UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00022092450 
 
Hamulus. Frontispiece. 
 
 Combat Between .Eneas and Achilla. (See p. 57.) 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/historyofromulusabb1900 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Cadmus 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . " . 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Cadmus' Letter .... 
 
 . 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Story of tEneas 
 
 . 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 
 The Destruction of Troy 
 
 . 60 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 
 The Flight of ^Eneas 
 
 . 78 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 
 The Landing in Latium . 
 
 . 101 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Rhea Silvia .... 
 
 . 120 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Twins 
 
 . 139 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 
 The Founding of Rome . 
 
 . 158 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 
 Organization .... 
 
 . 177 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Wives 
 
 . 196 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Sabine War 
 
 . 214 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 
 The Conclusion .... 
 
 . 234 
 
 (v) 
 
&omulu$, vi. 
 
 Venus. (Seep. 46.) 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Combat Between iEneas ai 
 
 d Achilles, 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 Venus 
 
 
 
 )age vi 
 
 The Glory of Rome Foretold to iEneas 
 
 
 X 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter I. . 
 
 
 
 " 7 
 
 The Oracle at Delphi . 
 
 
 ? acing 
 
 « 14 
 
 Jupiter and Europa 
 
 
 
 " 19 
 
 Map of Cadmus' Journeys 
 
 
 
 " 21 
 
 Mars .... 
 
 
 
 " 25 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter II. 
 
 
 
 « 26 
 
 Emblem of the Deity 
 
 
 
 " 27 
 
 Symbol of Battle 
 
 
 
 " 32 
 
 The Judgment of Paris 
 
 
 facing 
 
 '" 34 
 
 Egyptian Hieroglyphics 
 
 
 
 " 43 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter III. 
 
 
 
 « 45 
 
 Origin of Venus 
 
 
 
 « 47 
 
 iEneas Defending the Body 
 
 of Pandarus, 
 
 facing 
 
 •• 52 
 
 Neptune in his Chariot 
 
 
 
 " 59 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter IV. 
 
 
 
 " 60 
 
 Neptune 
 
 
 facing 
 
 « 74 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter V. 
 
 
 
 " 78 
 
 Paris and Helen . 
 
 
 
 " 80 
 
 Wanderings of iEneas 
 
 
 
 " 91 
 
 The Wooden Horse 
 
 
 facing 
 
 « 94 
 
 The Harpies 
 
 
 
 « 100 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter VI. 
 
 
 
 " 101 
 
 Map of Latium . 
 
 . 
 
 
 " 103 
 
 (vii) 
 
Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 
 
 Laocoon and his Sons . . facing page 114 
 
 JEneas Relating his Story 
 
 . ' 
 
 119 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter VII. 
 
 . 
 
 120 
 
 Fighting Within the Walls of Troy, 
 
 facing ' 
 
 134 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter VIII. 
 
 . 
 
 139 
 
 Rhea Silvia .... 
 
 . ' 
 
 ' 140 
 
 Faustulus and the Twins 
 
 . ' 
 
 ' 143 
 
 Trojan Warriors .... 
 
 facing ' 
 
 154 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter IX. 
 
 . 
 
 158 
 
 Situation of Rome 
 
 . 
 
 163 
 
 Ascanius Wounding Sylvia's Stag . 
 
 facing ' 
 
 174 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter X. 
 
 . ' 
 
 177 
 
 Rhea Sylvia Feeding the Sacred Fire, 
 
 facing ' 
 
 192 
 
 Early Roman Ploughing 
 
 . < 
 
 195 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter XL 
 
 . 
 
 196 
 
 Spearman and Bowman 
 
 . ' 
 
 213 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter XII. 
 
 ( 
 
 214 
 
 The Wolf Caressing Romulus and Remus, facing ' 
 
 216 
 
 Promising the Bracelets 
 
 . < 
 
 226 
 
 Headpiece, Chapter XIII 
 
 . * 
 
 234 
 
 Carrying off a Sabine Woman 
 
 facing ' 
 
 236 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 If Rome had not risen to the proud position 
 of mistress of the world, the story of the half- 
 civilized chieftain who founded the city would 
 never have been written, and the memory of 
 his exploits would have perished with him. 
 
 At best the accounts of Romulus and his 
 great ancestor iEneas are somewhat legendary 
 in character; but they have been incorporated 
 into the literature of every civilized nation on 
 the globe. 
 
 In the semi- historic times, during which 
 Romulus is said to have traced out the form of 
 his city with a plough, the stronger took from 
 the weaker whatever tempted his ambition or 
 seemed good in his eyes ; and so we hear of 
 Romulus, living in a mud hovel covered 
 with thatch in the midst of a few families of 
 the old Trojan race, supplying himself and the 
 younger men, outlaws and runaways who had 
 joined him, with wives by the simple expedient 
 of inviting a neighboring tribe to a feast, and 
 then carrying off their maidens. 
 
 Whether the stories of iEneas and Romulus 
 are fables or not, the later Romans believed 
 them, and worshipped Romulus under the 
 name of 'Jy.ixm'as. 
 
 (ix) 
 
The Glory of Rome Foretold to JEneas. 
 
— — - — — -— 
 
 - 
 
 - — 
 
 W^mmm3**ss*^0S^^^ / m' 
 
 
 ^R^ 
 
 ^rowJA y^S ■ ^~ ' — ■= — — « 
 
 
 mM 
 
 Tnt!Aii±a 
 
 ROMULUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CADMUS. 
 
 Some men are renowned in history on 
 account of the extraordinary powers and 
 capacities which they exhibited in the course 
 of their career, or the intrinsic greatness of 
 the deeds which they performed. Others, 
 without having really achieved anything in 
 itself very great or wonderful, have become 
 widely known to mankind by reason of the 
 vast consequences which, in the subsequent 
 course of events, resulted from their doings. 
 Men of this latter class are conspicuous 
 rather than great. From among thousands 
 of other men equally exalted in character 
 with themselves, they are brought out prom- 
 inently to the notice of mankind only in 
 consequence of the strong light reflected, by 
 great events subsequently occurring, back 
 upon the position where they happened to 
 stand. 
 
 The celebrity of Romulus seems to be of 
 
 7 
 
8 ROMULUS. 
 
 this latter kind. He founded a city. A 
 thousand other men have founded cities; 
 and in doing their work have evinced per- 
 haps as much courage, sagacity, and men- 
 tal power as Romulus displayed. The city 
 of Romulus, however, became in the end the 
 queen and mistress of the world. It rose to 
 so exalted a position of influence and power, 
 and retained its ascendency so long, that 
 now for twenty centuries every civilized 
 nation in the western world have felt a strong 
 interest in everything pertaining to its his- 
 tory, and have been accustomed to look 
 back with special curiosity to the circum- 
 stances of its origin. In consequence of this 
 it has happened that though Romulus, in his 
 actual day, performed no very great exploits, 
 and enjoyed no pre-eminence above the 
 thousand other half-savage chieftains of his 
 class, whose names have been long forgotten, 
 and very probably while he lived never 
 dreamed of any extended fame, yet so bril- 
 liant is the illumination which the subsequent 
 events of history have shed upon his position 
 and his doings, that his name and the in- 
 cidents of his life have been brought out 
 very conspicuously to view, and attract very 
 strongly the attention of mankind. 
 
 The history of Rome is usually made to 
 begin with the story of JEneas. In order 
 that the reader may understand in what 
 light that romantic tale is to be regarded, it 
 is necessary to premise some statements in 
 
CADMUS. 9 
 
 respect to the general condition of society 
 in ancient days, and to the nature of the 
 strange narrations, circulated in those early 
 
 {)eriods among mankind, out of which in 
 ater ages, when the art of writing came to 
 be introduced, learned men compiled and re- 
 corded what they termed history. 
 
 The countries which formed the shores of 
 the Mediterranean sea w r ere as verdant and 
 beautiful, in those ancient days, and perhaps 
 as fruitful and as densely populated as in 
 modern times. The same Italy and Greece 
 were there then as now. There were the 
 same blue and beautiful seas, the same 
 mountains, the same picturesque and en- 
 chanting shores, the same smiling valleys, 
 and the same serene and genial sky. The 
 level lands were tilled industriously by a 
 rural population corresponding in all essen- 
 tial points of character with the peasantry 
 of modern times; and shepherds and herds- 
 men, then as now, hunted the wild beasts, 
 and watched their flocks and herds, on the 
 declivities of the mountains. In a word, 
 the appearance of the face of nature, and 
 the performance of the great function of the 
 social state, namely, the procuring of food 
 and clothing for man by the artificial culti- 
 vation of animal and vegetable life, were 
 substantially the same on the shores of the 
 Mediterranean two thousand years ago as 
 now. Even the plants and the animals 
 themselves which the ancient inhabitants 
 reared, have undergone no essential change. 
 
10 ROMULUS. 
 
 Their sheep and oxen and horses were the 
 same as ours. So were their grapes, their 
 apples, and their corn. 
 
 If, however, we leave the humbler classes 
 and occupations of society, and turn our at- 
 tention to those which represent the refine- 
 ment, the cultivation, and the power, of the 
 two respective periods, we shall find that 
 almost all analogy fails. There was an 
 aristocracy then as now, ruling over the 
 widely-extended communities of peaceful 
 agriculturalists and herdsmen, but the mem- 
 bers of it were entirely different in their 
 character, their tastes, their ideas, and their 
 occupations from the classes which exercise 
 the prerogatives of government in Europe in 
 modern times. The nobles then were mili- 
 tary chieftains, living in camps or in walled 
 cities, which they built for the accommo- 
 dation of themselves and their followers. 
 These chieftains were not barbarians. They 
 were in a certain sense cultivated and re- 
 fined. They gathered around them in their 
 camps and in their courts orators, poets, 
 statesmen, and officers of every grade, who 
 seem to have possessed the same energy, 
 genius, taste, and in some respects the same 
 scientific skill, which have in all ages and in 
 every clime characterized the upper classes 
 of the Caucasian race. They carried all the 
 arts which were necessary for their pur- 
 poses and plans to high perfection, and in 
 the invention of tales, ballads and poems, to 
 be recited at their entertainments and feasts, 
 
CADMUS. 11 
 
 they evinced the most admirable taste and 
 skill ; — a taste and skill which, as they re- 
 sulted not from the operation and influence 
 of artificial rules, bat from the unerring in- 
 stinct of genius, have never been surpassed. 
 In fact, . the poetical inventions of those 
 early days, far from having been produced 
 in conformity with rules, were entirely pre- 
 cedent to rules, in the order of time. Rules 
 were formed from them ; for they at length 
 became established themselves in* the esti- 
 mation of mankind, as models, and on their 
 authority as models, the whole theory of 
 rhetorical and poetical beauty now mainly 
 reposes. 
 
 The people of those days formed no idea 
 of a spiritual world, or of a spiritual«divin- 
 ity. They however imagined, that heroes 
 of former days still continued to live and to 
 reign in certain semi-heavenly regions among 
 the summits of their blue and beautiful 
 mountains, andthatrthey were invested there 
 with attributes in some respects divine. In 
 addition to these divinities, the fertile fancy 
 of those ancient times filled the earth, the 
 air, the sea, and the sky with imaginary be- 
 ings, all most graceful and beautiful in their 
 forms, and poetical in their functions, — and 
 made them the subjects, too, of innumerable 
 legends and tales, as graceful, poetical, and 
 beautiful as themselves. Every grove, and 
 fountain, and river, — every lofty summit 
 among the mountains, and every rock and 
 promontory along the shores of the sea, — 
 
12 ROMULUS. 
 
 every cave, every valley, every waterfall, had 
 its imaginary occupant, — the genius of the 
 spot ; so that every natural object which at- 
 tracted public notice at all, was the subject) of 
 some picturesque and romantic story. In a 
 word, nature was not explored then as now, 
 for, the purpose of ascertaining and recording 
 cold and scientific realities, — but to be ad- 
 mired, and embellished and animated; — and 
 to be peppled, everywhere, with exquisitely 
 beautiful, though imaginary and supernatu- 
 ral, life and action. 
 
 What the genius of imagination and 
 romance did thus in ancient times with the 
 scenery of nature, it did also on the field of 
 history. Men explored that field not at all 
 to learn- sober and actual realities, but to 
 find something that they might embellish 
 and adorn, and animate with supernatural and 
 marvelous life. What the sober realities 
 might have actually been, was of no interest 
 or moment to them whatever. There were 
 no scholars then as now, living in the midst 
 of libraries, and finding constant employ- 
 ment, and a never ending pleasure, in re- 
 searches for the simple investigation of the 
 truth. There was in fact no retirement, no 
 seclusion, no study. Everything except 
 what related to the mere daily toil of tilling 
 the ground bore direct relation to military 
 expeditions, spectacles and parades ; and the 
 only field for the exercise of that kind of in- 
 tellectual ability which is employed in mod- 
 ern times in investigating and recording his- 
 
CADMUS. 13 
 
 toric truth, was the invention and recitation 
 of poems, dramas and tales, to amuse great 
 military audiences in camps or public gather- 
 ings, convened to witness shows or games, 
 or to celebrate great religious festivals. Of 
 course under such circumstances there would 
 be no interest felt in truth as truth. Ko- 
 mance and fable would be far more service- 
 able for such ends than reality. 
 
 Still it is obvious that such tales as were 
 invented to amuse for the purposes we have 
 described, would have a deeper interest for 
 those who listened to them, if founded in 
 some measure upon fact, and connected in 
 respect to the scene of their occurrence, with 
 real localities. A prince and his court sitting 
 at their tables in the palace or the tent, at 
 the close of a feast, would listen with greater 
 interest to a story that purported to be an 
 account of the deeds and the marvelous ad- 
 ventures of their own ancestors, than to one 
 that was wholly and avowedly imaginary. 
 The inventors of these tales would of course 
 generally choose such subjects, and their 
 narrations would generally consist therefore 
 rather of embellishments of actual transac- 
 tions, than of inventions wholly original. 
 Their heroes were consequently real men ; 
 the principal actions ascribed to them were 
 real actions, and the places referred to were 
 real localities. Thus there was a semblance 
 of truth and reality in all these tales which 
 added greatly to the interest of them ; while 
 there were no means of ascertaining the real 
 
14 ROMULUS. 
 
 truth, and thus spoiling the story by making 
 the falsehood or improbability of it evident 
 and glaring. 
 
 We cannot well have a better illustration 
 of these principles than is afforded by the 
 story of Cadmus, an adventurer who was 
 said to have brought the knowledge of alpha- 
 betic writing into Greece from some countries 
 farther eastward. In modern times there is 
 a very strong interest felt in ascertaining 
 the exact truth on this subject. The art of 
 writing with alphabetic characters was so 
 great an invention, and it has exerted so vast 
 an influence on the condition and progress of 
 mankind since it was introduced, that a very 
 strong interest is now felt in everything 
 that can be ascertained as actually fact, in 
 respect to its origin. If it were possible now 
 to determine under what circumstances the 
 method of representing the elements of sound 
 by written characters was first devised, to 
 discover who it was that first conceived the 
 idea, and what led him to make the attempt, 
 what difficulties he encountered, to what pur- 
 poses he first applied his invention, and to 
 what result it led, the whole world would 
 take a very strong interest in the revelation. 
 The essential point, however, to be observed, 
 is that it is the real truth in respect to the 
 subject that the world are now interested in 
 knowing. Were a romance writer to invent 
 a tale in respect to the origin of writing, 
 however ingenious and entertaining itmight 
 be in its details, it would excite in the 
 
Romulus, face p. 1& 
 
 The Oracle at Delphi. {Seep. 22. ) 
 
 2 — Romulus 
 
CADMUS. 15 
 
 learned world at the present day no interest 
 whatever. 
 
 There is in fact no account at present ex- 
 isting in respect to the actual origin of alpha- 
 betic characters, though there is an ac- 
 count of the circumstances under which the 
 art was brought into Europe from Asia, 
 where it seems to have been originally in- 
 vented. We will give the facts, first in their 
 simple form, and then the narrative in the 
 form in which it was related in ancient times, 
 as embellished by the ancient story-tellers. 
 
 The facts then, as now generally under- 
 stood and believed, are, that there was a 
 certain king in some country in Africa, 
 named Agenor, who lived about 1500 years 
 before Christ. lie had a daughter named 
 Europa, and several sons. Among his sons 
 was one named Cadmus. Europa was a 
 beautiful girl, and after a time a wandering 
 adventurer from some part of the northern 
 shores of the Mediterranean sea, came into 
 Africa, and was so much pleased with her 
 that he resolved if possible, to obtain her for 
 his wife. He did not dare to make proposals 
 openly, and he accordingly disguised himself 
 and mingled with the servants upon Agenor's 
 farm. In this disguise he succeeded in mak- 
 ing acquaintance with Europa, and finally 
 persuaded her to elope with him. The pair 
 accordingly fled, and crossing the Mediter- 
 renean, they went to Crete, an island near 
 the northern shores of the sea, and there 
 they lived together. 
 
16 ROMULUS. 
 
 The father, when he found that his daugh- 
 ter had deceived him and gone away, was 
 very indignant, and sent Cadmus and his 
 brothers in pursuit of her. The mother of 
 Europa, whose name was Telephassa, though 
 less indignant perhaps than the father, was 
 overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her 
 child, and determined to accompany her sons 
 in the search. She accordingly took leave 
 of her husband and of her native land, and 
 set out with Cadmus and her other sons on 
 the long journey in search of her lost child. 
 A gen or charged his sons never to come home 
 again unless they brought Europa with 
 them. 
 
 " Cadmus, with his mother and brothers, 
 traveled slowly toward the northward, along 
 the eastern shores of the Mediterranean sea, 
 inquiring everywhere for the fugitive. They 
 passed through Syria and Phenicia, into 
 Asia Minor, and from Asia Minor into 
 Greece. At length Telephassa, worn down, 
 perhaps, by fatigue, disappointment, and 
 grief, died. Cadmus and his brothers soon 
 after became discouraged ; and at last, weary 
 with their wanderings, and prevented by 
 their father's injunction from returning with- 
 out Europa, they determined to settle in 
 Greece. In attempting to establish them- 
 selves there, however, they became involved 
 in various conflicts, first with wild beasts, 
 and afterward with men, the natives of the 
 land, who seemed to spring up, as it were, 
 from the ground, to oppose them. They 
 
CADMUS. 17 
 
 contrived, however, at length, by fomenting 
 quarrels among their enemies, and taking 
 sides with one party against the rest, to get 
 a permanent footing in Greece, and Cadmus 
 finally founded a city there, which he called 
 Thebes. 
 
 In establishing the institutions and govern- 
 ment of Thebes, and in arranging the 
 organization of the people into a social 
 state, Cadmus introduced among them 
 ■several arts, which, in that part of the 
 country, had been before unknown. One 
 of these arts was the use of copper, which 
 metal he taught his new subjects to procure 
 from the ore obtained in mines. There were 
 several others ; but the most important of 
 all was that he taught them sixteen letters 
 representing elementary vocal sounds, by 
 means of which inscriptions of words could 
 be carved upon monuments, or upon tablets 
 of metal or of stone. 
 
 It is not supposed that the idea of repre- 
 senting the elements of vocal sounds by 
 characters originated with Cadmus; or that 
 he invented the characters himself. He 
 brought them with him undoubtedly, but 
 whether from Egypt or Phenicia, cannot 
 now be known. 
 
 Such are the facts of the case, as now 
 generally understood and believed. Let us 
 now compare this simple narration with the 
 romantic tale which the early story-tellers 
 made from it. The legend, as they relate 
 it, is as follows. 
 
18 R0MTTLT7S. 
 
 Jupiter was a prince born and bred among 
 the summits of Mount Ida, in Crete. His 
 father's name was Saturn. Saturn had 
 made an agreement that he would cause all 
 his sons to be slain, as soon as they were 
 born. This was to appease his brother, who 
 was his rival, and who consented that 
 Saturn should continue to reign only on that 
 condition. 
 
 Jupiter's mother, however, was very un- 
 willing that her boys should be thus cruelly 
 put to death, and she contrived to conceal 
 three of them, and save them. The three 
 thus preserved were brought up among the 
 solitudes of the mountains, watched and at- 
 tended by nymphs, and nursed by a goat. 
 After they grew up, they engaged from 
 time to time in various wars, and met with 
 various wonderful adventures, until at length 
 Jupiter, the oldest of them, succeeded, by 
 means of thunderbolts which he caused to 
 be forged for his use, in vast subterranean 
 caverns beneath Mount Etna and Mount 
 Vesuvius, conquered all his enemies, and 
 became universal king. He, however, 
 divided his empire between himself and his 
 brothers, giving to them respectively the 
 command of the sea and of the subterranean 
 reigions, while he reserved the earth and the 
 heavenly regions for himself. 
 
 He established his usual abode among the 
 mountains of Northern Greece, but he often 
 made excursions to and fro upon the earth, 
 appearing in various disguises, and meeting 
 
CADMOS. 
 
 19 
 
 with a g^eat number of strange and marvel 
 ous adventures. In the course of these 
 wanderings he found his way at one time 
 into Egypt, and to the dominions of Agenor, 
 — and there he saw Agenor's beautiful 
 daughter, Europa. He immediately deter- 
 mined to make her his bride ; and to secure 
 
 Jupiter and Europa. 
 
 this object he assumed the form of a very 
 finely shaped and beautiful bull, and in this 
 guise joined himself to Agenor's herds of 
 cattle. Europa soon saw him there. She 
 was much pleased with the beauty of his 
 form, and finding him gentle and kind i*x 
 disposition, she auru*oached him, parted h* 
 
2U ROMULUS. 
 
 glossy neck and sides, and in other similar 
 ways gratified the prince by marks of her 
 admiration and pleasure. She was at length 
 induced by some secret and magical in- 
 fluence . which the prince exerted over her, 
 to mount upon his back, and allow herself 
 to be borne away. The bull ran with his 
 burden to the shore, and plunged into the 
 waves. He swam across the sea to Crete,'* 
 and there, resuming his proper form, he 
 made the princess his bride. 
 
 Agenor and Telephassa, when they found 
 that their daughter was gone, were in great 
 distress, and Agenor immediately deter- 
 mined to send his sons on an expedition in 
 pursuit of her. The names of his sons were 
 Cadmus, Phoenix, Cylix, Thasus, and Phi- 
 neus. Cadmus, as the oldest son, was to be 
 the director of the expedition. Telephassa, 
 the mother, resolved to accompany them, so 
 overwhelmed was she with affliction at the 
 loss of her daughter. Agenor himself was 
 almost equally oppressed with the calamity 
 which had overwhelmed them, and he 
 charged his sons never to come home again 
 until they could bring Europa with them. 
 
 Telephassa and her sons wandered for a 
 time in the countries east of the Mediterra- 
 nean Sea, without being able to obtain any 
 tidings of the fugitive. At length they 
 passed into Asia Minor, and from Asia Minor 
 into Thrace, a country lying north of the 
 ^Egean Sea. Finding no traces of their sister 
 * See Map, p. 21. 
 
CADMUS. 
 
 21 
 
 in any of these countries, the sons of Agenor 
 became discouraged, and resolved to make 
 no farther search ; and Telephassa, ex- 
 hausted with anxiety and fatigue, and now 
 overwhelmed with the thought that all hope 
 must be finally abandoned, sank down and 
 died. 
 
 The Jocrneyings op Cadmus. 
 
 Cadmus and his brothers were much af- 
 fected at their mother's death. They made 
 arrangements for her burial, in a manner 
 befitting her high rank and station, and 
 when the funeral solemnities had been per- 
 
22 ROMULUS. 
 
 formed, Cadmus repaired to the oracle at 
 Delphi, which was situated in the northern 
 part of Greece, not very far from Thrace, 
 in order that he might inquire there whether 
 there was anything more that he could do 
 to recover his lost sister, and if so to learn 
 what course he was to pursue. The oracle 
 replied to him that he must search for his 
 sister no more, but instead of it turn his 
 attention wholly to the work of establishing 
 a home and a kingdom for himself, in Greece. 
 To this end he was to travel on in a direc- 
 tion indicated, until he met with a cow of a 
 certain kind, described by the oracle, and 
 then to follow the cow wherever she might 
 lead the way, until at length, becoming fa- 
 tigued, she should stop and lie down. Upon 
 the spot where the cow should lie down 
 he was to build a city and make it his capital. 
 Cadmus obeyed these directions of the 
 oracle. He left Delphi and went on, attend, 
 ed, as he had been in all his wanderings, 
 by a troop of companions and followers, 
 until at length in the herds of one of the 
 people of the country, named Pelagon, he 
 found a cow answering to the description 
 of the oracle. Taking this cow for his guide, 
 he followed wherever she led the way. She 
 conducted him toward the southward and 
 eastward for thirty or forty miles, and at 
 length wearied apparently, by her long 
 journey, she lay down. Cadmus knew im- 
 mediately that this was the spot where his 
 city was to stand. 
 
CADMUS. 23 
 
 He began immediately to make arrange- 
 ments for the building of the city, but he 
 determined first to offer the cow that had 
 been his divinely appointed guide to the spot, 
 as a sacrifice to Minerva, whom he always 
 considered as his guardian goddess. 
 
 Near the spot where the cow lay down 
 there was a small stream which issued from 
 a fountain not far distant, called the foun- 
 tain of Dirce. Cadmus sent some of his 
 men to the place to obtain some water which 
 it was necessary to use in the ceremonies of 
 the sacrifice. It happened, however, that 
 this fountain was a sacred one, having been 
 consecrated to Mars, — and there was a great 
 dragon, a son of Mars, stationed there to 
 guard it. The men whom Cadmus sent did 
 not return, and accordingly Cadmus himself, 
 after waiting a suitable time, proceeded to 
 the spot to ascertain the cause of the delay. 
 He found that the dragon had killed his men, 
 and at the time when he arrived at the spot, 
 the monster was greedily devouring the 
 bodies. Cadmus immediately attacked the 
 dragon and slew him, and then tore his teeth 
 out of his head, as trophies of his victory. 
 Minerva had assisted Cadmus in this combat, 
 and when it was ended she directed him to 
 plant the teeth of the dragon in the ground. 
 Cadmus did so, and immediately a host of 
 armed men sprung up from the place where 
 he had planted them. Cadmus threw a 
 stone among these armed men, when they 
 immediately began to contend together in a 
 
24 ROMULUS. 
 
 desperate conflict, until at length all but five 
 of them were slain. These five then joined 
 themselves to Cadmus, and helped him to 
 build his city. 
 
 He went on very successfully after this. 
 The city which he built was Thebes, which 
 afterward became greatly celebrated. The 
 citadel which he erected within, he called, 
 from his own name, Cadmia. 
 
 Such were the legends which were related 
 in ancient poems and tales ; and it is ob- 
 vious that such narratives must have been 
 composed to entertain groups of listeners 
 whose main desire was to be excited and 
 amused, and not to be instructed. The 
 stories were believed, no doubt, and the faith 
 which the hearer felt in their truth added of 
 course very greatly to the interest which 
 they awakened in his mind. The stories 
 are amusing to us ; but it is impossible for 
 us to share in the deep and solemn emotion 
 with which the ancient audiences listened 
 to them, for we have not the power, as they 
 had, of believing them. Such tales related 
 in respect to the great actors on the stage in 
 modern times, would awaken no interest, 
 for there is too general a diffusion both of 
 historical and philosophical knowledge to 
 render it possible for any one to suppose 
 them to be true. But those for whom the 
 story of Europa was invented, had no means 
 of knowing how wide the Mediterranean 
 Sea might be, and whether a bull might not 
 swim across it. They did not know but 
 
CADMUS. 25 
 
 that Mars might have a dragon for a son, 
 and that the teeth of such a dragon might 
 not, when sown in the ground, spring up in 
 the form of a troop of armed men. They 
 listened therefore to the tale with an in- 
 terest all the more earnest and solemn on 
 account of the marvelousness of the recital. 
 They repeated it word for word to one an- 
 other, around their camp-fires, at their feasts, 
 in their journeyings, — and wlien watching 
 their flocks at midnight, among the solitudes 
 of the mountains. Thus the tales were 
 handed down from generation to generation, 
 until at length the use of the letters of 
 Cadmus became so far facilitated, that con- 
 tinuous narrations could be expressed by 
 means of them ; and then they were put 
 permanently upon record in many forms, 
 and were thus transmitted without any 
 farther change to the present age. 
 
 Mara. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CADMUS S LETTERS. 
 
 There are two modes essentially distinct 
 from each other, by which ideas may be 
 communicated through the medium of in- 
 scriptions addressed to the eye. These two 
 modes are, first, by symbolical, and secondly, 
 by phonetic characters. Each of these two 
 systems assumes, in fact, within itself, quite 
 a variety of distinct forms, though it is only 
 the general characteristics which distinguish 
 the two great classes from each other, that 
 we shall have occasion particularly to notice 
 here. 
 
 Symbolical writing consists of characters 
 intended severally to denote ideas or things, 
 and not words. A good example of true 
 symbolical writing is to be found in a 
 certain figure often employed among the 
 architectural decorations of churches, as an 
 emblem of the Deity. It consists of a tri- 
 angle representing the Trinity with the 
 figure of an eye in the middle of it. The 
 eye is intended to denote the divine omnis- 
 cience. Such a character as this, is obviously 
 the symbol of an idea, not the representative 
 of a 'word. It may be read Jehovah, or 
 
 26 
 
CADMUS'S LETTERS. 27 
 
 God, or the Deity, or by any other word or 
 phrase by which men are accustomed to de- 
 note the Supreme Being. 
 It represents, in fine, the 
 idea, and not any partic- 
 ular word by which the 
 idea is expressed. 
 
 The first attempts of 
 men to preserve records 
 of facts by means of in- 
 scriptions, have, in all ages, and among all 
 nations, been of this character. At first, 
 the inscriptions so made were strictly pic- 
 tures, in which the whole scene intended 
 to be commemorated was represented, in 
 rude carvings. In process of time substi- 
 tutions and abridgments were adopted in 
 lieu of full representations, and these grew 
 at length into a system of hieroglyphical 
 characters, some natural, and others more 
 or less arbitrary, but all denoting ideas 
 or things, and not the sounds of words. 
 These characters are of the kind usually 
 understood by the word hieroglyphics ; 
 though that word cannot now with strict 
 accuracy be applied as a distinctive appella- 
 tion, since it has been ascertained in modern 
 times that a large portion of the Egyptian 
 hieroglyphics are of such a nature as brings 
 them within the second of the two classes 
 which we are here describing ; that is, the 
 several delineations represent the sounds and 
 syllables of words, instead of being symbols 
 of ideas or things. 
 
28 KOMULUS. 
 
 It happened that in some cases in this 
 species of writing, as used in ancient times, 
 the characters which were employed pre- 
 sented in their form some natural resem- 
 blance to the thing signified, and in other 
 cases they were wholly arbitrary. Thus, 
 the figure of a scepter denoted a King, that 
 of a lion, strength ; and two warriors, one 
 with a shield, and the other advancing to- 
 ward the first with a bow and arrow, rep- 
 resented a battle. We use in fact a symbol 
 similar to the last-mentioned one at the 
 present day, upon maps, where we often see 
 a character formed by two swords crossed, 
 employed to represent a battle. 
 
 The ancient Mexicans had a mode of writ- 
 ing which seems to have been symbolical in 
 its character, and their characters had, many 
 of them at least, a natural signification. 
 The different cities and towns were repre- 
 sented by drawings of such simple objects as 
 were characteristic of them respectively ; as 
 a plant, a tree, an article of manufacture, 
 or any other object by which the place in 
 question was most easily and naturally to 
 be distinguished from other places. In one 
 of their inscriptions, for example, there was 
 a character representing a king, and before 
 it four heads. Each of the heads was ac- 
 companied by the symbol of the capital of a 
 province, as above described. The meaning 
 of the whole inscription was that in a certain 
 tumult or insurrection the king caused the 
 governors of the four cities to be beheaded. 
 
CADMUS'S LETTERS. 29 
 
 But though, in this symbolical mode of 
 writing, a great many ideas and events could 
 be represented thus, by means of signs or 
 symbols having a greater or less resem blance 
 to the thing signified, yet in many cases the 
 characters used were wholly arbitrary. They 
 were in this respect like the character which 
 we use to denote dollars, as a prefix to a 
 number expressing mone} r ; for this character 
 is a sort of symbol, that is, it represents a 
 thing rather than a word. Our numerals, 
 too, 1, 2, 3, etc., are in some respects of the 
 character of symbols. That is, they stand 
 directly for the numbers themselves, and not 
 for the sounds of the words by which the 
 numbers are expressed. Hence, although 
 the people of different European nations 
 understand them all alike, they read them, 
 in words, very differently. The Englishman 
 reads them by one set of words, the Spaniard 
 by another, and the German and the Italian 
 by others still. 
 
 The symbolical mode of writing possesses 
 some advantages which must not be over- 
 looked. It speaks directly to the e} T e, and 
 is more full of meaning than the Phonetic 
 method, though the meaning is necessarily 
 more vague and indistinct, in some respects, 
 while it is less so in others. For example, 
 in an advertising newspaper, the simple fig- 
 ure of a house, or of a ship, or of a locomo- 
 tive engine, at the head of an advertisement, 
 is a sort of hieroglyphic, which says much 
 more plainly and distinctly, and in niuch 
 
 3 — Romulus 
 
30 ROMULUS. 
 
 shorter time, than any combination of letters 
 could do, that what follows it is an advertise- 
 ment relating to a house, or a vessel, or a 
 railroad. In the same manner, the ancient 
 representations on monuments and columns 
 would communicate, perhaps more rapidly 
 and readily to the passer-by, an idea of the 
 battles, the sieges, the marches, and the 
 other great exploits of the monarchs whose 
 history they were intended to record, than 
 an inscription in words would have done. 
 
 Another advantage of the symbolical rep- 
 resentations, as used in ancient times, was 
 that their meaning could be more readily 
 explained, and would be more easily remem- 
 bered, and. so explained again, than written 
 words. To learn to read literal writing in 
 any language, is a work of very great labor. 
 It is, in fact, generally found that it must be 
 commenced earlv in life, or it cannot be ac- 
 complished at all. An inscription, therefore, 
 in words, on a Mexican monument, that a 
 certain king suppressed an insurrection, and 
 beheaded the governors of four of his prov- 
 inces, would be wholly blind and unintelli- 
 gible to the mass of the population of such a 
 country ; and if the learned sculptor who 
 inscribed it were to attempt to explain it to 
 them, letter by letter, they would forget the 
 beginning of the lesson before reaching the 
 end of it, — and could never be expected to 
 attempt extending the knowledge by mak- 
 ing known the interpretation which they 
 had received to others in their turn. But 
 
CADMUS'S LETTERS. 31 
 
 the royal scepter, with the four heads before 
 it, each of the heads accompanied by the ap- 
 propriate symbol of the city to which the 
 possessor of it belonged, formed a symbolical 
 congeries which expressed its meaning at 
 once, and very plainly, to the eye. The 
 most ignorant and uncultivated could readily 
 understand it. Once understanding it, too, 
 they could never easily forget it ; and they 
 could, without any difficulty, explain it fully 
 to others as ignorant and uncultivated as 
 themselves. 
 
 It might seem, at first view, that a symbol- 
 ical mode of writing must be more simple in 
 its character than the system now in use, in- 
 asmuch as by that plan each idea or object 
 would be expressed by one character alone, 
 whereas, by our mode of writing, several 
 characters, sometimes as many as eight or 
 ten, are required to express a word, which 
 word, after all, represents only one single 
 object or idea. But notwithstanding this ap- 
 parent simplicity, the system of symbolical 
 writing proved to be, when extensively em- 
 ployed, extremely complicated and intricate. 
 It is true that each idea required but one 
 character, but the number of ideas and ob- 
 jects, and of words expressive of their rela- 
 tions to one another, is so vast, that the sys- 
 tem of representing them by independent 
 symbols soon lost itself in an endless in- 
 tricacy cf detail. Then, besides, — notwith- 
 standing what has been said of the facility 
 with w r hich symbolical inscriptions could be 
 
32 EOMULUS. 
 
 interpreted, — they were, after all, extremely 
 difficult to be understood without interpre- 
 tation. An inscription once explained, the 
 explanation was easily understood and re- 
 membered ; but it was very difficult to un- 
 derstand one intended to express any new 
 communication. The system was, therefore, 
 well adapted to commemorate what was al- 
 ready known, but was of little service as a 
 mode of communicating knowledge anew. 
 
 We come now to consider the second grand 
 class of written characters, namely, the pho- 
 netic, the class which Cadmus introduced 
 into Greece, and the one almost universally 
 adopted among all the European nations at 
 the present day. It is called 
 Phonetic, from a Greek 
 word denoting sound, be- 
 cause the characters which 
 are used do not denote di- 
 rectly the thing itself which 
 is signified, but the sounds 
 made in speaking the word 
 
 which signifies it. Take, 
 
 for instance, the two modes 
 BATTLE °f representing a conflict 
 between two contending ar- 
 mies, one by the symbolic 
 delineation of two swords 
 crossed, and the other by the phonetic de- 
 lineation of the letters of the word battle. 
 They are both inscriptions. The beginning 
 of the first represents the handle of the 
 sword, a part, as it were, of the thing sig- 
 
CADMUS'S LETTERS. 33 
 
 nified. The beginning of the second, the 
 letter l>, represents the pressing of the lips 
 together, by which we commence pronounc- 
 ing the word. Thus the one mode is sym- 
 bolical, and the other phonetic. 
 
 On considering the two methods, as exem- 
 plified in this simple instance, we shall ob- 
 serve that what has already been pointed 
 out as characteristic of the two modes is 
 here seen to be true. The idea is conveyed 
 in the symbolical mode by one character, 
 while by the phonetic it requires no less than 
 six. This seems at first view to indicate a 
 great advantage possessed by the symbolical 
 system. But on reflection this advantage is 
 found entirely to disappear. For the sym- 
 bolical character, though it is only one, will 
 answer for only the single idea which it de- 
 notes. Neither itself nor any of its elements 
 will aid us in forming a symbol for any other 
 idea; and as the ideas, objects, and relations 
 which it is necessary to be able to express, 
 in order to make free and full communica- 
 tions in any language, are from fifty to a 
 hundred thousand, — the step which we have 
 taken, though very simple in itself, is the 
 beginning or a course which must lead to 
 the most endless intricacy and complication. 
 Whereas in the six phonetic characters of 
 the word battle, we have elements which 
 can be used again and again, in the expres- 
 sion of thousands of other ideas. In fact, 
 as the phonetic characters which are found 
 necessary in most languages are only about 
 
34 ROMULUS. 
 
 twenty -four, we have in that single word 
 accomplished one quarter of the whole task, 
 so far as the delineation of characters is con- 
 cerned, that is necessary for expressing by 
 writing any possible combination of ideas 
 which human language can convey. 
 
 At what time and in what manner the 
 transition was made among the ancient 
 nations from the symbolic to the phonetic 
 mode of writing, is not now known. When 
 in the flourishing periods of the Grecian and 
 Roman states, learned men explored the 
 literary records of the various nations of the 
 East, writings were found in all, which were 
 expressed in phonetic characters, and the 
 alphabets of these characters were found to 
 be so analogous to each other, in the names 
 and order, and in some respects in the forms, 
 of the letters, as to indicate strongly some- 
 thing like community of origin. All the at- 
 tempts, however, which have been made to as- 
 certain the origin of the system, have wholly 
 failed, and no account of them goes farther 
 back than to the time when Cadmus brought 
 them from Phenicia or Egypt into Greece. 
 
 The letters which Cadmus brought were 
 in number sixteen. The following table 
 presents a view of his alphabet, presenting 
 in the several columns the letters themselves 
 as subsequently written in Greece, the Greek 
 names given to them, and their power as 
 represented by the letters now in use. The 
 forms, it will be seen, have been but little 
 changed. 
 
CADMUS'S LETTERS. 35 
 
 Greek otters. Greek names. English representatives. 
 
 A 
 
 Alpha 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 Beta 
 
 B 
 
 r 
 
 Gamma 
 
 G 
 
 A 
 
 Delta 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 Epsilon 
 
 E 
 
 I 
 
 Iota 
 
 I 
 
 A 
 
 Lamda 
 
 L 
 
 M 
 
 Mu 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 Nu 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 Omicron 
 
 O 
 
 n 
 
 Pi 
 
 P 
 
 p 
 
 Rho 
 
 R 
 
 2 
 
 Sigma 
 
 S 
 
 T 
 
 Tau 
 
 T 
 
 T 
 
 Upsilon 
 
 U 
 
 The phonetic alphabet of Cadmus, though 
 so vastly superior to any system of symbolical 
 hieroglyphics, for all purposes where any- 
 thing like verbal accuracy was desired, was 
 still very slow in coming into general use. 
 It was of course, at first, very difficult to 
 write it, and very difficult to read it when 
 written. There was a very great practical 
 obstacle, too, in the way of its general intro- 
 duction, in the want of any suitable materials 
 for writing. To cut letters with a chisel and 
 a mallet upon a surface of marble is a very 
 slow and toilsome process. To diminish this 
 labor the ancients contrived tables of brass, 
 copper, lead, and sometimes of wood, and 
 cut the inscriptions upon them by the use of 
 various tools and implements. Still it is ob- 
 vious, that by such methods as these the art 
 
3b ROMULUS. 
 
 of writing could only be used to an extremely 
 limited extent, such as for brief inscriptions 
 in registers and upon monuments, where a 
 very few words would express all that it was 
 necessary to record. 
 
 In process of time, however, the plan of 
 painttng the letters by means of a black dye 
 upon a smooth surface was introduced. The 
 surface employed to receive these inscriptions 
 was, at first, the skin of some animal prepared 
 for this purpose, and the dye used for ink 
 was a colored liquid obtained from a certain 
 fish. This method of writing, though in 
 some respects more convenient than the 
 others, was still slow, and the materials were 
 expensive ; and it was a long time before 
 the new art was employed for anything like 
 continuous composition. Cadmus is supposed ' 
 to have come into Greece about the year 
 1550 before Christ ; and it was not until about 
 650 before Christ-— that is, nearly nine hun- 
 dred years later — that the art of writing 
 was resorted to in Greece to record laws. 
 
 The evidences that writing was very little 
 used in any way during this long period of 
 nine hundred years, are furnished in various 
 allusions contained in poems and narratives 
 that were composed during those times, and 
 committed to writing afterward. In the 
 poems of Homer, for instance ; there is no 
 allusion, from the beginning to the end, to 
 any monument or tomb containing any in- 
 scription whatever ; although many occasions 
 occur in which such inscriptions would have 
 
CADMUS'S LETTERS. 37 
 
 been, made, if the events described were 
 real, and the art of writing had been gener- 
 ally known, or would have been imagined to 
 be made, if the narratives were invented. 
 In one case a ship-master takes a cargo on 
 board, and he is represented as having to 
 remember all the articles, instead of making 
 a record of them. Another case still more 
 striking is adduced. In the course of the 
 contest around the walls of Troy, the 
 Grecian leaders are described at one time 
 as drawing lots to determine which of them 
 should light a certain Trojan champion. 
 The lots were prepared, being made of some 
 substance that could be marked, and when 
 ready, were distributed to the several leaders. 
 Each one of the leaders then marked his lot 
 in some way, taking care to remember what 
 character he had made upon it. The 
 lots were then all put into a helmet, and 
 the helmet was given to a herald, who was 
 to shake it about in such a manner, if pos- 
 sible, as to throw out one of the lots and 
 leave the others in. The leader whose lot 
 it was that should be thus shaken out, was 
 to be considered as the one designated by 
 the decision, to fight the Trojan champion. 
 
 Now, in executing this plan, the herald, 
 when he had shaken out a lot, and had 
 taken it up from the ground, is represented, 
 in the narrative, as not knowing whose it 
 was, and as carrying it around, accordingly, 
 to all the different leaders, to find the one 
 who could recognize it as his own. A cer- 
 
88 ROMULUS. 
 
 tain chief named Ajax recognized it, and in. 
 this way he was designated for the combat. 
 Now it is supposed, that if these men had 
 been able to write, that they would have 
 inscribed their own names upon the lots, 
 instead of marking them with unmeaning 
 characters. And even if they were not 
 practised writers themselves, some secretary 
 or scribe w T ould have been called upon to act 
 for them on such an occasion as this, if the 
 art of writing had been at that time so 
 generally known as to be customarily 
 employed on public occasions. From these 
 and similar indications which are found, on 
 a careful examination, in the Homeric poems, 
 learned men have concluded that they were 
 composed and repeated orally, at a period 
 of the world when the art of writing was 
 very little known, and that they were 
 handed down from generation to generation, 
 through the memory of those who repeated 
 them, until at last the art of writing became 
 established among mankind, when they 
 were at length put permanently upon record. 
 It seems that writing was not much em- 
 ployed for any of the ordinary and private 
 purposes of life by the people of Greece 
 until the article called papyrus was intro- 
 duced among them. This took place about 
 the year 600 before Christ, when laws began 
 first to be written. Papyrus, like the art of 
 writing upon it, came originally from Egypt. 
 It was obtained from a tree which it seems 1 
 grew only in that country. The tree flour 
 
CADMUS*S LETTERS. 3D 
 
 ished in the low lands along the margin of 
 the Nile. It grew to the height of about 
 ten feet. The paper obtained from it was 
 formed from a sort of inner bark, which con- 
 sisted of thin sheets or pellicles growing 
 around the wood. The paper was manu- 
 factured in the following manner. A sheet 
 of the thin bark as taken from the tree, was 
 laid flat upon a board, and then a cross 
 layer was laid over it, the materials having 
 been previously moistened with water made 
 slightly glutinous. The sheet thus formed 
 was pressed and dried in the sun. The 
 placing of two layers of the bark in this 
 manner across each other was intended to 
 strengthen the texture of the sheet, for the 
 fibers, it was found, were very easily sepa- 
 rated and torn so long as they lay wholly 
 in one direction. The sheet when dry was 
 finished by smoothing the surface, and pre- 
 pared to receive inscriptions made by means 
 of a pen fashioned from a reed or a quill. 
 
 In forming the papyrus into books it was 
 customary to use a long sheet or web of it, 
 and roll it upon a stick, as is the custom in 
 respect to maps at the present day. The 
 writing was in columns, each of which 
 formed a sort of page, the reader holding 
 the ends of the roll in his two hands, and 
 reading at the part which was open between 
 them. Of course, as he advanced, he con- 
 tinually unrolled on one side, and rolled up. 
 upon the other. Rolls of parchment were 
 often made in the same manner. 
 
40 ROMULUS. 
 
 The term volume used in respect to modern 
 books, bad its origin in this ancient practise 
 of writing upon long rolls. Tbe modern 
 practise is certainly mucb to be preferred, 
 though the ancient one was far less incon- 
 venient than might at first be supposed. 
 The long sheet was rolled upon a wooden 
 billet, which gave to the volume a certain 
 lirmness and solidity, and afforded it great 
 protection. The ends of this roller projected 
 beyond the edges of the sheet, and were ter- 
 minated in knobs or bosses, which guarded 
 in some measure the edges of the papyrus or 
 of the parchment. The whole volume was 
 also inclosed in a parchment case, on the 
 outside of which the title of the work was 
 conspicuously recorded. Many of these an- 
 cient rolls have been found at TIerculaneum. 
 
 For ink, various colored liquids were used, 
 generally black, but sometimes red and 
 sometimes green. The black ink was some- 
 times manufactured from a species of lamp- 
 black or ivory black, such as is often used m 
 modern times for painting. Some specimens 
 of the inkstands which were used in ancient 
 times have been found at Herculaneum, and 
 one of them contained ink, which though too 
 thick to flow readily from the pen, it was 
 still possible to write with. It was of about 
 the consistence of oil. 
 
 These rolls of papyrus and parchment, 
 however, were only used for important 
 writings which it was intended permanently 
 to preserve. For ordinary occasions tablets 
 
CADMUS 'S LETTEKS. 41 
 
 of wax and oilier similar materials were 
 used, upon which the writer traced the 
 characters with the point of a steel instru- 
 ment called a style. The head of the style 
 was smooth and rounded, so that any words 
 which the writer wished to erase might be 
 obliterated by smoothing over again, with it, 
 the wax on which they had been written. 
 
 Such is a brief history of the rise and pro- 
 gress of the art of writing in the States of 
 Greece. Whether the phonetic principle 
 which Cadmus introduced was brought 
 originally from Egypt, or from the countries 
 on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean 
 sea, cannot now be ascertained. It has gen- 
 erally been supposed among mankind, at 
 least until within a recent period, that the 
 art of phonetic writing did not originate in 
 Egypt, for the inscriptions on all the ancient 
 monuments in that country are of such a 
 character that it has always been supposed 
 that they were symbolical characters alto- 
 gether, and that no traces of any phonetic 
 writing existed in that land. Within the 
 present century, however, the discovery has 
 been made that a large portion of these 
 hieroglyphics are phonetic in their character ; 
 and that the learned world in attempting 
 for so many centuries, in vain, to affix sym- 
 bolical meanings to them, had been altogether 
 upon the wrong track. The delineations, 
 though they consist almost wholly of the 
 forms of plants and animals, and of other 
 natural and artificial objects, are not sym- 
 
42 ROMULUS. 
 
 Goaoal representations of ideas, out. letters, 
 representing sounds and words. They arq 
 ohus precisely similar, in principle, to the 
 letters of Cadmus, though wholly different 
 irom them in form. 
 
 To enable the reader to obtain a clearer 
 idea of the nature of this discovery, we give 
 on the adjoining page some specimens of 
 Egyptian inscriptions found in various parts 
 of the country, and which are interpreted to 
 express the name Cleopatra, a very common 
 name for princesses of the royal line in 
 Egypt during the dynasty of the Ptolemy's. 
 We mark the various figures forming the in- 
 scription, with the letters which modern in- 
 terpreters have assigned to them. It will 
 be seen that they all spell, rudely indeed, 
 but yet tolerably distinctly, the name Cleo- 
 patra. 
 
 By a careful examination of these speci- 
 mens, it will be seen that the order of plac- 
 ing the letters, if such hieroglyphical char- 
 acters can be so called, is not regular, and 
 the letter a, which is denoted by a bird in 
 some of the specimens, is represented differ- 
 ently in others. There are also two char- 
 acters at the close of each inscription which 
 are not represented by any letter, the one 
 being of the form of an egg, and the other 
 a semicircle. These last are supposed to de- 
 note the sex of the sovereign whose name 
 they are connected with, as they are found 
 in many cases in inscriptions commemorative 
 of princesses and queens. They are accord- 
 
OADMUS S LETTERS. 
 
 43 
 
 ft tf> fo Oh ^S 
 
 £*»' 
 
 
 I 
 
 Jgp 
 
 B\i 
 
 m 
 
 KEY 
 
 
 S8g 
 
 4 — Roi.iulus 
 
44 ROMULUS. 
 
 ingly specimens of symbolic characters, 
 while all the others in the name are phonetic. 
 
 It seems therefore not improbable that 
 the principle of forming a written language 
 by means of characters representing the 
 sounds of which the words of the spoken 
 language are composed, was of Egyptian 
 origin ; and that it was carried in very early 
 times to the countries on the easte -r^ shore 
 of the Mediterranean sea, and there i proved 
 upon by the adoption of a class of characters 
 more simple than the hieroglyphics of Egypt, 
 and of a form more convenient for a regular 
 linear arrangement in writing. Moses, who 
 spent his early life in Egypt, and who was 
 said to be learned in all the wisdom of the 
 Egyptians, may have acquired the art of 
 writing there. 
 
 However this may be, and whatever may 
 be the uncertainty which hangs over the 
 early history of this art, one thing is certain, 
 and that is, that the discovery of the art of 
 writing, including that of printing, which is 
 only the consummation and perfection of it, 
 — the art by which man can record lan- 
 guage, and give life and power to the record 
 to speak to the eye permanently and forever 
 — to go to every nation — to address itself 
 simultaneously to millions of minds, and to 
 endure through all time, is by far the great- 
 est discovery, in respect to the enlargement 
 which it makes of human powers, tnat has 
 ever been made. 
 
CHAPTEE IIL 
 
 THE STOKY OF .ENEAS. 
 
 Besides the intrinsic interest and impor- 
 tance of the facts stated in the last chapter, 
 to the student of history, there was a special 
 reason for calling the attention of the reader 
 to them here, that he might know in what 
 light the story of the destruction of Troy, 
 and of the wanderings of ./Eneas, the great 
 ancestor of Romulus, which we now proceed 
 to relate, is properly to be regarded. The 
 events connected with the destruction of 
 Troy, took place, if they ever occurred at 
 all, about the year twelve hundred before 
 Christ. Homer is supposed to have lived 
 and composed his poems about the year nine 
 hundred ; and the art of writing is thought 
 to have been first employed for the purpose 
 recording continuous compositions, about 
 the year six hundred. The story of ./Eneas 
 then, so far as it has any claims to historical 
 truth, is a tale which was handed down by 
 oral tradition, among story-tellers for three 
 hundred years, and then was clothed in 
 verse, and handed down in that form orally 
 by the memory of the reciters of it, in 
 generations successive for three hundred 
 
 45 
 
46 BOMULUS. 
 
 years more, before it was recorded ; and 
 during the whole period of this transmission, 
 the interest felt in it was not the desire for 
 ascertaining and communicating historic 
 truth, but simply for entertaining companies 
 of listeners with the details of a romantic 
 story. The story, therefore, cannot be re- 
 lied upon as historically true ; but it is no 
 less important on that account, that all 
 well-informed persons should know what 
 it is. 
 
 The mother of ^Eneas (as the r,tory goes), 
 was a celebrated goddess. Her name was 
 Aphrodite ; * though among Uie Romans 
 she afterward received the name of Venus. 
 Aphrodite was not born of a mother, like 
 ordinary mortals, but sprang mysteriously 
 and supernaturally from a foam which 
 gathered on a certain occasion upon the sur- 
 face of the sea. At the commencement of 
 her existence she crept out upon the shores 
 of an island that wus near, — the island of 
 Cythera, — which liea south of the Pelopon- 
 nesus. 
 
 She was the goddess of love, of beauty, 
 and of f ruitfulness ; and so extraordinary 
 were the magical powers which were in- 
 herent from the beginning, in her very 
 nature, that as she walked along upon the 
 sands of the shore, when she first emerged 
 from the sea, plants and flowers of the richest 
 verdure and beauty sprang up at her feet 
 wherever she stepped. She was, besides, in 
 * Pronounced in four syllables, Aph-ro-di-te, 
 
 
THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 
 
 47 
 
 her own person, inexpressibly beautiful ; 
 and in addition to the natural influence of 
 her charms, she was endued with the super- 
 natural power of inspiring the sentiment of 
 love in all who beheld her. 
 
 From Cythera the goddess made her way 
 over by sea to Cyprus, where she remained 
 for some time, amid the gorgeous and mag- 
 nificent scenery of that enchanting island. 
 Here she had two children, beautiful boys. 
 Their names were Eros and Anteros. Each 
 
 31 these children remained perpetually a 
 child, and Eros, in later times called Cupid, 
 became the god of "love bestowed," while 
 Anteros was the God of " love returned." 
 After this the mother and the boys roamed 
 about the world, — new in the heavenly re- 
 gions above, and now among mortals on the 
 plains and in the valleys below : they some- 
 times appeared openly, in their true forms, 
 sometimes they assumed disguises, and some- 
 
48 KOMULUS. 
 
 times they were wholly invisible; but 
 whether seen or unseen, they were always 
 busy in performing their functions — the 
 mother inspiring everywhere, in the minds 
 both of gods and men, the tenderest senti- 
 ments of beauty and desire, — while Eros, 
 awakened love in the heart of one person 
 for another, and Anteros made it his duty to 
 tease and punish those who thus became 
 objects of affection, if they did not return 
 the love. 
 
 After some time, Aphrodite and her boys 
 found their way to the heavenly regions of 
 Mount Olympus, where the great divinities 
 resided,* and there they soon produced great 
 trouble, by enkindling the flames of love in 
 the hearts of the divinities themselves, caus- 
 ing them, by her magic power, to fall in love 
 not only with one another, but also with 
 mortal men and women on the earth below. 
 In retaliation upon Aphrodite for this mis- 
 chief, Jupiter, by his supreme power, in- 
 spired Aphrodite herself with a sentiment 
 of love. The object of her affection was 
 Anchises, a handsome youth, of the roynl 
 family of Troy, who lived among the moun- 
 tains of Ida, not far from the city. 
 
 The way in which it happened that the 
 affection of Aphrodite turned toward an in- 
 habitant of Mount Ida was this. There had 
 been at one time a marriage among the div- 
 inities, and a certain goddess who had not 
 been invited to the wedding, conceived the 
 * See Map, page 47. 
 
THE STORY OF iENEAS. 49 
 
 design of avenging herself for the neglect, 
 by provoking a quarrel among those who 
 were there. She, accordingly, caused a 
 beautiful golden apple to be made, with an 
 inscription marked upon it, " For the most 
 beautiful." This apple she threw in among 
 the guests assembled at the wedding. The 
 goddesses all claimed the prize, and a very 
 earnest dispute arose among them in respect 
 to it. Jupiter sent the several claimants, 
 under the charge of a special messenger, to 
 Mount Ida, to a handsome and accomplished 
 young shepherd there, named Paris — who 
 was, in fact, a prince in disguise — that they 
 might exhibit themselves to him, and submit 
 the question of the right to the apple to his 
 award. The contending goddesses appeared 
 accordingly before Paris, and each attempted 
 to bribe him to decide in her favor, by offer- 
 ing him some peculiar and tempting reward. 
 Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite, and she 
 was so pleased with the result, that she took 
 Paris under her special protection, and made 
 the solitudes of Mount Ida one of her fa- 
 vorite retreats. 
 
