Numitor

Amulius seized the throne of Alba Longa from his older brother Numitor, the rightful successor after their father Proca’s reign. He stripped Numitor of his power and sent him to live on a nearby farm, but he did not kill him.

Amulius then had Numitor’s two sons killed. He sent Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, to the temple of Vesta and made her a Vestal Virgin. She vowed to remain chaste for thirty years, so she would have no heirs. Rhea Silvia later gave birth to twin sons, Romulus and Remus. She claimed that Mars had taken her against her will and fathered the children.

Amulius became furious when he heard about the twins. He ordered his men to drown Rhea Silvia and the infants in the Tiber. The babies survived and washed ashore. A she-wolf heard their cries, carried them to her cave, and suckled them. Local shepherds later found the twins and raised them. The shepherd Faustulus kept their royal identity secret for many years.

Faustulus eventually told Romulus that he and Remus were Numitor’s grandsons. Someone else told Numitor that the twins still lived. Romulus and Remus each led a group of men against Amulius. They attacked and killed him. Numitor then called the local people together and told them about Amulius’s crime, the twins’ birth, and their upbringing. Romulus and Remus marched through the crowd, saluted their grandfather, and received the people’s unanimous consent to restore him as the rightful king of Alba Longa.