CHAPTER I.

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THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BY

TITUS LIVIUS.

THE FIRST EIGHT BOOKS.

LITERALLY TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

BY

D. SPILLAN, A.M. M.D.

LONDON:

HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MDCCCLIII.

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, BUNGAY

PREFACE.

In this new English version of the most elegant of the Roman historians,

the object of the translator has been, to adhere as closely to the

original text as is consistent with the idioms of the respective

languages. But while thus providing more especially for the wants of the

classical student, he has not been unmindful of the neatness and

perspicuity required to satisfy the English reader.

There have been several previous translations of our author, but the

only one now before the public, or deserving of particular mention, is

that by Baker, which is undoubtedly a very able performance, and had it

been more faithful, would have rendered any other unnecessary.

The edition used for the present translation is that published at Oxford

under the superintendence of Travers Twiss, whose carefully revised text

is by far the best extant. The few notes and illustrations which the

limits of an edition in this popular form permit, are chiefly confined

to the explanation of grammatical difficulties. Historical and

antiquarian illustration is now so abundantly supplied by excellent

Manuals and Dictionaries, that it has been deemed unnecessary to swell

the present volumes by additions in that department.

Among the manuals of Roman History which may most advantageously be used

by the student, is Twiss's Epitome of Niebuhr, 2 vols. 8vo, a work

frequently referred to in these pages.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK I.

_The coming of Æneas into Italy, and his achievements there; the

reign of Ascanius in Alba, and of the other Sylvian kings. Romulus

and Remus born. Amulius killed. Romulus builds Rome; forms a

senate; makes war upon the Sabines; presents the_ opima spolia _to

Jupiter Feretrius; divides the people into_ curiæ; _his victories;

is deified. Numa institutes the rites of religious worship; builds

a temple to Janus; and having made peace with all his neighbours,

closes it for the first time; enjoys a peaceful reign, and is

succeeded by Tullus Hostilius. War with the Albans; combat of the

Horatii and Curiatii. Alba demolished, and the Albans made citizens

of Rome. War declared against the Sabines; Tullus killed by

lightning. Ancus Marcius renews the religious institutions of Numa;

conquers the Latins, confers on them the right of citizenship, and

assigns them the Aventine hill to dwell on; adds the hill Janiculum

to the city; enlarges the bounds of the empire. In his reign Lucumo

comes to Rome; assumes the name of Tarquinius; and, after the death

of Ancus, is raised to the throne. He increases the senate, by

adding to it a hundred new senators; defeats the Latins and

Sabines; augments the centuries of knights; builds a wall round the

city; makes the common sewers; is slain by the sons of Ancus after

a reign of thirty-eight years; and is succeeded by Servius Tullius.

He institutes the census; closes the lustrum, in which eighty

thousand citizens are said to have been enrolled; divides the

people into classes and centuries; enlarges the Pomœrium, and

adds the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline hills to the city; after

a reign of forty years, is murdered by L. Tarquin, afterwards

surnamed Superbus. He usurps the crown. Tarquin makes war on the

Volsci, and, with the plunder taken from them, builds a temple to

Jupiter Capitolinus. By a stratagem of his son, Sextus Tarquin, he

reduces the city of Gabii; after a reign of twenty-five years is

dethroned and banished, in consequence of the forcible violation of

the person of Lucretia by his son Sextus. L. Junius Brutus and L.

Tarquinius Collatinus first created consuls._

PREFACE.

Whether in tracing the history of the Roman people, from the foundation

of the city, I shall employ myself to a useful purpose,[1] I am neither

very certain, nor, if I were, dare I say: inasmuch as I observe, that it

is both an old and hackneyed practice,[2] later authors always supposing

that they will either adduce something more authentic in the facts, or,

that they will excel the less polished ancients in their style of

writing. Be that as it may, it will, at all events, be a satisfaction to

me, that I too have contributed my share[3] to perpetuate the

achievements of a people, the lords of the world; and if, amidst so

great a number of historians,[4] my reputation should remain in

obscurity, I may console myself with the celebrity and lustre of those

who shall stand in the way of my fame. Moreover, the subject is both of

immense labour, as being one which must be traced back for more than

seven hundred years, and which, having set out from small beginnings,

has increased to such a degree that it is now distressed by its own

magnitude. And, to most readers, I doubt not but that the first origin

and the events immediately succeeding, will afford but little pleasure,

while they will be hastening to these later times,[5] in which the

strength of this overgrown people has for a long period been working its

own destruction. I, on the contrary, shall seek this, as a reward of my

labour, viz. to withdraw myself from the view of the calamities, which

our age has witnessed for so many years, so long as I am reviewing with

my whole attention these ancient times, being free from every care[6]

that may distract a writer's mind, though it cannot warp it from the

truth. The traditions which have come down to us of what happened before

the building of the city, or before its building was contemplated, as

being suitable rather to the fictions of poetry than to the genuine

records of history, I have no intention either to affirm or refute. This

indulgence is conceded to antiquity, that by blending things human with

divine, it may make the origin of cities appear more venerable: and if

any people might be allowed to consecrate their origin, and to ascribe

it to the gods as its authors, such is the renown of the Roman people in

war, that when they represent Mars, in particular, as their own parent

and that of their founder, the nations of the world may submit to this

as patiently as they submit to their sovereignty.--But in whatever way

these and such like matters shall be attended to, or judged of, I shall

not deem of great importance. I would have every man apply his mind

seriously to consider these points, viz. what their life and what their

manners were; through what men and by what measures, both in peace and

in war, their empire was acquired[7] and extended; then, as discipline

gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts their morals, at

first as slightly giving way, anon how they sunk more and more, then

began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, when we can

neither endure our vices, nor their remedies. This it is which is

particularly salutary and profitable in the study of history, that you

behold instances of every variety of conduct displayed on a conspicuous

monument; that from thence you may select for yourself and for your

country that which you may imitate; thence _note_ what is shameful in

the undertaking, and shameful in the result, which you may avoid. But

either a fond partiality for the task I have undertaken deceives me, or

there never was any state either greater, or more moral, or richer in

good examples, nor one into which luxury and avarice made their entrance

so late, and where poverty and frugality were so much and so long

honoured; so that the less wealth there was, the less desire was there.

Of late, riches have introduced avarice, and excessive pleasures a

longing for them, amidst luxury and a passion for ruining ourselves and

destroying every thing else. But let complaints, which will not be

agreeable even then, when perhaps they will be also necessary, be kept

aloof at least from the first stage of commencing so great a work. We

should rather, if it was usual with us (historians) as it is with poets,

begin with good omens, vows and prayers to the gods and goddesses to

vouchsafe good success to our efforts in so arduous an undertaking.

[Footnote 1: "Employ myself to a useful purpose,"--_facere operæ

pretium_, "to do a thing that is worth the trouble,"--"to employ oneself

to a good purpose."--See Scheller's Lat. Lexicon.]

[Footnote 2: "A practice,"--_rem_.--Some, as Baker, refer it to _res

populi R._ Others, as Stroth, to _res pop. Rom. perscribere_.]

[Footnote 3: "My share,"--_pro virili parte_, or, "to the best of my

ability."]

[Footnote 4: "Historians."--Those mentioned by Livy himself are Q.

Fabius Pictor, Valerius Antias, L. Piso, Q. Ælius Tubero, C. Licinius

Macer, Cœlius, Polybius, etc.]

[Footnote 5: "Hastening to these later times."--The history of the

recent civil wars would possess a more intense interest for the Romans

of the Augustan age.]

[Footnote 6: "From every care,"--the fear of giving offence by

expressing his opinions freely, and the sorrow, which, as a patriot, he

could not but feel in recording the civil wars of his countrymen.]

[Footnote 7: "Acquired."--This refers to the whole period antecedent to

the time when Ap. Claudius carried the Roman arms beyond Italy against

the Carthaginians; (2) _extended_, from that time till the fall of

Carthage; (3) _sinking_, the times of the Gracchi; (4) _gave way more

and more_, those of Sulla; (5) _precipitate_, those of Cæsar; (6) _the

present times_, those of Augustus after the battle of

Actium.--_Stocker._]

CHAPTER I.

Now first of all it is sufficiently established that, Troy having been

taken, the utmost severity was shown to all the other Trojans; but that

towards two, Æneas and Antenor, the Greeks forbore all the rights of

war, both in accordance with an ancient tie of hospitality, and because

they had ever been the advisers of peace, and of the restoration of

Helen--then that Antenor after various vicissitudes came into the

innermost bay of the Adriatic Sea, with a body of the Heneti, who having

been driven from Paphlagonia in consequence of a civil commotion, were

in quest both of a settlement and a leader, their king Pylæmenes having

been lost at Troy; and that the Heneti and Trojans, having expelled the

Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and the Alps, took possession of the

country; and the place where they first landed is called Troy; from

whence also the name of Trojan is given to the canton; but the nation in

general is called Veneti: that Æneas was driven from home by a similar

calamity, but the fates leading him to the founding of a greater empire,

he came first to Macedonia: that he sailed from thence to Sicily in

quest of a settlement: that from Sicily he made for the Laurentine

territory; this place also has the name of Troy. When the Trojans,

having disembarked there, were driving plunder from the lands,--as being

persons to whom, after their almost immeasurable wandering, nothing was

left but their arms and ships,--Latinus the king, and the Aborigines,

who then occupied those places, assembled in arms from the city and

country to repel the violence of the new-comers. On this point the

tradition is two-fold: some say, that Latinus, after being overcome in

battle, made first a peace, and then an alliance with Æneas: others,

that when the armies were drawn out in battle-array, before the signals

were sounded, Latinus advanced to the front of the troops and invited

the leader of the adventurers to a conference. That he then inquired who

they were, whence (they had come), or by what casualty they had left

their home, and in quest of what they had landed on the Laurentine

territory: after he heard that the host were Trojans, their chief Æneas,

the son of Anchises and Venus, and that, driven from their own country

and their homes, which had been destroyed by fire, they were seeking a

settlement and a place for building a town, struck with admiration of

the noble origin of the nation and of the hero, and their spirit, alike

prepared for peace or war, he confirmed the assurance of future

friendship by giving his right hand: that upon this a compact was struck

between the chiefs, and mutual greetings passed between the armies: that

Æneas was hospitably entertained by Latinus: that Latinus, in the

presence of his household gods, added a family league to the public one,

by giving Æneas his daughter in marriage. This event confirms the

Trojans in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a fixed

and permanent settlement. They build a town. Æneas calls it Lavinium,

after the name of his wife. In a short time, too, a son was the issue of

the new marriage, to whom his parents gave the name of Ascanius.

