Cave of Romulus and Remus

Posted by Rebecca Ford Nov 25, 2007

The great thing about Rome is that it's a city in which there's always something new to discover. You could spend your life here and still never know all the city's secrets. This week, archaeologists in Rome proved that when they made an extraordinary discovery. Buried deep inside the Palatine Hill - once the heart of ancient Rome - they found a sanctuary, rather like a cave, that is intricately decorated with seashells and coloured marble.

Ancient myth has it that Rome was founded by Romulus, who together with his twin brother Remus, was suckled by a she-wolf after they were abandoned as babies by the Tiber. The wolf was said to have nursed the twins in a cave - which later became known as the Lupercale (lupa meaning she-wolf). The Emperor Augustus is said to have restored the Lupercale - and decorated it with an eagle. The archaeologists found an eagle on top of the sanctuary.

Myth has it that Romulus and Remus decided to found a city where the wolf had cared for them. But they quarrelled and Romulus killed Remus. Now this discovery raises the possibility that visitors to Rome might one day be able to peer into a previously hidden part of the city's history.

Of course the Roman empire was so extensive that Roman remains are found everywhere. And this week also saw archaeologists in England discover a reminder of ancient Rome: a lead coffin, buried in a chamber beneath a field of barley in Yorkshire. The site was once a major Roman town, Isurium Brigantium, and experts think that the skeleton in the coffin is of a fairly wealthy woman from the 2nd-4th century. They're hoping to analyse her bones to find out more about the diet of the Romans in Britain.