Bronze Coin - AE 3/4, Struck 330-346 AD. Constantine the Great & Sons - Commemorates the Founding of Rome.
Obv: VRBS ROMA, Bust of Roma, left
Rev: She Wolf suckling Romulus & Remus
Mint: Cyzicus
(Sear - 3894) 18mm, 2.81gm
Romulus and Remus were the twin brothers and main characters of Rome's foundation myth. Their mother was Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa. Before their conception, Numitor's brother Amulius seized power, killed Numitor's male heirs and forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, sworn to chastity. Rhea Silvia conceived the twins by the god Mars, or by the demi-god Hercules. Once the twins were born, Amulius had them abandoned to die in the Tiber river.
They were saved by a series of miraculous interventions: the river carried them to safety, a she-wolf found and suckled them, and a woodpecker fed them. A shepherd and his wife found them and fostered them to manhood as simple shepherds. The twins, still ignorant of their true origins, proved to be natural leaders. Each acquired many followers. When they discovered the truth of their birth, they killed Amulius and restored Numitor to his throne. Rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa, they chose to found a new city.