2. The Aborigines and Trojans were soon after attacked together in war.

Turnus, king of the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had been affianced before

the coming of Æneas, enraged that a stranger had been preferred to

himself, made war on Æneas and Latinus together. Neither side came off

from that contest with cause for rejoicing. The Rutulians were

vanquished; the victorious Aborigines and Trojans lost their leader

Latinus. Upon this Turnus and the Rutulians, diffident of their

strength, have recourse to the flourishing state of the Etruscans, and

their king Mezentius; who holding his court at Cœre, at that time an

opulent town, being by no means pleased, even from the commencement, at

the founding of the new city, and then considering that the Trojan power

was increasing much more than was altogether consistent with the safety

of the neighbouring states, without reluctance joined his forces in

alliance with the Rutulians. Æneas, in order to conciliate the minds of

the Aborigines to meet the terror of so serious a war, called both

nations Latins, so that they might all be not only under the same laws,

but also the same name. Nor after that did the Aborigines yield to the

Trojans in zeal and fidelity towards their king Æneas; relying therefore

on this disposition of the two nations, who were now daily coalescing

more and more, although Etruria was so powerful, that it filled with the

fame of its prowess not only the land, but the sea also, through the

whole length of Italy, from the Alps to the Sicilian Strait, though he

might have repelled the war by means of fortifications, yet he led out

his forces to the field. Upon this a battle ensued successful to the

Latins, the last also of the mortal acts of Æneas. He was buried, by

whatever name human and divine laws require him to be called,[8] on the

banks of the river Numicius. They call him Jupiter Indiges.

[Footnote 8: Æneas, being now deified, could not be called by his human

name; and in speaking of his being buried, it would be improper to name

him by his divine title. _---- Indigetem_. He is called by Dionysius

??????? Te??.]

3. Ascanius, the son of Æneas, was not yet old enough to take the

government upon him; that government, however, remained secure for him

till the age of maturity. In the interim, the Latin state and the

kingdom of his grandfather and father was secured for the boy under the

regency of his mother (such capacity was there in Lavinia). I have some

doubts (for who can state as certain a matter of such antiquity) whether

this was the Ascanius, or one older than he, born of Creusa before the

fall of Troy, and the companion of his father in his flight from thence,

the same whom, being called Iulus, the Julian family call the author of

their name. This Ascanius, wheresoever and of whatever mother born, (it

is at least certain that he was the son of Æneas,) Lavinium being

overstocked with inhabitants, left that flourishing and, considering

these times, wealthy city to his mother or step-mother, and built for

himself a new one at the foot of Mount Alba, which, being extended on

the ridge of a hill, was, from its situation, called Longa Alba. Between

the founding of Lavinium and the transplanting this colony to Longa

Alba, about thirty years intervened. Yet its power had increased to such

a degree, especially after the defeat of the Etrurians, that not even

upon the death of Æneas, nor after that, during the regency of Lavinia,

and the first essays of the young prince's reign, did Mezentius, the

Etrurians, or any other of its neighbours dare to take up arms against

it. A peace had been concluded between the two nations on these terms,

that the river Albula, now called Tiber, should be the common boundary

between the Etrurians and Latins. After him Sylvius, the son of

Ascanius, born by some accident in a wood, ascends the throne. He was

the father of Æneas Sylvius, who afterwards begot Latinus Sylvius. By

him several colonies, called the ancient Latins, were transplanted. From

this time, all the princes, who reigned at Alba, had the surname of

Sylvius. From Latinus sprung Alba; from Alba, Atys; from Atys, Capys;

from Capys, Capetus; from Capetus, Tiberinus, who, being drowned in

crossing the river Albula, gave it a name famous with posterity. Then

Agrippa, the son of Tiberinus; after Agrippa, Romulus Silvius ascends

the throne, in succession to his father. The latter, having been killed

by a thunderbolt, left the kingdom to Aventinus, who being buried on

that hill, which is now part of the city of Rome, gave his name to it.

After him reigns Proca; he begets Numitor and Amulius. To Numitor, his

eldest son, he bequeaths the ancient kingdom of the Sylvian family. But

force prevailed more than the father's will or the respect due to

seniority: for Amulius, having expelled his brother, seizes the kingdom;

he adds crime to crime, murders his brother's male issue; and under

pretence of doing his brother's daughter, Rhea Sylvia, honour, having

made her a vestal virgin, by obliging her to perpetual virginity he

deprives her of all hopes of issue.

4. But, in my opinion, the origin of so great a city, and the

establishment of an empire next in power to that of the gods, was due to

the Fates. The vestal Rhea, being deflowered by force, when she had

brought forth twins, declares Mars to be the father of her illegitimate

offspring, either because she believed it to be so, or because a god was

a more creditable author of her offence. But neither gods nor men

protect her or her children from the king's cruelty: the priestess is

bound and thrown into prison; the children he commands to be thrown into

the current of the river. By some interposition of providence,[9] the

Tiber having overflowed its banks in stagnant pools, did not admit of

any access to the regular bed of the river; and the bearers supposed

that the infants could be drowned in water however still; thus, as if

they had effectually executed the king's orders, they expose the boys in

the nearest land-flood, where now stands the ficus Ruminalis (they say

that it was called Romularis). The country thereabout was then a vast

wilderness. The tradition is, that when the water, subsiding, had left

the floating trough, in which the children had been exposed, on dry

ground, a thirsty she-wolf, coming from the neighbouring mountains,

directed her course to the cries of the infants, and that she held down

her dugs to them with so much gentleness, that the keeper of the king's

flock found her licking the boys with her tongue. It is said his name

was Faustulus; and that they were carried by him to his homestead to be

nursed by his wife Laurentia. Some are of opinion that she was called

Lupa among the shepherds, from her being a common prostitute, and that

this gave rise to the surprising story. The children thus born and thus

brought up, when arrived at the years of manhood, did not loiter away

their time in tending the folds or following the flocks, but roamed and

hunted in the forests. Having by this exercise improved their strength

and courage, they not only encountered wild beasts, but even attacked

robbers laden with plunder, and afterwards divided the spoil among the

shepherds. And in company with these, the number of their young

associates daily increasing, they carried on their business and their

sports.

[Footnote 9: _Forte quádam divinitus_. ?e?? t??? t???. Plut.]

5. They say, that the festival of the lupercal, as now celebrated, was

even at that time solemnized on the Palatine hill, which, from

Palanteum, a city of Arcadia, was first called Palatium, and afterwards

Mount Palatine. There they say that Evander, who belonged to the tribe

of Arcadians,[10] that for many years before had possessed that country,

appointed the observance of a feast, introduced from Arcadia, in such

manner, that young men ran about naked in sport and wantonness, doing

honour to Pan Lycæus, whom the Romans afterwards called Inuus. That the

robbers, through rage at the loss of their booty, having lain in wait

for them whilst intent on this sport, as the festival was now well

known, whilst Romulus vigorously defended himself, took Remus prisoner;

that they delivered him up, when taken, to king Amulius, accusing him

with the utmost effrontery. They principally alleged it as a charge

against them, that they had made incursions upon Numitor's lands, and

plundered them in a hostile manner, having assembled a band of young men

for the purpose. Upon this Remus was delivered to Numitor to be

punished. Now, from the very first, Faustulus had entertained hopes that

the boys whom he was bringing up were of the blood royal; for he both

knew that the children had been exposed by the king's orders, and that

the time at which he had taken them up agreed exactly with that period:

but he had been unwilling that the matter, as not being yet ripe for

discovery, should be disclosed, till either a fit opportunity or

necessity should arise. Necessity came first; accordingly, compelled by

fear, he discovers the whole affair to Romulus. By accident also, whilst

he had Remus in custody, and had heard that the brothers were twins, on

comparing their age, and _observing_ their turn of mind entirely free

from servility, the recollection of his grand-children struck Numitor;

and on making inquiries[11] he arrived at the same conclusion, so that

he was well nigh recognising Remus. Thus a plot is concerted for the

king on all sides. Romulus, not accompanied by a body of young men, (for

he was unequal to open force,) but having commanded the shepherds to

come to the palace by different roads at a fixed time, forces his way to

the king; and Remus, with another party from Numitor's house, assists

his brother, and so they kill the king.

[Footnote 10: Scil. "The Pallantean."]

[Footnote 11: By all his inquiries he arrived at the same conclusion as

before, viz. that they were his grand-children.]

6. Numitor, at the beginning of the fray, having given out that enemies

had invaded the city, and assaulted the palace, after he had drawn off

the Alban youth to secure the citadel with a garrison and arms, when he

saw the young men, after they had killed the king, advancing to

congratulate him, immediately called an assembly of the people, and

represented to them the unnatural behaviour of his brother towards him,

the extraction of his grand-children, the manner of their birth and

education, and how they came to be discovered; then he informed them of

the king's death, and that he was killed by his orders. When the young

princes, coming up with their band through the middle of the assembly,

saluted their grandfather king, an approving shout, following from all

the people present, ratified to him both that title and the sovereignty.

Thus the government of Alba being committed to Numitor, a desire seized

Romulus and Remus to build a city on the spot where they had been

exposed and brought up. And there was an overflowing population of

Albans and of Latins. The shepherds too had come into that design, and

all these readily inspired hopes, that Alba and Lavinium would be but

petty places in comparison with the city which they intended to build.

