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THE
COMIC HISTORY OF ROME,
FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE CITY TO THE END OF
THE COMMONWEALTH.
[Illustration: _Romulus and Remus discovered by a gentle shepherd._]
[Illustration]
THE
COMIC
HISTORY
OF
ROME
BY GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKET.
ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN LEECH.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STREET.
LONDON:
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
PREFACE
Some explanation is perhaps due from a writer who adopts the title of
Comic in relation to a subject which is ordinarily considered to be so
essentially grave as that of History. Though the epithet may be thought
by many inappropriate to the theme, this work has been prompted by a
very serious desire to instruct those who, though willing to acquire
information, seek in doing so as much amusement as possible.
It is true that professedly Comic literature has been the subject of a
familiarity not unmixed with contempt on the part of a portion of the
public, since that class of writing obtained the popularity which has
especially attended it within the last few years; but as whatever
disrepute it has fallen into is owing entirely to its abuse, there is no
reason for abandoning an attempt to make a right use of it. The title of
Comic has therefore been retained in reference to this work, though the
author has felt that its purport is likely to be misconceived by many,
and among them not a few whose judgment he would highly esteem, who
would turn away from a Comic History solely on account of its name, and
without giving themselves the trouble to look into it. Those persons
are, however, grievously mistaken who have imagined that in this, and in
similar books from the same pen, the object has been to treat History as
a mere farce, or to laugh at Truth--the aim of the writer having
invariably been to expose falsehood, and to bring into merited contempt
all that has been injudiciously, ignorantly, or dishonestly held up to
general admiration. His method of telling a story may be objected to;
nevertheless, if he does his utmost to tell it truly, he ought not,
perhaps, to be very severely criticised for adopting the style in which
he feels himself most at home; and if his opinions are found to be, in
the main, such as just and sensible persons can agree with, he only asks
that his views and sentiments may be estimated by what they contain, and
not by any peculiarity in his mode of expressing them.
The writer of this book is animated by an earnest wish to aid, as far as
he is able, in the project of combining instruction with amusement; and
he trusts he shall not be blamed for endeavouring to render such ability
as he possesses available for as much as it is worth, in applying it to
subjects of useful information.
Those who are not disposed to approve of his design, will perhaps give
him credit for his motive; and he may with confidence assert, that, from
the care and attention he has bestowed upon this work, it will be found
to form (irrespective of its claims to amuse) by no means the least
compendious and correct of the histories already in existence of Rome to
the end of the Commonwealth. If he has failed in justifying the
application of the title of Comic to his work, he has reason to believe
it will be found accurate. Though the style professes to be light, he
would submit that truth does not necessarily make more impression by
being conveyed through a heavy medium; and although facts may be
playfully told, it is hoped that narrative in sport may be found to
constitute history in earnest.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAP. I.--FROM THE FOUNDATION OF ROME TO THE DEATH OF ROMULUS 1
II.--FROM THE ACCESSION OF NUMA POMPILIUS TO THE DEATH OF
ANCUS MARTIUS 14
III.--FROM THE ACCESSION OF TARQUINIUS PRISCUS TO THE DEATH
OF SERVIUS TULLIUS 23
IV.--FROM THE ACCESSION OF TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS TO THE
BANISHMENT OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, AND THE ABOLITION OF
THE KINGLY DIGNITY 33
V.--FROM THE BANISHMENT OF TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS TO THE
BATTLE OF LAKE REGILLUS 43
VI.--FROM THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS TO THE CLOSE OF
THE WAR WITH THE VOLSCIANS 56
VII.--FROM THE CLOSE OF THE WAR WITH THE VOLSCIANS TO THE
PASSING OF THE BILL OF TERENTILLUS 65
VIII.--FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DECEMVIRATE TO THE
TAKING OF VEII 73
IX.--FROM THE TAKING OF ROME BY THE GAULS TO ITS SUBSEQUENT
PRESERVATION BY MANLIUS 89
X.--FROM THE TRIBUNESHIP OF C. LICINIUS TO THE DEFEAT OF
THE GAULS BY VALERIUS 97
XI.--FROM THE FIRST WAR AGAINST THE SAMNITES TO THE PASSING
OF THE LAWS OF PUBLILIUS 107
XII.--FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND TO THE END OF THE
THIRD SAMNITE WAR 116
XIII.--ON THE PEACEFUL OCCUPATIONS OF THE ROMANS. FROM THE
SCARCITY OF SUBJECT, NECESSARILY A VERY SHORT CHAPTER 129
XIV.--FROM THE END OF THE THIRD SAMNITE WAR TO THE
SUBJUGATION OF ALL ITALY BY THE ROMANS 135
XV.--THE FIRST PUNIC WAR 150
XVI.--SOME MISCELLANEOUS WARS OF ROME 161
XVII.--THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 171
XVIII.--CONCLUSION OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 183
XIX.--WAR WITH THE MACEDONIANS. PROCLAMATION OF THE FREEDOM
OF GREECE BY FLAMINIUS. WAR WITH ANTIOCHUS. DEATH OF
HANNIBAL, AND OF SCIPIO AFRICANUS 193
XX.--PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. MORALS, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND STATE
OF THE DRAMA AND LITERATURE AMONG THE ROMANS 204
XXI.--WARS AGAINST PERSEUS. THE THIRD PUNIC WAR. SIEGE AND
DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE, AND DITTO DITTO OF CORINTH 215
XXII.--WARS IN SPAIN. VIRIATHUS. DESTRUCTION OF NUMANTIA.
THE SERVILE WAR IN SICILY. APPROPRIATION OF PERGAMUS 225
XXIII.--THE GRACCHI AND THEIR MOTHER. RISE AND FALL OF
TIBERIUS AND CAIUS GRACCHUS 234
XXIV.--THE JUGURTHINE WAR. WAR AGAINST THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI 247
XXV.--MITHRIDATES, SULLA, MARIUS, CINNA, ET CÆTERA 257
XXVI.--DEATH OF CINNA. RETURN OF SULLA TO ROME. C. PAPIRIUS
CARBO. DICTATORSHIP OF SULLA 267
XXVII.--REACTION AGAINST THE POLICY OF SULLA. SERVICES OF
Q. SERTORIUS. METELLUS. CN. POMPEY. SPIRITED STEPS
OF SPARTACUS. THE IRATE PIRATE 275
XXVIII.--THE THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR. DEPOSITION AND DEATH OF
MITHRIDATES 284
XXIX.--CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE. INTRODUCTION OF CICERO.
CÆSAR, POMPEY, CRASSUS, AND CO. 289
XXX.--OVERTHROW OF CRASSUS. DEFEAT OF POMPEY. DICTATORSHIP
AND DEATH OF CÆSAR. END OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC 299
ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL.
PAGE
1. ROMULUS AND REMUS DISCOVERED BY A GENTLE SHEPHERD i
2. TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS MAKES HIMSELF KING 33
3. APPIUS CLAUDIUS PUNISHED BY THE PEOPLE 80
4. THE GALLANT CURTIUS LEAPING INTO THE GULF 104
5. PYRRHUS ARRIVES IN ITALY WITH HIS TROUPE 138
6. HANNIBAL, WHILST EVEN YET A CHILD, SWEARS ETERNAL HATRED
TO THE ROMANS 168
7. FLAMINIUS RESTORING LIBERTY TO GREECE AT THE ISTHMIAN GAMES 195
8. THE MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI 234
9. MARIUS DISCOVERED IN THE MARSHES AT MINTURNÆ 261
10. CICERO DENOUNCING CATILINE 292
ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
PAGE
Initial T.--Æneas and Anchises 1
Rhea Silvia 4
Romulus Consulting the Augury 6
Remus jumping over the Walls 7
Awful Appearance of the Shade of Remus to Romulus 8
The Romans walking off with the Sabine Women 10
Initial R 14
Numa Pompilius remembering the Grotto 15
Death of Cluilius 17
Combat between the Horatii and Curiatii 19
Initial 23
Celeres 24
Debtor and Creditor. Seizure of Goods for a Debt 28
Initial T 33
Tarquinius Superbus has the Sibylline Books valued 35
The Evil Conscience of Tarquin 37
Mrs. Sextus consoles herself with a Little Party 39
Tail-piece 42
Initial B 43
Aruns and Brutus 45
Horatius Cocles Defending the Bridge 49
Mucius Scævola before Porsenna 51
Clælia and her Companions escaping from the Etruscan Camp 52
Initial T 56
Coriolanus parting from his Wife and Family 63
Initial A 65
A Lictor is sent to arrest Publilius Volero 68
Cincinnatus chosen Dictator 70
Roman Bull and Priest of the Period 73
Virginia carried off by a Minion in the pay of Appius 78
In the foreground of the Tableau may be observed a Patrician
looking very black at the Triumph of the General 83
In all probability something of this sort 84
School-boys flogging the Schoolmaster 88
Initial A.--A Gaul 89
The Citadel saved by the cackling of the Geese 93
Initial R.--Roman Soldier 97
Miss Fabia, the Younger, astonished at the Patrician's
Double-knock 98
Titus threatening Pomponius 103
Terrific Combat between Titus Manlius and a Gaul of gigantic
Stature 105
Initial T 107
A Scare-crow 109
Metius aggravating Titus Manlius 111
The Romans clothed by the Inhabitants
of Capua 119
Samnite Soldier 126
Initial I.--Æsculapius 129
The Ambassadors purchasing Æsculapius 133
Tail-piece 134
Initial R 135
Appearance in the Senate of a young Nobleman, named Meto 139
Self-possession of Fabricius, the Ambassador, under rather
Trying Circumstances 142
Discovery of the Head of Summanus 145
Curius Dentatus refusing the Magnificent Gift offered by the
Samnite Ambassadors 146
Initial A 150
Roman Man-of-War, from a scarce Medal 153
Initial P 161
Hanno announcing to the Mercenaries the Emptiness of the
Public Coffers 162
Early Roman Gladiator and his Patron 165
His Excellency Q. Fabius offering Peace or War to the
Carthaginian Senate 169
Hannibal crossing the Alps 173
Hannibal disguising himself 176
The "Slow Coach" 179
Young Varro 180
Archimedes taking a Warm Bath 186
Considerate Conduct of Scipio Africanus 188
Initial W 193
Hannibal leads the Ambassadors rather a fatiguing Walk round
Carthage 197
Hannibal requesting the Cretan Priests to become his Bankers 200
Hannibal makes the usual neat and appropriate Speech previous
to killing himself 201
Initial I 204
Roman Lady "Shopping" 205
Terence reading his Play to Cæcilius 210
Light Comedy Man of the Period 212
Bacchanalian Group, from a very old Vase 223
Assassination of Viriathus 226
Arrest of Eunus 231
Tib. Gracchus canvassing 238
Melancholy end of Tib. Gracchus 239
Scipio Æmilianus cramming himself for a Speech after a hearty
Supper 240
Rash Act of Caius Gracchus 244
Tail-piece 246
Drusus is Stabbed, and Expires gracefully 254
Initial F 257
"Who dares kill Marius?" 261
Marius in the Ruins of Carthage 263
Marius in his Old Age 266
Funeral Pile of Sulla 274
Initial T--Cæsar and Pompey very much alike, especially Pompey 275
Sertorius and his young Friends 278
Armed Slave 280
Spartacus 281
Mithridates, his rash act 286
Mithridates 287
Initial A--Libertas, Æqualitas, Fraternitas 289
Fulvia 291
Cicero throws up his Brief, like a Gentleman 296
Initial C 299
"Quid times? Cæsarem vehis." 301
The End of Julius Cæsar 308
THE COMIC HISTORY OF ROME.
