Faustulus

Romulus and Remus being given shelter by Faustulus, oil by Pietro da Cortona.

In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infants Romulus and Remus, who were being suckled by a she-wolf, known as Lupa, on the Palatine Hill. He, with his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the children.^[1][2] In some versions of the myth, Larentia was a prostitute (in Latin a lupa, 'she-wolf'). The name Faustulus was later claimed by a Roman family, one of whom minted a coin showing Faustulus with the twins and she-wolf. Sextus Pompeius Fostlus issued a silver denarius in about 140 BCE that showed, on the reverse, the twins being suckled by a dangerous wolf with the shepherd Faustulus to their left.

Gallery

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  Faustulus, as seen in the Font de Mussa mosaic at Prehistory Museum of Valencia.

Notes

Ancient Roman religion and mythology
Deities	Apollo Bellona Bona Dea Castor and Pollux Ceres Cupid Diana Dīs Pater Fauna Faunus Flora Genius Hercules Janus Juno Jupiter Lares Liber Libertas Lucina Mars Mercury Minerva Orcus Neptune Penates Pluto Pomona Priapus Proserpina Quirinus Saturn Silvanus Sol Venus Vesta Vulcan
Abstract deities	Abundantia Aequitas Concordia Fides Fortuna Pietas Roma Salus Securitas Spes Victoria Terra
Legendary figures	Aeneas Rhea Silvia Romulus and Remus Numa Pompilius Tullus Hostilius Servius Tullius Ancus Marcius Lucius Tarquinius Priscus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
Texts	Vergil Aeneid Ovid Metamorphoses Fasti Propertius Apuleius The Golden Ass Varro
Concepts and practices	Religion in ancient Rome Festivals Interpretatio graeca Imperial cult Temples
See also	Glossary of ancient Roman religion Greek mythology Myth and ritual Classical mythology Conversion to Christianity Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism