Produced by David Widger
STORIES FROM LIVY
By The Rev. Alfred Church, M.A.
Professor of Latin in University College, London
With Illustrations From Designs By Pinelli.
Scribner And Welford
MDCCCLXXXIII.
[Illustration: Frontispiece 011]
[Illustration: Titlepage 012]
TO
HENRY FRANCIS CHURCH
BEST OF BROTHERS
PREFACE.
I had wished to say a few words as to the great difficulty of
transforming Livy's ornate diction into the simple style I have hitherto
adopted; but a stroke of illness has prevented my being able even to
correct the proofs--a work which has been carried out for me by my kind
friend, C. Simmons, Esq., of Balliol College, Oxford.
Pymlico, Hadley,
October 2, 1882.
STORIES FROM LIVY.
CHAPTER I. ~~ THE STORY OF ROMULUS AND OF NUMA.
Æneas of Troy, coming to the land of Italy, took to wife Lavinia,
daughter of King Latinus, and built him a city, which he called
Lavinium, after the name of his wife. And, after thirty years, his son
Ascanius went forth from Lavinium with much people, and built him a new
city, which he called Alba. In this city reigned kings of the house and
lineage of Æneas for twelve generations. Of these kings the eleventh in
descent was one Procas, who, having two sons, Numitor and Amulius, left
his kingdom, according to the custom, to Numitor, the elder. But Amulius
drave out his brother, and reigned in his stead. Nor was he content with
this wickedness, but slew all the male children of his brother. And the
daughter of his brother, that was named Rhea Silvia, he chose to be a
priestess of Vesta, making as though he would do the maiden honour; but
his thought was that the name of his brother should perish, for they
that serve Vesta are vowed to perpetual virginity.
But it came to pass that Rhea bare twin sons, whose father, it was said,
was the god Mars. Very wroth was Amulius when he heard this thing;
Rhea he made fast in prison, and the children he gave to certain of his
servants that they should cast them into the river. Now it chanced
that at this season Tiber had overflowed his banks, neither could the
servants come near to the stream of the river; nevertheless they did not
doubt that the children would perish, for all that the overflowing of
the water was neither deep nor of a swift current Thinking then that
they had duly performed the commandment of the King, they set down the
babes in the flood and departed. But after a while the flood abated, and
left the basket wherein the children had been laid on dry ground. And
a she-wolf, coming down from the hill to drink at the river (for the
country in those days was desert and abounding in wild beasts), heard
the crying of the children and ran to them. Nor did she devour them,
but gave them suck; nay, so gentle was she that Faustulus, the King's
shepherd, chancing to go by, saw that she licked them with her tongue.
[Illustration: The Wolf and the Twins 024]
This Faustulus took the children and gave them to his wife to rear; and
these, when they were of age to go by themselves, were not willing to
abide with the flocks and herds, but were hunters, wandering through the
forests that were in those parts. And afterwards, being now come to
full strength, they were not content to slay wild beasts only, but
would assail troops of robbers, as these were returning laden with their
booty, and would divide the spoils among the shepherds. Now there was
held in those days, on the hill that is now called the Palatine,
a yearly festival to the god Pan. This festival King Evander first
ordained, having come from Arcadia, in which land, being a land of
shepherds, Pan that is the god of shepherds is greatly honoured. And
when the young men and their company (for they had gathered a great
company of shepherds about them, and led them in all matters both of
business and of sport) were busy with the festival, there came upon them
certain robbers that had made an ambush in the place, being very wroth
by reason of the booty which they had lost. These laid hands on Remus,
but Romulus they could not take, so fiercely did he fight against them.
Remus, therefore, they delivered up to King Amulius, accusing him of
many things, and chiefly of this, that he and his companions had invaded
the land of Numitor, dealing with them in the fashion of an enemy and
carrying off much spoil. To Numitor, therefore, did the King deliver
Remus, that he might put him to death. Now Faustulus had believed from
the beginning that the children were of the royal house, for he knew
that the babes had been cast into the river by the King's command, and
the time also of his finding them agreed thereto. Nevertheless he had
not judged it expedient to open the matter before due time, but waited
till occasion or necessity should arise. But now, there being such
necessity, he opened the matter to Romulus. Numitor also, when he had
the young man Remus in his custody, knowing that he and his brother were
twins, and that the time agreed, and seeing that they were of a high
spirit, bethought him of his grandsons; and, indeed, having asked many
questions of Remus, was come nigh to knowing of what race he was. And
now also Romulus was ready to help his brother. To come openly with his
whole company he dared not, for he was not a match for the power of King
Amulius; but he bade sundry shepherds make their way to the palace, each
as best he could, appointing to them a time at which they should meet.
And now came Remus also, with a troop of youths gathered together from
the household of Numitor. Then did Romulus and Remus slay King Amulius.
In the meanwhile Numitor gathered the youth of Alba to the citadel,
crying out that they must make the place safe, for that the enemy was
upon them; but when he perceived that the young men had done the deed,
forthwith he called an assembly of the citizens, and set forth to them
the wickedness which his brother had wrought against him, and how his
grandsons had been born and bred and made known to him, and then, in
order, how the tyrant had been slain, himself having counselled the
deed. When he had so spoken the young men came with their company into
the midst of the assembly, and saluted him as King; to which then the
whole multitude agreeing with one consent, Numitor was established upon
the throne.
After this Romulus and his brother conceived this purpose, that, leaving
their grandfather to be king at Alba, they should build for themselves a
new city in the place where, having been at the first left to die, they
had been brought up by Faustulus the shepherd. And to this purpose
many agreed both of the men of Alba and of the Latins, and also of the
shepherds that had followed them from the first, holding it for
certain all of them that Alba and Lavinium would be of small account in
comparison of this new city which they should build together. But while
the brothers were busy with these things, there sprang up afresh the
same evil thing which had before wrought such trouble in their house,
even the lust of power. For though the beginnings of the strife between
them were peaceful, yet did it end in great wickedness. The matter fell
out in this wise. Seeing that the brothers were twins, and that neither
could claim to have the preference to the other in respect of his age,
it was agreed between them that the gods that were the guardians of that
country should make known by means of augury which of the two they chose
to give his name to the new city. Then Romulus stood on the Palatine
hill, and when there had been marked out for him a certain region of
the sky, watched therein for a sign; and Remus watched in like manner,
standing on the Aventine. And to Remus first came a sign, six vultures;
but so soon as the sign had been proclaimed there came another to
Romulus, even twelve vultures. Then they that favoured Remus clamoured
that the gods had chosen him for King, because he had first seen
the birds; and they that favoured Romulus answered that he was to be
preferred because he had seen more in number. This dispute waxed so hot
that they fell to fighting; and in the fight it chanced that Remus was
slain. But some say that when Romulus had marked out the borders of the
town which he would build, and had caused them to build a wall round it,
Remus leapt over the wall, scorning it because it was mean and low; and
that Romulus slew him, crying out, "Thus shall every man perish that
shall dare to leap over my walls." Only others will have it that though
he perished for this cause Romulus slew him not, but a certain Celer.
This much is certain, that Romulus gained the whole kingdom for himself
and called the city after his own name. And now, having first done
sacrifice to the gods, he called a general assembly of the people, that
he might give them laws, knowing that without laws no city can endure.
And judging that these would be the better kept of his subjects if he
should himself bear something of the show of royal majesty, he took
certain signs of dignity, and especially twelve men that should
continually attend him, bearing bundles of rods, and in the midst of the
rods an axe; these men they called _lictors_.
Meanwhile the city increased, for the King and his people enlarged their
borders, looking rather to the greatness for which they hoped than to
that which they had. And that this increase might not be altogether
empty walls without men, Romulus set up a sanctuary, to which were
gathered a great multitude of men from the nations round about. All that
were discontented and lovers of novelty came to him. Nor did he take any
account of their condition, whether they were bond or free, but received
them all. Thus was there added to the city great strength. And the King
when he judged that there was strength sufficient, was minded to add to
the strength counsel. Wherefore he chose a hundred men for counsellors.
A hundred he chose, either because he held that number to be sufficient,
or because there were no more that were fit to bear this dignity and be
called Fathers, for this was the name of these counsellors.
After this the people bethought themselves how they should get for
themselves wives, for there were no women in the place. Wherefore
Romulus sent ambassadors to the nations round about, praying that they
should give their daughters to his people for wives. "Cities," he said,
"have humble beginnings even as all other things. Nevertheless they that
have the gods and their own valour to help become great. Now that the
gods are with us, as ye know, be assured also that valour shall not be
wanting." But the nations round about would not hearken to him, thinking
scorn of this gathering of robbers and slaves and runaways, so that they
said, "Why do ye not open a sanctuary for women also that so ye may
find fit wives for your people?" Also they feared for themselves
and their children what this new city might grow to. Now when the
ambassadors brought back this answer the Romans were greatly wroth, and
would take by force that which their neighbours would not give of their
free will. And to the end that they might do this more easily, King
Romulus appointed certain days whereon he and his people would hold a
festival with games to Neptune; and to this festival he called all
them that dwelt in the cities round about. But when many were gathered
together (for they were fain to see what this new city might be), and
were now wholly bent on the spectacle of the games, the young men of the
Romans ran in upon them, and carried off all such as were unwedded among
the women. To these King Romulus spake kindly, saying, "The fault is not
with us but with your fathers, who dealt proudly with us, and would not
give you to us in marriage. But now ye shall be held in all honour as
our wives, and shall have your portion of all that we possess. Put away
therefore your anger, for ye shall find us so much the better husbands
than other men, as we must be to you not for husbands only but parents
also and native country."
In the meanwhile the parents of them that had been carried off put on
sackcloth, and went about through the cities crying out for vengeance
upon the Romans. And chiefly they sought for help from Titus Tatius,
that was king of the Sabines in those days, and of great power and
renown. But when the Sabines seemed to be tardy in the matter, the men
of Caere first gathered together their army and marched into the country
of the Romans. Against these King Romulus led forth his men and put them
to flight without much ado, having first slain their king with his own
hand. After then returning to Rome he carried the arms which he had
taken from the body of the king to the hill of the Capitol, and laid
them down at the shepherds' oak that stood thereon in those days. And
when he had measured out the length and breadth of a temple that he
would build to Jupiter upon the hill, he said, "O Jupiter, I, King
Romulus, offer to thee these arms of a King, and dedicate therewith
a temple in this place, in which temple they that come after me shall
offer to thee like spoils in like manner, when it shall chance that the
leader of our host shall himself slay with his own hands the leader of
the host of the enemy." And this was the first temple that was dedicated
in Rome. And in all the time to come two only offered in this manner,
to wit, Cornelius Cossus that slew Lars Tolumnius, king of Veii, and
Claudius Marcellus that slew Britomarus, king of the Gauls.
After this, King Tatius and the Sabines came up against Rome with a
great army. And first of all they gained the citadel by treachery in
this manner. One Tarpeius was governor of the citadel, whose daughter,
Tarpeia by name, going forth from the walls to fetch water for a
sacrifice, took money from the King that she should receive certain of
the soldiers within the citadel; but when they had been so received, the
men cast their shields upon her, slaying her with the weight of them.
This they did either that they might be thought to have taken the place
by force, or that they judged it to be well that no faith should be kept
with traitors.
[Illustration: The Death of Tarpeia 038]
Some also tell this tale, that the Sabines wore great bracelets of gold
on their left arms, and on their left hands fair rings with precious
stones therein, and that when the maiden covenanted with them that she
should have for a reward that which they carried in their left hands,
they cast their shields upon her. And other say that she asked for their
shields having the purpose to betray them, and for this cause was slain.
Thus the Sabines had possession of the citadel; and the next day King
Romulus set the battle in array on the plain that lay between the hill
of the Capitol and the hill of the Palatine. And first the Romans were
very eager to recover the citadel, a certain Hostilius being their
leader. But when this man, fighting in the forefront of the battle, was
slain, the Romans turned their backs and fled before the Sabines, even
unto the gate of the Palatine. Then King Romulus (for he himself had
been carried away by the crowd of them that fled) held up his sword
and his spear to the heavens, and cried aloud, "O Jupiter, here in the
Palatine didst thou first, by the tokens which thou sentest me, lay the
foundations of my city. And lo! the Sabines have taken the citadel by
wicked craft, and have crossed the valley, and are come up even hither.
But if thou sufferest them so far, do thou at the least defend this
place against them, and stay this shameful flight of my people. So will
I build a temple for thee in this place, even a temple of Jupiter the
Stayer, that may be a memorial to after generations of how thou didst
this day save this city." And when he had so spoken, even as though he
knew that the prayer had been heard, he cried, "Ye men of Rome, Jupiter
bids you stand fast in this place and renew the battle." And when the
men of Rome heard these words, it was as if a voice from heaven had
spoken to them, and they stood fast, and the King himself went forward
and stood among the foremost. Now the leader of the Sabines was one
Curtius. This man, as he drave the Romans before him, cried out to his
comrades, "See we have conquered these men, false hosts and feeble foes
that they are! Surely now they know that it is one thing to carry off
maidens and another to fight with men." But whilst he boasted himself
thus, King Romulus and a company of the youth rushed upon him. Now
Curtius was fighting on horseback, and being thus assailed he fled,
plunging into a certain pool which lay between the Palatine hill and
the Capitol. Thus did he barely escape with his life, and the lake was
called thereafter Curtius' pool. And now the Sabines began to give
way to the Romans, when suddenly the women for whose sake they fought,
having their hair loosened and their garments rent, ran in between them
that fought, crying out, "Shed ye not each other's blood ye that are
fathers-in-law and sons-in-law to each other. But if ye break this bond
that is between you, slay us that are the cause of this trouble. And
surely it were better for us to die than to live if we be bereaved
of our fathers or of our husbands." With these words they stirred the
hearts both of the chiefs and of the people, so that there was suddenly
made a great silence. And afterwards the leaders came forth to make a
covenant; and these indeed so ordered matters that there was not peace
only, but one state where there had been two. For the Sabines came to
Rome and dwelt there; and King Romulus and King Tatius reigned together.
