ROMULUS, a Roman hero, was said to be the son of Mars. His mother was Rhea Silvia, a Vestal virgin and daughter of King Numitor. Amulius usurped the throne from Numitor, and when Rhea Silvia bore the twins, Amulius ordered them thrown into the Tiber. A she-wolf, the animal of Mars, rescued them and succoured them until one of the royal herdsmen found them and brought them up. They grew to be mighty warriors and founded the city of Rome on the Palatine Hill (Fasti II.491-501). After ruling for forty years, Romulus disappeared in a storm and became the god Quirinus. Macrobius states that Romulus was assured a place in the heavens because he practiced all the virtues (Commentarius in somnium Scipionis, II.xvii.7-8).

The mother of Romulus appears among love's martyrs, PF 292; in this line Chaucer suggests that he has forgotten her name. E.T. Donaldson suggests that Chaucer may have seen her name in the Pervigilium Veneris (The Vigil of Venus), a poem of unknown authorship, written not earlier than the second century A.D. The Dreamer thinks that he is not Romulus as the eagle snatches him up, HF II.589. [Mars: Quyryne]

The name appears once medially, HF II.589, and once in final rhyming position, PF 292.