But ambition of the sovereignty, the bane of their grandfather,

interrupted these designs, and thence arose a shameful quarrel from a

beginning sufficiently amicable. For as they were twins, and the respect

due to seniority could not determine the point, they agreed to leave to

the tutelary gods of the place to choose, by augury, which should give a

name to the new city, which govern it when built.

7. Romulus chose the Palatine and Remus the Aventine hill as their

stands to make their observations. It is said, that to Remus an omen

came first, six vultures; and now, the omen having been declared, when

double the number presented itself to Romulus, his own party saluted

each king; the former claimed the kingdom on the ground of priority of

time, the latter on account of the number of birds. Upon this, having

met in an altercation, from the contest of angry feelings they turn to

bloodshed; there Remus fell from a blow received in the crowd. A more

common account is, that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped over

his new-built wall, and was, for that reason, slain by Romulus in a

passion; who, after sharply chiding him, added words to this effect: "So

shall every one fare, who shall dare to leap over my

fortifications."[12] Thus Romulus got the sovereignty to himself; the

city, when built, was called after the name of its founder. His first

work was to fortify the Palatine hill where he had been educated. To the

other gods he offers sacrifices according to the Alban rite; to

Hercules, according to the Grecian rite, as they had been instituted by

Evander. There is a tradition, that Hercules, having killed Geryon,

drove his oxen, which were extremely beautiful, into those places; and

that, after swimming over the Tiber, and driving the cattle before him,

being fatigued with travelling, he laid himself down on the banks of the

river, in a grassy place, to refresh them with rest and rich pasture.

When sleep had overpowered him, satiated with food and wine, a shepherd

of the place, named Cacus, presuming on his strength, and charmed with

the beauty of the oxen, wished to purloin that booty, but because, if he

had driven them forward into the cave, their footsteps would have guided

the search of their owner thither, he therefore drew the most beautiful

of them, one by one, by the tails, backwards into a cave. Hercules,

awaking at day-break, when he had surveyed his herd, and observed that

some of them were missing, goes directly to the nearest cave, to see if

by chance their footsteps would lead him thither. But when he observed

that they were all turned from it, and directed him no other way,

confounded, and not knowing what to do, he began to drive his cattle

out of that unlucky place. Upon this, some of the cows, as they usually

do, lowed on missing those that were left; and the lowings of those that

were confined being returned from the cave, made Hercules turn that way.

And when Cacus attempted to prevent him by force, as he was proceeding

to the cave, being struck with a club, he was slain, vainly imploring

the assistance of the shepherds. At that time Evander, who had fled from

the Peloponnesus, ruled this country more by his credit and reputation

than absolute sway. He was a person highly revered for his wondrous

knowledge of letters,[13] a discovery that was entirely new and

surprising to men ignorant of every art; but more highly respected on

account of the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom these

nations had admired as a prophetess, before the coming of the Sibyl into

Italy. This prince, alarmed by the concourse of the shepherds hastily

crowding round the stranger, whom they charged with open murder, after

he heard the act and the cause of the act, observing the person and mien

of the hero to be larger, and his gait more majestic, than human, asked

who he was? As soon as he was informed of his name, his father, and his

native country, he said, "Hail! Hercules! son of Jupiter, my mother, a

truth-telling interpreter of the gods, has revealed to me, that thou

shalt increase the number of the celestials; and that to thee an altar

shall be dedicated here, which some ages hence the most powerful people

on earth shall call Ara Maxima, and honour according to thy own

institution." Hercules having given him his right hand, said, "That he

accepted the omen, and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by

building and consecrating an altar." There for the first time a

sacrifice was offered to Hercules of a chosen heifer, taken from the

herd, the Potitii and Pinarii, who were then the most distinguished

families that inhabited these parts, having been invited to the service

and the entertainment. It so happened that the Potitii were present in

due time, and the entrails were set before them; when they were eaten

up, the Pinarii came to the remainder of the feast. From this time it

was ordained, that while the Pinarian family subsisted, none of them

should eat of the entrails of the solemn sacrifices. The Potitii, being

instructed by Evander, discharged this sacred function as priests for

many ages, until the office, solemnly appropriated to their family,

being delegated to public slaves, their whole race became extinct. This

was the only foreign religious institution which Romulus adopted, being

even then an abettor of immortality attained by merit, to which his own

destinies were conducting him.

[Footnote 12: According to Cato, Rome was founded on the day of the

_Palilia_, the 11th of the Calends of May, in the first year of the 7th

Olympiad, and 751 B.C. This is two years short of Varro's computation.]

[Footnote 13: He taught the Italians to read and write.]

8. The duties of religion having been duly performed, and the multitude

summoned to a meeting, as they could be incorporated into one people by

no other means than fixed rules, he gave them a code of laws, and

judging that these would be best respected by this rude class of men, if

he made himself dignified by the insignia of authority, he assumed a

more majestic appearance both in his other appointments, and especially

by taking twelve lictors to attend him. Some think that he chose this

number of officers from that of the birds, which in the augury had

portended the kingdom to him. I do not object to be of the opinion of

those who will have it that the apparitors (in general), and this

particular class of them,[14] and even their number, was taken from

their neighbours the Etrurians, from whom were borrowed the curule

chair, and the gown edged with purple; and that the Etrurians adopted

that number, because their king being elected in common from twelve

states, each state assigned him one lictor. Meanwhile the city increased

by their taking in various lots of ground for buildings, whilst they

built rather with a view to future numbers, than for the population[15]

which they then had. Then, lest the size of the city might be of no

avail, in order to augment the population, according to the ancient

policy of the founders of cities, who, after drawing together to them an

obscure and mean multitude, used to feign that their offspring sprung

out of the earth, he opened as a sanctuary, a place which is now

enclosed as you go down "to the two groves."[16] Hither fled from the

neighbouring states, without distinction whether freemen or slaves,

crowds of all sorts, desirous of change: and this was the first

accession of strength to their rising greatness. When he was now not

dissatisfied with his strength, he next sets about forming some means of

directing that strength. He creates one hundred senators, either because

that number was sufficient, or because there were only one hundred who

could name their fathers. They certainly were called Fathers, through

respect, and their descendants, Patricians.[17]

[Footnote 14: _Apparitores hoc genus_. There is something incorrect in

the language of the original here. In my version I have followed

Drakenborch. Walker, in his edition, proposes to read _ut_ for _et_;

thus, _quibus ut apparitores et hoc genus ab Etruscis ---- numerum

quoque ipsum ductum placet, "who will have it, that as public servants

of this kind, so was their number also, derived from the Etrurians_."]

[Footnote 15: The population at that time consisted of not more than

3,000 foot, and less than 300 horse. At the death of Romulus, it is said

to have amounted to 46,000 foot and almost 1,000 horse.]

[Footnote 16: t? µeta?? ?????? t?? te ?ap?t????? ?a? t?? ???a? ?

?a?e?ta? ??? ?at? t?? ??µa??? d???e?t?? µe?????? d???? d??µ??. Dio. ii.

15.]

[Footnote 17: _Ex industria_--_deditâ operá_--?p? pa?as?e???.]

9. And now the Roman state was become so powerful, that it was a match

for any of the neighbouring nations in war, but, from the paucity of

women, its greatness could only last for one age of man; for they had no

hope of issue at home, nor had they any intermarriages with their

neighbours. Therefore, by the advice of the Fathers, Romulus sent

ambassadors to the neighbouring states to solicit an alliance and the

privilege of intermarriage for his new subjects. "That cities, like

every thing else, rose from very humble beginnings. That those which the

gods and their own merit aided, gained great power and high renown. That

he knew full well, both that the gods had aided the origin of Rome, and

that merit would not be wanting. Wherefore that, as men, they should

feel no reluctance to mix their blood and race with men." No where did

the embassy obtain a favourable hearing: so much did they at the same

time despise, and dread for themselves and their posterity, so great a

power growing up in the midst of them. They were dismissed by the

greater part with the repeated question, "Whether they had opened any

asylum for women also, for that such a plan only could obtain them

suitable matches?" The Roman youth resented this conduct bitterly, and

the matter unquestionably began to point towards violence. Romulus, in

order that he might afford a favourable time and place for this,

dissembling his resentment, purposely prepares games in honour of

Neptunus Equestris; he calls them Consualia. He then orders the

spectacle to be proclaimed among their neighbours; and they prepare for

the celebration with all the magnificence they were then acquainted

with, or were capable of doing, that they might render the matter

famous, and an object of expectation. Great numbers assembled, from a

desire also of seeing the new city; especially their nearest neighbours,

the Cæninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates. Moreover the whole multitude

of the Sabines came, with their wives and children. Having been

hospitably invited to the different houses, when they had seen the

situation, and fortifications, and the city crowded with houses, they

became astonished that the Roman power had increased so rapidly. When

the time of the spectacle came on, and while their minds and eyes were

intent upon it, according to concert a tumult began, and upon a signal

given the Roman youth ran different ways to carry off the virgins by

force. A great number were carried off at hap-hazard, according as they

fell into their hands. Persons from the common people, who had been

charged with the task, conveyed to their houses some women of surpassing

beauty, destined for the leading senators. They say that one, far

distinguished beyond the others for stature and beauty, was carried off

by the party of one Thalassius, and whilst many inquired to whom they

were carrying her, they cried out every now and then, in order that no

one might molest her, that she was being taken to Thalassius; that from

this circumstance this term became a nuptial one. The festival being

disturbed by this alarm, the parents of the young women retire in grief,

appealing to the compact of violated hospitality, and invoking the god,

to whose festival and games they had come, deceived by the pretence of

religion and good faith. Neither had the ravished virgins better hopes

of their condition, or less indignation. But Romulus in person went

about and declared, "That what was done was owing to the pride of their

fathers, who had refused to grant the privilege of marriage to their

neighbours; but notwithstanding, they should be joined in lawful

wedlock, participate in all their possessions and civil privileges, and,

than which nothing can be dearer to the human heart, in their common

children. He begged them only to assuage the fierceness of their anger,

and cheerfully surrender their affections to those to whom fortune had

consigned their persons." [He added,] "That from injuries love and

friendship often arise; and that they should find them kinder husbands

on this account, because each of them, besides the performance of his

conjugal duty, would endeavour to the utmost of his power to make up for

the want of their parents and native country." To this the caresses of

the husbands were added, excusing what they had done on the plea of

passion and love, arguments that work most successfully on women's

hearts.

