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But, whatever may be the case, whether our author must lie under the reproach of softening facts in some instances, or even of suppressing them in others, yet will his genius and talents, as an historian, ever be respected. He cannot be denied the merit of having furnished us with a perfect model of historical composition, in the purest and most elegant style; more remarkable for perspicuity of narration, and neatness of expression, than for depth of reasoning, or pomp of diction. Although he seldom digresses, and but rarely indulges in moral observations or philosophical reflections, yet he never loses sight of what he himself lays down in his preface as the great object of history: the furnishing “clear and distinct examples of every line of conduct; that we may select for ourselves, and for the state to which we belong, such as are worthy of imitation; and carefully noting such, as, being dishonourable in their principles, are equally so in their effects, learn to avoid them.”

Such are the principal facts alleged to prove our Edition: current; Page: [xxvi] historian’s neglect of veracity in his narration: rigorous, and, it may be, invidious scrutiny, has noted some few more; but they are of little importance: and, as it is not improbable, so it is not unfair to suppose, that the paucity of cotemporary historians may have induced those, who were also predisposed, to believe that to be false, which fuller information might perhaps have proved to be true. Why may we not believe that he had better opportunities of knowing the truth than the Greek historian? He admits Polybius to be an author of credit, and yet he differs from him without scruple: he cannot, then, surely, be thought to mean more than that he was a writer of integrity, who compiled his history with fidelity, according to the best information he was able to obtain: that he did not wilfully falsify any fact, rather than that every fact he relates is strictly and absolutely true. He acknowledges him for his master, but does not conceive himself bound to swear to his words.

That he generously restored a beautiful captive to her parents, and to her intended spouse, Livy and Polybius are agreed; but they differ somewhat in the account of that affair. Polybius tells us, that a party of Roman youth, having taken captive a damsel of exquisite beauty, brought her to Scipio, whom they knew to be much attached to the sex; and he makes Scipio say to them, that “a more acceptable gift could not have been presented to him, were he in a private station: but that, in his situation of general, he could by no means accept of it.” Livy suppresses entirely the circumstance of his favourite’s amorous disposition: and yet, what he represents him as saying to Allucius, bears so strong a resemblance to his answer, recorded by Polybius, though he gives it a different turn, to accommodate it to his purpose, that we cannot doubt his having had this passage in his eye: “If my thoughts were not totally employed by the affairs of the public, and if I were at liberty to indulge in the pleasurable pursuits adapted to my time of life,” &c.

Another, and a very remarkable instance of partiality Edition: current; Page: [xxiv] to the character of his countrymen, we have in his celebrated account of Scipio Africanus; who seems, above all others mentioned in his History, to have engaged his fondest, and, as he himself admits, his partial attention: for when he first introduces him, he does it in the most advantageous manner, as a youth who had scarcely attained to manhood, rescuing his father, who was wounded in a battle with Hannibal. “This,” says he, “is the same youth who is, hereafter, to enjoy the renown of terminating this war, and to receive the title of Africanus, on account of his glorious victory over Hannibal and the Carthaginians.” He then, in a manner, avows his partiality; for he tells us, that Cœlius attributes the honour of saving the consul to a slave, by nation a Ligurian: “but I rather wish the account to be true which gives it to his son; and so the fact is represented by most authors, and generally believed.”

Another instance of his partiality to his countrymen may be found in his account of the murder of Brachyllas, who, he tells us, was made Bœotarch, or chief magistrate of the Bœotians, “for no other reason, than because he had been commander of the Bœotians serving in the army of Philip; passing by Zeuxippus, Pisistratus, and the others who had promoted the alliance with Rome.” That these men, offended at present, and alarmed about future consequences, resolved to take off Brachyllas, and accordingly procured six assassins, who put him to death. In these, and other circumstances, our author perfectly agrees with Polybius, whose account of this whole affair he seems to have almost literally copied; with the omission, however, out of tenderness for the character of Quintius, of a very material circumstance; which is, that the project of murdering Brachyllas was first opened in a conference between Zeuxis, Pisistratus, and Quintius, who told them, that he would not himself do any thing to promote it; but that, if they were disposed to the execution of such a plan, he would do nothing to obstruct it: and he adds, that he directed them to confer upon the matter with Alexamenes, the Ætolian, who was the person, he says, that procured the assassins.

It has been urged in defence of Livy, that, in his twelfth book, he gave the account of the affair of Sardinia: and that, if that book had not been lost, it might from thence have appeared, that the conduct of the Romans in that transaction was perfectly justifiable; and that, consequently, what he has suppressed of Polybius’s argument, he has omitted, not so much to favour the cause of his own countrymen, as because he knew the allegations therein to be false. It must, however, be observed, that Polybius was neither a Roman nor a Carthaginian; that he has always been held to be an historian of the highest credit, and the strictest impartiality; that he lived nearer the times he writes of than Livy, and was a most diligent inquirer into the truth of the facts which he relates in his history; that he was by no means unfriendly to the Romans, but the contrary, taking all opportunities to speak of them with the highest praise.

It must be acknowledged that, when the grandeur of the Roman empire presents itself to his mind, he is not always sufficiently reserved in the terms which he uses. Thus, speaking of Cincinnatus, so early as the 296th year of Rome, he calls him “the sole hope of the empire of Rome,” at a time when we know that this thus pompously announced empire extended not more than twenty miles beyond the city. And again, not Edition: current; Page: [xx] many years after, he introduces Canuleius boasting of its “eternal duration and immense magnitude.” When we find him applying such magnificent terms to the Roman state, then in its infancy, we must suppose him to have forgot the period of which he was writing, and to have had present to his mind the splendor and extent to which it had attained at the time when he himself lived and wrote. He even puts the same language into the mouths of foreigners, and of enemies: he makes Hannibal call Rome “the capital of the world,” at a time when the Romans had not even the whole of Italy in subjection, and no possessions whatever out of Italy, except a part of Sicily and Sardinia. In the same vainglorious boasting strain he tells us, that the Romans “were never worsted by the enemy’s cavalry, never by their infantry, never in open fight, never on equal ground.” He seems here not to have recollected, what he afterwards acknowledges, that, in the first battle with Hannibal, “it manifestly appeared that the Carthaginian was superior in cavalry; and, consequently, that open plains, such as those between the Po and the Alps, were unfavourable to the Romans.” Although he thus asserts, in unqualified terms, that the Romans were never worsted in the open field, yet he gives very just and candid accounts, not only of this battle with Hannibal, but of another also against the same commander, and of that of the Allia, against the Gauls, in Edition: current; Page: [xxi] every one of which the Romans were completely overthrown.

It has been already mentioned how highly he was esteemed by Augustus, and that he had even received no inconsiderable marks of favour from him. Yet he does not seem to have courted this esteem, or those favours, by any particular attention on his part; nor to have endeavoured to repay them, by the only return which authors can make, the loading their patrons with perhaps undeserved praises. Although, at the time when he wrote his History, Augustus was in complete possession of the Roman empire, yet he names him but three times, and then but in a slight and cursory manner; not availing himself of the opportunity to heap adulation upon him, but simply giving him that praise to which he was unquestionably entitled. On occasion of shutting the temple of Janus, he takes the opportunity of mentioning, that it had been but twice shut since the reign of Numa; the first time in the consulship of Titus Manlius, on the termination of the first Punic war, and that “the happiness of seeing it shut again, the gods granted to our own times, when, after the battle Edition: current; Page: [xix] of Actium, the emperor, Cæsar Augustus, established universal peace on land and sea.” As Augustus was highly vain of this circumstance, had our author’s disposition led him to flatter this master of the world, it would have afforded him an excellent opportunity; as would another occasion, where, speaking of spolia opima, deposited by Cossus in one of the temples, he appeals to the testimony of Augustus Cæsar, whom he styles “the founder or restorer of all our temples.” But above all, he might have found a niche for him, as well as others of his family, when he mentions the distinguished victory gained by Livius and Nero over Hasdrubal. He relates the affair itself in very splendid terms, and bestows the most exalted praises on the admirable conduct of those victorious generals. He who was thus rigidly tenacious, when private motives, friendship, or interest might have swayed him, is, nevertheless, accused, from national vanity, of having written with partiality; and of having sometimes exaggerated, and sometimes concealed, the truth.

It may be asked,—if Livy, the senate, and very many, perhaps the greater number, of the people, disbelieved these omens and prodigies, why relate them? He answers the question himself; “I am well aware,” he says, “that, through the same disregard to religion, which has led men into the present prevailing opinion, of the gods never giving portents of any future events, no prodigies are now either reported to government, or recorded in histories. But, for my part, while I am writing the transactions of ancient times, my sentiments, I know not how, become antique; and I feel a kind of religious awe, which compels me to consider that events, which the men of those times, renowned for wisdom, judged deserving of the attention of government, and of public expiation, must certainly be worthy of a place in my History.” And, in truth, it must be allowed, that an account of the religious ceremonies, and the superstitious observances, of different nations at different periods, forms not the least curious chapter in the history of the human mind.

