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If you take a little walk in Rome you’ll notice her immediately. She’s everywhere: in the logo of the soccer team of the city and almost on every public object or document you see.
Of course I’m talking about the Capitoline she-wolf from the Capitoline Museums with which I assume you’re familiar, at least visually and for which you can get more about your Rome city tour information .

If the romans seem to be so fond of this bronze sculpture is because it tells the story of the city. Legend has it that King Numitor was overthrown by his brother Amulius who ordered the two grandsons of Numitor to be thrown into the Tiber so they won’t live to take revenge on him. But sadly for the traitor the twins (whose names are Romulus and Remus, in case you haven’t figured it out) were cared by a she-wolf who suckled them until a shepherd found them and raise them allowing the brothers to give back the throne to his grandfather and to found the Eternal City. (If you want to get the complete picture Romulus and Remus wound up fighting- and I mean serious fighting. Romulus killed his brother and gave his name to the city becoming also its first king.)

logo of the AS Roma soccer team

Even if the sculpture seems to be the perfect representation of the foundation of the city, originally the she-wolf was alone. Sometime during the renaissance the twins were added to the sculpture, that by the way was believed to be an Etruscan masterpiece until a couple of months ago when an Italian specialist discovered that the wolf is actually much younger, having been created during the High Middle Ages.

Just for the sake of the trivia you must know also that there are two replicas of the she-wolf in the United States, one in Cincinnati and the other one in Rome, Georgia, a gift, in Mussolini’s words, “from ancient Rome to new Rome.�

The she-wolf is hosted in the Capitoline Museums, Piazza del Campidoglio 1. To get there is very easy if you are a guest of Hotel Des Artistes or Yes Hotel: go to Termini and take there the bus 170 for six stops. The museums are open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 AM to 20:00 PM.