The early history of Rome comes to us in the form of legend. Romulus, the founder of Rome, was the son of Mars and a descendant of Aeneas, the prince of Troy, who fled after the city was burned by the Greeks. Romulus and his brother Remus were abandoned in the Tiber River to die by their uncle, but were rescued by a she wolf, who raised them as her own. The city of Rome was born in fratricide, a struggle for power between Romulus and Remus from which Romulus emerged victorious after killing his own brother.
Numa Pompilius was credited with a peaceful reign and the foundation of Rome's religious traditions. Tullus Hostilius waged war on the neighbors of Rome and conquered Alba Longa, the city from whose kings Romulus and Remus had descended. He died of the plague as punishment for his neglect of the gods. Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa, restored Rome's devotion to the gods, and was credited with buidling the port of Ostia. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus drained the marshes between the hills and laid the foundation for the Forum. Servius Tullius reorganized the Roman army and built a new wall around the city.
The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin "the Proud") was remembered mostly for his cruelty. The curious story of the Sybilline Oracle was told perhaps to illustrate his hubris. Tarquin allowed six out of nine of the Sybilline books to be consigned to flame before he acceded to the demands of the prophetess who had offered them to him for mere gold. Curiosity got the better of him, and he bought the last three books, and built the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline to house them. In a fit of pique, he sent his guards after the woman to take back the gold he had paid her, though she disappeared without a trace, and the rumor went out that she was not just a woman but a goddess. Tarquin's overweening pride was rewarded when the rape of the virtuous Roman matron Lucretia by his son sparked the revolt that led to his overthrow, and to the establishment of the Roman Republic.