From the passages here adduced, and very many others to the same purport might be quoted, it may be confidently pronounced, that our author was not the dupe of those vulgar rumours, those “deceptions of the eyes and ears,” which yet he has thought it his duty to record. And, in truth, it seems as if the people themselves, at least the more enlightened of them, were equally inclined, if established custom would have allowed, to disregard them: “They grew weary,” we are told, “not only of the thing itself, but of the religious rites enjoined in consequence; for neither could the senate be convened, nor the business of the public be transacted, the consuls were so constantly employed in sacrifices and expiations.” And accordingly, with a view to diminish the reports of these miracles, and the troublesome ceremonies consequent thereupon, the consuls, by direction of the senate, published an edict, that when “on any day public worship should be ordered, in consequence of the report of an earthquake, Edition: current; Page: [xvii] no person should report another earthquake on that day.” Indeed, how very little faith the senate really had in omens, prodigies, and auspices, we may learn from a remarkable order made by them, upon receiving from a consul the report of unfavourable omens, in no less than three victims successively sacrificed; “they ordered him,” says the Historian, “to continue sacrificing the larger victims, until the omens should prove favourable.”

But, to be religious is one thing; to be superstitious is another. He has certainly recorded many and monstrous prodigies; to enumerate which would be both tedious and disgusting. As, however, they were not merely the subject of popular tales and vulgar conversation, but the objects of particular attention, noticed always by the magistrates, and even by the senate, whom we frequently find ordering expiations of them, it was his duty, as an historian, to relate them, since they thus made a part of the public transactions of the times. And this he does with great caution; apparently anxious lest he should be supposed to believe in such absurdities, and protesting, as it were, against the imputation Edition: current; Page: [xv] of superstition. Thus, upon an occasion where he relates extraordinary prodigies, (more extraordinary, indeed, than in any other part of his history,) he introduces his account of them by saying,—“Numerous prodigies were reported to have happened this year; and the more they were credited by simple and superstitious people, the more such stories multiplied.” He generally prefaces the mention of all such, with a reserve as to his own belief of them:—“Many prodigies were reported.” “It was believed that crows had not only torn with their beaks some gold in the capitol, but had even eaten it.” And again; “Fires from heaven, breaking out in various places, had, as was said,” &c. Nor is he at all scrupulous in declaring these numerous prodigies to derive their origin from superstitious weakness; thus,—“So apt is superstitious weakness to introduce the deities into the most trivial occurrences” “The mention of one prodigy was, as usual, followed by reports of others.” “From this cause arose abundance of superstitious notions; and the minds of the people became disposed both to believe and to propagate accounts of prodigies, of which a very great number were reported.” “The consuls expiated several prodigies which had been reported.” “Several deceptions of the eyes and ears were credited.” One is almost tempted to think, that those who charge our author with credulity, had never read him; otherwise, how could they overlook such passages Edition: current; Page: [xvi] as these, and especially the following, in which he seems aware that such a charge might be brought against him, and labours to obviate it?—“In proportion as the war was protracted to a greater length, and successes and disappointments produced various alterations, not only in the situations, but in the sentiments of men, superstitious observances, and these mostly introduced from abroad, gained such ground among the people in general, that it seemed as if either mankind, or the deities, had undergone some sudden change.”

A charge, of a very heavy nature, has been brought against our author, which, were it well founded, would utterly disqualify him from writing a credible history. He is accused of superstitious credulity. That he was of a serious and religious turn of mind is sufficiently apparent from many passages in his history, in which Edition: current; Page: [xiv] he severely reprehends the licentiousness and profligacy of the times he lived in, and applauds the simplicity of conduct, and sanctity of manners, of ancient days, when “that disregard of the gods, which prevails in the present age, had not taken place; nor did every one, by his own interpretations, accommodate oaths and the laws to his particular views, but rather adapted his practice to them.” Again, speaking of Spurius Papirius, he describes him as a “youth, born in an age when that sort of learning which inculcates contempt of the gods was yet unknown.” Numberless passages, to this effect, might be cited; suffice it, however, to observe, that, while reprehending, with strong indignation, the profane, the impious, and the immoral among his countrymen, he omits no opportunity of applauding the virtuous and the good.

When we consider the use of such speeches, we shall not perhaps feel inclined to give them up, although many are to be held as mere fictions; contrived, however, with much ingenuity, and for the laudable purpose of conveying useful reflections and salutary admonitions. But though it be admitted, that several of them are fictitious, yet it may be contended that they are not all so. Many of those delivered in the senate, in popular assemblies, in conventions of ambassadors, and other the like occasions, are most probably genuine; and, if they are so, they furnish us with very curious specimens of ancient eloquence. Public speakers among the Romans were in the habit of publishing their speeches upon particular occasions; and others, delivered upon important occurrences, would, doubtless, be noted down, and circulated, by those who were curious about, and probably interested in, the subjects of them. We know that, in our own times, the substance of speeches in the British parliament, and other assemblies, has often been accurately collected, and carefully preserved; and we may, therefore, reasonably suppose that speeches in the Roman senate, upon matters in which the whole community were deeply interested, would be heard with equal attention, and preserved with equal care.

Nor will, perhaps, another objection, made by modern critics, be deemed of much greater weight. They dislike, it seems, the plan of his History, and they found that dislike, chiefly on the speeches which he so frequently introduces, which, they contend, it is not probable could have been spoken upon the occasions alleged; and therefore they pronounce them to be violations of truth. That many of them were not spoken by the persons to whom they are ascribed, nor upon the occasions alleged, must be admitted: but they do not, upon that account, violate the truth of history. Nobody can suppose that our author ever meant to Edition: current; Page: [xii] impose upon his readers, and to make them believe that what he has given us, as said by the different persons whom he introduces, was really said by them: the supposition is absurd. He could only mean to vary his style; and to enliven and embellish matter, which, if continued in the even and unvaried tone of narration, would be sometimes heavy and tedious; making these supposed speeches a vehicle for conveying, and that in a very lively manner, the arguments for and against a proposed measure; and he thus often brings into them a relation of facts, chiefly facts of remoter times, and much more agreeably than he could have interwoven them into his narrative, which should always be progressive. Modern historians, it is true, have rejected this plan: but Livy is not reprehensible, because his ideas of historic structure were different from theirs. He chose rather to conform himself to a custom which prevailed very generally before his time, and which succeeding writers, of great taste and judgment, have approved and adopted. The conduct of Livy, in this respect, if necessary, might be justified by the example of Herodotus, Xenophon, Polybius, Sallust, Tacitus, and others, whose histories abound with speeches. These speeches frequently give a more perfect idea of the character of the supposed speaker, than could easily have been done by mere description; and it must be acknowledged, that the facts which they sometimes contain, would, if thrown into formal narrative, with episodes and digressions, lose much of their animation and force, and consequently much of their grace and beauty.

If this supposition of the meaning of the word patavinity be right, the fact, upon such authority as that of Pollio, must be admitted; although in what, precisely, it consisted, it is not, at present, perhaps, possible to determine. Much has been written upon the subject, which in reality seems now to be an idle inquiry; and, as a dissertation upon this matter could afford neither instruction nor entertainment to the mere English reader, for whose use the following translation is principally intended, we shall dismiss the subject with observing, that what Quintilian has not told us, no modern scholar will ever, it is probable, have penetration enough to discover: and we may be also allowed to suppose that, whatever these peculiarities may have been, as that great critic has not thought them worth pointing out, they cannot have been either very numerous, or of very material consequence.

In what this patavinity consisted, no ancient author having defined it, it is not now easy to say; and, accordingly, it is a matter which has been much disputed. Some will have it, that it was a political term, and that it signified an attachment to the Pompeian party: others contend that it meant a hatred to the Gauls; that it was symbolical of some blameable particularity, they know not what. The more probable opinion, however, seems, from the term itself, to be, that it signified some provincial peculiarity of dialect. Ancient Italy, like modern Italy, had its differences, not of idiom merely, but of language, in every different province. In proportion as their language varies, at this day, from the purity of the Tuscan dialect, they become almost unintelligible to each other: with difficulty can a Venetian and a Neapolitan converse together; that is, the people: for the well-educated in every country learn to speak and write the dialect of the metropolis; although, if brought up in their own provinces, however nearly their language may approach the purity of that of the Edition: current; Page: [xi] capital, yet it will ever retain some tincture of provinciality.

Of the remaining books, it has been already said, that the contents only have been preserved; and they serve to show us the greatness of our loss, the greatest literary loss, perhaps, owing to the ravages of the time. Livy had employed forty-five books in the history of six centuries; but so many, so various, and so interesting were the events, which he had before him for selection, Edition: current; Page: [ix] in the latter period of the Republic, that it took him above double that number to relate the occurrences of little more than an hundred and twenty years. From the admirable manner in which he has written the former part of his History, we may judge of what must have been the merit of this latter part, which fails us, unfortunately, at a most remarkable period, when rational curiosity is raised to the highest pitch. Nor can we doubt the excellence of its execution, when we consider how much better, and how much more copious his materials must have been; for, besides what he could draw from his own personal knowledge, having lived among, and conversed familiarly with, the most considerable men in the empire, who were themselves principal actors in the important transactions which he relates, he had access to the best possible written materials; to the memoirs of Sylla, Cæsar, Labienus, Pollio, Augustus, and many others which were then extant. What would we not give for the picture, finished by so able a hand, from the sketches of such masters? What delight would it not afford us, to see the whole progress of a government from liberty to servitude?—the whole series of causes and effects, apparent and real, public and private?—those which all men saw, and all good men opposed and lamented, at the time; and those which were so disguised to the prejudices, to the partialities, of a divided people, and even to the corruption of mankind, that many did not, and that many could pretend they did not, discern them, till it was too late to resist them? I own, says a noble author, Edition: current; Page: [x] I should be glad to exchange what we have of this History, for what we have not.

The parts of this history which we now possess, are, the first decade: for it appears, from his having prefixed separate prefatory introductions to each portion, that the author had divided his work into distinct parts, consisting each of ten books. The first decade commences with the foundation of the city of Rome, and rapidly runs over the affairs of four hundred and sixty Edition: current; Page: [viii] years. The second decade is lost: it comprised a period of seventy-five years; the principal occurrence in it was the first Punic war, in which the Romans, after a long and arduous struggle, were finally victorious. The third decade is extant: it contains a particular and well-detailed account of the second Punic war; the longest, as our author himself observes, and the most hazardous war, the Romans had ever been engaged in; in the course of which they gained so many advantages, and acquired so much military experience, that no nation was ever able, afterwards, to withstand them. The fourth decade contains the Macedonian war against Philip, and the Asiatic against Antiochus. These are related at considerable length, insomuch that the ten books comprise a space of twenty-three years only. Of the fifth decade, the first five books only remain, and these very imperfect. They give an account of the war with Perseus king of Macedonia, who gains several advantages against the Romans, but is at length subdued, and his kingdom reduced to the form of a Roman province; of the corruption of several Roman governors in the administration of the provinces, and their punishment; and of the third Punic war, which lasted only five years.

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK I. The arrival of Æneas in Italy, and his achievements there, the reign of Ascanius in Alba, and of the other Sylvian kings, his successors. Birth of Romulus and Remus. Romulus builds Rome; forms the senate: divides the people into curias. His wars. He offers the spolia opima to Jupiter Feretrius; is deified. Numa Pompilius institutes the rights of religious worship; builds a temple to Janus; rules in peace, and is succeeded by Tullus Hostilius. His war with the Albans; combat of the Horatii and Curiatii. The Albans removed to Rome. Tullus killed by lightning. Ancus Martius conquers the Latines, and incorporates them with the Romans; enlarges the city, and the bounds of his dominions. Lucumo arrives at Rome: assumes the name of Tarquinius; and on the death of Ancus, gains possession of the throne; defeats the Latines and Sabines; builds a wall round the city, and makes the common sewers: is slain by the sons of Ancus, and is succeeded by Servius Tullius. He institutes the census; divides the people into classes and centuries: extenus the pomœrium; is murdered by Lucius Tarquinius, afterwards surnamed Superbus. He seizes the throne, wages war with the Volscians, and, with their spoils, builds a temple to Jupiter in the Capitol, in consequence of his son Sextus having forcibly violated the chastity of Lucretia, he is dethroned and banished. Consuls elected. PREFACE. Whether, in tracing the series of the Roman History, from the foundation of the city, I shall employ my time to good purpose, is a question which I cannot positively determine; nor, were it possible, would I venture to pronounce such determination: for I am aware that the matter is of high Edition: current; Page: [2] antiquity, and has been already treated by many others; the latest writers always supposing themselves capable, either of throwing some new light on the subject, or, by the superiority of their talents for composition, of excelling the more inelegant writers who preceded them. However that may be, I shall, at all events, derive no small satisfaction from the reflection that my best endeavours have been exerted in transmitting to posterity the achievements of the greatest people in the world; and if, amidst such a multitude of writers, my name should not emerge from obscurity, I shall console myself by attributing it to the eminent merit of those who stand in my way in the pursuit of fame. It may be farther observed, that such a subject must require a work of immense extent, as our researches must be carried back through a space of more than seven hundred years; that the state has, from very small beginnings, gradually increased to such a magnitude, that it is now distressed by its own bulk; and that there is every reason to apprehend that the generality of readers will receive but little pleasure from the accounts of its first origin; or of the times immediately succeeding, but will be impatient to arrive at that period, in which the powers of this overgrown state have been long employed in working their own destruction. On the other hand, this much will be derived from my labour, that, so long at least as I shall have my thoughts totally occupied in investigating the transactions of such distant ages, without being embarrassed by any of those unpleasing considerations, in respect of later days, which, though they might not have power to warp a writer’s mind from the truth, would yet be sufficient to create uneasiness, I shall withdraw myself from the sight of the many evils to which our eyes have been so long accustomed. As to the relations which have been handed down of events prior to the founding of the city, or to the circumstances that gave occasion to its being founded, and which bear the semblance rather of poetic fictions, Edition: current; Page: [3] than of authentic records of history—these, I have no intention either to maintain or refute. Antiquity is always indulged with the privilege of rendering the origin of cities more venerable, by intermixing divine with human agency; and if any nation may claim the privilege of being allowed to consider its original as sacred, and to attribute it to the operations of the Gods, surely the Roman people, who rank so high in military fame, may well expect, that, while they choose to represent Mars as their own parent, and that of their founder, the other nations of the world may acquiesce in this, with the same deference with which they acknowledge their sovereignty. But what degree of attention or credit may be given to these and such-like matters I shall not consider as very material. To the following considerations, I wish every one seriously and earnestly to attend; by what kind of men, and by what sort of conduct, in peace and war, the empire has been both acquired and extended: then, as discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts the structure of ancient morals, at first, as it were, leaning aside, then sinking farther and farther, then beginning to fall precipitate, until he arrives at the present times, when our vices have attained to such a height of enormity, that we can no longer endure either the burden of them, or the sharpness of the necessary remedies. This is the great advantage to be derived from the study of history; indeed the only one which can make it answer any profitable and salutary purpose: for, being abundantly furnished with clear and distinct examples of every kind of conduct, we may select for ourselves, and for the state to which we belong, such as are worthy of imitation; and, carefully noting such, as being dishonourable in their principles, are equally so in their effects, learn to avoid them. Now, either partiality to the subject of my intended work misleads me, or there never was any state either greater, or of purer morals, or richer in good examples, than this of Rome; nor was there ever any city Edition: current; Page: [4] into which avarice and luxury made their entrance so late, or where poverty and frugality were so highly and so long held in honour; men contracting their desires in proportion to the narrowness of their circumstances. Of late years, indeed, opulence has introduced a greediness for gain, and the boundless variety of dissolute pleasures has created, in many, a passion for ruining themselves, and all around them. But let us, in the first stage at least of this undertaking, avoid gloomy reflections, which, when perhaps unavoidable, will not, even then, be agreeable. If it were customary with us, as it is with poets, we would more willingly begin with good omens, and vows, and prayers to the gods and goddesses, that they would propitiously grant success to our endeavours, in the prosecution of so arduous a task. BOOK I. I. It has been handed down to us, as a certain fact, that the Greeks, when they had taken Troy, treated the Trojans with the utmost severity; with the exception, however, of two of them, Æneas and Antenor, towards whom they exercised none of the rights of conquest. This lenity they owed, partly, to an old connection of hospitality, and partly, to their having been, all along, inclined to peace, and to the restoration of Helen. These chiefs experienced afterwards great varieties of fortune. Antenor, being joined by a multitude of the Henetians, who had been driven out of Paphlagonia in a civil war, and having lost their king Pylæmenes at Troy, were at a loss both for a settlement and a leader, came to the innermost bay of the Adriatic sea, and expelling the Euganeans, who then inhabited the tract between the Alps and the sea, settled the Trojans and Henetians in the possession of the country. The place where they first landed is called Troy, and from thence the Trojan canton also has its name; the nation in general were called Henetians. Æneas, driven from home by the same calamity, but conducted Edition: current; Page: [5] by the fates to an establishment of more importance, came first to Macedonia; thence, in search of a settlement, he sailed to Sicily, and from Sicily proceeded with his fleet to the country of the Laurentians. Here also, to the spot where they landed, was given the name of Troy. Here the Trojans disembarked; and as, after wandering about for a great length of time, they had nothing left, beside their ships and arms, they began to make prey of whatever they found in the country. On this king Latinus, and the Aborigines, who were then in possession of those lands, assembled hastily from the city and country, in order to repel the violence of the strangers. Of what followed, there are two different accounts. Some writers say, that Latinus, being overcome in battle, contracted an alliance, and afterwards an affinity, with Æneas; others, that when the armies were drawn up in order of battle, before the signal was given, Latinus, advancing in the front, invited the leader of the strangers to a conference; then inquired who they were, whence they came, what had induced them to leave their home, and with what design they had landed on the Laurentian coast; and that, when he was informed that the leader was Æneas, the son of Anchises by Venus, and his followers Trojans; that they had made their escape from the flames of their native city and of their houses, and were in search of a settlement, and a place where they might build a town; being struck with admiration of that renowned people and their chief, and of their spirit, prepared alike for war or peace, he gave him his right hand, and by that pledge assured him of his future friendship. A league was then struck between the leaders, and mutual salutations passed between the armies. Latinus entertained Æneas in his palace, and there, in the presence of his household gods, added a domestic alliance to their public one, giving him his daughter in marriage. This event Edition: current; Page: [6] fully confirmed the hopes of the Trojans, that here, at last, they were to find an end of their wanderings; that here they would enjoy a fixed and permanent settlement. They built a town, which Æneas called Lavinium, from the name of his wife. In a short time after, his new consort bore him a son, who was named by his parents Ascanius. II. The Aborigines, in conjunction with the Trojans, soon found themselves engaged in a war. Turnus, king of the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had been affianced before the arrival of Æneas, enraged at seeing a stranger preferred to him, declared war against both Æneas and Latinus. A battle that ensued gave neither army reason to rejoice. The Rutulians were defeated, and the victorious Aborigines and Trojans lost their leader Latinus. Whereupon Turnus and the Rutulians, diffident of their strength, had recourse to the flourishing state of the Etrurians, and their king Mezentius, who held his court at Cære, at that time an opulent city. He had been, from the beginning, not at all pleased at the foundation of the new city; and now began to think that the Trojan power was increasing to a degree inconsistent with the safety of the neighbouring states; and therefore, without reluctance, concluded an alliance, and joined his forces with those of the Rutulians. Æneas, with the view of conciliating the affection of the Aborigines, that he might be the better able to oppose such formidable enemies, gave to both the nations under his rule the name of Latines, that all should not only be governed by the same laws, but have one common name. From thenceforth the Aborigines yielded not to the Trojans in zeal and fidelity towards their king Æneas. This disposition of the two nations, who coalesced daily with greater cordiality, inspired him with so much confidence, that, notwithstanding Etruria was possessed of such great power, that it had 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 Streight; and although Edition: current; Page: [7] he might have remained within his fortifications, secure from any attack of the enemy, yet he led out his troops to the field. The battle that followed was, with respect to the Latines, their second, with respect to Æneas, the last of his mortal acts. He, by whatever appellation the laws of gods and men require him to be called, is deposited on the bank of the river Numicus. The people gave him the title of Jupiter Indiges. III. His son Ascanius was as yet too young to assume the government; nevertheless his title to the sovereignty remained unimpeached, until he arrived at maturity. During this interval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a woman of great capacity, the Latine state, and the united subjects of the prince’s father and grandfather, continued firm in their allegiance. I am not without some doubts (for who can affirm with certainty in a matter of such antiquity?) whether this was the same Ascanius mentioned above, or one older than him, born of Creusa, wife to Æneas, before the destruction of Troy, and who accompanied his father in his flight from thence; whom, being also called Iulus, the Julian family claim as the founder of their name. This Ascanius, wheresoever, and of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of Æneas, finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city, then in a flourishing and opulent state, considering the circumstances of those times, to his mother, or step-mother, and built a new one on the Alban mount, which, from its situation being stretched along the hill, was called Alba Longa. Between the building of Lavinium, and the transplanting the colony to Alba Longa, the interval was only about thirty years; yet so rapidly had this people increased in power, especially after the defeat of the Etrurians, Edition: current; Page: [8] that, not even on the death of Æneas, nor afterwards, during the regency of a woman, and the first essays of a youthful reign, did either Mezentius and the Etrurians, or any other of the bordering nations, dare to attempt hostilities against them. A peace was agreed upon, in which it was stipulated that the river Albula, now called the Tiber, should be the boundary between the Etrurians and Latines. Ascanius’s son, called Sylvius, from his having by some accident been born in the woods, succeeded him in the kingdom. He begat Æneas Sylvius, who afterwards begat Latinus Sylvius. This prince planted several colonies, who have obtained the name of Ancient Latines. The surname of Sylvius was henceforward given to all those who reigned at Alba. Of Latinus was born Alba; of Alba, Atys; of Atys, Capys; of Capys, Capetus; of Capetus, Tiberinus; who, being drowned in endeavouring to cross the river Albula, gave to that river the name so celebrated among his posterity. Agrippa, son of Tiberinus, reigned next; after Agrippa, Romulus. Sylvius received the kingdom from his father, and being struck by lightning, demised it to Aventinus, who, being buried on that hill which is now a part of the city of Rome, gave it his name. To him succeeded Procas, who had two sons, Numitor and Amulius. To Numitor, as being the first-born, he bequeathed the ancient kingdom of the Sylvian family; but force prevailed over both the will of their father, and the respect due to priority of birth. Amulius dethroned his brother, took possession of the kingdom, and adding crime to crime, put to death the male offspring of Numitor, making his daughter Rhea Sylvia a vestal, under the specious pretence of doing her honour, but, in fact, to deprive her of all hope of issue, the vestals being obliged to vow perpetual virginity. Edition: current; Page: [ 9 ] IV. But the fates, I suppose, demanded the founding of this great city, and the first establishment of an empire, which is now, in power, next to the immortal gods. The vestal being deflowered by force, brought forth twins, and declared that the father of her doubtful offspring was Mars; either because she really thought so, or in hopes of extenuating the guilt of her transgression by imputing it to the act of a deity. But neither gods nor men screened her or her children from the King’s cruelty: the priestess was loaded with chains, and cast into prison, and the children were ordered to be thrown into the stream of the river. It happened providentially that the Tiber, overflowing its banks, formed itself into stagnant pools in such a manner, as that the regular channel was every where inaccessible, and those who carried the infants supposed that they would be drowned in any water, however still. Wherefore, as if thereby fulfilling the King’s order, they exposed the boys in the nearest pool, where now stands the Ruminal fig-tree, which, it is said, was formerly called Romular. Those places were at that time wild deserts. A story prevails that the retiring flood having left on dry ground the trough, hitherto floating, in which they had been exposed, a thirsty she-wolf from the neighbouring mountains, directed her course to the cries of the children, and, stooping, presented her dugs to the infants, showing so much gentleness, that the keeper of the King herds found her licking the boys with her tongue; and that this shepherd, whose name was Faustulus, carried them home to his wife Laurentia to be nursed. Some there are who think that this Laurentia, from her having been a prostitute, was, by the shepherds, called Lupa; and to this circumstance they ascribe the origin of this fabulous tale. Thus born, and thus educated, as soon as years supplied them with strength, they led not an inactive life at the stables, or among the cattle, but traversed the neighbouring forests in hunting. Hence acquiring vigour, both of body and mind, Edition: current; Page: [10] they soon began not only to withstand the wild beasts, but to attack robbers loaded with booty. The spoil thus acquired they divided with the shepherds; and, in company with these, the number of their young associates continually increasing, they carried on both their business, and their sports. V. It is said, that even at that early period, the sports of the Lupercal, which we still celebrate, were practised on the Palatine hill, and that this was called Palatium, from Pallanteum, a city of Arcadia, and afterwards the Palatine hill; and that Evander, who was of that tribe of Arcadians, and had been many years before in possession of this part of the country, had instituted there this solemnity brought from Arcadia, in which young men were to run about naked, in sport and wantonness, in honour of Lycean Pan, whom the Romans afterwards called Inuus. While they were intent on the performance of these sports, the time of their celebration being generally known, the robbers, enraged at the loss of their booty, attacked them by surprise, having placed themselves in ambush. Romulus making a vigorous defence, extricated himself; but they took Remus prisoner, delivered him up to King Amulius, and had the assurance to accuse them both of criminal misbehaviour. The principal charge made against them was, that they had made violent inroads on the lands of Numitor, and, with a band of youths which they had collected, plundered the country in a hostile manner. In consequence of this, Remus was given up to Numitor to be punished. From the very beginning, Faustulus had entertained hopes, that the children whom he educated, would prove to be descended of the royal blood; for he knew that the infants of Rhea had been exposed by order of the King, and that the time when he had taken them up, corresponded exactly with that event; but he had resolved to avoid any hasty disclosure, unless some favourable conjuncture Edition: current; Page: [11] or necessity should require it. The necessity happened first; wherefore, constrained by his apprehensions, he imparted the affair to Romulus. It happened also that Numitor, while he had Remus in his custody, heard that the brothers were twins; and when he combined with this circumstance their age, and their turn of mind, which gave no indication of a servile condition, he was struck with the idea of their being his grandchildren; and all his inquiries leading to the same conclusion, he was upon the point of acknowledging Remus. In consequence, a plot against the King was concerted between all the parties. Romulus, not going at the head of a band of youths, for he was unequal to an open attempt, but ordering the shepherds to come at a certain hour, by different roads, to the palace, forced his way to the King, and was supported by Remus, with another party, procured from the house of Numitor. Thus they put the King to death. VI. In the beginning of the tumult, Numitor, calling out that the city was assaulted by an enemy, and the palace attacked, had drawn away the Alban youth to the citadel, on pretence of securing it by an armed garrison; and, in a little time seeing the young men, after perpetrating the murder, coming towards him, with expressions of joy, he instantly called the people to an assembly, laid before them the iniquitous behaviour of his brother towards himself; the birth of his grandchildren, how they were begotten, how educated, how discovered; then informed them of the death of the usurper, and that he had himself encouraged the design. The youths at the same time advancing with their followers, through the midst of the assembly, saluted their grandfather as King; on which the multitude, testifying their assent by universal acclamations, ratified to him the royal title and authority. When Numitor was thus reinstated in the sovereignty at Alba, Romulus and Remus were seized with a desire of building a city in the place where they had been Edition: current; Page: [12] exposed and educated. There were great numbers of Albans and Latines, who could be spared for the purpose, and these were joined by a multitude of shepherds; so that, all together, they formed such a numerous body, as gave grounds to hope that Alba and Lavinium would be but small, in comparison with the city which they were about to found. These views were interrupted by an evil, hereditary in their family, ambition for rule. Hence arose a shameful contest; though they had in the beginning rested their dispute on this amicable footing, that, as they were twins, and consequently, no title to precedence could be derived from priority of birth, the gods, who were guardians of the place, should choose by auguries, which of the two should give a name to the new city, and enjoy the government of it when built. Romulus chose the Palatine, Remus the Aventine mount, as their consecrated stands to wait the auguries. We are told that the first omen appeared to Remus, consisting of six vultures; and, that, after this had been proclaimed, twice that number showed themselves to Romulus; on which each was saluted King by his own followers; the former claiming the kingdom on the ground of the priority of time; the latter, on that of the number of the birds. On their meeting, an altercation ensued, then blows; and their passions being inflamed by the dispute, the affair proceeded at last to extremity, and murder was the consequence. Remus fell by a blow received in the tumult. There is another account more generally received, that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped over the new wall, and that Romulus, enraged thereat, slew him, uttering at the same time this imprecation, “So perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my wall.”bc 751. By these means Romulus came into the sole possession of the government, and the city, when built, was called after the name of its founder. The first buildings which he raised, were on the Palatine hill, where he himself Edition: current; Page: [13] had been brought up. To the other deities he performed worship, according to the mode of the Albans, but to Hercules, according to that of the Greeks, as instituted by Evander. VII. It is recorded that Hercules, after having slain Geryon, drove away his cattle, which were surprisingly beautiful; and that, being fatigued with travelling, he lay down, near the river Tiber, in a grassy place, to which he had swum over, driving the herd before him, in order to refresh the cattle with rest and the rich pasture. There, having indulged himself in meat and wine, he was overpowered by sleep; whereupon a shepherd, who dwelt in the neighbourhood, named Cacus, of great strength and fierceness, being struck with the beauty of the cattle, wished to make prey of some of them; but considering, that if he should drive the herd before him into his cave, their tracks would direct the owner’s search, he dragged the cattle backward by the tails into the cave, picking out those that were the most remarkable for their beauty. Hercules awaking at the dawn of day, took a view of his herd, and missing some of the number, went directly to the next cave, to examine whether the footsteps led thither; but when he observed that they all pointed outward, and yet did not direct to any other quarter, perplexed, and not knowing how to act, he began to drive forward his herd from that unlucky place. Some of the cows, as they were driven off, missing those that were left behind, began, as was natural, to low after them, and the sound being returned from the cave, by those that were shut up in it, brought Hercules back. Cacus, endeavouring by force to prevent his approach to the cave, and invoking in vain the assistance of the shepherds, received a blow of his club, which put an end to his life. At that time, Evander, a native of Peloponnesus, who had removed hither, governed that part of the country, rather through an influence acquired by his Edition: current; Page: [14] merit, than any power of sovereignty vested in him. He was highly revered on account of his having introduced the wonderful knowledge of letters, a matter quite new to these men, who were ignorant of all the arts; and still more so, on account of the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whose prophetic powers had been an object of admiration to those nations, before the arrival of the Sibyl in Italy. Evander then, being alarmed by the concourse of the shepherds, hastened to the spot, where they were assembled in a tumultuous manner about the stranger, whom they accused as undeniably guilty of murder; and when he was informed of the fact, and of the cause of it, observing the person and mien of the hero, filled with more dignity and majesty than belonged to a human being, he inquired who he was; and being told his name, that of his father and his country, he addressed him in these words; “Hail, Hercules, son of Jove! my mother, the infallible interpreter of the gods, foretold to me that you were destined to increase the number of the celestials, and that an altar would be dedicated to you in this place, which a nation, hereafter the most powerful in the world, should distinguish by the name of The Greatest, and would offer thereon sacrifices to your honour.” Hercules, giving his right hand, replied, that, “he embraced the omen, and would fulfil the decree of the fates, by building and dedicating an altar in the place.” There, then for the first time, was performed a sacrifice to Hercules, of a chosen heifer taken out of the herd; and the Potitii and Pinarii, the most distinguished families in the neighbourhood at the time, were invited to assist in the ceremonies, and share the entertainment. It happened that the Potitii attended in time, and the entrails were served up to them; the Pinarii, arriving Edition: current; Page: [15] after the entrails were eaten, came in for the rest of the feast; hence it continued a rule, as long as the Pinarian family existed, that they should not eat of the entrails. The Potitii, instructed by Evander, were directors of that solemnity for many ages, until the solemn office of the family was delegated to public servants, on which the whole race of the Potitii became extinct. These were the only foreign rites that Romulus then adopted, showing thereby, from the beginning, a respect for immortality obtained by merit, a dignity to which his own destiny was conducting him. VIII. After paying due worship to the gods, he summoned the multitude to an assembly; and, knowing that they could never be brought to incorporate as one people, by any other means, than by having their conduct directed by certain rules, he gave them a body of laws; and judging, that if he added to the dignity of his own carriage, by assuming the ensigns of sovereignty, it would help to procure respect to those laws, among a rude uninformed people, he adopted a more majestic style of appearance, both with regard to his other appointments, and particularly in being attended by twelve lictors. Some think that he was led to fix on this number by that of the birds in the augury which had portended the kingdom to him: I am rather inclined to be of their opinion, who suppose that all the officers attendant on magistrates, and among the rest, the lictors, as well as the number of them, were borrowed from their neighbours, the Etrurians, from whom the curule chair, and the gown edged with purple, were taken; and that the Etrurians, used that number, because their King being elected by the suffrages of twelve states, each state gave him one lictor. Meanwhile the city increased in buildings, which Edition: current; Page: [16] were carried on to an extent proportioned rather to the number of inhabitants they hoped for in future, than to what they had at the time. But that its size might not increase beyond its strength, in order to augment his numbers, he had recourse to a practice common among founders of cities, who used to feign that the multitude of mean and obscure people, thus collected, had sprang out of the earth. He opened a sanctuary, in the place where the inclosure now is, on the road down from the Capitol, called The Pass of the Two Groves. Hither fled, from the neighbouring states, crowds of all sorts, without distinction; whether freemen or slaves, led by a fondness for novelty; and this it was that gave solidity to the growing greatness of the city. Having reason now to be pretty well satisfied with his strength, he next made provision that this strength should be regulated by wisdom; and for that purpose, he created an hundred senators, either because that number was sufficient, or because there were no more than an hundred citizens who could prove their descent from respectable families. They were certainly styled Fathers from their honourable office, and their descendants Patricians. IX. The Roman state had now attained such a degree of power, that it was a match in arms for any of the neighbouring nations; but, from the small number of its women, its greatness was not likely to last longer than one age of man, as they had neither hopes of offspring among themselves, nor had yet contracted any intermarriages with their neighbours. Romulus, therefore, by advice of the senate, sent ambassadors round to all the adjoining states, soliciting their alliance, and permission for his new subjects to marry Edition: current; Page: [17] among them: he intimated to them, that “cities, like every thing else, rise from low beginnings; that, in time those which are supported by their own merit, and the favour of the gods, procure to themselves great power, and a great name: and that he had full assurance both that the gods favoured the founding of Rome, and that the people would not be deficient in merit. Wherefore, as men, they ought to show no reluctance to mix their blood and race with men.” In no one place were his ambassadors favourably heard; such contempt of them did people entertain, and, at the same time, such apprehensions of danger to themselves and their posterity, from so great a power growing up in the midst of them. By the greater part, they were dismissed with the question, “whether they had opened an asylum for women also, for that would be the only way to procure suitable matches for them?” This was highly resented by the Roman youth, insomuch that the business appeared evidently to point towards violence. Romulus, in order to afford them a convenient time and place for a design of that sort, dissembling his displeasure, prepared, with that intent, to celebrate solemn games in honour of the equestrian Neptune, to which he gave the name of Consualia. He then ordered the intended celebration to be proclaimed among the neighbouring nations, while his people exerted themselves in making the most magnificent preparations that their knowledge and abilities allowed, in order to engage attention and raise expectation. Great numbers of people assembled, induced, in some measure, by a desire of seeing the new city, especially those whose countries lay nearest, the Cæninensians, Crustuminians, and Antemnatians, especially the whole multitude of Edition: current; Page: [18] the Sabines came with their wives and children. They were hospitably invited to the different houses; and when they viewed the situation, and the fortifications, and the city crowded with houses, they were astonished at the rapid increase of the Roman power. When the show began, and every person’s thoughts and eyes were attentively engaged on it, then, according to the preconcerted plan, on a signal being given, the Roman youth ran different ways to carry off the young women.Y. R. 4. bc 748. Some they bore away, as they happened to meet with them, without waiting to make a choice; but others of extraordinary beauty, being designed for the principal senators, were conveyed to their houses by plebeians employed for that purpose. It is said, that one highly distinguished above the rest for her beauty, was carried off by the party of one Talassius, and that in answer to many who eagerly inquired to whom they were hurrying her, they, every now and then, to prevent any interruption in their course, cried out, that they were carrying her to Talassius; this circumstance gave rise to the use of that word at weddings. The terror occasioned by this outrage put an end to the sports, and the parents of the young women retired full of grief, inveighing against such a violation of the laws of hospitality, and appealing to the god, to whose solemn festival and games they had come, relying on the respect due to religion, and on the faith of nations. Nor did the women who were seized entertain better hopes with regard to themselves, or a less degree of indignation: however Romulus went about in person, and told them, that “this proceeding had been occasioned by the haughtiness of their parents, who refused to allow their neighbours to marry among them; that, notwithstanding this, they should be united to his people in wedlock in the common enjoyment of all property, and of their common children; a bond of union than which the human heart feels none more endearing. He begged of them to soften their resentment, and to bestow their affections on Edition: current; Page: [19] those men on whom chance had bestowed their persons. It often happened, he said, that to harsh treatment mutual regard had succeeded, and they would find their husbands behave the better on this very account; that every one would exert himself, not merely in performing his duty as a husband, but to make up to them for the loss of their parents and of their country.” To these persuasions was added, the soothing behaviour of their husbands themselves, who urged, in extenuation of the violence they had been tempted to commit, the excess of passion, and the force of love: arguments, than which there can be none more powerful to assuage the irritation of the female mind. X. The women, who had been forcibly carried off, soon became reconciled to their situation; but their parents, still more than at first, endeavoured to rouse their several states to revenge, employing both complaints and tears, and wearing the dress of mourners. Nor did they confine their demands of vengeance within the limits of their own states, but made joint applications from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, the embassies being addressed to him as the person of the highest renown in all those parts. The people who were the principal sufferers by the outrage, were the Cæninensians, the Crustuminians, and the Antemnatians. To them, the proceedings of Tatius and the Sabine nation appeared too dilatory; wherefore these three states, uniting in a confederacy, prepared for immediate war. Nor did even the Crustuminians and Antemnatians exert activity enough for the impatient rage of the Cæninensians. This state, therefore, alone, made an irruption into the Roman territories; but while they carried on their ravages in a disorderly manner, Romulus met them, and, without much difficulty, taught them that rage without strength avails but little. He routed and dispersed their army; pursued it in its flight; slew their king in the battle, and seized his spoils; after which he made himself master of their city at the first assault. Edition: current; Page: [20] From thence he led home his victorious troops; and being not only capable of performing splendid actions, but also fond of displaying those actions to advantage, he marched up in procession to the Capitol, carrying on a frame, properly constructed for the purpose, the spoils of the enemy’s general whom he had slain; and there laying them down under an oak, which the shepherds accounted sacred, he, at the same time, while he offered this present, marked out with his eye the bounds of a temple for Jupiter, to whom he gave a new name, saying, “Jupiter Feretrius, in acknowledgment of the victory which I have obtained, I, Romulus the king, offer to thee these royal arms, and dedicate a temple to thee on that spot which I have now measured out in my mind, to be a repository for those grand spoils, which, after my example, generals in future times shall offer, on slaying the kings and generals of their enemies.” This was the origin of that temple which was the first consecrated in Rome. Accordingly, it pleased the gods so to order, that neither the prediction of the founder of the temple, intimating that future generals should carry spoils thither, should prove erroneous, nor that the honour of making such offerings should be rendered common, by being imparted to many. In after times, during so many years, and so many wars, there have been only two instances of the grand spoils being obtained; so rare was the attainment of that high honour. XI. While the Romans were thus employed, the army of the Antemnatians, taking advantage of the opportunity which the country being left without troops afforded them, made an hostile incursion into the Roman territories; but a Roman Edition: current; Page: [21] legion, hastily led out, surprised them, while they straggled through the country. They were routed therefore at the first onset, and their town was taken. While Romulus exulted in this second victory, his consort, Hersilia, teased by the intreaties of the captured women, earnestly petitioned him that he would show favour to their parents, and admit them into the number of his citizens, a measure which could not fail of forming an union satisfactory to all parties. This request was easily obtained. He then marched against the Crustuminians, who were carrying on hostilities: with these he had still less trouble than with the Antemnatians, because they had been dispirited by the defeats of their allies. Colonies were sent to both countries, but greater numbers were found willing to give in their names for Crustuminum, on account of the fertility of the soil. There were frequent migrations also from those places to Rome, chiefly of the parents and relations of the ravished women.Y. R. 5. bc 747. The last war, on this occasion, was begun by the Sabines; and it was by far the most formidable, for none of their operations were directed by rage or passion, nor did they disclose their intentions until they began to act. They employed stratagem, too, in aid of prudence. The Roman citadel was commanded by Spurius Tarpeius. His maiden daughter, who had accidentally gone without the fortifications to bring water for the sacred rites, was bribed by Tatius with gold to admit some of his troops into the citadel. As soon as they gained admittance they put her to death, by throwing their armour in a heap upon her, either because they wished that the citadel should rather appear to have been taken by storm, or for the sake of establishing a precedent that faith was not to be Edition: current; Page: [22] kept with a traitor. The story is told in another manner; that, as the Sabines generally carried on their left arms bracelets of great weight, and wore rings set with precious stones, which made a great show, she bargained for what they wore on their left arms; accordingly, instead of the presents of gold which she expected, they threw their shields upon her. Others say, that, in pursuance of their agreement to deliver up what was on their left arms, she expressly demanded their shields; and this seeming to be done with a treacherous intent, she was put to death by means of the very reward which she required. XII. The Sabines however kept possession of the citadel; but though, on the following day, the Roman army, in order of battle, filled the whole plain between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, yet they did not come down to the level ground; until the Romans, stimulated by rage and eagerness to recover the citadel, advanced to an assault. The foremost champions of the two parties, who led on the troops, were Mettius Curtius on the side of the Sabines, and Hostus Hostilius on that of the Romans. The latter, in the front of the army, by his spirit and intrepidity, enabled the Romans to support the fight, in spite of the disadvantage of the ground; but, on his falling, the Roman soldiers quickly gave way, and were driven back to the old gate of the Palatium. Romulus himself being forced along by the flying crowd, raised his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Jupiter! by the direction of thy auspices, I, here on the Palatine hill, laid the first foundation of my city. The Sabines are already in possession of our citadel, which they obtained by fraud; from thence they now make their way hither, in arms, and have passed the middle of the valley; but do thou, O father of gods and men! from hence at least repel the enemy; remove dismay from the minds of the Romans, and stop their shameful flight. I vow a temple here to thee, Jupiter Stator, Edition: current; Page: [23] as a testimony to posterity of the city being preserved by thy immediate aid.” Having prayed thus, as if he had perceived that his supplications were heard, he called out, “Here Romans, Jupiter, supremely good and great, orders you to halt, and renew the fight.” The Romans, as if they had heard a voice from heaven, halted, and Romulus himself flew forward to the front. On the side of the Sabines, Mettius Curtius had run down first from the citadel; had driven back the Romans, in disorder, through the whole space at present occupied by the Forum, and was now at no great distance from the gate of the Palatium, crying aloud, “We have conquered these traitors to hospitality, these cowards in war. They now feel that it is one thing to ravish virgins, and another, far different, to fight with men.” While he was vaunting in this manner, Romulus attacked him with a band of the most courageous of the youths. Mettius happened at that time to fight on horseback, and on that account was the more easily repulsed: he soon gave way, and was pursued by the Romans: the rest of the Roman troops also, animated by the bravery of their king, put the Sabines to the route. Mettius was plunged into a lake, his horse taking fright at the noise of the pursuers: and this circumstance turned the attention of the Sabines to the danger in which they saw a person of so much consequence to them. However, his friends beckoning and calling to him, he acquired fresh courage from the affection of the multitude, and accomplished his escape. Both parties now renewed the engagement in the plain between the two hills, but the advantage was on the side of the Romans. XIII. At this crisis the Sabine women, whose sufferings had given cause to the war, with their hair dishevelled and garments torn, their natural timidity being overcome by the sight of such disastrous scenes, had the resolution to throw Edition: current; Page: [24] themselves in the way of the flying weapons; and, rushing across between the armies, separated the incensed combatants, and assuaged their fury; beseeching, on the one hand their parents, on the other their husbands, “not to pollute themselves with the impious stain of the blood of father-in-law and son-in-law, nor brand with the infamy of parricide their offspring, the children of one, and grandchildren of the other party. If ye wish, said they, to destroy the affinity and connection formed between you by our marriage, turn your rage against us; we are the cause of the war; we are the cause of wounds and death to our husbands and fathers. It is better for us to perish, than to live either widowed by the loss of one party or fatherless by that of the other.” This transaction powerfully affected both the multitude and the leaders: silence suddenly ensued and a suspension of the fight. The commanders then came forward, in order to concert measures for a pacification; and they not only concluded a peace, but combined the two nations into one,Y. R. 7. bc 745. associating the two sovereigns in the government, and establishing the seat of empire at Rome. By this accession the number of citzens was doubled; and, as some compliment to the Sabines, the united people were called Quirites, from the town of Cures. To perpetuate the remembrance of that battle, the place where his horse, emerging from the deep of the lake, first brought Curtius to a shallow, was called the Curtian lake. This happy re-establishment of peace, after a war so distressing, rendered the Sabine women still dearer both to their husbands and parents, and above all to Romulus himself, so that, when he divided the people into thirty Curias, he gave these the names of Edition: current; Page: [25] the women. But as the number of the women was undoubtedly greater than that of the Curias, whether those who were to give their names to them were selected on account of their age, or their own dignity, or that of their husbands, or by lot we are not informed. At the same time also, three centuries of knights were enrolled; the Ramnenses, so called from Romulus; the Titienses, from Titus Tatius; and the Luceres, the reason of whose name and origin is unknown. Thenceforward the two kings reigned together, not only with equal power but with concord. XIV. Several years after, some relations of king Tatius offered violence to the ambassadors of the Laurentians; for which violation of the law of nations, the latter demanded satisfaction: But Tatius paid more regard to the interest and importunities of his relations, and thereby drew upon himself the punishment due to them. For he was slain afterwards at Lavinium, in a tumult raised on his going thither to an anniversary sacrifice. It is said, that Romulus showed less resentment of this proceeding than became him, either because there had been no sincere cordiality between them, while associated in the government, or because he thought that the other deserved the death which he met. He avoided therefore entering into a war on the occasion; but to make some atonement for the ill treatment of the ambassadors, and the murder of the king, the league between the cities of Rome and Lavinium was renewed. Thus, beyond their expectations, the Romans enjoyed peace on that side; but a war broke out from another quarter, much nearer home, and almost at their gates. The Fidenatians, looking with jealousy on the great increase of power in so near a neighbour, determined to make war on them before they should Edition: current; Page: [26] arrive at that degree of strength which it was evident they would in time acquire, and sent a body of young men in arms, who laid waste the whole country between Fidenæ and the city. Then, turning to the left hand, because the Tiber confined them on the right, and continuing their depredations, they threw the country people into the utmost consternation, and the sudden alarm spreading from the country into the city, made