CHAPTER THE FIRST.
FROM THE FOUNDATION OF ROME TO THE DEATH OF ROMULUS.
[Illustration: Æneas and Anchises.]
The origin of the Romans has long been lost in that impenetrable fog,
the mist of ages; which, it is to be feared, will never clear off, for
it unfortunately seems to grow thicker the more boldly we try to grope
about in it. In the midst of these fogs, some energetic individual will
now and then appear with a pretty powerful link, but there are not
enough of these links to form a connected chain of incidents.
One of the oldest and most popular traditions concerning the origin of
the Romans, is that founded on the remarkable feat of filial pick-a-back
alleged to have been performed by Æneas, who is frequently dragged in
head and shoulders, with his venerable parent, to lead off the march of
events, and, as it were, open the ball of history.
It is said that after[1] the siege of Troy, Æneas snatched up his Lares
and Penates in one hand, and his father, Anchises, in the other; when,
flinging the former over the right shoulder, and the latter over the
left, he ran down to the sea-shore, called "A boat a-hoy," and escaped
from the jaws of destruction into the mouth of the Tiber. There are many
reasons for disbelieving this story, and it is quite enough to deprive
it of weight to consider what must have been the weight of Anchises
himself, and the large bundle of household images that Æneas is alleged
to have been burdened with. Putting probability in one scale, and an
elderly gentleman, with a lot of Lares and a parcel of Penates in the
other, there can be no doubt which will preponderate. It happens, also,
that Troy is usually said to have been destroyed 430 years before Rome
was founded,[2] so that it would have been to this day as unfounded as
the tale itself, if the city had had no other foundation than that which
Æneas was supposed to have given it.
The Latin Bards have adorned this story in their own peculiar way, by
adding that Æneas, on his arrival in the Tiber, resolved to sacrifice a
milk white sow, in gratitude for his safety. The sow, who must have been
an ancestor of the learned pig, got scent of her fate, and running two
or three miles up the country, produced a sad litter of thirty little
ones; when Æneas, fancying he heard a voice telling him to build a town
on the spot, determined, "please the pigs," to found a city there. The
classical story-teller goes on to say, that Latinus, king of the Latins,
happened to be at war with Turnus--or as we might call him Turner--King
of the Rutuli, when the Trojans arrived, and the former, thinking it
better worth his while to make friends than foes of the immigrants, gave
them a tract of land, which rendered them extremely tractable. On the
principle that one good turn deserves another, they turned round upon
Turnus, and completely routed the Rutuli. Latinus, to show his
gratitude, gave Lavinia--not the "lovely young" one, who Thomson tells
us, "once had friends;" but his own daughter of that name--in marriage
to Æneas, who at the death of his father-in-law, ruled over the city,
and called his colony Lavinium. Tradition tells us further that Æneas
had a son, Ascanius, sometimes called Parvus Iulus, or little Juli, who
subsequently left Lavinium, and built Alba Longa--a sort of classical
long acre--in that desirable neighbourhood known as the Alban Mount,
which, from its becoming subsequently the most fashionable part of the
city, may deserve the name of the Roman Albany.
The descendants of Ascanius are said to have reigned 300 years, and an
attempt has been made to fill up the gap of these three centuries with a
quantity of dry rubbish of the antiquarian kind, which occupies space,
without affording anything like a solid foundation for the structure to
be built upon it. Of such a nature is the catalogue of matters alleged
to have connected Æneas with the actual founders of Rome; but though
names and dates are given, there is little doubt that the value of
names is not even nominal, and that if we trust the dates, we shall
rely on the falsest data.
The spirit of antiquarianism is as ancient as the subjects on which it
employs its ingenuity, and the Romans began puzzling themselves at a
very early period about their own origin. A long course of fabrication
ended in rearing up a legendary fabric, which was acknowledged by all
the Roman bards; and however much they may have doubted the truth of the
tale, they deserve some credit for the consistency with which they have
adhered to it.
The legend states that one Procas, belonging to the family of the
Silvii, or Silvers, had two sons,--the elder, to whom the kingdom was
left, being called Numitor, and the younger going by the name of
Amulius. Though Numitor was the bigger brother, he does not seem to have
been, pugilistically speaking, the better man, for he was deprived of
the kingdom by Amulius, who, to prevent the chances of the law of
primogeniture again taking effect, by placing any of Numitor's
descendants on the throne, caused Rhea Silvia, the only daughter of that
individual to become a virgin in the Temple of Vesta. The Vestals were,
in fact, the old original nuns, withdrawing themselves from the world,
and entering into a solemn vow against marriage during thirty years;
after which period they were free to wed, though they were scarcely ever
invited to avail themselves of their rather tardy privilege. The senior
sister went by the highly respectable name of Virgo Maxima--or old maid
in chief--and was doubtless something more than ordinary in her
appearance, as well as in her position. The Vestals were required to be
plain in their dress, and in order to extend this plainness as far as
possible to their looks, their hair was cut very short, however much
they may have been distressed at parting with their tresses. Their chief
duty consisted in keeping up the fire on the altar of Vesta, and they
were prohibited on pain of death from giving to any other flame the
smallest encouragement. In the event of such an offence having been
committed by an unfortunate Vestal, who found her position little better
than being buried alive, she was made to undergo literally that awful
penalty.
Though the duties of the Vestals were rigidly enforced, and the letting
out of the sacred fire was, in some cases, punished by the extinction of
the delinquent's vital spark, they enjoyed some peculiar advantages.
Though their acts were under strict control, they were, in one sense,
allowed a will of their own; for they were permitted, even when under
age, to make their own testaments. They occupied reserved seats at
public entertainments; and if they happened to meet a criminal in
custody, they had the privilege of releasing him from the hands of the
police of the period. Notwithstanding these inducements, the office of
Vestal was not in much request; and, in the event of a vacancy, it was
awarded by lot to some young lady, whose dissatisfaction with her lot
was usually very visible. Such is a brief outline of the duties and
liabilities of the order into which Amulius forced his niece, and it
has been the subject of complaint in more recent times that Rome still
occasionally does as Rome used to do. We will now return to Rhea Silvia,
who appears to have entered the service of the goddess as a
maid-of-all-work; for she was in the habit of going to draw water from a
well; and it was on one of these aquatic excursions she met with a
military man, passing himself off as Mars who paid his addresses to her,
and proved irresistible.
[Illustration: Rhea Silvia.]
Rhea Silvia gave birth to twins; upon which her cruel uncle ordered her
to be put to death, and desired that her infant offspring should be
treated as a couple of unwelcome puppies, and got rid of by drowning in
the ordinary manner.
The children were placed in a cradle, or, as some say, a bowl, and
turned adrift on the river; so that Amulius, if he had any misgiving as
to the security of his crown, preferred to drown it in the bowl with his
unhappy little relatives.
It happened that there had been such a run on the banks of the Tiber,
that its coffers or coffer-dams had poured out their contents all over
the adjacent plains, and caused a very extensive distribution of its
currency. Among other valuable deposits, it chanced to lodge for
security, in a branch connected with the bank, the children of Rhea
Silvia, who, by the way, must have been very fortunate under the
circumstances, in being able to keep a balance. The infants were not in
a very enviable condition; for there was nobody to board and lodge them,
though the Tiber was still at hand to wash and do for them. The high
tide proved a tide of good fortune to the children, who were floated so
far inland, that when the river receded, they were left high and dry at
the foot of a fig[3] tree, with no one, apparently, to care a fig what
became of them. Under these circumstances a she-wolf, who had gone down
to the Tiber to drink, heard the whimpering of the babies among the
trees, and, her attention being drawn off from the water in the river to
the whine in the wood, she came forward in the most handsome manner in
the capacity of a wet-nurse to give them suck and succour. How this wolf
became possessed of so much of the milk of human kindness, does not
appear, and it is not perhaps worth while to inquire.
The children, it is said, were awakened by receiving a gentle licking
from the tongue of the animal standing _in loco parentis_ over them.
Finding the situation damp, the wolf removed the infants to her den,
where they were visited by a philanthropic woodpecker; who, when they
were hungry, would bring them some tempting grub, or worm, by which the
woodpecker soon wormed itself into the children's confidence. Other
members of the feathered tribe made themselves useful in this novel
nursery, by keeping off the insects; and many a gnat found itself--or
rather lost itself--unexpectedly in the throat of some remorseless
swallow. However well-meaning the animal may have been, the children
could not have profited greatly, if there had been no one ready to take
them from the month; and happily Faustulus, the king's shepherd, who had
watched them as they were being carried to the wolf's cave or loup-hole,
provided them with another loophole to get out of it. Taking advantage
of the wolf's temporary absence from home, the "gentle shepherd,"
resolving to rescue the children, by hook or by crook, removed the babes
to his own hut, and handed them over to his wife Laurentia, as a sort of
supplement to their previously rather extensive family.
Some historians, refusing to believe the story of the Wolf and the
Woodpecker, have endeavoured to reconcile probability with tradition, by
suggesting that the wife of Faustulus had got the name of the Wolf from
the contrast she presented to her lamb-like husband, and that the
supposed woodpecker was simply a hen-pecker, in the person of
Laurentia.
[Illustration: Romulus consulting the Augury.]
[Illustration: Remus jumping over the Walls.]
Romulus and Remus were the names of the two infants, who, as they grew
up, began to take after their foster-mother the wolf, turning out
exceedingly wild lads, with a lupine propensity for worrying the flocks,
and going on altogether in a very brutal manner. Remus was taken up on a
charge of sheep stealing, or something very like it, and brought before
Numitor, his own grandfather, when a recognition took place in a manner
not much in accordance with the ordinary rules of evidence. Romulus had
also been apprised of his relationship by Faustulus, who must have made
a pretty bold guess at a fact he could not have known; and the two lads,
being adopted by Numitor, were sent for their education to Gabii, where
everything was taught that men of rank in those days were expected to
learn, and whence the word Gaby is clearly derivable. Anxious to do
something for the old gentleman, their grandfather, Romulus and Remus
got up a demonstration in his favour, and they succeeded in restoring
him to the throne of Alba Longa, a long row of white houses, which was
less of a territory than a Terrace, and it is a strange coincidence that
Terracina, or little Terrace, formed one end of it. Amulius was killed,
and leaving Numitor sole master of White's Row, Romulus and Remus
resolved on a building speculation a great deal higher up--that is to
say on the spot where they had passed the days of their infancy. Before
the new city was commenced, a dispute arose, first, about what it
should be called, and secondly, as to who should govern it. Romulus and
Remus, being twins, could not bring the law of primogeniture to bear
upon their little differences, and it was therefore agreed to refer the
matter to augury, which should decide who was to be inaugurated as the
ruler of the new colony. Romulus mounted the Palatine Mount, and Remus
took his station on the Aventine, when both began to keep a very sharp
look out for something ominous. Remus was the first to remark something
odd in the shape of six vultures flying from north to south, but Romulus
no sooner heard the news than he declared he had seen twelve, and the
question arose whether, figuratively speaking, the one bird in hand seen
by Remus should outweigh the two in the bush that subsequently appeared
to Romulus. The augur, when appealed to, gave, as usual, a very
ambiguous answer. It amounted, in effect, to the observation that there
were six of one and a dozen of the other; so that the soothsayer,
instead of having said anything to soothe, was far more likely to
irritate. Both parties claimed the victory; Remus contending for the
precedence usually granted to the early bird, and Romulus maintaining
that he had been specially favoured, by having been permitted to see so
many birds of a feather flock together. Romulus accordingly commenced
drawing his plans in the Etruscan fashion, by causing a boundary line to
be marked out with a plough, to which were yoked a heifer and a bull, a
ceremony from which, perhaps, the English term bulwarks, and the French
word boulevards or bulvards, may or may not be derivable. The line thus
traced was called the Pomœrium, and where an entrance was to be made, it
was customary to carry the plough across the space--a little engineering
difficulty that gave the name of Porta to a gate, from the verb
_portare_, to carry. Remus looked on at the proceedings in a
half-quizzing, half-quarrelsome spirit, until the wall rose a little
above the ground, when he amused himself by leaping derisively over it.
"Thus," said he, "will the enemy leap over those barriers." "And thus,"
rejoined the superintendent or clerk of the works--one Celer, who acted
in this instance with thoughtless celerity--"thus shall die whoever may
leap over my barriers."[4] With these words he gave Remus a mortal
blow, and the legend goes on to state, that Romulus was immediately
seized with remorse, and subsequent visits from his brother's ghost
rendered Romulus himself little better than the ghost of what he used to
be. Remus showed as much spirit after his decease as during his
lifetime; and took the form of the deadly nightshade, springing up at
the bed-side, to poison the existence of his brother.
[Illustration: Awful appearance of the Shade of Remus to Romulus.]
Tradition tells us that Romulus came at length to terms with the ghost,
who agreed to discontinue his visits, in consideration of the
establishment of the festival of the Lemuria--called, originally,
Remuria--in honour of his memory. The rites were celebrated
bare-footed--an appropriate penalty for one who had stepped into a
brother's shoes; the hands were thrice washed--a process much needed, as
a sort of expiation for dirty work;--and black beans were thrown four
times behind the back, with the superstitious belief that the growing up
of the beans would prevent the stalking abroad of evil spirits. The
unfortunate twin was buried on Mount Aventine, and Romulus ordered a
double set of sceptres, crowns, and royal badges, in order that he might
set up one set by the side of his own, in honour of his late relative.
These duplicates of mere senseless symbols served only to commemorate
the double part which Romulus had acted; for a vacant throne and a
headless crown were but empty tributes to a murdered brother's memory.
The city having been built, was found considerably too large for the
people there were to live in it; and as a place cannot, like a garment,
be made to fit by taking it in, there was no alternative but to fill the
city with any stuff that might serve for stuffing. Romulus, therefore,
threw open his gates to any one who chose to walk in, which caused an
influx of those who, from having no character at all, usually go under
the denomination of all sorts of characters. Society became terribly
mixed, and, in fact, the place was a kind of Van Demon's Land, crammed
with criminals, replete with runaway slaves, and forming--in a word--a
regular refuge for the morally destitute. It says something for the
females of the period, that women were very scarce at Rome, and it is
surprising that some learned philologist has never yet made the remark,
that the fact of the word Ro-man being familiar to us all, while there
is no such term as Ro-woman, may be taken as a collateral proof of the
scarcity of the gentler sex in the city founded by Romulus.
The ladies of the neighbourhood were indisposed to listen to the
addresses of the male population of Rome, which was quite bad enough to
suggest the possibility of the Latin word _male-factor_ having supplied
the distinctive epithet "male" to the ruder sex in general. In vain were
proposals of marriage made to the maidens of the adjoining states, who
one and all declared they would not change their state by becoming the
wives of Romans. Irritated by these refusals, Romulus determined to
prove himself more than a match for these women, every one of whom
thought herself too good a match for any of his people. He announced his
intention to give a party or pic-nic for the celebration of the
Consualia, which were games in honour of Consus, the god of Counsel,--a
sort of lawyer's frolic, in which a mole was sacrificed, probably
because working in the dark was always the characteristic of the legal
fraternity. Invitations to these games were issued in due form to the
Latins and Sabines, with their wives and daughters, many of whom flocked
to the spot, under the influence of female curiosity.
[Illustration: _The Romans walking off with the Sabine Women._]
The weather being propitious, all the Sabine beauty and fashion were
attracted to the place, and the games, consisting of horse-racing, gave
to the scene all the animation of a cup day at Ascot. Suddenly, at a
preconcerted signal, there was a general elopement of the Roman youth
with the Sabine ladies, who were, in the most ungallant manner,
abandoned to their fate by the Sabine gentlemen. It is true that the
latter were taken by surprise, but they certainly made the very best of
their way home before they thought of avenging the wrong and insult that
had been committed. Had they been all married ladies who were carried
off, the cynic might have suggested that the Sabine husbands would not
have objected to a cheap mode of divorce, but--to make use of an
Irishism--there was only one single woman who happened to be a wife in
the whole of the "goodly company." The small Latin states, Antennæ,
Crustumerium, and Cœnina, were very angry at the supineness of the
Sabines, whose King--one Tatius--seemed disposed to take the thing
rather too tacitly. The three states above mentioned commenced an action
on their own account, and Acron, the King of Cœnina, fell in battle by
the hand of Romulus, who, stripping off the apparel of the foe, caused
it to be carried to Rome and hung upon an oak, where the arms and armour
of Acron, glittering among the acorns, were dedicated, as _Spolia
opima_, to Jupiter Feretrius.[5]
Though Tatius had been the last, he was not destined to be the least of
those taking part in the Sabine war; and he determined to rely less on
strategy than stratagem. The water in those days was not so well laid on
as in later times; when the lofty aqueducts, still running in ruins
about the neighbourhood of Rome, were carried to an elevation fitted for
the very highest service that could be desired. Rome, instead of being
well supplied, was supplied by wells; and ladies of rank were accustomed
to draw the water required for domestic purposes. It chanced, one
afternoon, that Tarpeia, the daughter of Tarpeius, the commander of the
Roman city, on the Capitoline Hill, was proceeding on an errand of the
sort, when she met with Tatius, who, addressing her in the language of a
friend, requested "a drink" of her pitcher. Tarpeia, dazzled by the
splendour of his gold bracelets and glittering armour, could not resist
the request of such a highly polished gentleman. Tatius had purposely
electrotyped himself for the interview, and, seeing the effect he had
produced, he intimated that he had several friends, who were covered
with metal quite as attractive as that he wore, and that, if Tarpeia
would only open the gate of the citadel to himself and party, she should
have more gold than she could carry. The bargain was faithfully kept on
both sides; for Tarpeia opened the gate to Tatius and the Sabines, who,
on their part performed their contract to the letter, for, as they
entered, they threw at her not only their bracelets but their
breast-plates, completely crushing her with the weight of the gold she
had coveted; and making her think, no doubt, that "never was poor woman
so unmercifully put upon." So thorough an illustration of an _embarras
des richesses_ is not often met with in history.
Being now possessed of the Capitoline, the Sabines were in an improved
position; and the Romans, having tried in vain to recover the citadel,
saw that they must either give in or give battle. Determining on the
latter course, Romulus selected the valley between the Palatine and the
Capitoline, where a general engagement began; but the Romans seemed to
have special engagements elsewhere, for they were all running away, when
their leader, with great tact, vowed a Temple to Jupiter Stator--the
flight-stayer. This gave to the action a decided re-action; for the
Romans, being rallied upon their cowardice, by their chief, began, in
their turn, to rally. The contest grew fierce on both sides, when
suddenly the Sabine ladies, who were the primary cause of the quarrel,
threw themselves into the midst; and, though female interference has
rarely the effect of making peace, the women were, on this occasion, the
cause of a cessation of hostility. It was agreed that the two nations
should be henceforth united under the name of Romans and Quirites, each
having a distinct king, a distinction which, had it continued, must in
time have led to a difference. In a few years, however, Tatius was slain
at a sacrifice which he had attended without the remotest idea of being
made a victim himself; and Romulus, finding nothing said about a
successor, thought it politic to hush the matter up without even
avenging his late colleague. Romulus is said to have reigned for
seven-and-thirty years; but when we enquire into the exact time and
manner of his death we learn nothing, beyond the fact that nobody knows
what became of him. According to the statement of one set of
authorities, he was attending a review in the Palus Capræ--a marsh near
the Tiber--when a total eclipse of the sun took place, and on the return
of light, Romulus was nowhere visible. If this was really the case, it
is probable that he got into a perilous swamp, where he felt a rapid
sinking; and all his attendants being in the dark as to his situation
were unable to extricate him from the marsh in which, according to some
authorities, he went down to posterity.
It must, however, be confessed, that when we look for the cause of
the death of Romulus in this fatal swamp, we have but very poor
ground to go upon. It is, nevertheless, some consolation to us for the
mystery that overhangs the place and manner of his decease, that his
existence is, after all, quite apocryphal; and we are not expected to go
into an elaborate inquiry when, where, and how he died, until the fact
of his having ever lived at all has been satisfactorily settled.
