000 BC. The combination of the hilltop settlements into a single polity by the later 8th century BC was probably influenced by the trend for city-state formation emerging from ancient Greece.

Roman myth held that their city was founded by Romulus, son of the war god Mars and the Vestal virgin Rhea Silvia, fallen princess of Alba Longa and descendant of Aeneas of Troy. Exposed on the Tiber river, Romulus and his twin Remus were suckled by a she-wolf at the Lupercal before being raised by the shepherd Faustulus, taking revenge on their usurping great-uncle Amulius, and restoring Alba Longa to their grandfather Numitor. The brothers then decided to establish a new town but quarrelled over some details, ending with Remus's murder and the establishment of Rome on the Palatine Hill. The year of the supposed founding was variously computed by ancient historians, but the two dates seeming to be officially sanctioned were the Varronian chronology's 753 BC (used by Claudius's Secular Games and Hadrian's Romaea) and the adjacent year of 752 BC (used by the Fasti and the Secular Games of Antoninus Pius and Philip I). Despite known errors in Varro's calculations, it is the 753 BC date that continues to form the basis for most modern calculations of the AUC calendar era.

The Capitoline Wolf (Italian: Lupa Capitolina) is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. According to the legend, when King Numitor, grandfather of the twins, was overthrown by his brother Amulius in Alba Longa, the usurper ordered them to be cast into the Tiber River. They were rescued by a she-wolf that cared for them until a herdsman, Faustulus, found and raised them.

The age and origin of the Capitoline Wolf are controversial. The statue was long thought to be an Etruscan work of the fifth century BC, with the twins added in the late 15th century AD, probably by sculptor Antonio del Pollaiuolo. However, radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating in the 21st century has suggested that the wolf portion of the statue may have been cast between 1021 and 1153, though the results are inconsistent, and there is yet no consensus for a revised dating. In a conference on this theme, most academics continued to support an ancient Etruscan origin. An analysis of the metal suggests that it contains lead from a source not known to have operated during medieval times.

In the Roman foundation myth, the She-Wolf (lupa in Latin) was an Italian wolf who nursed and sheltered the twins Romulus and Remus after they were abandoned in the wild by decree of King Amulius of Alba Longa. She cared for the infants at her den, a cave known as the Lupercal, until they were discovered by a shepherd, Faustulus. Romulus would later become the founder and first king of Rome and both twins became famous throughout history as the founders of the Rome we know today. The image of the She-Wolf suckling the twins has been a symbol of Rome since ancient times and is one of the most recognizable icons of ancient mythology.

In Roman mythology, King Numitor (Classical Latin: [ˈnʊmɪtɔr]) of Alba Longa was the maternal grandfather of Rome's founder and first king, Romulus, and his twin brother Remus. He was the son of Procas, descendant of Aeneas the Trojan, and father of the twins' mother, Rhea Silvia, and Lausus.

In 794 BC Procas died and was meant to be succeeded by Numitor. Instead he was overthrown and removed from the kingdom by his brother, Amulius, who had no respect for his father's will or his brother's seniority. Amulius also murdered Numitor's sons, in an effort to remove power from his brother for himself.

Procas or Proca (said to have reigned 817-794 BC) was one of the Latin kings of Alba Longa in the mythic tradition of the founding of Rome. He was the father of Amulius and Numitor and the great-grandfather of Romulus and Remus, Rome's legendary founders.

Lausus is a minor character in Roman mythology and the legend of the founding of Rome. He was the son and heir of the Alban king Numitor, but was killed by his uncle Amulius, who wanted to seize the throne.

According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, his name was Aegestus. He was killed while hunting by Amulius, who blamed his death on bandits. Many Albans did not believe him.

Oath of the Horatii (French: Le Serment des Horaces) is a large painting by the French artist Jacques-Louis David painted in 1784 and 1785 and now on display in the Louvre in Paris. The painting immediately became a huge success with critics and the public and remains one of the best-known paintings in the Neoclassical style.

It depicts a scene from the story of the Horatii and Curiatii, a Roman legend about a seventh-century BC dispute between two warring cities, Rome and Alba Longa, and stresses the importance of patriotism and masculine self-sacrifice for one's country. Instead of the two cities sending their armies to war, they agree to choose three men from each city; the victor in that fight will be the victorious city. From Rome, three brothers from a Roman family, the Horatii, agree to end the war by fighting three brothers from a family of Alba Longa, the Curiatii. The three brothers, all of whom appear willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of Rome, are shown stretching their hands towards their father who holds their swords out to them. Of the three Horatii brothers, only one will survive the confrontation. However, it is the surviving brother who is able to kill the other three fighters from Alba Longa: he allows the three fighters to chase him, causing them to separate from each other, and then, in turn, kills each Curiatii brother. Aside from the three brothers depicted, David also represents, in the bottom right corner, a woman crying while sitting down. She is Camilla, a sister of the Horatii brothers, who is also betrothed to one of the Curiatii fighters, and thus she weeps in the realisation that, whatever happens, she will lose someone she loves. Seeing her weep over her dead betrothed, the surviving brother, Publius, kills Camilla for weeping over the enemy.