Archaeologists say they have unearthed Lupercale -- the sacred cave where, according to legend, a she-wolf nursed the twin founders of Rome and where the city itself was born.The long-lost underground chamber was found beneath the remains of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine, a 230-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) hill in the center of the city.
According to myth, Lupercale is where a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the war god Mars and mortal priestess Rhea Silvia, who had been abandoned in a cradle on the bank of the Tiber River.
The brothers are said to have later founded Rome on April 21, 753 B.C., at the site. But they eventually fought for the leadership of the new city, and Romulus killed his brother.
That didn't stop the site from becoming a sacred place to ancient Romans.
Link & Image: National Geographic
Tags: Sacred Cave Rome Roman
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