Only, after a while, certain men of Lanuvium slew King Tatius as he was
sacrificing to the gods at Lavinium; and thereafter Romulus only was
king as before.
When he had reigned thirty and seven years there befell the thing that
shall now be told. On a certain day he called the people together on
the Field of Mars, and held a review of his army. But while he did this
there arose suddenly a great storm with loud thunderings and very
thick clouds, so that the king was hidden away from the eyes of all the
people. Nor indeed was he ever again seen upon the earth. And when men
were recovered of their fear they were in great trouble, because they
had lost their King, though indeed the Fathers would have it that he had
been carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Yet after awhile they began to
worship him as being now a god; and when nevertheless some doubted, and
would even whisper among themselves that Romulus had been torn in pieces
by the Fathers, there came forward a certain Proculus, who spake after
this manner: "Ye men of Rome, this day, in the early morning, I saw
Romulus, the father of this city, come down from heaven and stand before
me. And when great fear came upon me, I prayed that it might be lawful
for me to look upon him face to face. Then said he to me, 'Go thy way,
tell the men of Rome that it is the will of them that dwell in heaven
that Rome should be the chiefest city in the world. Bid them therefore
be diligent in war; and let them know for themselves and tell their
children after them that there is no power on earth so great that it
shall be able to stand against them.' And when he had thus spoken, he
departed from me going up into heaven." All men believed Proculus when
he thus spake, and the people ceased from their sorrow when they knew
that King Romulus had been taken up into heaven.
And now it was needful that another king should be chosen. No man in
those days was more renowned for his righteousness and piety than a
certain Numa Pompilius that dwelt at Cures in the land of the Sabines.
Now it seemed at first to the Senate that the Sabines would be too
powerful in the state if a king should be chosen from amongst them,
nevertheless because they could not agree upon any other man, at last
with one consent they decreed that the kingdom should be offered to him.
And Numa was willing to receive it if only the gods consented. And the
consent of the gods was asked in this fashion. Being led by the augur
into the citadel, he sat down on a stone, with his face looking towards
the south, and on his left hand sat the augur, having his head covered
and in his hand an augur's staff, which is a wand bent at the end and
having no knot. Then looking towards the city and the country round
about, he offered prayers to the Gods and marked out the region of the
sky from the sunrising to the sunsetting; the parts towards the south
he called the right, and the parts towards the north he called the left;
and he set a boundary before as far as his eye could reach. After this
he took his staff in his left hand and laid his right on the head of
Numa, praying in these words: "Father Jupiter, if it be thy will that
this Numa Pompilius, whose head I hold, should be King of Rome, show us,
I pray thee, clear tokens of this thy will within the space which I have
marked out." He then named the tokens which he desired, and when they
had been shown, Numa was declared to be King.
King Numa, considering that the city was but newly founded, and that by
violence and force, conceived that he ought to found it anew, giving it
justice and laws and religion; and that he might soften the manners and
tempers of the people, he would have them cease awhile from war. To this
end he built a temple of Janus, by which it might be signified whether
there was peace or war in the State; for, if it were peace, the gates
of the temple should be shut, but if it were war, they should be open.
Twice only were the gates shut after the days of Numa; for the first
time when Titus Manlius was Consul, after the ending of the first war
against Carthage, and for the second time when the Emperor Augustus,
after vanquishing Antony at Actium, established universal peace both
by land and sea. This temple then King Numa built, and shut the gates
thereof, having first made treaties of peace with the nations round
about.
Many other things did King Numa set in order for his people. First he
divided the year into twelve months, each month being according to the
course of the moon, and in every twenty-fourth year another month, that
the year might so agree with the course of the sun. Also he appointed
certain lawful days for business, and other days on which nothing might
be done. He made priests also, of whom the chief was the priest of
Jupiter, to whom he gave splendid apparel and a chair of ivory. Two
other priests he made, one of Mars, and the other of Quirinus, that
is to say, of Romulus the god. And he chose virgins for the service
of Vesta, who should keep alive the sacred fire, and twelve priests
of Mars, whom he called the Salii, to be keepers of the sacred shield.
(This shield, men said, fell down from heaven, and that it might be kept
the more safely, King Numa commanded that they should make eleven other
shields like unto it.) This shield and its fellows the Salii were to
carry through the city, having on flowered tunics and breastplates of
brass, and dancing and singing hymns. And many other things as to the
worship of the gods, and the interpreting of signs, and the dealing with
marvels and portents, King Numa set in order. And that the people might
regard these laws and customs with the more reverence, he gave out that
he had not devised them of his own wit, but that he had learnt them from
a certain goddess whose name was Egeria, whom he was wont to meet in a
grove that was hard by the city.
King Numa died, having reigned forty and three years; and the people
chose in his room one Tullus Hostilius.