Rhea Silvia

Rhea (or Rea) Silvia (Latin: [ˈreːa ˈsɪɫu̯ia]), also known as Ilia,[1] (as well as other names)[a] was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome.

[5] Her story is told in the first book of Ab Urbe Condita Libri of Livy[6] and in Cassius Dio's Roman History.

[7] The Legend of Rhea Silvia recounts how she was raped by Mars while she was a Vestal Virgin, resulting in the twins,[4] as mentioned in the Aeneid[8] and the works of Ovid.

[12] Vesta, to show her displeasure at the birth of Rhea Silvia's children, caused the holy fire in her temple to go out, shook her altar, and shut the eyes of her image.

But the servant showed mercy and set them adrift on the river Tiber, which, overflowing, left the infants in a pool by the bank.

[19][20] Despite Livy's euhemerist and realist deflation of this myth,[citation needed] it is clear that the story of her seduction by Mars continued to be widely accepted.

Rhea Silvia portrayed on a Sarcophagus
Symbolic representation of the Rhea Silvia myth on a sarcophagus in the Palazzo Mattei . Most of the elements of the story can be found in the scene. The central figure, Mars , strides over Rhea Silvia being put to sleep by Somnus pouring the juice of sleep on her from a horn. The wolf, the personification of the river, the temple of Vesta , are all present.
She-wolf ( lupa ) in Fonte Gaia , 14th century
Rhea Silvia, torso from the Roman theatre, Cartagena , Spain that was rediscovered in 1988.