Murder site of Rome's first king to become major tourist attraction

London, Nov 24 : The spot in the Roman Forum where Romulus, the first King of Rome, is said to have met a grisly end at the hands of senators who resented his high handed autocratic rule would be shown as a tourist attraction after being covered up for half a century.

The underground area of black marble paving stone or "Lapis Niger" marking the spot where Romulus is traditionally said to have been killed and dismembered, had been covered over with cement in the 1950s and surrounded by iron railings to protect it.

However, recent heavy rain had damaged the covering, and Professor Angelo Bottini, Superintendent of Archeology in Rome, decided to remove it.

According to a report in the Times, a canopy would be erected over the exposed "murder site", which was first discovered in 1899, so that archeologists could work on it while visitors to the Forum watched.

Legend says that the twins Romulus and Remus, sons of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war, jointly founded Rome in the eighth century BC.

Romulus became sole ruler after killing Remus in a dispute over omens indicating which of them had the support of the gods.

He went on to create the foundations of Roman society - its army legions, religious cults and civic and political institutions such as the Senate.

He expanded Rome's territory, and added to its population by abducting the women of the neighboring Sabine tribes.

However, like a number of later Roman rulers, Romulus fell foul of the Senate, and was murdered at the age of 53 in 717 BC, the thirty eighth year of his reign.

ANI