Romulus and Remus Coloring Pages
Welcome to my Romulus and Remus coloring pages section.
Most Roman gods feel like old friends in new outfits, since the Romans borrowed so freely from the Greeks and from the other peoples around them. That's part of the fun of learning Roman mythology for me, because so many of the stories feel like a mash-up of ones I already know. Romulus and Remus are different. Twin baby boys set adrift in a basket, raised by a wolf and fed by a woodpecker, who grow up to found the city of Rome? That feels like a true original, and it belongs to Rome and nowhere else.
Two Babies in a Basket
Long ago a greedy king named Amulius took the throne from his brother Numitor. Then Numitor's daughter had twin baby boys, Romulus and Remus, and the stories say their father was Mars, the god of war. Amulius worried that the twins would grow up and take the throne back, so he ordered the babies carried to the river. The servant who was sent to do it couldn't bring himself to hurt them, so he tucked them into a basket and set it afloat, and the two little boys went bobbing down the water, with at least one of them sleeping right through it.
Left Under the Fig Tree
After a while the flooded river calmed down and drew back, and it left the basket behind on dry ground. It settled on the muddy bank under a fig tree, snug and safe, and the two babies lay side by side in the shade while the water went on without them.
The Wolf Who Changed Her Mind
Wolves aren't known for being gentle with babies in baskets, so when a she-wolf came padding down to the river for a drink, the story could have gone very differently. She sniffed the basket and nudged it with her nose, and the babies, who were hungry and cold, did what babies do and started to fuss. Maybe it was the noise, or maybe Mars had a quiet word with her, but the wolf decided they weren't dinner after all.
Raised by a Wolf
She carried the twins up to her cave on a nearby hill, and that's where Romulus and Remus grew up, with a wolf for a mother and the whole hillside for a yard. She fed them and kept them warm, and as the boys got bigger she put up with an awful lot of wrestling, because they tumbled around like a pair of pups. The brothers agreed on exactly one thing, which was that each of them ought to be in charge.
Lunch Delivered by a Woodpecker
The wolf had help. A woodpecker, the sacred bird of Mars, kept an eye on his sons too, and it turned up with food whenever the boys got hungry. In the pictures the acorns sit waiting on a flat stone, which is handy, since woodpeckers don't really carry snacks around. Romulus eyed the bird the way you'd eye a stranger who's being very helpful, while Remus grinned up at it, quite sure that lunch had arrived.
The Shepherd at the Cave
A shepherd named Faustulus often drove his flock past the wolf's cave, and he soon got to know the two boys who lived there. He showed them how to look after sheep and what a good staff is for, and the wolf let him, since she knew helpful company when she saw it. When the twins were old enough they went to live with Faustulus, and the wolf watched them go from the mouth of her cave. She'd done what she set out to do.
Two Very Different Shepherd Boys
The twins grew up herding sheep, and anybody watching could tell right away which was which. Romulus was the serious one, who planned everything ahead of time, from where the flock should graze to who ought to be in charge of the grazing, and he got very stubborn when somebody disagreed. Remus was quick and cocky and loved teasing his brother just to watch his forehead scrunch up. They were both brave and both fast, and they both thought they should be the boss.
Down the Hill with Their Staffs
Somewhere along the way the brothers found out the truth: they were really the grandsons of a king, and their greedy great-uncle was sitting on their grandfather's throne. Romulus got angry and Remus got excited, which was about how it usually went. The two of them grabbed their shepherd's staffs and charged down the hill toward the town, with a skinny younger shepherd boy puffing along behind them and wondering what on earth he'd signed up for.
Giving Grandfather His Throne Back
Their grandfather, old king Numitor was calm and kind... not at all what the brothers expected from somebody who'd been pushed off his own throne. He looked at the two strong young men in front of him and knew exactly who they were. That was the end of their great-uncle Amulius's time as king. Grandpa Numitor got his throne back, with the twins standing by him.
Six Vultures, Then Twelve
Now that they were grown, the brothers wanted a city of their own, and naturally they couldn't agree on where it should go. So each of them climbed a different hill to wait for a sign from the gods, with Romulus on the Palatine. Remus saw six vultures first and was delighted, but then Romulus saw twelve, and both of them said they'd won.
The Wall and the Brother Who Laughed
Romulus didn't wait around to settle the argument. He started building a wall around his hill, stone by stone, with his usual serious frown. Remus came along, took one look at it, and laughed, because the wall was still low enough to hop right over, which he did, just to show how little it would stop anybody. Romulus didn't see the joke. The city that grew up inside that wall was named Rome (after Romulus) and it's still a pretty amazing city nearly three thousand years later!
A Few Fun Facts
The Romans gave their city a birthday, April 21, which they counted as the very day Romulus started building his wall, and people in Rome still celebrate it today.
In most versions the quarrel over the wall ended sadly for Remus, which is why Romulus ended up as the first king of Rome. In most versions of the story Romulus was so angry about Remus jumping over his wall that Romulus killed Remus. In another version, their followers started fighting and Remus got caught in the scuffle and was killed. Either way, Romulus ended up as the first king of Rome.
Rome still has a famous bronze statue of the she-wolf, and the two little boys underneath her were added much later. The wolf has been the city's symbol ever since.
More Roman mythology coloring pages