Before we have quite done with Romulus, it will be proper to state
how he is said to have divided the people under his sovereignty. He
is alleged to have separated them into three tribes--the Latin word
_tribus_ will here suggest itself to the acute student--namely the Ramnes,
called after the Romans; the Tities, after Titus Tatius; and the Luceres,
who derived their appellation either from one Lucumo, an Etruscan
ally of Romulus, or Lucerus a king of Ardea; or _lucus_ a grove, because
there was no grove, and hence we get _lucerus a non luco_, on the same
principle as _lucus a non lucendo_: or lastly, according to Niebuhr's
opinion, from a place called Lucer or Lucerum, which the Luceres
might have inhabited.
Each tribe was divided into ten _curiæ_,[6] every one of which had a
chapel for the performance of sacred rites, and was presided over by a
_curio_; and the reader must have little curiosity, indeed, if he does
not ask whether our modern word curate may not be referred to this
remote origin. The _curiæ_ were subdivided into gentes, or clans, and
each gens consisted of several families, called gentiles; so that a man
of family and a member of the gentes, became somewhat synonymous. In
time, however, the gentiles got very much mixed by unsuitable marriages;
and hence there arose among those who could claim to belong to a gens, a
distinction similar to that between the _gentes_, or _gents_, of our own
day, and the _gentiles_, or _gentlemen_. Romulus is said to have
selected his body-guard from the three tribes, taking one hundred from
each, and as Celer, the Etruscan, was their captain, the guards got the
name of Celeres--the fast men of the period.
In addition to the tribes, there existed in those early times a separate
body, consisting of slaves, and a somewhat higher class, called by the
name of clients.[7] The latter belonged to the common people, each of
whom was permitted to choose from among the patricians a _patronus_, or
patron, who could claim the life and fortune of his client in exchange
for the cheaper commodities of protection and patronage. The patron gave
his countenance and advice when asked, the client giving his labour and
his money when wanted--an arrangement which proves that clients, from
the remotest times to the present hour, were liable to pecuniary mulcts,
even to the extent of the entire sacrifice of the whole of their
subsistence, for the benefit of those who had the privilege of advising
them.
The Senate--a term derived from the Latin word _Senes_, old men--formed
the chief council of the state, and its first institution is usually
referred to the reign of Romulus. Three members were nominated by each
tribe, and three by each of the thirty _curiæ_, making ninety-nine in
all, to which Romulus himself is said to have added one, for the purpose
of making up round numbers, and at the same time nominating a sort of
president over the assembly, who also had to take care of the city, in
the absence of the sovereign. There is a difference of opinion as to
whether one hundred new members were added to the Senate at the time of
the union with the Sabines, for Dionysius says there were; but Livy says
there were not; and we are disposed to attach credit to the former, for
he was an extremely particular man, while Livy was frequently oblivious
of caution in giving credence and currency to mere tradition.
Before closing this portion of the narrative of the History of Rome, it
is necessary to warn the reader against believing too much of it. The
current legends are, indeed, _Legenda_, or things to be read, because
every body is in the habit of repeating them; but the student must guard
himself against placing credence in the old remark, that "what everybody
says must be true," for here is a direct instance of what everybody says
being decidedly otherwise. The life and reign of Romulus, are to be
taken not simply _cum grano salis_--with a grain of salt--but with an
entire cellar of that condiment, which is so useful in correcting the
evil consequences of swallowing too much of anything.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Lares of the Romans are supposed to have been the Manes or
shades of their ancestors, and consisted of little waxen figures--such
as we should put under shades made of glass--which adorned the halls of
houses. The Lares were sewn up in stout dog's-skin, durability being
consulted more than elegance. The Penates were a superior order of
deities, who were kept in the innermost parts of the establishment, and
took their name from _penitus_, within, which caused the portion of the
house they occupied to be afterwards called the _penetralia_.
[2] Troy destroyed, B.C. 1184. Rome founded, B.C. 753.
[3] From this circumstance the fig was considered figurative of the
foundation of the city, and held sacred in Rome for many centuries.
[4] The Pomœrium was not the actual wall, but a boundary line, held very
sacred by the Romans. It consisted of nothing but the clod turned
inwards by the furrow, and, it is probable, that the offensive act of
Remus was not his leaping over the wall, but his hopping over the clod,
which would, naturally, excite indignation against him as an unmannerly
clod-hopper.
[5] The word Feretrius will strike the merest tyro as being derived from
_fero_, to strike, and meaning to designate Jupiter in his character of
Striker, or Smiter.
[6] The best derivation of the word _curia_ is _quiris_, which, on
inquiry, is found to correspond with _curis_.
[7] The word "client" is probably derived from _cluere_, to hear or
obey--at all events cluere is the best clue we can give to the origin of
the word in question.
CHAPTER THE SECOND.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF NUMA POMPILIUS TO THE DEATH OF ANCUS MARTIUS.
[Illustration]
Romulus having been swamped in the marsh of Capra, or having disappeared
down one of those drains, which have carried away into the great sea of
conjecture so many of the facts of former ages, the senate put off from
week to week, and from this day se'nnight to that day se'nnight the
choice of a successor. The honourable members agreed to try their hands
at Government by turns, and they took the sceptre for five days each by
a constant rotation, which any wheel, and more particularly a
commonwheal, was sure to suffer from. The people growing tired of this
unprofitable game of fives, which threw everything into a state of sixes
and sevens, clamoured so loudly to be reduced under one head, that
permission was given them to elect a sovereign. Their choice fell upon
Numa Pompilius, because he was born on the day of the foundation of the
city; so that he may be said to have succeeded by birth to the berth of
chief magistrate. Numa Pompilius was a Sabine, who we are told had been
instructed by Pythagoras, and we should be happy to believe what we are
told, if we did not happen to know that the sage belonged to quite a
different time, having lived two hundred years later than the alleged
existence of the pupil.