10. The minds of the ravished virgins were soon much soothed, but their

parents by putting on mourning, and tears and complaints, roused the

states. Nor did they confine their resentment to their own homes, but

they flocked from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines; and

because he bore the greatest character in these parts, embassies were

sent to him. The Cæninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates were people to

whom a considerable portion of the outrage extended. To them Tatius and

the Sabines seemed to proceed somewhat dilatorily. Nor even do the

Crustumini and Antemnates bestir themselves with sufficient activity to

suit the impatience and rage of the Cæninenses. Accordingly the state of

the Cæninenses by itself makes an irruption into the Roman territory.

But Romulus with his army met them ravaging the country in straggling

parties, and by a slight engagement convinces them, that resentment

without strength is of no avail. He defeats and routs their army,

pursues it when routed, kills and despoils their king in battle, and

having slain their general takes the city at the first assault. From

thence having led back his victorious army, and being a man highly

distinguished by his exploits, and one who could place them in the best

light, went in state to the capitol, carrying before him, suspended on a

frame curiously wrought for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's

general, whom he had slain, and there after he had laid them down at the

foot of an oak held sacred by the shepherds, together with the offering,

he marked out the bounds for a temple of Jupiter, and gave a surname to

the god: "Jupiter Feretrius," he says, "I, king Romulus, upon my

victory, present to thee these royal arms, and to thee I dedicate a

temple within those regions which I have now marked out in my mind, as a

receptacle for the grand spoils, which my successors, following my

example, shall, upon their killing the kings or generals of the enemy,

offer to thee." This is the origin of that temple, the first consecrated

at Rome. It afterwards so pleased the gods both that the declaration of

the founder of the temple should not be frustrated, by which he

announced that his posterity should offer such spoils, and that the

glory of that offering should not be depreciated by the great number of

those who shared it. During so many years, and amid so many wars since

that time, grand spoils have been only twice gained,[18] so rare has

been the successful attainment of that honour.

[Footnote 18: Two, one by A. Cornelius Cossus for slaying L. Tolumnius,

king of Veii, U. C. 318, another by M. Claudius Marcellus, for killing

Viridomarus, king of the Gauls, U. C. 532.]

11. Whilst the Romans are achieving these exploits, the army of the

Antemnates, taking advantage of their absence, makes an incursion into

the Roman territories in a hostile manner. A Roman legion being marched

out in haste against these also, surprise them whilst straggling through

the fields. Accordingly the enemy were routed at the very first shout

and charge: their town taken; and as Romulus was returning, exulting for

this double victory, his consort, Hersilia, importuned by the entreaties

of the captured women, beseeches him "to pardon their fathers, and to

admit them to the privilege of citizens; that thus his power might be

strengthened by a reconciliation." Her request was readily granted.

After this he marched against the Crustumini, who were commencing

hostilities; but as their spirits were sunk by the defeat of their

neighbours, there was still less resistance there. Colonies were sent to

both places, but more were found to give in their names for Crustuminum,

because of the fertility of the soil. Migrations in great numbers were

also made from thence to Rome, chiefly by the parents and relatives of

the ravished women. The last war broke out on the part of the Sabines,

and proved by far the most formidable: for they did nothing through

anger or cupidity; nor did they make a show of war, before they actually

began it. To prudence stratagem also was added. Sp. Tarpeius commanded

the Roman citadel; Tatius bribes his maiden daughter with gold, to admit

armed soldiers into the citadel: she had gone by chance outside the

walls to fetch water for the sacrifice. Those who were admitted crushed

her to death by heaping their arms upon her; either that the citadel

might seem rather to have been taken by storm, or for the purpose of

establishing a precedent, that no faith should, under any circumstances,

be kept with a traitor. A story is added, that the Sabines commonly wore

on their left arm golden bracelets of great weight, and large rings set

with precious stones, and that she bargained with them for what they had

on their left hands; hence that their shields were thrown upon her

instead of the golden presents. There are some who say that in pursuance

of the compact to deliver up what was on their left hands, she expressly

demanded their shields, and that appearing to act with treachery, she

was killed by the reward of her own choosing.

12. The Sabines, however, kept possession of the citadel, and on the day

after, when the Roman army, drawn up in order of battle, filled up all

the ground lying between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, they did not

descend from thence into the plain, till the Romans, fired with

resentment, and with a desire of retaking the citadel, advanced to

attack them. Two chiefs, one on each side, animated the battle, viz.

Mettus Curtius on the part of the Sabines, Hostus Hostilius on that of

the Romans. The latter, in the front ranks, supported the Roman cause by

his courage and bravery, on disadvantageous ground. As soon as Hostus

fell, the Roman line immediately gave way and was beaten to the old gate

of the Palatium. Romulus, himself too carried away with the general

rout, raising his arms to heaven, says, "O Jupiter, commanded by thy

birds, I here laid the first foundation of the city on the Palatine

hill. The Sabines are in possession of the citadel, purchased by fraud.

From thence they are now advancing hither, sword in hand, having already

passed the middle of the valley. But do thou, father of gods and men,

keep back the enemy at least from hence, dispel the terror of the

Romans, and stop their shameful flight. Here I solemnly vow to build a

temple to thee as Jupiter Stator, as a monument to posterity, that this

city was saved by thy immediate aid." Having offered up this prayer, as

if he had felt that his prayers were heard, he cries out, "At this spot,

Romans, Jupiter, supremely good and great, commands you to halt, and

renew the fight." The Romans halted as if they had been commanded by a

voice from heaven; Romulus himself flies to the foremost ranks. Mettus

Curtius, on the part of the Sabines, had rushed down at the head of his

army from the citadel, and driven the Romans in disorder over the whole

ground now occupied by the forum. He was already not far from the gate

of the Palatium, crying out, "We have defeated these perfidious

strangers, these dastardly enemies. They now feel that it is one thing

to ravish virgins, another far different to fight with men." On him,

thus vaunting, Romulus makes an attack with a band of the most

courageous youths. It happened that Mettus was then fighting on

horseback; he was on that account the more easily repulsed: the Romans

pursue him when repulsed: and the rest of the Roman army, encouraged by

the gallant behaviour of their king, routs the Sabines. Mettus, his

horse taking fright at the din of his pursuers, threw himself into a

lake; and this circumstance drew the attention of the Sabines at the

risk of so important a person. He, however, his own party beckoning and

calling to him, acquires new courage from the affection of his many

friends, and makes his escape. The Romans and Sabines renew the battle

in the valley between the hills; but Roman prowess had the advantage.

13. At this juncture the Sabine women, from the outrage on whom the war

originated, with hair dishevelled and garments rent, the timidity of

their sex being overcome by such dreadful scenes, had the courage to

throw themselves amid the flying weapons, and making a rush across, to

part the incensed armies, and assuage their fury; imploring their

fathers on the one side, their husbands on the other, "that as

fathers-in-law and sons-in-law they would not contaminate each other

with impious blood, nor stain their offspring with parricide, the one

[19]their grandchildren, the other their children. If you are

dissatisfied with the affinity between you, if with our marriages, turn

your resentment against us; we are the cause of war, we of wounds and of

bloodshed to our husbands and parents. It were better that we perish

than live widowed or fatherless without one or other of you." The

circumstance affects both the multitude and the leaders. Silence and a

sudden suspension ensue. Upon this the leaders come forward in order to

concert a treaty, and they not only conclude a peace, but form one state

out of two. They associate the regal power, and transfer the entire

sovereignty to Rome. The city being thus doubled, that some compliment

might be paid to the Sabines, they were called Quirites, from Cures. As

a memorial of this battle, they called the place where the horse, after

getting out of the deep marsh, first set Curtius in shallow water, the

Curtian Lake. This happy peace following suddenly a war so distressing,

rendered the Sabine women still dearer to their husbands and parents,

and above all to Romulus himself. Accordingly, when he divided the

people into thirty curiæ, he called the curiæ by their names. Since,

without doubt, the number of the Sabine women was considerably greater

than this, it is not recorded whether those who were to give their names

to the curiæ were selected on account of their age, or their own or

their husbands' rank, or by lot. At the same time three centuries of

knights were enrolled, called Ramnenses, from Romulus; Tatienses, from

Titus Tatius. The reason of the name and origin of the Luceres is

uncertain.

[Footnote 19: _Nepotum et liberûm progeniem_ = Nepotes et

liberos,--??e? ??a??? = ?? ??a???.]

