In
Roman mythology,
Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infants
Romulus and Remus, who were being suckled by a she-wolf, known as Lupa, on the
Palatine Hill. He, with his wife,
Acca Larentia, raised the children. In some versions of the myth, Larentia was a prostitute (in Latin a
lupa, 'she-wolf'). The name Faustulus was later claimed by a Roman family, one of whom minted a coin showing Faustulus with the twins and she-wolf. Sextus Pompeius Fostlus issued a silver denarius in about 140 BCE that showed, on the reverse, the twins being suckled by a dangerous wolf with the shepherd Faustulus to their left.