ROME — Italian archaeologists have inched closer to unearthing the secrets behind one of Western civilisation’s most enduring legends. On Tuesday the Italian Government released the first images of a deep cavern where some archaeologists believe that ancient Romans honoured Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. The cavern, buried 16 metres under the ruins of the palace of Emperor Augustus I on the Palatine Hill, is about eight metres high and seven metres wide. Photographs taken by a camera probe show a domed cavern decorated with well-preserved mosaics and seashells. At its centre is a painted white eagle, a symbol of the Roman Empire. Italy’s Culture Minister, Francesco Rutelli, said: ‘This could reasonably be the place bearing witness to the myth of Rome.’ The legend concerns Lupercal, the mythical cave where Romulus and Remus – the sons of the god Mars who were abandoned by the banks of the Tiber – were discovered by a female wolf that suckled them until they were found and reared by a shepherd named Faustulus. The brothers are said to have founded Rome in 753BC. The cave later became a sacred location where the priests of Lupercus, […]