known what had happened. Romulus instantly led out his forces; for a war so near home admitted no delay, and pitched his camp at the distance of a mile from Fidenæ. Leaving there a small guard, and marching out with all the rest of his troops, he ordered a party to lie in ambush, among the bushes that grew there in abundance; then advancing with the other more numerous body of infantry, and all the cavalry, by riding up almost to the gates and offering battle, in an irregular and insulting manner, he drew the enemy out of the town, as he wished. The cavalry, acting in this manner, answered also another purpose, as it afforded a more specious pretext for the retreat, which he was to counterfeit; and when the foot too began to retire, while the horse seemed irresolute, whether to fight or fly, the enemy rushing suddenly out of the gates in crowds, eager to pursue and press on the Roman army in its retreat, were drawn to the place of the ambuscade. The Romans, now rising suddenly, attacked their line in flank; and the ensigns of those who had been left to guard the camp, advancing at the same time, added to their fears. Dismayed at so many dangers, the Fidenatians fled, before Romulus and the horseman with him, could well turn to pursue them. Thus they, who had lately pursued an enemy, who only pretended to fly, now fled themselves in earnest, with much greater haste, back to the city: but they could not get clear of the enemy; the Romans pressing close on their rear, rushed into the city along with them, before the gates could be shut. Edition: current; Page: [ 27 ] XV. The contagion of the Fidenatian war infected the Veientians. Induced by the relationship subsisting between them and the Fidenatians, (for they also were Etrurians,) and urged on beside by their dangerous vicinity of situation, in case the Roman arms were to be turned against all their neighbours, made an incursion into the Roman territories, in the manner of a predatory, rather than of a regular, war; and thus, without encamping or waiting the approach of the enemy’s army, they returned to Veii, carrying home the plunder collected in the country. On the other side, the Roman commander, not finding the enemy in the country, and being prepared for, and determined on, a decisive action, crossed over the Tiber. The Veientians, hearing that he was forming a camp, and that he intended to advance to their city, marched out to meet him; for they chose rather to engage in the open field, than to remain shut up, and fight from the walls and houses. There, unassisted by any stratagem, the Roman King, through the mere force of his veteran troops, obtained the victory, and pursued the routed enemy to their walls. The city was so strong, and so well secured both by art and by nature, that he did not choose to attempt it, but led home his troops, and, in his way, ravaged the enemy’s country for the sake of revenge rather than of booty. These devastations having distressed the Veientians no less than the loss of the battle, they sent deputies to Rome to sue for peace. A part of their lands was taken from them, and a truce granted for an hundred years. These were the principal transactions in peace and war, during the reign of Romulus; and none of them was unsuitable to the belief of his divine origin, or to the rank of a divinity, which after his death he was supposed to have obtained. This may be said of the spirit which he showed in recovering the kingdom for his grandfather, as well as of his wise conduct in founding the city, and establishing its power, by the arts both of war and peace; for, by the strength which it Edition: current; Page: [28] acquired under his management, it became so respectable, that, during forty years after, it enjoyed profound peace and security. He stood, however, much higher in the favour of the people than he did in that of the senate; and was yet more beloved by his army. He established a body guard of three hundred men, whom he called Celeres; and these he kept constantly about his person, in time of peace as well as war. Y. R. 37. bc 715.XVI. Such were his achievements in his mortal state. One day, while holding an assembly in the plain, on the borders of the lake of Capra, for the purpose of reviewing his army, a sudden storm arose, accompanied with violent thunder and lightning; the king was enveloped in a thick cloud, which hid him from the eyes of the assembly, and was never more seen upon earth. The Roman youth were at length eased of their apprehensions, by the return of calm and serene weather, after such a turbulent day; but when they saw the royal seat empty, though they readily believed the senators, who had stood nearest to him, that he had been carried up on high by the storm, yet they were struck with such dread at being thus left in a manner fatherless, that, for some time, they remained in mournful silence. At last, some few setting the example, the whole multitude saluted Romulus as “a deity, the son of a deity, the king and parent of the city of Rome;” and implored his favour, with prayers, that he would be pleased always “propitiously to watch over the safety of his own offspring.” Some, I believe, even at that time, harboured silent suspicions that the king had been torn in pieces by the hands of the senators. Such a report was Edition: current; Page: [29] spread abroad, but it was little credited, both on account of the high admiration entertained of the man, and because the general consternation caused the other account to be more universally received. It is farther mentioned, that a contrivance of one particular man procured additional credit to this representation of the matter: for Proculus Julius, a person whose testimony, as we are told, deserved respect in any case, even of the greatest importance, while the public were full of grief for the king, and of displeasure against the senators, came out into an assembly of the people, and said, “Romans, yesterday at the dawn of day, Romulus, the parent of this our city, descending suddenly from heaven, appeared before me; and when, seized with horror, I stood in a worshipping posture, and addressed him with prayers, that I might be allowed to behold him without being guilty of impiety, Go, said he, tell the Romans that it is the will of the gods that my Rome should be the metropolis of the world. Let them therefore cultivate the arts of war; and be assured, and hand this assurance down to posterity, that no human power is able to withstand the Roman arms. After these words, he went up, and vanished from my sight.” It was wonderful how readily the story was credited on this man’s word; and how much the grief of the people, and of the army, was assuaged, by their being satisfied of his immortality. XVII. Meanwhile the minds of the senators were agitated by ambition and contention for the vacant throne. Factions had not yet taken their rise from the interests of individuals; for, among a new people, no one yet possessed any eminent superiority over the rest. The contest lay between the different bodies of which the state was composed: those of Sabine descent were anxious that a king should be chosen from among them, apprehensive lest they might lose their claim by disuse, there having been no king of their race since the death of Tatius; although, by the terms of the union, Edition: current; Page: [30] they were entitled to equal privileges. On the other hand, the original Romans spurned the thought of a foreigner being placed on the throne. Notwithstanding this diversity in their views, yet all concurred in wishing for a king, for they had not yet tasted the sweets of liberty. The senate now began to fear, lest as the sentiments of many of the neighbouring states were very unfriendly towards them, some foreign power might attack them, while the state was destitute of a government, and the army destitute of a commander. Every one therefore was desirous that there should be some head, but no one party could be induced to give way to another. In this difficulty, the senators shared the government among themselves; forming, out of their number, which consisted of an hundred, ten decades, with one president in each, who were to have the direction of public affairs. Each ten governed jointly; the president alone had the lictors and other badges of sovereignty. The time of each holding the government was limited to five days, and the administration went to them all in rotation. In this manner a year passed without a king; and that interval, from this circumstance,Y. R. 38. bc 714. was called an Interregnum; which term is still applied to similar interruptions of the regular government. By this time, the people began to murmur, alleging that slavery was multiplied on them; that they had an hundred masters set over them instead of one; and it became evident that they would no longer be satisfied without a king, nor without one chosen by themselves. The senators, perceiving that such schemes were in agitation, judged it prudent to make a voluntary offer of what they could not much longer retain. Yet while they gratified the people in surrendering to them the sovereign power, they took care not to give up a larger share of privilege than they kept in their own hands; for they passed a decree, that, when the people should elect a king, that election should not be valid, unless the senate approved their choice. And, to this day, the same Edition: current; Page: [31] right is claimed with respect to the enacting of laws, and the appointing of magistrates; though the efficacy of it has been quite taken away: at present, before the people begin to vote, the senate previously declare their approbation of the proceedings of the assembly, and that, even before they are yet resolved upon. The Interrex, then, having called an assembly, said, “Romans! be the event prosperous, fortunate, and happy; elect a king: the fathers have thought proper to decree that it should be so. If ye choose a person worthy to be esteemed a fit successor to Romulus, the fathers will join their approbation.” This proceeding was so pleasing to the people, that, lest they might appear to be outdone in generosity, they voted, and ordered, nothing more than that the senate should determine, by their decree, who should be king of Rome. XVIII. There was at that time a person named Numa Pompilius, who was universally celebrated for justice and piety: he lived at Cures, in the country of the Sabines; and was as eminently skilled, as any one in that age could be, in all laws human and divine: he was supposed to have been instructed by Pythagoras of Samos; for which supposition there is no other foundation, than its not being known from what other quarter he derived his knowledge: certain it is, that more than an hundred years after this period, in the reign of Servius Tullius, Pythagoras assembled the youth of the remoter parts of Italy, about Metapontum, Heracla, and Croton, and had them instructed under his own direction. From places so remote, even if he had lived in the time of Numa, how could such a character of him have reached the Sabines, as should have inspired them with the desire of receiving his instructions? In what common language could they have communicated? or with what safety could a single man have made his way thither, through so Edition: current; Page: [32] many nations differing in their language and manners? I therefore rather believe, that his mind was, by nature, furnished with virtuous dispositions, and that the instructions which he received were, not so much in foreign learning, as in the coarse and severe discipline of the Sabines, than whom no race of men were less corrupted by refinements. On hearing the name of Numa Pompilius, although the Roman fathers saw that the balance of power would incline to the Sabines, if a king were chosen from among them, yet, no one presuming to prefer himself, or any other of his own party, or, in short, any one of the fathers, or citizens, to him, they all, to a man, concurred in voting that the kingdom should be conferred on Numa Pompilius.Y. R. 39. bc 713. When he arrived, in consequence of their invitation, he ordered, that, as Romulus, on the founding of the city, had obtained the sovereign power by an augury, so the gods should be consulted, in like manner, concerning himself. Accordingly, being conducted into the citadel by an augur, to which profession was annexed, for ever after, by public authority, the honour of performing that solemn