by Joel M Beall

Frequent visitors of Eden Park have undoubtedly come across the statue of a she-wolf feeding twin infants. Some might be privy to the fact that it's a replica of the famous Capitoline Wolf located in Rome, and was bestowed to Cincinnati as a gift. What might be foreign, and somewhat of a head-scratcher to observers, is the gift's donor: Benito Mussolini.

The sculpture itself depicts the origin story of Rome. The myth states that when King Numitor was overthrown from power, the new oligarch ordered Numitor's grandsons to be discarded in the Tiber River. Left for dead, the two were carried to safety and nursed by a female wolf. The Lupa (Latin for she-wolf) cared for the babies until rescued by a shepherd named Faustulus. Once the twins reached adulthood, the duo reclaimed their father's throne and restored the crown. Today, we know the twins as Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.

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Source: http://www.cincinnati.com/