Before entering on his duties, the newly chosen king consulted the
augurs, with one of whom he walked up to the Temple on the Saturnian
Hill, where Numa, seated on a stone, looked to the south as far as he
could see, in order to ascertain whether there was any impediment to his
views and prospects. In the earliest periods of the history of Rome no
office was undertaken without a consultation of the augurs, or auspices;
and the continued use of these words affords proof of the ancient custom
to which they relate; though inauguration now takes place under auspices
of a very different character. The recognised signs of those times were
only two, consisting of the lightning, by means of which the truth was
supposed to flash across the augur's mind; and, secondly, the birds,
who, by being consulted for something singular in their singing, or
eccentric in their flying, might, had they known it, have fairly plumed
themselves on the honours done to them. A crow on the left betokened
that things were looking black, but the same bird on the right imparted
to everything a brighter colour; and as these birds are in the habit of
wandering right and left, the augurs could always declare there was
something to be said on both sides.
Numa Pompilius was, according to all accounts, a just ruler, and he
began his career in a ruler-like manner by drawing several straight
lines about Rome, to mark its boundaries. He placed these under a deity,
termed Terminus, and he erected twelve stones within a stone's throw of
each other, at regular intervals along the frontier. These were visited
once a year by twelve officers, called Fratres Arvales, appointed for
the purpose, and the custom originated, no doubt, the parochial practice
of perambulating parishes with wands and staves, placed in the hands of
beadles, who not unfrequently add the luxury of beating the boys to the
ceremony of beating the boundaries.
[Illustration: Numa Pompilius remembering the Grotto.]
Numa, though he had come to the throne, was fond of the retired walks of
life, and frequently took a solitary stroll in the suburbs. During one
of his rambles chance brought him to a grotto, and he was induced to
remember the grotto by the surpassing loveliness of its fair inhabitant.
Her name was Egeria, her profession that of a fortune-teller, which gave
her such an influence over the superstitious mind of Numa, that she
ruled him with her divining rod as completely as if it had been a rod of
iron. He professed to act under the advice of this nymph, to whom
tradition--an inveterate match-maker--has married him, and he instituted
the Flamines, an order of priests, to give weight to the falsehoods or
"flams" he thought fit to promulgate. The privileges of the Flamines
were not altogether of the most comfortable kind, and consisted chiefly
in the right of wearing the Apex--a cap made of olive wood--and the
Laena, a sort of Roman wrap-rascal, shaggy on both sides, and worn above
the toga, as an overcoat. The Flamen was prohibited from appearing in
public without his Apex, which could not be kept on the head without
strings; but such was the stringency of the regulations, that one
Sulpicius[8] was deprived of his priesthood, in consequence of his
official hat, which was as light as a modern zephyr, having been blown
off his head in the midst of a sacrifice.
Numa added, also, a sort of _ballet_ company to the mythological
arrangements of his day, by establishing twelve _Salii_, or dancing
priests, whose duty it was to execute a grand _pas de douze_ on certain
occasions through the principal public thorough fares. The Salii, though
a highly respectable, were not a very venerable order, for no one could
remain in it whose father and mother were not both alive, the existence
of the parents of the dancing priests being, no doubt, required as a
guarantee that their dancing days were not yet over.
Several temples are dated from this reign, including that of Janus, the
double-faced deity, who presided over peace and war--a most appropriate
office to one capable of looking two ways at once, for there are always
two sides to every quarrel. This temple must have been perfectly useless
during the life of its founder, for it was never to be opened in the
time of peace, and Numa preserved for Rome forty-three years of
undisturbed tranquillity. He was emphatically the friend of order, and
its usual consequences, prosperity to trade, with soundness of credit,
and he encouraged commerce by giving a patron-saint or Lar to every
industrial occupation. He marked also the value of good faith by
building a temple to Bona Fides, and it may be presumed that the
creditor, who, putting up with the loss of his little bill, sacrificed a
bad debt in this Temple, was still in hope that he should eventually
find his account in it.
If it cannot be said that Numa never lost a day, it must be admitted
that he made the most of his time; for he added two whole months to the
year of Romulus. January and February were the names given to the time
thus gained; but as the year did not then correspond with the course of
the sun, it was usual to introduce, every other year, a supplementary
month, so that if one year was too short, the next, by being too long,
made it as broad as it was long in the aggregate.
Numa Pompilius lived to be eighty-two; when he had the beatitude of
dying as peacefully as he had lived; and so gently had Nature dealt with
him, that she had suffered him to run up more than four scores, before
her debt was satisfied. Certain stories are told of the funeral
ceremonies that followed Numa's death; and it is said that the Senators
acted as porters to his bier, in token of their appreciation of the
imperial measures which Numa had himself carried. It has been stated,
also, that he caused to be placed, within his tomb, a copy, on papyrus,
or palm leaves,[9] of his own works, in twenty-four books; and it is
certainly a happy idea to bury an author with his writings, when, if
they have been provocative of sleep in others, he may eventually reap
the benefit of their somniferous properties.