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Ancient Rome

Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.31

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    culture, ancient, coup, devious, discount, exile, merely, midst, ordinary, origin, priestess, reality, REE-mus, rightful, rumor, she-wolf
     content words:    Alba Longa, Rhea Silvia, Rhea Sivila, When Amulius, River Tiber, When Numitor, With Remus, Titus Tatius

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Romulus and Remus
By Vickie Chao 		  
1     Every ancient culture had a story about its origin. Rome was no exception. The thing about those stories is that most of them, if not all, were just legends. As legends, their reality is in question. The lack of supporting evidence makes us unsure if the events actually took place or not. Though the truth may be lost forever, we should not discount those stories. For all they are worth, they give us a theory of how everything began.
 
2     Here is the legend about Rome.
 
3     A long time ago, there was a small country called Alba Longa. Numitor was the king of this small country. One day, Amulius, Numitor's evil brother, decided to become king himself. He staged a coup and sent Numitor to exile. After claiming the throne successfully, Amulius turned his focus on Rhea Silvia, Numitor's daughter.
 
4     Amulius was not afraid of Rhea Silvia. But he was afraid of the children she could have when she married. He thought the children would be a big threat. They could seek revenge and overthrow him. How horrible that would be!
 
5     As Amulius pondered a solution, a great idea came to mind. He could make his niece a priestess to the Goddess of Vestal. As a priestess, she could never get married and have children. Without the children, he would have nothing to worry about. Pleased with the idea, he saw to it right away. He forced Rhea Silvia to take a vow and become a priestess to the Goddess of Vestal. He had her living in a temple.

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