14. Thenceforward the two kings held the regal power not only in common,

but in concord also. Several years after, some relatives of king Tatius

beat the ambassadors of the Laurentes, and when the Laurentes commenced

proceedings according to the law of nations, the influence of his

friends and their importunities had more weight with Tatius. He

therefore drew upon himself the punishment due to them; for he is slain

at Lavinium, in a tumult which arose on his going thither to an

anniversary sacrifice. They say that Romulus resented this with less

severity than the case required, either by reason of their association

in the kingly power being devoid of cordiality, or because he believed

that he was justly killed. He therefore declined going to war; in order,

however, that the ill-treatment of the ambassadors and the murder of the

king might be expiated, the treaty was renewed between the cities of

Rome and Lavinium. With this party, indeed, peace continued, contrary to

expectation; another war broke out much nearer home, and almost at the

very gates. The Fidenates, thinking that a power too near to themselves

was growing to a height, resolve to make war, before their strength

should become as great as it was apparent it would be. An armed body of

young men being sent in, all the land is laid waste between the city and

Fidenæ. Then turning to the left, because the Tiber confined them on the

right, they continue their depredations to the great consternation of

the peasantry. The sudden alarm reaching the city from the country,

served as the first announcement. Romulus, roused at this circumstance,

(for a war so near home could not admit of delay,) leads out his army:

he pitches his camp a mile from Fidenæ. Having left there a small

garrison, marching out with all his forces, he commanded a party of his

soldiers to lie in ambush in a place [20]hidden by thick bushes which

were planted around. Then advancing with the greater part of the foot

and all the horse, and riding up to the very gates of the city in a

disorderly and menacing manner, he drew out the enemy, the very thing he

wanted. The same mode of fighting on the part of the cavalry likewise

made the cause of the flight, which was to be counterfeited, appear less

surprising: and when, the horse seeming irresolute, as if in

deliberation whether to fight or fly, the infantry also retreated, the

enemy suddenly rushed from the crowded gates, after they had made an

impression on the Roman line, are drawn on to the place of ambuscade in

their eagerness to press on and pursue. Upon this the Romans, rising

suddenly, attack the enemy's line in flank. The standards of those who

had been left behind on guard, advancing from the camp, further increase

the panic. The Fidenates, thus dismayed with terrors from so many

quarters, turn their backs almost before Romulus, and those who had

accompanied him on horseback, could wheel their horses round; and those

who a little before had pursued men pretending to fly, now ran back to

the town in much greater disorder, for their flight was in earnest. They

did not however get clear of the enemy: the Romans pressing on their

rear rush in as it were in one body before the gates could be shut

against them.

[Footnote 20: The original has undergone various changes here: my

version coincides with the reading, _locis circà densa obsita virgulta

obscuris_.]

15. The minds of the Veientes being excited by the contagious influence

of the Fidenatian war, both from the tie of consanguinity, for the

Fidenates also were Etrurians, and because the very proximity of

situation, in case the Roman arms should be turned against all their

neighbours, urged them on, they made an incursion on the Roman

territories, more to commit depredations than after the manner of a

regular war. Accordingly, without pitching a camp, or awaiting the

approach of the enemy's army, they returned to Veii, carrying with them

the booty collected from the lands; the Roman army on the other side,

when they did not find the enemy in the country, being prepared for and

determined on a decisive action, cross the Tiber. And when the Veientes

heard that they were pitching a camp, and intended to advance to the

city, they came out to meet them, that they might rather decide the

matter in the open field, than be shut up and fight from their houses

and walls. Here the Roman king obtained the victory, his power not being

aided by any stratagem, merely by the strength of his veteran army: and

having pursued the routed enemies to their walls, he made no attempt on

the city, strong as it was by its fortifications, and well defended by

its situation: on his return he lays waste their lands, rather from a

desire of revenge than booty. And the Veientes, being humbled by that

loss no less than by the unsuccessful battle, send ambassadors to Rome

to sue for peace. A truce for one hundred years was granted them after

they were fined a part of their land. These are the principal

transactions which occurred during the reign of Romulus, in peace and

war, none of which seem inconsistent with the belief of his divine

original, or of the deification attributed to him after death, neither

his spirit in recovering his grandfather's kingdom, nor his project of

building a city, nor that of strengthening it by the arts of war and

peace. For by the strength attained from that outset under him, it

became so powerful, that for forty years after it enjoyed a profound

peace. He was, however, dearer to the people than to the fathers; but

above all others he was most beloved by the soldiers. And he kept three

hundred of them armed as a body-guard not only in war but in peace, whom

he called Celeres.

16. After performing these immortal achievements, while he was holding

an assembly of the people for reviewing his army, in the plain near the

lake of Capra, on a sudden a storm having arisen, with great thunder and

lightning, enveloped the king in so dense a mist, that it took all sight

of him from the assembly. Nor was Romulus after this seen on earth. The

consternation being at length over, and fine clear weather succeeding so

turbulent a day, when the Roman youth saw the royal seat empty, though

they readily believed the fathers who had stood nearest him, that he was

carried aloft by the storm, yet, struck with the dread as it were of

orphanage, they preserved a sorrowful silence for a considerable time.

Then, a commencement having been made by a few, the whole multitude

salute Romulus a god, son of a god, the king and parent of the Roman

city; they implore his favour with prayers, that he would be pleased

always propitiously to preserve his own offspring. I believe that even

then there were some, who silently surmised that the king had been torn

in pieces by the hands of the fathers; for this rumour also spread, but

was not credited; their admiration of the man, and the consternation

felt at the moment, attached importance to the other report. By the

contrivance also of one individual, additional credit is said to have

been gained to the matter. For Proculus Julius, whilst the state was

still troubled with regret for the king, and felt incensed against the

senators, a person of weight, as we are told, in any matter however

important, comes forward to the assembly, "Romans," he says, "Romulus,

the father of this city, suddenly descending from heaven, appeared to me

this day at day-break. While I stood covered with awe, and filled with a

religious dread, beseeching him to allow me to see him face to face, he

said, Go tell the Romans, that the gods so will, that my Rome should

become the capitol of the world. Therefore let them cultivate the art of

war, and let them know and hand down to posterity, that no human power

shall be able to withstand the Roman arms. Having said this, he ascended

up to heaven." It is surprising what credit was given to the man on his

making this announcement, and how much the regret of the common people

and army, for the loss of Romulus, was assuaged upon the assurance of

his immortality.

17. Meanwhile ambition and contention for the throne actuated the minds

of the fathers; factions had not yet sprung up from individuals,

because, among a new people, no one person was eminently distinguished

above the rest: the contest was carried on between the different orders.

The descendants of the Sabines wished a king to be elected out of their

body, lest, because there had been no king on their side since the death

of Tatius, they might lose their claim to the crown[21] according to the

compact of equal participation. The old Romans spurned the idea of a

foreign prince. Amid this diversity of views, however, all were anxious

that there should be a king, they not having yet tasted the sweets of

liberty. Fear then seized the senators, lest the minds of the

surrounding states being incensed against them, some foreign power

should attack the state, now without a government, and the army without

a leader. It was therefore their wish that there should be some head,

but no one could bring himself to give way to another. Thus the hundred

senators divide the government among them, ten decuries being formed,

and one selected from each decury, who was to have the chief direction

of affairs. Ten governed; one only was attended with the insignia of

authority and the lictors: their power was limited to the space of five

days, and it passed through all in rotation, and the interval between a

kingly government lasted a year. From the circumstance it was called an

Interregnum, a term which holds good even now. But the people began to

murmur, that their slavery was multiplied, and that they had got a

hundred sovereigns instead of one, and they seemed determined to bear no

authority but that of a king, and that one of their own choosing. When

the fathers perceived that such schemes were in agitation, thinking it

advisable to offer them, of their own accord, what they were sure to

lose; they thus conciliate the favour of the people by yielding to them

the supreme power, yet in such a manner as to grant them no greater

privilege than they reserved to themselves. For they decreed, that when

the people should choose a king, the election should be valid, if the

senate approved. And[22] the same forms are observed at this day in

passing laws and electing magistrates, though their efficacy has been

taken away; for before the people begin to vote, the senators declare

their approbation, whilst the result of the elections is still

uncertain. Then the interrex, having called an assembly of the people,

addressed them in this manner: "Do you, Romans, choose yourselves a

king, and may it prove fortunate, happy, and auspicious to you; so the

fathers have determined. Then, if you choose a prince worthy to succeed

Romulus, the fathers will confirm your choice." This concession was so

pleasing to the people, that, not to be outdone in generosity, they only

voted, and required that the senate should determine who should be king

of Rome.

[Footnote 21: Although, according to the terms of the alliance, the

Sabines and the Romans were to be in all respects on an equal footing.]

[Footnote 22: The order of the people still requires the sanction of the

senate for its ratification: but that sanction now being given

beforehand, the order of the people is no longer subject to the control

of the senate, and therefore not precarious as heretofore.]

18. The justice and piety of Numa Pompilius was at that time celebrated.

He dwelt at Cures, a city of the Sabines, and was as eminently learned

in all laws human and divine, as any man could be in that age. They

falsely represent that Pythagoras of Samos was his instructor in

philosophy, because there appears no other person to refer to. Now it is

certain that this philosopher, in the reign of Servius Tullius, more

than a hundred years after this, held assemblies of young men, who

eagerly imbibed his doctrine, in the most distant part of Italy, about

Metapontus, Heraclea, and Croton. But [23]from these places, even had he

flourished at the same time, what fame of his (extending) to the Sabines

could have aroused any one to a desire of learning, or by what

intercourse of language (could such a thing have been effected)?

Besides, how could a single man have safely passed through so many

nations differing in language and customs? I presume, therefore, that

his mind was naturally furnished with virtuous dispositions, and that he

was not so much versed in foreign sciences as in the severe and rigid

discipline of the ancient Sabines, than which class none was in former

times more strict. The Roman fathers, upon hearing the name of Numa,

although they perceived that the scale of power would incline to the

Sabines if a king were chosen from them, yet none of them ventured to

prefer himself, or any other of his party, or any of the citizens or

fathers, to that person, but unanimously resolved that the kingdom

should be conferred on Numa Pompilius. Being sent for, just as Romulus

before the building of the city obtained the throne by an augury, he

commanded the gods to be consulted concerning himself also. Upon this,

being conducted into the citadel by an augur, (to which profession that

office was made a public one and perpetual by way of honour,) he sat

down on a stone facing the south: the augur took his seat on his left

hand with his head covered, holding in his right a crooked wand free

from knots, which they called _lituus_; then taking a view towards the

city and country, after offering a prayer to the gods, he marked out the

regions from east to west, the parts towards the south he called the

right, those towards the north, the left; and in front of him he set out

in his mind a sign as far as ever his eye could reach. Then having

shifted the lituus into his left hand, placing his right hand on the

head of Numa, he prayed in this manner: "O father Jupiter, if it is thy

will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I hold, should be king of

Rome, I beseech thee to give sure and evident signs of it within those

bounds which I have marked." Then he stated in set terms the omens which

he wished to be sent; and on their being sent, Numa was declared king

and came down from the stand.

