By a miracle, however, Rhea Silvia gave birth! She was visited by Mars, the god of war, and thus conceived two children, twin boys whom she named Romulus and Remus. Amulius was furious and commanded that the two babies be drowned in the river Tiber. He ordered one of his servants to throw the twins into the river, but the servant could not bring himself to kill the children. Instead, he put the children in a basket and set the basket adrift in the river's waters which carried the boys to safety.
After the basket had washed up on the shores of the river, a she-wolf found the boys and raised them as her own. Nourished by the milk of the she-wolf, Romulus and Remus both flourished. There was also a friendly woodpecker who fed the boys on solid food.
Later, a shepherd named Faustulus found Romulus and Remus and took them into his home, raising them as his own sons. Faustulus and his wife Acca both loved the boys and so they spent a happy childhood with their adopted parents. Later, when they learned about the secret of their birth, Romulus and Remus killed Amulius and restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne. They then set out to found a city of their own: Rome.
