Week 14 Reading

Livy on the Founding of Rome

Aeneas Leaves Troy

To begin with, it is generally admitted that, after the taking of Troy, while all the other Trojans
were treated with severity, in the case of two, Aeneas and Antenor, the Greeks forbore to
exercise the full rights of war, both on account of an ancient tie of hospitality, and because they
had persistently recommended peace and the restoration of Helen: and then Antenor, after
various vicissitudes, reached the inmost bay of the Adriatic Sea, accompanied by a body of the
Eneti, who had been driven from Paphlagonia by civil disturbance, and were in search both of a
place of settlement and a leader, their chief Pylamenes having perished at Troy; and that the
Eneti and Trojans, having driven out the Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and the Alps,
occupied these districts. In fact, the place where they first landed is called Troy, and from this it
is named the Trojan canton. The nation as a whole is called Veneti. It is also agreed that
Aeneas, an exile from home owing to a like misfortune, but conducted by the fates to the
founding of a greater empire, came first to Macedonia, that he was then driven ashore at Sicily
in his quest for a settlement, and sailing thence directed his course to the territory of Laurentum.
This spot also bears the name of Troy. When the Trojans, having disembarked there, were
driving off booty from the country, as was only natural, seeing that they had nothing left but their
arms and ships after their almost boundless wandering, Latinus the king and the Aborigines,
who then occupied these districts, assembled in arms from the city and country to repel the
violence of the new-comers. In regard to what followed there is a twofold tradition. Some say
that Latinus, having been defeated in battle, first made peace and then concluded an alliance
with Aeneas; others, that when the armies had taken up their position in order of battle, before
the trumpets sounded, Latinus advanced to the front, and invited the leader of the strangers to a
conference. He then inquired what manner of men they were, whence they had come, for what
reasons they had left their home, and in quest of what they had landed on Laurentine territory.
After he heard that the host were Trojans, their chief Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Venus,
and that, exiled from home, their country having been destroyed by fire, they were seeking a
settlement and a site for building a city, struck with admiration both at the noble character of the
nation and the hero, and at their spirit, ready alike for peace or war, he ratified the pledge of
future friendship by clasping hands. Thereupon a treaty was concluded between the chiefs, and
mutual greetings passed between the armies: Aeneas was hospitably entertained at the house
of Latinus; there Latinus, in the presence of his household gods, cemented the public league by
a family one, by giving Aeneas his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the Trojans
in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a lasting and permanent settlement.
They built a town, which Aeneas called Lavinium after the name of his wife. Shortly afterward
also, a son was the issue of the recently concluded marriage, to whom his parents gave the
name of Ascanius.

Aeneas Fights Turnus

Aborigines and Trojans were soon afterward the joint objects of a hostile attack. Turnus, king of
the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had been affianced before the arrival of Aeneas, indignant that a
stranger had been preferred to himself, had made war on Aeneas and Latinus together. Neither
army came out of the struggle with satisfaction. The Rutulians were vanquished: the victorious
Aborigines and Trojans lost their leader Latinus. Thereupon Turnus and the Rutulians,
mistrustful of their strength, had recourse to the prosperous and powerful Etruscans, and their
king Mezentius, whose seat of government was at Caere, at that time a flourishing town. Even
from the outset he had viewed with dissatisfaction the founding of a new city, and, as at that
time he considered that the Trojan power was increasing far more than was altogether
consistent with the safety of the neighbouring peoples, he readily joined his forces in alliance
with the Rutulians. Aeneas, to gain the good-will of the Aborigines in face of a war so serious
and alarming, and in order that they might all be not only under the same laws but might also
bear the same name, called both nations Latins. In fact, subsequently, the Aborigines were not
behind the Trojans in zeal and loyalty toward their king Aeneas. Accordingly, in full reliance on
this state of mind of the two nations, who were daily becoming more and more united, and in
spite of the fact that Etruria was so powerful, that at this time it had filled with the fame of its
renown not only the land but the sea also, throughout the whole length of Italy from the Alps to
the Sicilian Strait, Aeneas led out his forces into the field, although he might have repelled their
attack by means of his fortifications. Thereupon a battle was fought, in which victory rested with
the Latins, but for Aeneas it was even the last of his acts on earth. He, by whatever name laws
human and divine demand he should be called, was buried on the banks of the river Numicus:
they call him Jupiter Indiges.

Ascanius Founds Alba Longa

Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, was not yet old enough to rule; the government, however,
remained unassailed for him till he reached the age of maturity. In the interim, under the regency
of a woman -- so great was Lavinia's capacity -- the Latin state and the boy's kingdom, inherited
from his father and grandfather, was secured for him. I will not discuss the question -- for who
can state as certain a matter of such antiquity? -- whether it was this Ascanius, or one older than
he, born of Creusa, before the fall of Troy, and subsequently the companion of his father's flight,
the same whom, under the name of Iulus, the Julian family represents to be the founder of its
name. Be that as it may, this Ascanius, wherever born and of whatever mother -- it is at any rate
agreed that his father was Aeneas -- seeing that Lavinium was over-populated, left that city, now
a flourishing and wealthy one, considering those times, to his mother or stepmother, and built
himself a new one at the foot of the Alban mount, which, from its situation, being built all along
the ridge of a hill, was called Alba Longa.

Amulius Drives Out His Brother Numitor

There was an interval of about thirty years between the founding of Lavinium and the
transplanting of the colony to Alba Longa. Yet its power had increased to such a degree,
especially owing to the defeat of the Etruscans, that not even on the death of Aeneas, nor subsequently between the period of the regency of Lavinia, and the first beginnings of the young
prince's reign, did either Mezentius, the Etruscans, or any other neighbouring peoples venture
to take up arms against it. Peace had been concluded on the following terms, that the river
Albula, which is now called Tiber, should be the boundary of Latin and Etruscan territory. After
him Silvius, son of Ascanius, born by some accident in the woods, became king. He was the
father of Aeneas Silvius, who afterward begot Latinus Silvius. By him several colonies were
transplanted, which were called Prisci Latini. From this time all the princes, who ruled at Alba,
bore the surname of Silvius. From Latinus sprung Alba; from Alba, Atys; from Atys, Capys; from
Capys, Capetus; from Capetus, Tiberinus, who, having been drowned while crossing the river
Albula, gave it the name by which it was generally known among those of later times. He was
succeeded by Agrippa, son of Tiberinus; after Agrippa, Romulus Silvius, having received the
government from his father, became king. He was killed by a thunderbolt, and handed on the
kingdom to Aventinus, who, owing to his being buried on that hill, which now forms part of the
city of Rome, gave it its name. After him reigned Proca, who begot Numitor and Amulius. To
Numitor, who was the eldest son, he bequeathed the ancient kingdom of the Silvian family.
Force, however, prevailed more than a father's wish or the respect due to seniority. Amulius
drove out his brother and seized the kingdom: he added crime to crime, murdered his brother's
male issue, and, under pretence of doing honour to his brother's daughter, Rea Silvia, having
chosen her a Vestal Virgin,[2] deprived her of all hopes of issue by the obligation of perpetual
virginity.

The Conception, Birth, and Upbringing of Mars' Sons

My opinion, however, is that the origin of so great a city and an empire next in power to that of
the gods was due to the fates. The Vestal Rea was ravished by force, and having brought forth
twins, declared Mars to be the father of her illegitimate offspring, either because she really
imagined it to be the case, or because it was less discreditable to have committed such an
offence with a god.[3] But neither gods nor men protected either her or her offspring from the
king's cruelty. The priestess was bound and cast into prison; the king ordered the children to be
thrown into the flowing river. By some chance which Providence seemed to direct, the Tiber,
having over flown its banks, thereby forming stagnant pools, could not be approached at the
regular course of its channel; notwithstanding it gave the bearers of the children hope that they
could be drowned in its water however calm. Accordingly, as if they had executed the king's
orders, they exposed the boys in the nearest land-pool, where now stands the ficus Ruminalis,
which they say was called Romularis.[4] At that time the country in those parts was a desolate
wilderness. The story goes, that when the shallow water, subsiding, had left the floating trough,
in which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf from the mountains
around directed her course toward the cries of the infants, and held down her teats to them with
such gentleness, that the keeper of the king's herd found her licking the boys with her tongue.
They say that his name was Faustulus; and that they were carried by him to his homestead and
given to his wife Larentia to be brought up. Some are of the opinion that Larentia was called
Lupa among the shepherds from her being a common prostitute, and hence an opening was
afforded for the marvellous story. The children, thus born and thus brought up, as soon as they
reached the age of youth, did not lead a life of inactivity at home or amid the flocks, but, in the
chase, scoured the forests. Having thus gained strength, both in body and spirit, they now were
not only able to withstand wild beasts, but attacked robbers laden with booty, and divided the
spoils with the shepherds, in whose company, as the number of their young associates
increased daily, they carried on business and pleasure.

Lupercalia

Even in these early times it is said that the festival of the Lupercal, as now celebrated, was
solemnized on the Palatine Hill, which was first called Pallantium, from Pallanteum, a city of
Arcadia, and afterward Mount Palatius. There Evander, who, belonging to the above tribe of the
Arcadians, had for many years before occupied these districts, is said to have appointed the
observance of a solemn festival, introduced from Arcadia, in which naked youths ran about
doing honour in wanton sport to Pan Lycaeus, who was afterward called Inuus by the Romans.
When they were engaged in this festival, as its periodical solemnization was well known, a band
of robbers, enraged at the loss of some booty, lay in wait for them, and took Remus prisoner,
Romulus having vigorously defended himself: the captive Remus they delivered up to King
Amulius, and even went so far as to bring accusations against him. They made it the principal
charge that having made incursions into Numitor's lands, and, having assembled a band of
young men, they had driven off their booty after the manner of enemies. Accordingly, Remus
was delivered up to Numitor for punishment. Now from the very first Faustulus had entertained
hopes that the boys who were being brought up by him, were of royal blood: for he both knew
that the children had been exposed by the king's orders, and that the time, at which he had
taken them up, coincided exactly with that period: but he had been unwilling to disclose the
matter, as yet not ripe for discovery, till either a fitting opportunity or the necessity for it should
arise. Necessity came first. Accordingly, urged by fear, he disclosed the whole affair to Romulus.
By accident also, Numitor, while he had Remus in custody, having heard that the brothers were
twins, by comparing their age and their natural disposition entirely free from servility, felt his
mind struck by the recollection of his grandchildren, and by frequent inquiries came to the
conclusion he had already formed, so that he was not far from openly acknowledging Remus.
Accordingly a plot was concerted against the king on all sides. Romulus, not accompanied by a
body of young men -- for he was not equal to open violence -- but having commanded the
shepherds to come to the palace by different roads at a fixed time, made an attack upon the
king, while Remus, having got together another party from Numitor's house, came to his
assistance; and so they slew the king.

Numitor Reigns in Alba Longa

Numitor, at the beginning of the fray, giving out that enemies had invaded the city and attacked
the palace, after he had drawn off the Alban youth to the citadel to secure it with an armed
garrison, when he saw the young men, after they had compassed the king's death, advancing
toward him to offer congratulations, immediately summoned a meeting of the people, and
recounted his brother's unnatural behaviour toward him, the extraction of his grandchildren, the
manner of their birth, bringing up, and recognition, and went on to inform them of the king's
death, and that he was responsible for it. The young princes advanced through the midst of the
assembly with their band in orderly array, and, after they had saluted their grandfather as king, a
succeeding shout of approbation, issuing from the whole multitude, ratified for him the name
and authority of sovereign. The government of Alba being thus intrusted to Numitor, Romulus
and Remus were seized with the desire of building a city on the spot where they had been
exposed and brought up. Indeed, the number of Alban and Latin inhabitants was too great for
the city; the shepherds also were included among that population, and all these readily inspired hopes that Alba and Lavinium would be insignificant in comparison with that city, which was
intended to be built. But desire of rule, the bane of their grandfather, interrupted these designs,
and thence arose a shameful quarrel from a sufficiently amicable beginning. For as they were
twins, and consequently the respect for seniority could not settle the point, they agreed to leave
it to the gods, under whose protection the place was, to choose by augury which of them should
give a name to the new city, and govern it when built. Romulus chose the Palatine and Remus
the Aventine, as points of observation for taking the auguries.

The Fratricide

It is said that an omen came to Remus first, six vultures; and when, after the omen had been
declared, twice that number presented themselves to Romulus, each was hailed king by his own
party, the former claiming sovereign power on the ground of priority of time, the latter on
account of the number of birds. Thereupon, having met and exchanged angry words, from the
strife of angry feelings they turned to bloodshed: there Remus fell from a blow received in the
crowd. A more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped over the newly erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect:" So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls." Thus
Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The city, when built, was
called after the name of its founder.[5] He first proceeded to fortify the Palatine Hill, on which he
himself had been brought up. He offered sacrifices to Hercules, according to the Grecian rite, as
they had been instituted by Evander; to the other gods, according to the Alban rite. There is a
tradition that Hercules, having slain Geryon, drove off his oxen, which were of surpassing
beauty,[6] to that spot: and that he lay down in a grassy spot on the banks of the river Tiber,
where he had swum across, driving the cattle before him, to refresh them with rest and luxuriant
pasture, being also himself fatigued with journeying. There, when sleep had overpowered him,
heavy as he was with food and wine, a shepherd who dwelt in the neighborhood, by name
Cacus, priding himself on his strength, and charmed with the beauty of the cattle, desired to
carry them off as booty; but because, if he had driven the herd in front of him to the cave, their
tracks must have conducted their owner thither in his search, he dragged the most beautiful of
them by their tails backward into a cave. Hercules, aroused from sleep at dawn, having looked
over his herd and observed that some of their numbers were missing, went straight to the nearest
cave, to see whether perchance their tracks led thither. When he saw that they were all turned
away from it and led in no other direction, troubled and not knowing what to make up his mind to
do, he commenced to drive off his herd from so dangerous a spot. Thereupon some of the cows
that were driven away, lowed, as they usually do when they missed those that were left; and
the lowings of those that were shut in being heard in answer from the cave, caused Hercules to
turn round. And when Cacus attempted to prevent him by force as he was advancing toward the
cave, he was struck with a club and slain, while vainly calling upon the shepherds to assist him.
At that time Evander, who was an exile from the Peloponnesus, governed the country more by
his personal ascendancy than by absolute sway. He was a man held in reverence on account of
the wonderful art of writing, an entirely new discovery to men ignorant of accomplishments,[7]
and still more revered on account of the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom those
peoples had marvelled at as a prophetess before the arrival of the Sybil in Italy. This Evander,
roused by the assembling of the shepherds as they hastily crowded round the stranger, who
was charged with open murder, after he heard an account of the deed and the cause of it,
gazing upon the personal appearance and mien of the hero, considerably more dignified and
majestic than that of a man, asked who he was. As soon as he heard the name of the hero, and
that of his father and native country, "Hail!" said he, "Hercules, son of Jupiter! my mother,
truthful interpreter of the will of the gods, has declared to me that thou art destined to increase
the number of the heavenly beings, and that on this spot an altar shall be dedicated to thee,
which in after ages a people most mighty on earth shall call Greatest, and honour in accordance
with rites instituted by thee." Hercules, having given him his right hand, declared that he
accepted the prophetic intimation, and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by building and
dedicating an altar. Thereon then for the first time sacrifice was offered to Hercules with a choice
heifer taken from the herd, the Potitii and Pinarii [aside: this is the family Steven Saylor
concentrates on in his "Roma" novels], the most distinguished families who then inhabited those
parts, being invited to serve at the feast. It so happened that the Potitii presented themselves in
due time and the entrails were set before them: but the Pinarii did not arrive until the entrails
had been eaten up, to share the remainder of the feast. From that time it became a settled
institution, that, as long as the Pinarian family existed, they should not eat of the entrails of the
sacrificial victims. The Potitii, fully instructed by Evander, discharged the duties of chief priests
of this sacred function for many generations, until their whole race became extinct, in
consequence of this office, the solemn prerogative of their family, being delegated to public
slaves. These were the only religious rites that Romulus at that time adopted from those of
foreign countries, being even then an advocate of immortality won by merit, to which the destiny
marked out for him was conducting him.

Romulus Reigns in Rome

The duties of religion having been thus duly completed, the people were summoned to a public
meeting: and, as they could not be united and incorporated into one body by any other means
save legal ordinances, Romulus gave them a code of laws: and, judging that these would only
be respected by a nation of rustics, if he dignified himself with the insignia of royalty, he clothed
himself with greater majesty -- above all, by taking twelve lictors to attend him, but also in regard
to his other appointments. Some are of opinion that he was influenced in his choice of that
number by that of the birds which had foretold that sovereign power should be his when the
auguries were taken. I myself am not indisposed to follow the opinion of those, who are inclined
to believe that it was from the neighbouring Etruscans -- from whom the curule chair and purplebordered toga were borrowed -- that the apparitors of this class, as well as the number itself,
were introduced: and that the Etruscans employed such a number because, as their king was
elected from twelve states in common, each state assigned him one lictor.
Augmenting the Population of Rome
In the meantime, the city was enlarged by taking in various plots of ground for the erection of
buildings, while they built rather in the hope of an increased population in the future, than in
view of the actual number of the inhabitants of the city at that time. Next, that the size of the city
might not be without efficiency, in order to increase the population, following the ancient policy of
founders of cities, who, by bringing together to their side a mean and ignoble multitude, were in
the habit of falsely asserting that an offspring was born to them from the earth, he opened as a
sanctuary the place which, now inclosed, is known as the "two groves," and which people come
upon when descending from the Capitol. Thither, a crowd of all classes from the neighbouring peoples, without distinction, whether freemen or slaves, eager for change, flocked for refuge,
and therein lay the foundation of the city's strength, corresponding to the commencement of its
enlargement. Having now no reason to be dissatisfied with his strength, he next instituted a
standing council to direct that strength. He created one hundred senators, either because that
number was sufficient, or because there were only one hundred who could be so elected.
Anyhow they were called fathers[8], by way of respect, and their descendants patricians.

Neighboring States Fear and Loathe the Romans

By this time the Roman state was so powerful, that it was a match for any of the neighboring
states in war: but owing to the scarcity of women its greatness was not likely to outlast the
existing generation, seeing that the Romans had no hope of issue at home, and they did not
intermarry with their neighbors. So then, by the advice of the senators, Romulus sent around
ambassadors to the neighboring states, to solicit an alliance and the right of intermarriage for
his new subjects, saying, that cities, like everything else, rose from the humblest beginnings:
next, that those which the gods and their own merits assisted, gained for themselves great
power and high renown: that he knew full well that the gods had aided the first beginnings of
Rome and that merit on their part would not be wanting: therefore, as men, let them not be
reluctant to mix their blood and stock with men. The embassy nowhere obtained a favorable
hearing: but, although the neighboring peoples treated it with such contempt, yet at the same
time they dreaded the growth of such a mighty power in their midst to the danger of themselves
and of their posterity. In most cases when they were dismissed they were asked the question,
whether they had opened a sanctuary for women also: for that in that way only could they obtain
suitable matches.

The Rape of the Sabines

The Roman youths were bitterly indignant at this, and the matter began unmistakably to point to
open violence. Romulus in order to provide a fitting opportunity and place for this, dissembling
his resentment, with this purpose in view, instituted games to be solemnized every year in
honor of Neptunus Equester, which he called Consualia. He then ordered the show to be
proclaimed among the neighboring peoples; and the Romans prepared to solemnize it with all
the pomp with which they were then acquainted or were able to exhibit, in order to make the
spectacle famous, and an object of expectation. Great numbers assembled, being also desirous
of seeing the new city, especially all the nearest peoples, the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and
Antemnates: the entire Sabine population attended with their wives and children. They were
hospitably invited to the different houses: and, when they saw the position of the city, its fortified
walls, and how crowded with houses it was, they were astonished that the power of Rome had
increased so rapidly. When the time of the show arrived, and their eyes and minds alike were
intent upon it, then, according to preconcerted arrangement, a disturbance was made, and, at a
given signal, the Roman youths rushed in different directions to carry off the unmarried women.
A great number were carried off at hap-hazard, by those into whose hands they severally fell:
some of the common people, to whom the task had been assigned, conveyed to their homes
certain women of surpassing beauty, who were destined for the leading senators. They say that
one, far distinguished beyond the rest in form and beauty, was carried off by the party of a
certain Talassius, and that, when several people wanted to know to whom they were carrying
her, a cry was raised from time to time, to prevent her being molested, that she was being
carried to Talassius: and that from this the word was used in connection with marriages. The
festival being disturbed by the alarm thus caused, the sorrowing parents of the maidens retired,
complaining of the violated compact of hospitality, and invoking the god, to whose solemn
festival and games they had come, having been deceived by the pretense of religion and good
faith. Nor did the maidens entertain better hopes for themselves, or feel less indignation.
Romulus, however, went about in-person and pointed out that what had happened was due to
the pride of their fathers, in that they had refused the privilege of intermarriage to their
neighbors; but that, notwithstanding, they would be lawfully wedded, and enjoy a share of all
their possessions and civil rights, and -- a thing dearer than all else to the human race -- the
society of their common children: only let them calm their angry feelings, and bestow their
affections on those on whom fortune had bestowed their bodies. Esteem (said he) often arose
subsequent to wrong: and they would find them better husbands for the reason that each of
them would endeavor, to the utmost of his power, after having discharged, as far as his part
was concerned, the duty of a husband, to quiet the longing for country and parents. To this, the
blandishments of the husbands were added, who excused what had been done on the plea of
passion and love, a form of entreaty that works most successfully upon the feelings of women.
By this time the minds of the maidens were considerably soothed, but their parents, especially
by putting on the garb of mourning, and by their tears and complaints, stirred up the
neighboring states. Nor did they confine their feelings of indignation to their own home only,
but they flocked from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, and embassies crowded
thither because the name of Tatius was held in the greatest esteem in those quarters. The
Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates were the people who were chiefly affected by the
outrage. As Tatius and the Sabines appeared to them to be acting in too dilatory a manner,
these three peoples by mutual agreement among themselves made preparations for war
unaided. However, not even the Crustumini and Antemnates bestirred themselves with sufficient
activity to satisfy the hot-headedness and anger of the Caeninenses: accordingly, the people of
Caenina, unaided, themselves attacked the Roman territory. But Romulus with his army met
them while they were ravaging the country in straggling parties, and in a trifling engagement
convinced them that anger unaccompanied by strength is fruitless. He routed their army and put
it to flight, followed in pursuit of it when routed, cut down their king in battle and stripped him of
his armor, and, having slain the enemy's leader, took the city at the first assault. Then, having
led back his victorious army, being a man both distinguished for his achievements, and one
equally skillful at putting them in the most favorable light, he ascended the Capitol, carrying
suspended on a portable frame, cleverly contrived for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's
general, whom he had slain: there, having laid them down at the foot of an oak held sacred by
the shepherds, at the same time that he presented the offering, he marked out the boundaries
for a temple of Jupiter, and bestowed a surname on the god. "Jupiter Feretrius," said he, "I, King
Romulus, victorious over my foes, offer to thee these royal arms, and dedicate to thee a temple
within those quarters, which I have just now marked out in my mind, to be a resting-place for the
spolia opima, which posterity, following my example, shall bring hither on slaying the kings or
generals of the enemy." This is the origin of that temple, the first that was ever consecrated at
Rome. It was afterward the will of the gods that neither the utterances of the founder of the
temple, in which he solemnly declared that his posterity would bring such spoils thither, should
be spoken in vain, and that the honor of the offering should not be rendered common owing to the number of those who enjoyed it. In the course of so many years and so many wars, the
spolia opima were only twice gained: so rare has been the successful attainment of this honor.
While the Romans were thus engaged in those parts, the army of the Antemnates made a
hostile attack upon the Roman territories, seizing the opportunity when they were left
unguarded. Against these, in like manner a Roman legion was led out in haste and surprised
them while straggling in the country. Thus the enemy was routed at the first shout and charge:
their town was taken: Romulus, amid his rejoicings at this double victory, was entreated by his
wife Hersilia, in consequence of the importunities of the captured women, to pardon their fathers
and admit them to the privileges of citizenship; that the commonwealth could thus be knit
together by reconciliation. The request was readily granted. After that, he set out against the
Crustumini, who were beginning hostilities: in their case, as their courage had been damped by
the disasters of others, the struggle was less keen. Colonies were sent to both places: more,
however, were found to give in their names for Crustuminum, because of the fertility of the soil.
Great numbers also migrated from thence to Rome, chiefly of the parents and relatives of the
women who had been carried off.

War With the Sabines

The last war broke out on the part of the Sabines, and this was by far the most formidable: for
nothing was done under the influence of anger or covetousness, nor did they give indications of
hostilities before they had actually begun them. Cunning also was combined with prudence.
Spurius Tarpeius was in command of the Roman citadel: his maiden daughter, who at the time
had gone by chance outside the walls to fetch water for sacrifice, was bribed by Tatius, to admit
some armed soldiers into the citadel. After they were admitted, they crushed her to death by
heaping their arms upon her: either that the citadel might rather appear to have been taken by
storm, or for the sake of setting forth a warning, that faith should never on any occasion be kept
with a betrayer. The following addition is made to the story: that, as the Sabines usually wore
golden bracelets of great weight on their left arm and rings of great beauty set with precious
stones, she bargained with them for what they had on their left hands; and that therefore shields
were heaped upon her instead of presents of gold. Some say that, in accordance with the
agreement that they should deliver up what was on their left hands, she expressly demanded
their shields, and that, as she seemed to be acting treacherously, she herself was slain by the
reward she had chosen for herself.
Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel, and on the next day, when the Roman army,
drawn up in order of battle, had occupied all the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline
Hills, they did not descend from thence into the plain until the Romans, stimulated by
resentment and the desire of recovering the citadel, advanced uphill to meet them. The chiefs
on both sides encouraged the fight, on the side of the Sabines Mettius Curtius, on the side of
the Romans Hostius Hostilius. The latter, in the front of the battle, on the unfavourable ground,
supported the fortunes of the Romans by his courage and boldness. When Hostius fell, the
Roman line immediately gave way, and, being routed, was driven as far as the old gate of the
Palatium. Romulus himself also, carried away by the crowd of fugitives, cried, uplifting his arms
to heaven: "O Jupiter, it was at the bidding of thy omens, that here on the Palatine I laid the first
foundations for the city. The citadel, purchased by crime, is now in possession of the Sabines:
thence they are advancing hither in arms, having passed the valley between. But do thou, O
father of gods and men, keep back the enemy from hence at least, dispel the terror of the
Romans, and check their disgraceful flight. On this spot I vow to build a temple to thee as
Jupiter Stator, to be a monument to posterity that the city has been preserved by thy ready aid."
Having offered up these prayers, as if he had felt that they had been heard, he cried: "From this
position, O Romans, Jupiter, greatest and best, bids you halt and renew the fight." The Romans
halted as if ordered by a voice from heaven. Romulus himself hastened to the front. Mettius
Curtius, on the side of the Sabines, had rushed down from the citadel at the head of his troops
and driven the Romans in disordered array over the whole space of ground where the Forum
now is. He had almost reached the gate of the Palatium, crying out: "We have conquered our
perfidious friends, our cowardly foes: now they know that fighting with men is a very different
thing from ravishing maidens." Upon him, as he uttered these boasts, Romulus made an attack
with a band of his bravest youths. Mettius then happened to be fighting on horseback: on that
account his repulse was easier. When he was driven back, the Romans followed in pursuit: and
the remainder of the Roman army, fired by the bravery of the king, routed the Sabines. Mettius,
his horse taking fright at the noise of his pursuers, rode headlong into a morass: this
circumstance drew off the attention of the Sabines also at the danger of so high a personage.
He indeed, his own party beckoning and calling to him, gaining heart from the encouraging
shouts of many of his friends, made good his escape. The Romans and Sabines renewed the
battle in the valley between the two hills: but the advantage rested with the Romans.
At this crisis the Sabine women, from the outrage on whom the war had arisen, with disheveled
hair and torn garments, the timidity natural to women being overcome by the sense of their
calamities were emboldened to fling themselves into the midst of the flying weapons, and,
rushing across, to part the incensed combatants and assuage their wrath: imploring their fathers
on the one hand and their husbands on the other, as fathers-in-law and sons-in-law, not to
besprinkle themselves with impious blood, nor to fix the stain of murder on their offspring, the
one side on their grandchildren, the other on their children. "If," said they, "you are dissatisfied
with the relationship between you, and with our marriage, turn your resentment against us; it is
we who are the cause of war, of wounds and bloodshed to our husbands and parents: it will be
better for us to perish than to live widowed or orphans without one or other of you." This incident
affected both the people and the leaders; silence and sudden quiet followed; the leaders
thereupon came forward to conclude a treaty; and not only concluded a peace, but formed one
state out of two. They united the kingly power, but transferred the entire sovereignty to Rome.
Rome having thus been made a double state, that some benefit at least might be conferred on
the Sabines, they were called Quirites from Cures. To serve as a memorial of that battle, they
called the place -- where Curtius, after having emerged from the deep morass, set his horse in
shallow water -- the Lacus Curtius.[11]

Divisions of the Romans

This welcome peace, following suddenly on so melancholy a war, endeared the Sabine women
still more to their husbands and parents, and above all to Romulus himself. Accordingly, when
dividing the people into thirty curiae, he called the curiae after their names. While the number of
the women were undoubtedly considerably greater than this, it is not recorded whether they
were chosen for their age, their own rank or that of their husbands, or by lot, to give names to
the curiae. At the same time also three centuries of knights were enrolled: the Ramnenses were
so called from Romulus, the Titienses from Titus Tatius: in regard to the Luceres, the meaning of
the name and its origin is uncertain.[12] From that time forward the two kings enjoyed the regal
power not only in common, but also in perfect harmony.