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{{Short description|Mythical king of Alba Longa who ordered the death of Romulus and Remus}}
{{about|the mythical king of Alba Longa|the genus of bugs in the [[Reduviidae]]|Amulius (insect)|the ancient Roman fresco painter sometimes known as Amulius|Famulus}}
[[File:21-manasses-chronicle.jpg|thumb|Miniature from the [[Constantine Manasses]] portraying Amulius' rape of his niece Ilia (14th century)]]
In [[Roman mythology]], '''Amulius''' ({{IPA|la|aˈmuːliʊs|lang}}) was king of [[Alba Longa]] who ordered the death of his infant, twin [[grandnephew]]s [[Romulus]], the eventual [[Foundation of Rome|founder]] and [[king of Rome]], and [[Romulus and Remus|Remus]].  He was deposed and killed by them after they survived and grew to adulthood.

He is the brother and [[usurper]] of [[Numitor]] and son of [[Procas]]. He was said to have reigned 41 years before his death (793–752 BC).<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.71</ref>  His brother had been king, but Amulius overthrew him, killed his son, and took the throne. He forced [[Rhea Silvia]], [[Numitor]]'s daughter, to become a [[Vestal Virgin]], a priestess of [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]], so that she would never bear any sons that might overthrow him. However, she was raped or seduced by the god [[Mars (god)|Mars]], resulting in the birth of the twins. Rhea was thrown into prison and her sons ordered to be thrown into the river [[Tiber]]. The twins washed up onto dry land and were found by a [[she-wolf (Roman mythology)|she-wolf]] who suckled them. Later their mother was saved by the river god [[Tiberinus (god)|Tiberinus]] who ended up marrying her. Romulus and Remus went on to found [[Rome, Italy|Rome]] and [[Battle of Alba Longa|overthrow Amulius]], reinstating their grandfather Numitor as king of Alba Longa.

==Dionysius of Halicarnassus==
[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysius]] was a Greek historian and librarian who wrote in the first century BC.  He writes that Amulius' father, [[Procas|King Proca]], willed the throne to [[Numitor]] but Amulius deposed him.  For fear of a threat to his rule, the king had Numitor's son, [[Lausus (son of Numitor)|Aegestus]] killed, blaming thieves.  The truth about the crime was known by some, including Numitor, who feigned ignorance.  Amulius then appointed Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, to the [[Vestal virgins|Vestal priestesshood]], where her vow of chastity would prevent her from producing any further children.  Despite this, she became pregnant a few years later, claiming to have been raped.<ref name="DoH I-76">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.76|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.253.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

In one of the sources, Amulius himself (in full armor to conceal his identity) commits the rape.<ref name="DoH I-77">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.77|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.257.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>  Rhea Silvia hid her pregnancy with claims of illness so as to avoid her vestal duties.  But Amulius was suspicious and employed physicians and his own wife to monitor her for signs of being with child.  When he discovered the truth, he placed her under armed guard.  After being informed of the delivery of Romulus and Remus, Amulius suspected that she had in fact given birth to triplets, the third child having been concealed from the guards present.  Rhea Silvia was either put to death, or kept secretly in a hidden dungeon for the rest of her life.<ref name="DoH I-78">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.78|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.257.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

Citing [[Quintus Fabius Pictor|Fabius Pictor]], [[Lucius Cincius Alimentus|Cincius]], [[Cato the Elder|Cato]], and [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133 BC)|Piso]], Dionysius writes that the king ordered the twins to be tossed into the Tiber.  When his servants arrived at the riverbank, high waters had made it impossible to reach the stream.  So they left the twin's basket in a pool of standing water on the site of the [[ficus Ruminalis]].  After the waters of the Tiber had carried the twins away, their basket was overturned by a rock and they were dumped into the mud.  It was there, that a she-wolf famously found them and [[Breastfeeding|nursed]] them in front of her lair (the [[Lupercal]]).  Amulius' servant [[Faustulus]] happened upon the scene.  He took the boys home and brought them up with his wife.  Later, quoting Fabius' account of the overthrow of Amulius, Plutarch claims that Faustulus had saved the basket in which the boys had been abandoned.<ref name="DoH I-79">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.79|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.269.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

According to Fabius, when the twins were 18, they became embroiled in a violent dispute with some of Numitor's herdsmen.  In retaliation, Remus was lured into an ambush and captured while Romulus was elsewhere.<ref name="DoH I-79"/>  In [[Quintus Aelius Tubero (historian)|Aelius Tubero]]'s version, the twins were taking part in the festivities of the [[Lupercalia]], requiring them to run naked through the village when Remus, defenseless as he was, was taken prisoner by Numitor's armed men.<ref name="DoH I-80">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.80|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.273.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

After rounding up the toughest herdsmen to help him free Remus, Romulus rashly set out for Alba Longa.  To avoid tragedy, Faustulus intercepted him and revealed the truth about the twins' parentage.  With the discovery that Numitor was family, Romulus set his sights on Amulius instead.  He and the rest of his village set out in small groups toward the city so that their arrival would go unnoticed by the guards.  Meanwhile, after Amulius turned Remus over to Numitor to determine his punishment, Remus was told of his origins by the former king and eagerly joined with him in their own effort to topple Amulius.  When Romulus joined them, they began to plan their next move.<ref name="DoH I-80"/><ref name="DoH I-81">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.81-82|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.277.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

Faustulus was caught by the Alban guards trying to sneak the infant twins' basket into the city and was brought before Amulius by the same servant who had taken the boys to the river those many years before. Amulius questions his man and falsely claimed he means the twins no harm.  Faustulus, trying to protect Romulus and Remus, and escape the king's clutches, claimed he had been bringing the basket to the imprisoned Rhea Silvia at the twins' request and that they were at the moment tending their flocks in the mountains.{{fact|date=September 2023}}

Amulius sent Faustulus and some of his men to find the twins. He then tried to trick Numitor into coming to the palace so that the former king could be kept under guard until the situation had been dealt with. However, when the man he sent to lure Numitor into his clutches arrived at the deposed king's house, he betrayed Amulius and revealed everything that had happened at the palace.<ref name="DoH I-82-83">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.82-83|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.283.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

The twins and their grandfather led their supporters to the palace, [[Battle of Alba Longa|killed Amulius, and took control of the city]].<ref name="DoH I-83">{{cite book|author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus|accessdate=13 November 2016|title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.83|year=1937|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities/1937/pb_LCL319.287.xml|doi=10.4159/DLCL.dionysius_halicarnassus-roman_antiquities.1937}} {{Subscription required|via=[[Loeb Classical Library|digital Loeb Classical Library]]}}</ref>

{{Latin kings of Alba Longa family tree}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start | noclear = true }}
{{s-reg | leg }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Numitor]] }}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Latin kings of Alba Longa|King of Alba Longa]] }}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Numitor]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman religion}}

[[Category:Kings of Alba Longa]]
[[Category:Usurpers]]