Stage 5 – Capitol and She-Wolf: The Seal of the Family

Info

This entry is part of the city game "The Mystery of the Nine Seals", which takes place entirely in Rome. The game is an addition to the basic tourist guide to Rome - [click] and is a story expansion designed to make the traditional tour of the city more enjoyable.
If you got here, for example, directly from a search engine and want to start the game from the beginning, go to game start page - [click]. If you are looking for just a guide to Rome with practical information about sightseeing, you can go to traditional guide to Rome - [click]

Capitol and She-Wolf

The Capitol and the She-Wolf are located on the map below number 5The given coordinates lead to the She-Wolf statue right next to the Capitol.

GPS coordinates

GPS: 41.893391,12.483540 - click and plot the route to your destination

Narration

On Capitoline Hill, a she-wolf stares at you with stony eyes. Her face doesn’t move, but something lurks in her eyes… inhuman.
Supposedly, the night the original statue was taken away for preservation, wild dogs howled in the city. Coincidence?

Puzzle

How many sons did the she-wolf nurse?

(You'll find the correct answer at the bottom of this page, but don't look there right away. Try to answer the riddle yourself first. That's the fun of it!)

Prize

The reward for solving the puzzle is the fifth seal: The Blood Seal of the She-Wolf – a symbol of loyalty and betrayal. Keep it as proof of solving the fifth task!

Historical curiosities and the undertones of myths

On this hill, decisions that changed the world were born – and legends that never died. The Capitol is not just one of the seven hills of Rome. It is the heart of the city, beating even before its walls were built. Today, the green hill, friendly to tourists and cats, was once sacred ground. Here, where today stands the Capitoline Square designed by Michelangelo, there were once temples dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Three deities, three shadows over the fate of Rome.

The She-Wolf Statue – is it really ancient?

The famous bronze figure of a she-wolf nursing twins is one of the symbols of Rome. For centuries, it was believed to date back to the 2006th century BC. However, radiocarbon dating from XNUMX suggests… medieval origins. Does this mean that the entire legend is a later myth? Or perhaps the original sculpture was lost and this one merely imitates it?

The Vigilant Goose and the Miracle of Survival

The Capitol was not just a she-wolf. According to the legend, it was the geese of Saint Juno that warned the Romans about a night attack by the Gauls in the 4th century BC. Their loud cry saved the hill from falling. Since then, every year in Rome there was a... procession in honor of the goose. This is no joke - sacrifices were even made to it. For some, it was just a story, for others - a sign that the Capitol always had its guards.

The Equestrian Monument That Survived by Mistake

The famous statue of Marcus Aurelius, standing today in Capitoline Square, was the only imperial statue that was not melted down in the Middle Ages. Why? Because it was believed to represent… Emperor Constantine, the first Christian ruler. An accidental mistake saved the sculpture from destruction and allowed it to survive to this day – as a silent witness to two empires.

The hill that wasn't supposed to be called that at all

The name "Capitol" was supposed to come from the word "caput" - head. Legend has it that during the digging of the foundations of the temple of Jupiter, a human head was found buried, well-preserved and not decomposing. It was supposed to be the head of the Etruscan king Tolus. This was interpreted as a sign that the hill would be the "head of the world" - the center of Rome. And so the name "Capitoleum" was created.

***

"On the Capitol, it doesn't matter who was first - but who can survive. For Rome was not born of glory, but of a choice that divided brothers."

***

Answer to the riddle

Click to reveal the answer to the riddle

Two – Romulus and Remus

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