Who traditionally founded Rome and became its first king?

• A. Romulus
• B. Remus
• C. Julius Caesar
• D. Numa Pompilius

Answer: (A)

Romulus is the founder and first king of Rome in the traditional story. The myth has him and his twin brother Remus as sons of Mars, raised by a she-wolf, and when they establish a settlement on the Palatine, a dispute ends with Romulus killing Remus. He then becomes king and gives the city its name, laying down Rome’s early political and religious foundations that would shape its identity for generations. The other figures come from later periods: Remus is his slain twin, Numa Pompilius is remembered as the second king who focused on religious and ceremonial reforms, and Julius Caesar is a much later figure associated with the end of the Republic, not the city’s founding.