Senius and Aschius are the two legendary founders of

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, Italy. They were brothers, sons of Remus, and thus

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...

was their uncle. Palazzo Pubblico affresco e lupa

Traditions developed in Siena, which can not be documented prior to the 16th century hold that after Romulus murdered their father during the

Foundation of Rome The tale of the founding of Rome is recounted in traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves as the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous o ...

, Senius (who gave his name to the city) and his brother Aschius were forced to flee Rome on horseback, riding respectively on a black horse and a white one, giving rise to the colors on the Balzana, the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Siena. Some tellings of the legend hold that the brothers were protected by the Gods with a white cloud during the day and a dark cloud at night. They also claim the brothers stole the statue of the

Capitoline Wolf The Capitoline Wolf (Italian: ''Lupa Capitolina'') is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. According to the ...

from the Temple of Apollo in Rome.Art in Renaissance Italy
by John T. Paoletti, Gary M. Radke, Laurence Publishing Company, 71 Great Russell Street, London (2006) page 99. However, since the brothers were descendants of Remus, Siena did have a claim to be descendants of one of the siblings nurtured by the she-wolf (lupa), which serves as a symbol of Rome. The Porta Camollia, in the Walls of Siena, is putatively named after an emissary or soldier sent to lure the brothers back to Rome, but who elected to stay instead. One role of the legend is to grant the Sienese a noble and ancient ancestry; Rome itself had sought such a pedigree with the story of the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

. Many cities in the Italian peninsula seeking pre-eminence, such as Venice and Florence, also looked for a foundation story to link their city to greatness. It is possible that the black and white colors and history were meant to try to maintain a common bond even among the fractious Sienese, especially when torn by

Guelf The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalr ...

and

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

civil strife and factionalism.

Notes

Legendary Romans History of Siena Mythological city founders Romulus and Remus {{AncientRome-myth-stub