office, he sat down on a stone with his face turned towards the South: the augur took his seat at his left hand, with his head covered, holding in his right hand a crooked wand free from knots, which they called lituus; then, taking a view towards the city, and the adjacent country, after offering prayers to the gods, he marked out the regions of the sky frow 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, in his mind, a boundary at the greatest distance that his eye could reach. Then, shifting the lituus into his left hand, and laying his right on Numa’s head, he prayed in this manner:—“Father Jupiter, if it is thy will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I hold, should be king of Rome, display to us, we beseech thee, clear tokens of the same, within those limits which I have marked out.” He then named the particular auspices, which he Edition: current; Page: [33] wished should be sent; and, these having appeared, Numa was declared king, and came down from the consecrated stand. XIX. Being thus put in possession of the kingdom, and considering that the city was but of short standing, and had been founded by means of violence and arms, he formed a design of establishing it anew, upon principles of justice, laws, and morals; and, knowing that the minds of the people, rendered ferocious by a military life, would never accommodate themselves to the practice of these, during the continuance of war, he resolved, by a disuse of arms, to mollify the fierceness of their temper. With this view, he built a temple to Janus, near the foot of the hill Argiletum, which was to notify a state either of war or of peace: when open, it denoted that the state was engaged in war; when shut, that there was peace with all the surrounding nations. Since the reign of Numa, it has been shut but twice; once, in the consulate of Titus Manlius, upon the conclusion of the first Punic war: the happiness of seeing it once more shut, the gods granted to our own times, when, after the battle of Actium, the emperor Cæsar Augustus established universal peace, on land and sea. This temple he then shut; and having, by treaties and alliances, secured the friendship of all his neighbours, and thereby removed all apprehension of danger from abroad, he made it his first aim, lest the dispositions of the people, which had hitherto been restrained Edition: current; Page: [34] by fear of their enemies, and by military discipline, should, in time of tranquillity, grow licentious, to inspire them with fear of the gods; a principle of the greatest efficacy with the multitude, in that rude and ignorant age. And as this did not seem likely to make much impression on their minds, without the aid of some pretended miracle, he made them believe that he had nightly meetings with the goddess Egeria, and that, by her direction, he instituted the sacred rites, most acceptable to the gods, and appointed proper priests for each of the deities. His first undertaking was to divide the year into twelve months, according to the course of the moon: and because the moon does not make up the number of thirty days in each month, and consequently there are some days wanted to fill up the complete year, formed by the revolution of the sun, he managed in such a manner, by inserting intercalary months, that every twenty-fourth year, the space of all the intermediate years being completed, the days coincided with the same position of the sun from whence they had set out. He also appointed days of business, and days of cessation therefrom, foreseeing how expedient it would be in future, that there should be times wherein no business could be brought before the people. XX. He next turned his thoughts to the appointment of priests, though he performed in person the greatest part of the sacred rites, especially those which now belong to the office of the flamen of Jupiter; judging, that in such a warlike state, the greater number of kings would resemble Romulus, rather than Numa, and would go abroad themselves to war; therefore, lest the sacred rites, the performance of which pertained to the office of the king, should be neglected, Edition: current; Page: [35] he created a flamen of Jove, who was to attend constantly on the duties of that priesthood, and decorated him with a splendid dress, and a royal curule chair. He created likewise two other flamens; one of Mars, the other of Quirinus. He also selected virgins for the service of Vesta, an order of priesthood derived from Alba, and therefore related, in some sort, to the family of the founder of the city. For these he fixed a stipend, to be paid out of the public treasury, that they might, without interruption, attend to the business of the temple; and by enjoining virginity, and other religious observances, gave them a sanctity of character that attracted veneration. He elected also twelve priests, called salii, for Mars Gradivus; and gave them, as an ornament of distinction, a flowered tunic, and, over the tunic, a brazen covering for the breast. He ordered these to carry the celestial armour, called Ancilia, and to go in procession through the city, singing hymns, with leaping and solemn dancing. He then chose, out of the senators, a pontiff, named Numa Marcius, son of Marcus, and gave him a written and sealed copy of the institutions respecting all the sacred rites, together with directions as to what victims, and on what days, and in what temples, each should be performed; and out of what funds the expenses of them should be defrayed. He also subjected all other religious performances, whether public or private, to the determination of the pontiff; in order that there should be an authorized person to whom the people might, on every occasion, resort for instruction, lest, through their neglect of the rites of their own country, or the introduction of foreign ones, irregularities might take place in the worship of the gods. The same pontiff was also to determine all matters relative, not only to the invocation of the celestial gods, but to funeral solemnities, and the worship of the infernal deities, and when and how such prodigies as appeared either by lightning or any other phænomenon, should be attended to and expiated. For the purpose Edition: current; Page: [36] of obtaining information of the sentiments of the deities, respecting these matters, he dedicated an altar, on the Aventine, to Jupiter Elicius; and consulted the god, by auguries, concerning the prodigies that were to be expiated. XXI. The attention of the whole community being diverted from violence and arms, to the considering and adjusting of these matters, necessarily prevented idleness; whilst reverence towards the gods, with the thought of the deity of heaven interfering in the concerns of mankind, filled their breasts with such a degree of piety, that good faith, and regard to the obligation of oaths, operated as powerfully on their minds, as the dread of the laws and of punishment. And while the people formed their manners after the example of the king, as the most perfect model, the neighbouring powers, who had formerly looked upon Rome, not as a city, but as a camp pitched in the midst of them, for the purpose of disturbing the general peace, were brought to entertain such respect for it, as to deem any one guilty of impiety, who should give trouble to a state entirely occupied in the worship of the gods. There was a grove, in the centre of which, from out of a dark cave, flowed a rivulet, fed by a perpetual spring; thither it was Numa’s custom frequently to repair unattended, to meet, as he pretended, the goddess Egeria. He therefore dedicated it to the Muses, they having been, he alleged, of her councils, whom he called his spouse. To Faith, under the designation of Single Faith, he instituted an anniversary festival; in the celebration of which, he ordered the flamens to be carried in a covered chariot, drawn by two horses; and, while employed in the worship of her, to have their hands covered, close down to the fingers, to signify that Faith was to be carefully preserved, and that even its seat, in the right hand, was sacred. He appointed many other sacrifices, and consecrated the Edition: current; Page: [37] places where they were to be performed, which the priests call Argenses. But the greatest of all his works was the establishment of a permanent peace, which he maintained through the whole course of his reign, with no less care than he employed in securing his own authority. Thus two kings in succession, by different methods, one by warlike, the other by peaceful institutions, contributed to the aggrandizement of the state. Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, Numa forty-three. The nation, by this time, became possessed not only of great strength, but had also attained to a competent knowledge of the arts both of war and peace. Y. R. 82. bc 660.XXII. On the death of Numa, an interregnum again took place. After some time, the people elected to the throne Tullus Hostilius, grandson to that Hostilius who distinguished himself in the battle with the Sabines, at the foot of the citadel; and the senate gave their approbation. He was not only of a temper very different from that of the late king, but more warlike in his disposition than even Romulus himself. His youth and vigour, and at the same time, the renown of his grandfather, stimulated his native courage. Thinking, therefore, that the strength of the state was growing languid, through inactivity, he sought on all sides for an opportunity of stirring up a war. It happened that some Roman and Alban peasants committed mutual depredations on each other’s lands: at this time, C. Cluilius held the government of Alba. Ambassadors were sent from both sides, at nearly the same time, to demand restitution. Tullus gave orders to his, that they should attend to nothing else, until they executed their commission: he well knew that the Alban would give a refusal, and then war might be proclaimed, without incurring the charge of impiety. The Albans proceeded with less despatch; being courteously and liberally entertained by Tullus in his palace, they cheerfully enjoyed the pleasures of the king’s table. Meanwhile, the Romans had made the first demand of restitution, and, on Edition: current; Page: [38] the Alban’s refusal, had declared war to commence on the thirtieth day after, and returned to Tullus with an account of their proceedings. He then gave the ambassadors an opportunity of proposing the business of their embassy; they, entirely ignorant of what had passed, spent some time, at first, in making apologies; that “it was very disagreeable to them to say any thing that would not be pleasing to Tullus, but that they were compelled by their instructions: they came to demand restitution, and if that were not granted, had orders to declare war.” To this Tullus answered: “Tell your king, that the king of Rome appeals to the gods, to judge which of the two states first dismissed, with a refusal, the ambassadors of the other demanding restitution; that, upon that state, they may inflict all the calamities of this war.” Y. R. 85. bc 667.XXIII. This answer the Albans carried home, and both parties made the most vigorous preparations for a war, which might almost be called a civil war, as it was to be waged, in some manner, between parents and their children, both parties deriving their descent from Troy: for Lavinium owed its origin to Troy, from Lavinium sprung Alba, and, from the race of the Alban kings, the Romans were descended. The issue of the war, however, was such as rendered the dispute less grievous than might have been apprehended; for, without a general engagement, and without any farther damage than the demolition of the houses of one of the cities, the two states were incorporated into one. The Albans first, with very numerous forces, made an irruption into the Roman territories; and, at the distance of no more than five miles from the city, fortified their camp with a trench, which, from the name of their leader, was afterwards called the Cluilian Trench, and retained the name for several ages, until the occasion being in time forgotten, the name too fell into disuse. In this camp, Cluilius the Alban king died, on which the Albans created Mettius Fuffetius Edition: current; Page: [39] their dictator. Tullus, now, impatient for action, especially after the death of the king, assured his men that the supreme power of the gods, which had already begun with th