Amulius

In Roman mythology, Amulius (Latin:[aˈmuːliʊs]) was king of Alba Longa who ordered the death of his infant, twin grandnephewsRomulus, the eventual founder and king of Rome, and Remus. He was deposed and killed by them after they survived and grew to adulthood.

He is the brother and usurper of Numitor and son of Procas. He was said to have reigned 41 years before his death (793–752 BC).^[1] His brother had been king, but Amulius overthrew him, killed his son, and took the throne. He forced Rhea Silvia, Numitor's daughter, to become a Vestal Virgin, a priestess of Vesta, so that she would never bear any sons that might overthrow him. However, she was raped or seduced by the god Mars, resulting in the birth of the twins. Rhea was thrown into prison and her sons ordered to be thrown into the river Tiber. The twins washed up onto dry land and were found by a she-wolf who suckled them. Later their mother was saved by the river god Tiberinus who ended up marrying her. Romulus and Remus went on to found Rome and overthrow Amulius, reinstating their grandfather Numitor as king of Alba Longa.

Dionysius was a Greek historian and librarian who wrote in the first century BC. He writes that Amulius' father, King Proca, willed the throne to Numitor but Amulius deposed him. For fear of a threat to his rule, the king had Numitor's son, Aegestus killed, blaming thieves. The truth about the crime was known by some, including Numitor, who feigned ignorance. Amulius then appointed Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, to the Vestal priestesshood, where her vow of chastity would prevent her from producing any further children. Despite this, she became pregnant a few years later, claiming to have been raped.^[2]

In one of the sources, Amulius himself (in full armor to conceal his identity) commits the rape.^[3] Rhea Silvia hid her pregnancy with claims of illness so as to avoid her vestal duties. But Amulius was suspicious and employed physicians and his own wife to monitor her for signs of being with child. When he discovered the truth, he placed her under armed guard. After being informed of the delivery of Romulus and Remus, Amulius suspected that she had in fact given birth to triplets, the third child having been concealed from the guards present. Rhea Silvia was either put to death, or kept secretly in a hidden dungeon for the rest of her life.^[4]

Citing Fabius Pictor, Cincius, Cato, and Piso, Dionysius writes that the king ordered the twins to be tossed into the Tiber. When his servants arrived at the riverbank, high waters had made it impossible to reach the stream. So they left the twin's basket in a pool of standing water on the site of the ficus Ruminalis. After the waters of the Tiber had carried the twins away, their basket was overturned by a rock and they were dumped into the mud. It was there, that a she-wolf famously found them and nursed them in front of her lair (the Lupercal). Amulius' servant Faustulus happened upon the scene. He took the boys home and brought them up with his wife. Later, quoting Fabius' account of the overthrow of Amulius, Plutarch claims that Faustulus had saved the basket in which the boys had been abandoned.^[5]

According to Fabius, when the twins were 18, they became embroiled in a violent dispute with some of Numitor's herdsmen. In retaliation, Remus was lured into an ambush and captured while Romulus was elsewhere.^[5] In Aelius Tubero's version, the twins were taking part in the festivities of the Lupercalia, requiring them to run naked through the village when Remus, defenseless as he was, was taken prisoner by Numitor's armed men.^[6]

بعد أن جمع رومولوس أقوى الرعاة لمساعدته في تحرير ريموس، انطلق بتهور نحو ألبا لونغا. ولتجنب المأساة، اعترضه فاوستولوس وكشف له حقيقة نسب التوأمين. ولما اكتشف رومولوس أن نوميتور من عائلته، وجّه أنظاره نحو أموليوس. فانطلق هو وبقية أهل قريته في مجموعات صغيرة نحو المدينة حتى لا يلاحظهم الحراس. وفي هذه الأثناء، وبعد أن سلّم أموليوس ريموس إلى نوميتور ليحدد عقوبته، أخبره الملك السابق بأصوله، فانضم إليه بحماس في مسعاهم للإطاحة بأموليوس. وعندما انضم إليهم رومولوس، بدأوا بالتخطيط لخطوتهم التالية. ^{[ 6 ] [ 7 ]}

أُلقي القبض على فاوستولوس من قبل حراس ألبان وهو يحاول تهريب سلة التوأمين الرضيعين إلى المدينة، وأُحضر أمام الملك أموليوس على يد الخادم نفسه الذي اصطحب الصبيين إلى النهر قبل سنوات عديدة. استجوب أموليوس خادمه، فادّعى زورًا أنه لا ينوي إيذاء التوأمين. حاول فاوستولوس حماية رومولوس وريموس، والهروب من قبضة الملك، فادّعى أنه كان يحمل السلة إلى ريا سيلفيا المسجونة بناءً على طلب التوأمين، وأنهما كانا يربيان قطيعهما في الجبال في ذلك الوقت.

أرسل أموليوس فاوستولوس وبعض رجاله للبحث عن التوأمين. ثم حاول خداع نوميتور ليأتي إلى القصر حتى يُبقي الملك السابق تحت الحراسة ريثما يُحسم الموقف. إلا أنه عندما وصل الرجل الذي أرسله أموليوس لاستدراج نوميتور إلى منزل الملك المخلوع، خانه وكشف كل ما جرى في القصر. ^{[ ٨ ]}

قاد التوأمان وجدهما أنصارهم إلى القصر، وقتلوا أموليوس، وسيطروا على المدينة . ^{[ 9 ]}