[Footnote 23: _Ex quibus locis, quæ fama in Sabinos, aut quo linguæ

commercio ---- quenquam excivisset_. "From which (remote) places, what

high character of him (could have reached) to the Sabines, or by what

intercourse of language could such high character of him have aroused

any one to become a pupil?" Other editions read _quâ famâ_; thus, from

which places by what high character for talent, or by what intercourse

of language, could he, Pythagoras, have aroused any one, etc.?]

19. Having thus obtained the kingdom, he sets about establishing anew,

on the principles of laws and morals, the city recently established by

violence and arms. When he saw that their minds, as having been rendered

ferocious by military life, could not be reconciled to those principles

during the continuance of wars, considering that a fierce people should

be mollified by the disuse of arms, he erected at the foot of Argiletum

a temple of Janus, as an index of peace and war; that when open, it

might show the state was engaged in war, and when shut, that all the

neighbouring nations were at peace with it. Twice only since the reign

of Numa hath this temple been shut; once when T. Manlius was consul, at

the end of the first Punic war; and a second time, which the gods

granted our age to see, by the emperor Augustus Cæsar, after the battle

of Actium, peace being established by sea and land. This being shut,

after he had secured the friendship of the neighbouring states around by

alliance and treaties, all anxiety regarding dangers from abroad being

removed, lest their minds, which the fear of enemies and military

discipline had kept in check, should become licentious by tranquillity,

he considered, that, first of all, an awe of the gods should be

instilled into them, a principle of the greatest efficacy with a

multitude ignorant and uncivilized as in those times. But as it could

not sink deeply into their minds without some fiction of a miracle, he

pretends that he holds nightly interviews with the goddess Egeria; that

by her direction he instituted the sacred rites which would be most

acceptable to the gods, and appointed proper priests for each of the

deities. And, first of all, he divides the year into twelve months,

according to the course of the moon; and because the moon does not make

up thirty days in each month, and some days are wanting to the complete

year as constituted by the solstitial revolution, he so portioned it out

by inserting intercalary months, that every twenty-fourth year, the

lengths of all the intermediate years being completed, the days should

correspond to the same place of the sun (in the heavens) whence they had

set out.[24] He likewise made a distinction of the days[25] into

profane and sacred, because on some it was likely to be expedient that

no business should be transacted with the people.

[Footnote 24: Romulus had made his year to consist of ten months, the

first month being March, and the number of days in the year being only

304, which corresponded neither with the course of the sun or moon.

Numa, who added the two months of January and February, divided the year

into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. This was the

lunar Greek year, and consisted of 354 days. Numa, however, adopted 355

days for his year, from his partiality to odd numbers. The lunar year of

354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days;--this in 8 years

amounted to (11-1/4 × 8) 90 days. These 90 days he divided into 2 months

of 22 and 2 of 23 days, ([2 × 22] + [2 × 23] = 90,) and introduced them

alternately every second year for two octennial periods: every third

octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only 66 days instead of 90

days, _i. e._ he inserted 3 months of only 22 days each. The reason was,

because he adopted 355 days as the length of his lunar year instead of

354, and this in 24 years (3 octennial periods) produced an error of 24

days; this error was exactly compensated by intercalating only 66 days

(90-24) in the third octennial period. The intercalations were generally

made in the month of February, after the 23rd of the month. Their

management was left to the pontiffs--_ad metam eandem solis unde orsi

essent_--_dies congruerent_; "that the days might correspond to the same

starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out." That

is, taking for instance the tropic of Cancer for the place or

starting-point of the sun any one year, and observing that he was in

that point of the heavens on precisely the 21st of June, the object was

so to dispense the year, that the day on which the sun was observed to

arrive at that same _meta_ or starting-point again, should also be

called the 21st of June:--such was the _congruity_ aimed at by these

intercalations.]

[Footnote 25:

_Ille nefastus erit per quem tria verba silentur;

Fastus erit, per quem lege licebit agi._--Ov. F. i. 47.

]

20. Next he turned his attention to the appointment of priests, though

he performed many sacred rites himself, especially those which now

belong to the flamen of Jupiter. But, as he imagined that in a warlike

nation there would be more kings resembling Romulus than Numa, and that

they would go to war in person, he appointed a residentiary priest as

flamen to Jupiter, that the sacred functions of the royal office might

not be neglected, and he distinguished him by a fine robe, and a royal

curule chair. To him he added two other flamines, one for Mars, another

for Quirinus. He also selected virgins for Vesta, a priesthood derived

from Alba, and not foreign to the family of the founder. That they might

be constant attendants in the temple, he appointed them salaries out of

the public treasury; and by enjoining virginity, and other religious

observances, he made them sacred and venerable. He selected twelve Salii

for Mars Gradivus, and gave them the distinction of an embroidered

tunic, and over the tunic a brazen covering for the breast. He commanded

them to carry the celestial shields called [26]Ancilia, and to go

through the city singing songs, with leaping and solemn dancing. Then he

chose out of the number of the fathers Numa Marcius, son of Marcus, as

pontiff,[27] and consigned to him an entire system of religious rites

written out and sealed, (showing) with what victims, upon what days, and

in what temples the sacred rites were to be performed; and from what

funds the money was to be taken for these expenses. He placed all

religious institutions, public and private, under the cognisance of the

pontiff to the end that there might be some place where the people

should come to consult, lest any confusion in the divine worship might

be occasioned by neglecting the ceremonies of their own country, and

introducing foreign ones. (He ordained) that the same pontiff should

instruct the people not only in the celestial ceremonies, but also in

(the manner of performing) funeral solemnities, and of appeasing the

manes of the dead; and what prodigies sent by lightning or any other

phenomenon were to be attended to and expiated. To elicit such

knowledge from the divine mind, he dedicated an altar on the Aventine to

Jupiter [28]Elicius, and consulted the god by auguries as to what

(prodigies) should be expiated.

[Footnote 26: _Ancilia_, from ???????.]

[Footnote 27: _Pontificem_, scil. Maximum.]

[Footnote 28:

_Eliciunt cœlo te, Jupiter: unde minores

Nunc quoque te celebrant, Eliciumque vocant_.

Ov. F. iii. 327.]

21. The whole multitude having been diverted from violence and arms to

the considering and adjusting these matters, both their minds had been

engaged in doing something, and the constant watchfulness of the gods

now impressed upon them, as the deity of heaven seemed to interest

itself in human concerns, had filled the breasts of all with such piety,

that faith and religious obligations governed the state, no less than

fear of the laws and of punishment. And while[29] the people were

moulding themselves after the morals of the king, as their best example,

the neighbouring states also, who had formerly thought that it was a

camp, not a city, situate in the midst of them to disturb the general

peace, were brought (to feel) such respect for them that they considered

it impious that a state, wholly occupied in the worship of the gods,

should be molested. There was a grove, the middle of which was irrigated

by a spring of running water, issuing from a dark grotto. As Numa went

often thither alone, under pretence of conferring with the goddess, he

dedicated the place to the Muses, because their meetings with his wife

Egeria were held there. He also instituted a yearly festival to Faith

alone, and commanded the priests to be carried to her temple in an

arched chariot drawn by two horses, and to perform the divine service

with their hands wrapt up to the fingers, intimating that Faith ought to

be protected, and that her seat ought to be sacred even in men's right

hands. He instituted many other sacred rites, and dedicated places for

performing them, which the priests call Argei. But the greatest of all

his works was his maintenance of peace, during the whole period of his

reign, no less than of his royal prerogative. Thus two kings in

succession, by different methods, the one by war, the other by peace,

aggrandized the state. Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, Numa

forty-three: the state was both strong and well versed in the arts of

war and peace.

[Footnote 29: _Cum ipsi se ---- formarent, tum finitimi etiam_, etc.

Some of the editors of Livy have remarked on this passage, that _cum_

when answering to _tum_ may be joined to a subjunctive, as here; the

fact however is, that _cum_ here does not answer to _tum_ at all; _cum_

is here "whilst,"--and so necessarily requires the verb to be in the

subjunctive mood.]

22. Upon the death of Numa, the administration returned again to an

interregnum. After that the people appointed as king, Tullus Hostilius,

the grandson of that Hostilius who had made the noble stand against the

Sabines at the foot of the citadel. The fathers confirmed the choice. He

was not only unlike the preceding king, but was even of a more warlike

disposition than Romulus. Both his youth and strength, and the renown of

his grandfather, stimulated his ambition. Thinking therefore that the

state was becoming languid through quiet, he every where sought for

pretexts for stirring up war. It happened that some Roman and Alban

peasants had mutually plundered each other's lands. C. Cluilius at that

time governed Alba. From both sides ambassadors were sent almost at the

same time, to demand restitution. Tullus ordered his to attend to

nothing before their instructions. He knew well that the Alban would

refuse, and that so war might be proclaimed on just grounds. Their

commission was executed more remissly by the Albans. For being

courteously and kindly entertained by Tullus, they politely avail

themselves of the king's hospitality. Meanwhile the Romans had both been

first in demanding restitution, and, upon the refusal of the Albans, had

proclaimed war after an interval of thirty days: of this they give

Tullus notice. Upon this he granted the Alban ambassadors an opportunity

of stating what they came to demand. They, ignorant of all, waste some

time in making apologies: "That it was with the utmost reluctance they

should say any thing which was not pleasing to Tullus; but they were

compelled by their orders. That they had come to demand restitution; and

if this be not made, they were commanded to declare war." To this Tullus

made answer, "Go tell your king, that the king of the Romans takes the

gods to witness, which of the two nations hath with contempt first

dismissed the ambassadors demanding restitution, that on it they may

visit all the calamities of this war." The Albans carry home these

tidings.

