Myths: an incorrect story of the founding of Rome
Paul Veyne wondered if the Greeks believed their myths. Obviously the answer is no, not all.
Note also that on this point, the Romans were no different from the Hellenes. Like the latter, they too questioned their great founding myths very early on.
In particular the one which recounts the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, both of whom were breastfed, and saved!, as children, by a she-wolf.
However, noted the most critical (and least credulous) of the Romans, in Latin, lupa means she-wolf (the animal) of course but also... prostitute.
When we know the rest of the story (from fratricide to the kidnapping of the Sabines, among other unsavory things), we say to ourselves that the Vrbs, the Eternal City, could well have been founded by two beautiful sons of... .lupa.
A prosaic explanation which also shows us that the Romans lacked neither humor nor a sense of self-deprecation.
Below: This beautiful mosaic comes from the Roman town of Aldborough, which is located in Yorkshire, Great Britain. It dates from around 300 AD and obviously depicts Romulus, Remus and the saving Lupa.
Source: websites