Palace Discovery Lends Weight to Roman Myth

Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars, the god of war, who were suckled as infants by a she-wolf in the woods.

Now, researchers believe they have found evidence that at least part of the tale may be true: Traces of a royal palace discovered in the Roman Forum have been dated to roughly the period of the eternal city’s legendary foundation.

Archeologist Andrea Carandini of Rome’s Sapienza University said he made the discovery over the last month at the spot where the Temple of Romulus -- dedicated to a much later Romulus, Emperor Maxentius’ son -- stands today.

It is next to the Sanctuary of Vesta -- the Roman goddess of the hearth -- just outside the Palatine walls, site of the earliest traces of civilization in Rome.

Where previously archeologists had only found huts dating to the 8th century BC, Carandini and his team unearthed traces of regal splendor: A 3,700-square-foot palace, 1,130 square feet of which were covered and the rest a courtyard. That is about 10 times the size of a normal abode from the period.

There was a monumental entrance and elaborate furnishings and ceramics.

The walls were made of wood and clay, with a floor of wood shavings and pressed turf. It was tests on the clay that allowed archeologists to confirm the age of the discovery. Carandini also found a hut where vestal virgins were believed to have lighted a sacred flame.

“Whoever created the legend [of Romulus and Remus] did so with the knowledge that behind it there was a historical foundation,” said Eugenio La Rocca, the superintendent for monuments for the city of Rome.