23. War was prepared for on both sides with the utmost vigour, very like

to a civil war, in a manner between parents and children: both being

Trojan offspring; for from Troy came Lavinium, from Lavinium Alba, and

the Romans were descended from the race of Alban kings. But the result

of the war rendered the quarrel less distressing, for they never came to

any action; and, when the houses only of one of the cities had been

demolished, the two states were incorporated into one. The Albans first

made an irruption into the Roman territories with a large army. They

pitch their camp not above five miles from the city, and surround it

with a trench, which, for several ages, was called the Cluilian trench,

from the name of the general, till, in process of time, the name,

together with the thing itself, were both forgotten. In that camp

Cluilius, the Alban king, dies; the Albans create Mettus[30] Fuffetius

dictator. In the mean time, Tullus being in high spirits, especially on

the death of the king, and giving out that the supreme power of the

gods, having begun at the head, would take vengeance on the whole Alban

nation for this impious war, having passed the enemy's camp in the

night-time, marches with a hostile army into the Alban territory. This

circumstance drew out Mettus from his camp likewise; he leads his forces

as near as he can to the enemy; from thence he commands a herald,

despatched by him, to tell Tullus that a conference was expedient before

they came to an engagement; and that if he would give him a meeting, he

was certain he should adduce matters which concerned the interest of

Rome not less than that of Alba. Tullus not slighting the proposal,

though the advances made were of little avail, draws out his men in

order of battle; the Albans on their part come out also. As both armies

stood in battle-array, the chiefs, with a few of the principal officers,

advance into the middle between them. Then the Alban commences thus:

[31]"That injuries and the non-restitution of property according to

treaty, when demanded, were the cause of this war, methinks I both heard

our King Cluilius (assert), and I doubt not, Tullus, but that you state

the same thing. But if the truth is to be told, rather than that which

is plausible, the desire of dominion stimulates two kindred and

neighbouring states to arms. Nor do I take upon myself to determine

whether rightly or wrongly: be that his consideration who commenced the

war. The Albans have made me their leader for carrying on the war. Of

this, Tullus, I would wish to warn you; how powerful the Etruscan state

is around us, and round you particularly, you know better (than we),

inasmuch as you are nearer them. They are very powerful by land,

extremely so by sea. Recollect that, when you shall give the signal for

battle, these two armies will presently be a spectacle to them; and they

may fall on us wearied and exhausted, victor and vanquished together.

Therefore, in the name of heaven, since, not content with certain

liberty, we are incurring the dubious risk of sovereignty and slavery,

let us adopt some method, whereby, without much loss, without much blood

of either nation, it may be decided which shall rule the other."--The

proposal is not displeasing to Tullus, though both from the natural bent

of his mind, as also from the hope of victory, he was rather inclined to

violence. After some consideration, a plan is adopted on both sides, for

which Fortune herself afforded the materials.

[Footnote 30: _Mettus_. Gronovius and Bekker read _Mettius_; Niebuhr

also prefers _Mettius_; he conceives that the Latin _prænomina_ and the

Roman _nomina_ terminated in _ius_.]

[Footnote 31: _Injurias et non redditas_, etc. The construction is, _et

ego videor audisse regem nostrum Cluilium (præ se ferre) injurias et non

redditas res ... nec dubito te ferre eadem præ te, Tulle_.]

24. It happened that there were in each of the two armies three

brothers[32] born at one birth, unequal neither in age nor strength.

That they were called Horatii and Curiatii is certain enough; nor is

there any circumstance of antiquity more celebrated; yet in a matter so

well ascertained, a doubt remains concerning their names, to which

nation the Horatii and to which the Curiatii belonged. Authors claim

them for both sides; yet I find more who call the Horatii Romans. My

inclination leads me to follow them. The kings confer with the three

brothers, that they should fight with their swords each in defence of

their respective country; (assuring them) that dominion would be on that

side on which victory should be. No objection is made; time and place

are agreed on. Before they engaged, a compact is entered into between

the Romans and Albans on these conditions, that the state whose

champions should come off victorious in that combat, should rule the

other state without further dispute. Different treaties are made on

different terms, but they are all concluded in the same general method.

We have heard that it was then concluded as follows, nor is there a more

ancient record of any treaty. A herald asked king Tullus thus, "Do you

command me, O king, to conclude a treaty with the pater patratus of the

Alban people?" After the king had given command, he said, "I demand

vervain of thee, O king." To which the king replied, "Take some that is

pure." The herald brought a pure blade of grass from the citadel; again

he asked the king thus, "Dost thou, O king, appoint me the royal

delegate of the Roman people, the Quirites? _including_ my vessels and

attendants?" The king answered, "That which may be done without

detriment to me and to the Roman people, the Quirites, I do." The herald

was M. Valerius, who appointed Sp. Fusius pater patratus, touching his

head and hair with the vervain. The pater patratus is appointed "ad

jusjurandum patrandum," that is, to ratify the treaty; and he goes

through it in a great many words, which, being expressed in a long set

form, it is not worth while repeating. After setting forth the

conditions, he says, "Hear, O Jupiter; hear, O pater patratus of the

Alban people, and ye, Alban people, hear. As those (conditions), from

first to last, have been recited openly from those tablets or wax

without wicked fraud, and as they have been most correctly understood

here this day, from those conditions the Roman people will not be the

first to swerve. If they first swerve by public concert, by wicked

fraud, on that day do thou, O Jupiter, so strike the Roman people, as I

shall here this day strike this swine; and do thou strike them so much

the more, as thou art more able and more powerful." When he said this,

he struck the swine with a flint stone. The Albans likewise went through

their own form and oath by their own dictator and priests.

[Footnote 32: _Three brothers born at one birth_. Dionys. iii. 14,

describes them as cousin-germans. Vid. Wachsmuth, p. 147. Niebuhr, i. p.

342.]

25. The treaty being concluded, the twin-brothers, as had been agreed,

take arms. Whilst their respective friends exhortingly reminded each

party "that their country's gods, their country and parents, all their

countrymen both at home and in the army, had their eyes then fixed on

their arms, on their hands; naturally brave, and animated by the

exhortations of their friends, they advance into the midst between the

two lines." The two armies sat down before their respective camps, free

rather from present danger than from anxiety: for the sovereign power

was at stake, depending on the valour and fortune of so few.

Accordingly, therefore, eager and anxious, they have their attention

intensely riveted on a spectacle far from pleasing. The signal is given:

and the three youths on each side, as if in battle-array, rush to the

charge with determined fury, bearing in their breasts the spirits of

mighty armies: nor do the one or the other regard their personal danger;

the public dominion or slavery is present to their mind, and the

fortune[33] of their country, which was ever after destined to be such

as they should now establish it. As soon as their arms clashed on the

first encounter, and their burnished swords glittered, great horror

strikes the spectators; and, hope inclining to neither side, their voice

and breath were suspended. Then having engaged hand to hand, when not

only the movements of their bodies, and the rapid brandishings of their

arms and weapons, but wounds also and blood were seen, two of the Romans

fell lifeless, one upon the other, the three Albans being wounded. And

when the Alban army raised a shout of joy at their fall, hope entirely,

anxiety however not yet, deserted the Roman legions, alarmed for the lot

of the one, whom the three Curiatii surrounded. He happened to be

unhurt, so that, though alone he was by no means a match for them all

together, yet he was confident against each singly. In order therefore

to separate their attack, he takes to flight, presuming that they would

pursue him with such swiftness as the wounded state of his body would

suffer each. He had now fled a considerable distance from the place

where they had fought, when, looking behind, he perceives them pursuing

him at great intervals from each other; and that one of them was not far

from him. On him he turned round with great fury. And whilst the Alban

army shouts out to the Curiatii to succour their brother, Horatius,

victorious in having slain his antagonist, was now proceeding to a

second attack. Then the Romans encourage their champion with a shout

such as is usually (given) by persons cheering in consequence of

unexpected success: he also hastens to put an end to the combat.

Wherefore before the other, who was not far off, could come up he

despatches the second Curiatius also. And now, the combat being brought

to an equality of numbers, one on each side remained, but they were

equal neither in hope nor in strength. The one his body untouched by a

weapon, and a double victory made courageous for a third contest: the

other dragging along his body exhausted from the wound, exhausted from

running, and dispirited by the slaughter of his brethren before his

eyes, presents himself to his victorious antagonist. Nor was that a

fight. The Roman, exulting, says, "Two I have offered to the shades of

my brothers: the third I will offer to the cause of this war, that the

Roman may rule over the Alban." He thrusts his sword down into his

throat, whilst faintly sustaining the weight of his armour: he strips

him as he lies prostrate. The Romans receive Horatius with triumph and

congratulation; with so much the greater joy, as success had followed so

close on fear. They then turn to the burial of their friends with

dispositions by no means alike; for the one side was elated with (the

acquisition of) empire, the other subjected to foreign jurisdiction:

their sepulchres are still extant in the place where each fell; the two

Roman ones in one place nearer to Alba, the three Alban ones towards

Rome; but distant in situation from each other, and just as they

fought.[34]

[Footnote 33: The order is: _fortuna patriæ deinde futura ea quam ipsi

f. (animo obvers.)_; the fortune of their country, the high or humble

character of which for the future depended on their exertions on that

occasion.]

[Footnote 34: The two Roman champions, we have seen, fell in the one

place, _super alium alius_; consequently were buried together; whilst

the Curiatii fell in different places, as Horatius contrived to separate

them to avoid their joint attack.]

26. Before they parted from thence, when Mettus, in conformity to the

treaty which had been concluded, asked what orders he had to give,

Tullus orders him to keep the youth in arms, that he designed to employ

them, if a war should break out with the Veientes. After this both

armies returned to their homes. Horatius marched foremost, carrying

before him the spoils of the three brothers: his sister, a maiden who

had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, met him before the gate

Capena: and having recognized her lover's military robe, which she

herself had wrought, on her brother's shoulders, she tore her hair, and

with bitter wailings called by name on her deceased lover. The sister's

lamentations in the midst of his own victory, and of such great public

rejoicings, raised the indignation of the excited youth. Having

therefore drawn his sword, he run the damsel through the body, at the

same time chiding her in these words: "Go hence, with thy unseasonable

love to thy spouse, forgetful of thy dead brothers, and of him who

survives, forgetful of thy native country. So perish every Roman woman

who shall mourn an enemy." This action seemed shocking to the fathers

and to the people; but his recent services outweighed its guilt.

