# Romulus — Metamorphoses character guide

> Romulus in Metamorphoses by Ovid.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Latian Line Romulus

**First appearance:** 0150-latian-line

## Snapshot

The wolf-nursed founder of Rome, whose earthly city earns him a place among the stars and a seat beside his deified father.

## Who they are

Romulus stands at the hinge where Ovid's Metamorphoses bends from Greek legend toward Roman destiny: a king whose walls and laws give the poem its political horizon. His story carries the tension between violence and legitimacy — a city founded on fratricide that heaven nonetheless claims as its own. When Mars petitions Jupiter to lift his son into divinity, the moment signals that Rome's power is not merely human but woven into the cosmos the poem has been tracing since chaos.

## In the story

### [Latian Line](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/latian-line)

Restores his grandfather Numitor to the throne, founds Rome, leads the Romans in war against the Sabines, and eventually rules alone after Tatius's death.

### [Assumption of Romulus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/assumption-of-romulus)

Founder of Rome, taken by Mars to heaven, purified, and transformed into the god Quirinus.

### [Assumption of Hersilia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/assumption-of-hersilia)

Now deified as Quirinus, he welcomes his wife Hersilia to the celestial realm.

### [Egeria Transformed to a Fountain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/egeria-transformed-to-a-fountain)

His lance, fixed in the earth, sprouts leaves and takes root, creating an unexpected shade.

### [Story of Cippus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-cippus)

Referenced as the founder of Rome, whose race Cippus defends.

### [Reign of Augustus, in Which Ovid Flourished](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/reign-of-augustus-in-which-ovid-flourished)

Referenced as Quirinus, the founder of the Roman state.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/romulus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters