[4] King Caeculus appears in Book VII of Virgil's Aeneid as an ally of Turnus against Aeneas and the Trojans,[5] where he is said to be the "founder of Praeneste" and described as "the son of Vulcan, born among the rural herds and found upon the hearth".
[6] The myth concerning the birth of Caeculus and his divine parentage[7] is of great interest for the study of Latin religion.
In the myth he is the nephew of two divine twin brothers (divi fratres) called the Depidii (or Digidii).
After spending his childhood among shepherds, he gathered a band of youngsters of his age, and founded the city of Praeneste.
His story is reminiscent of the practise of ver sacrum and similar to that of Romulus and Remus the founders of Rome.