Nevertheless he was carried before the king for judgment. The king, that

he himself might not be the author of a decision so melancholy, and so

disagreeable to the people, or of the punishment consequent on that

decision, having summoned an assembly of the people, says, "I appoint,

according to law, duumvirs to pass sentence on Horatius for

[35]treason." The law was of dreadful import. [36]"Let the duumvirs pass

sentence for treason. If he appeal from the duumvirs, let him contend by

appeal; if they shall gain the cause,[37] cover his head; hang him by a

rope from a gallows; scourge him either within the pomœrium or

without the pomœrium." When the duumvirs appointed by this law, who

did not consider that, according to the law, they could [38]acquit even

an innocent person, had found him guilty; one of them says, "P.

Horatius, I judge thee guilty of treason. Go, lictor, bind his hands."

The lictor had approached him, and was fixing the rope. Then Horatius,

by the advice of Tullus,[39] a favourable interpreter of the law, says,

"I appeal." Accordingly the matter was contested by appeal to the

people. On that trial persons were much affected, especially by P.

Horatius the father declaring, that he considered his daughter

deservedly slain; were it not so, that he would by his authority as a

father have inflicted punishment on his son.[40] He then entreated that

they would not render childless him whom but a little while ago they had

beheld with a fine progeny. During these words the old man, having

embraced the youth, pointing to the spoils of the Curiatii fixed up in

that place which is now called Pila Horatia, "Romans," said he, "can you

bear to see bound beneath a gallows amidst scourges and tortures, him

whom you just now beheld marching decorated (with spoils) and exulting

in victory; a sight so shocking as the eyes even of the Albans could

scarcely endure. Go, lictor, bind those hands, which but a little while

since, being armed, established sovereignty for the Roman people. Go,

cover the head of the liberator of this city; hang him on the gallows;

scourge him, either within the pomœrium, so it be only amid those

javelins and spoils of the enemy; or without the pomœrium, only amid

the graves of the Curiatii. For whither can you bring this youth, where

his own glories must not redeem him from such ignominy of punishment?"

The people could not withstand the tears of the father, or the

resolution of the son, so undaunted in every danger; and acquitted him

more through admiration of his bravery, than for the justice of his

cause. But that so notorious a murder might be atoned for by some

expiation, the father was commanded to make satisfaction for the son at

the public charge. He, having offered certain expiatory sacrifices,

which were ever after continued in the Horatian family, and laid a beam

across the street, made his son pass under it as under a yoke, with his

head covered. This remains even to this day, being constantly repaired

at the expense of the public; they call it Sororium Tigillum. A tomb of

square stone was erected to Horatia in the place where she was stabbed

and fell.

[Footnote 35: _Perduellio_, (duellum, bellum,) high treason against the

state or its sovereign; but in those times any offence deserving capital

punishment was included under that of treason, _Qui Horatio

perduellionem judicent_, to pass sentence on Horatius, as being

manifestly guilty of murder; not to try whether he was guilty or not.]

[Footnote 36: Duumviri, etc. Niebuhr considers these to be the very

words of the old formula.]

[Footnote 37: If the sentence (of the duumviri) be confirmed by the

people.]

[Footnote 38: The letter of the law allowed of no justification or

extenuation of the fact. It left no alternative to the judge.]

[Footnote 39: He kindly pointed out the loop-hole in the law, which left

an opening for the culprit's acquittal.]

[Footnote 40: By the laws of Romulus, a father had the power of life and

death over his children.]

27. Nor did the peace with Alba continue long. The dissatisfaction of

the populace, because the fortune of the state had been hazarded on

three soldiers, perverted the weak mind of the dictator; and because

honourable measures had not turned out well, he began to conciliate

their affections by perfidious means. Accordingly, as one formerly

seeking peace in war, so now seeking war in peace, because he perceived

that his own state possessed more courage than strength, he stirs up

other nations to make war openly and by proclamation:[41] for his own

people he reserves treachery under the mask of alliance. The Fidenates,

a Roman colony, having gained over the Veientes as partisans in the

confederacy, are instigated to declare war and take up arms under a

compact of desertion on the part of the Albans. When Fidenæ had openly

[42]revolted, Tullus, after summoning Mettus and his army from Alba,

marches against the enemy. When he crossed the Anio, he pitches his camp

at the [43]conflux of the rivers. Between that place and Fidenæ, the

army of the Veientes had crossed the Tiber. These, in line of battle,

occupied the right wing near the river; the Fidenates are posted on the

left nearer the mountains. Tullus stations his own men opposite the

Veientian foe; the Albans he opposes to the legion of the Fidenates. The

Alban had not more courage than fidelity. Neither daring therefore to

keep his ground, nor to desert openly, he files off slowly to the

mountains. After this, when he supposed he had gone far enough, he

[44]halts his entire army; and being still irresolute in mind, in order

to waste time, he opens his ranks. His design was, to turn his forces to

that side to which fortune should give success. At first the Romans who

stood nearest were astonished, when they perceived their flanks were

uncovered by the departure of their allies; then a horseman in full

gallop announces to the king that the Albans were moving off. Tullus, in

this perilous juncture, vowed twelve Salii, and temples to Paleness and

Panic. Rebuking the horseman in a loud voice, so that the enemy might

hear him, he orders him to return to the fight, "that there was no

occasion for alarm; that by his order the Alban army was marching round

to fall on the unprotected rear of the Fidenates." He likewise commands

him to order the cavalry to raise their spears aloft; this expedient

intercepted from a great part of the Roman infantry the view of the

Alban army retreating. Those who saw it, believing what they had heard

the king say, fought with the greater ardour. The alarm is now

transferred to the enemy; they had both heard what had been pronounced

so audibly, and a great part of the Fidenates, as having been joined as

colonists to the Romans, understood Latin. Therefore, that they might

not be intercepted from the town by a sudden descent of the Albans from

the hills, they take to flight. Tullus presses forward, and having

routed the wing of the Fidenates, returned with greater fury against the

Veientes, disheartened by the panic of the others: nor did they sustain

his charge; but the river, opposed to them behind, prevented a

precipitate flight. Whither when their flight led, some, shamefully

throwing down their arms, rushed blindly into the river; others, while

they linger on the banks, doubting whether to fly or fight, were

overpowered. Never before had the Romans a more desperate battle.

[Footnote 41: The part which he reserves for himself and the Albans is

to play the traitors to Tullus in the hour of need, wearing meanwhile

the mark of friendship to Rome.]

[Footnote 42: The fact is, that the subject population rose up against

the Roman colonists, drove them out of the town, and asserted their

independence. Nieb. i. 24. 5.]

[Footnote 43: The Tiber and the Anio.]

[Footnote 44: _Erigit_--"he makes it halt," from the French _faire

alte_, or formerly _haut_, because soldiers then stand upright and hold

their spears erect.]

28. Then the Alban army, that had been spectators of the fight, was

marched down into the plains. Mettus congratulates Tullus on his defeat

of the enemy; Tullus on his part addresses Mettus with great civility.

He orders the Albans to unite their camp with the Romans, which he

prayed might prove beneficial to both; and prepares a sacrifice of

purification for the next day. As soon as it was light, all things being

in readiness, according to custom, he commands both armies to be

summoned to an assembly. The heralds,[45] beginning at the outside,

summoned the Albans first. They, struck[46] too with the novelty of the

thing, in order to hear the Roman king harangue, crowded next to him.

The Roman legions, under arms, by concert surrounded them; a charge had

been given to the centurions to execute their orders without delay. Then

Tullus begins as follows: "Romans, if ever before at any other time in

any war there was (an occasion) on which you should return thanks, first

to the immortal gods, next to your own valour, that occasion was

yesterday's battle. For the contest was not more with enemies than with

the treachery and perfidy of allies, a contest which is more serious and

more dangerous. For that a false opinion may not influence you, the

Albans retired to the mountains without my orders, nor was that my

command, but a stratagem and the pretence of a command: that so your

attention might not be drawn away from the fight, you being kept in

ignorance that you were deserted, and that terror and dismay might be

struck into the enemy, conceiving themselves to be surrounded on the

rear. Nor does that guilt, which I now state, extend to all the Albans.

They followed their leader; as you too would have done, if I had wished

my army to make a move to any other point from thence. Mettus there is

the leader of that march, the same Mettus is the contriver of this war;

Mettus is the violator of the treaty between Rome and Alba. Let another

hereafter attempt the like conduct, unless I now make of him a signal

example to mankind." The centurions in arms stand round Mettus, and the

king proceeds with the rest as he had commenced: "It is my intention,

and may it prove fortunate, auspicious, and happy to the Roman people,

to myself, and to you, O Albans, to transplant all the inhabitants of

Alba to Rome: to grant your people the rights of citizenship, and to

admit your nobles into the rank of senators: to make one city, one

republic; that as the Alban state was formerly divided from one people

into two, so it may now return into one." On hearing this the Alban

youth, unarmed, surrounded by armed men, however divided in their

sentiments, yet restrained by the common apprehension, continue silent.

Then Tullus proceeded: "If, Mettus Fuffetius, you were capable of

learning fidelity, and how to observe treaties, that lesson would have

been taught you by me, while still alive. Now, since your disposition is

incurable, do you at least by your punishment teach mankind to consider

those things sacred which have been violated by you. As therefore a

little while since you kept your mind divided between the interest of

Fidenæ and of Rome, so shall you now surrender your body to be torn

asunder in different directions." Upon this, two chariots drawn by four

horses being brought, he ties Mettus extended at full length to their

carriages: then the horses were driven on in different directions,

carrying off the mangled body on each carriage, where the limbs had been

fastened by the cords. All turned away their eyes from so shocking a

spectacle. That was the first and last instance of a punishment among

the Romans regardless of the laws of humanity. In other cases we may

boast that no nation whatever adopted milder forms of punishment.

[Footnote 45: _Præcones ab extremo_. At the farther part of the Roman

camp, where it joined that of the Albans.]

[Footnote 46: As well as by the orders issued by Tullus.]