 Here she saw and became acquainted with 
 Anchises, who was, as has already been said, 
 a noble, or prince, by descent, though he had 
 for some time been dwelling away from the 
 city, and among the mountains, rearing flocks 
 and herds. Here Aphrodite saw him, and 
 when Jupiter inspired her with a sudden sus- 
 ceptibility to the power of love, the shep- 
 herd Anchises was the object toward which 
 
50 ROMULUS. 
 
 her affections turned. She accordingly went 
 to Mount Ida, and giving herself up to him, 
 she lived with him for some time among the 
 mountains as his bride. iEneas was their 
 son. 
 
 Aphrodite did not, however, appear to 
 Anchises in her true character, but assumed, 
 instead, the form and the disguise of a Phry- 
 gian princess. Phrygia was a kingdom of 
 Asia Minor, not very far from Troy. She 
 continued this disguise as long as she re- 
 mained with Anchises at Mount Ida; at 
 length, however, she concluded to leave him, 
 and to return to Olympus, and at her part- 
 ing she made herself known. She, however, 
 charged Anchises never to reveal to any per- 
 son who she was, declaring that ^Eneas, 
 whom she was going to leave with his father 
 when she went away, would be destroyed 
 by a stroke of lightning from heaven, if the 
 real truth in respect to his mother were ever 
 revealed. 
 
 When Aphrodite had gone, Anchises, hav- 
 ing now no longer any one at home to at- 
 tend to the rearing of the child, sent him 
 to Dardanus, a city to the northward of 
 Troy, where he was brought up in the house 
 of his sister, the daughter of Anchises, who 
 was married and settled there. His having 
 a sister old enough to be married, would seem 
 to show that youth was not one of the at- 
 tractions of Anchises in Aphrodite's eyes. 
 ./Eneas remained with his sister until he was 
 old enough to be of service in the care of 
 
THE STORY OF jENEAS. 51 
 
 flocks and herds, and then returned again 
 to his former residence among the pastur- 
 ages of the mountains. His mother, though 
 she had left him, did not forget her child ; 
 but watched over him continually, and in- 
 terposed directly to aid or to protect him, 
 whenever her aid was required by the oc- 
 currence of any emergency of difficulty or 
 danger. 
 
 At length the Trojan war broke out. 
 For a time, however, JEneas took no part 
 in it. He was jealous of the attentions 
 which Priam, the king of Troy, paid to 
 other young men, and fancied that he him- 
 self was overlooked, and that the services 
 that he might render were undervalued. 
 He remained, therefore, at his home among 
 the mountains, occupying himself with his 
 flocks and herds ; and he might, perhaps, 
 have continued in these peaceful avocations 
 to the end of the war, had it not been that 
 Achilles, one of the most formidable of the 
 Grecian leaders, in one of his forays in the 
 country around Troy, in search of provi- 
 sions, came upon JEneas's territory, and 
 attacked him while tending his flocks upon 
 the mountain side. Achilles seized the 
 flocks and herds, and drove iEneas and his 
 fellow-herdsmen away. They would, in 
 fact, all have been killed, had not Aphrodite 
 interposed to protect her son and save his 
 life. 
 
 The loss of his flocks and herds, and the 
 injury which he himself had received, aroused 
 
62 ROMULUS. 
 
 ./Eneas's indignation and anger against the 
 Greeks. He immediately raised an armed 
 force of Dardanians, and thenceforth took 
 an active part in the war. He became one 
 of the most distinguished among the com- 
 batants, for his prowess and his bravery ; 
 and being always assisted by his mother in 
 his conflicts, and rescued by her when in 
 danger, he performed prodigies of strength 
 and valor. 
 
 At one time he pressed forward into the 
 thickest of the battle to rescue a Trojan 
 leader named Pandarus, who was beset by 
 his foes and brought into very imminent 
 danger. /Eneas did not succeed in saving 
 his friend. Pandarus was killed. JEneas, 
 however, flew to the spot, and by means of 
 the most extraordinary feats of strength and 
 valor he drove the Greeks away from the 
 body. They attacked it on every side, but 
 ./Eneas, wheeling around it, fighting now on 
 this side and now on that, drove them all 
 away. They retired to a little distance 
 and then began to throw in a shower of 
 spears and darts and arrows upon him. 
 JEneas defended himself and the body of his 
 friend from these missiles for a time, with 
 his shield. At length, however, he was struck 
 in the thigh with a ponderous stone which 
 one of the Greek warriors hurled at him, — a 
 stone so heavy that two men of ordinary 
 strength would have been required to lift it. 
 ./Eneas was felled to the ground by the 
 blow. He sank down, resting upon his arm, 
 

THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 53 
 
 faint and dizzy,and being thus made helpless 
 would have immediately been overpowered 
 and killed by his assailants had not his mother 
 interposed. She came immediately to rescue 
 him. She spread her veil over him, which 
 had the magic power of rendering harmless 
 all blows which were aimed at what was cov- 
 ered by it, and then taking him up in her 
 arms she bore him off through the midst of 
 his enemies unharmed. The swords, spears, 
 and javelins which were aimed at him were 
 rendered powerless by the magic veil. 
 
 Aphrodite, however, flying thus with her 
 wounded son, mother-like, left herself exposed 
 in her anxiety to protect him. Diomedes, 
 the chief of the pursuers, following headlong 
 on, aimed a lance at Yenus herself. The 
 lance struck Yenus in the hand, and inflicted 
 a very severe and painful wound. It did 
 not, however, stop her flight. She pressed 
 swiftly on, while Diomedes, satisfied with 
 his revenge, gave up the pursuit, but called 
 out to Aphrodite as she disappeared from 
 view, bidding her learn from the lesson which 
 he had given her that it would be best for 
 her thenceforth to remain in her own appro- 
 priate sphere, and not come down to the 
 earth and interfere in the contests of mortal 
 men. 
 
 Aphrodite, after conveying iEneas to a 
 place of safety, fled, herself, faint and bleed- 
 ing, to the mountains, where, after ascending 
 to the region of mists and clouds, Iris, the 
 beautiful goddess of the rainbow, came to 
 
54 ROMULUS. 
 
 her aid. Iris found her faint and pale from 
 the loss of blood ; she did all in her power 
 to soothe and comfort the wounded goddess, 
 and then led her farther still among the 
 mountains to a place where they found Mars, 
 the god of war, standing with his chariot. 
 Mars was Aphrodite's brother. He took 
 compassion upon his sister in her distress, 
 and lent Iris his chariot and horses, to con- 
 vey Aphrodite home. Aphrodite ascended 
 into the chariot, and Iris took the reins ; and 
 thus they rode through the air to the mount- 
 ains of Olympus. Here the gods and god- 
 desses of heaven gathered around their un- 
 happy sister, bound up her wound, and ex- 
 pressed great sympathy for her in her suf- 
 ferings, uttering at the same time many 
 piteous complaints against the merciless vio- 
 lence and inhumanity of men. Such is the 
 ancient tale of JEneas and his mother. 
 
 At a later period in the history of the war, 
 ^Eneas had a grand combat with Achilles, 
 who was the most terrible of all the Grecian 
 warriors, and was regarded as the grand 
 champion of their cause. The two armies 
 were drawn up in battle array. A vast open 
 space was left between them on the open 
 plain. Into this space the two combatants 
 advanced, ./Eneas on the one side and Achilles 
 on the other, in full view of all the troops, 
 and of the throngs of spectators assembled 
 to witness the proceeding. 
 
 A very strong and an universal interest 
 was felt in the approaching combat, ^Eneas, 
 
THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 55 
 
 besides the prodigious strength and bravery 
 for which he was renowned, was to be 
 divinely aided, it was known, by the pro* 
 tection of his mother, who was always at 
 hand to guide and support him in the conflict, 
 and to succor him in danger. Achilles, on 
 the other hand, possessed a charmed life. 
 He had been dipped by his mother Thetis, 
 when an infant, in the river Styx, to render 
 him invulnerable and immortal ; and the im- 
 mersion produced the effect intended in re- 
 spect to all those parts of the body which 
 the water laved. As, however, Thetis held 
 the child by the ankles when she plunged 
 him in, the ankles remained unaffected by 
 the magic influence of the water. All the 
 other parts of the body were rendered in- 
 capable of receiving a wound. 
 
 Achilles had a very beautiful and costly 
 shield which his mother had caused to be 
 made for him. It was formed of five plates 
 of metal. The outermost plates on each side 
 were of brass ; in the center was a plate of 
 gold and between the central plate of gold 
 and the outer ones of brass were two other 
 plates, one on each side, made of some third 
 metal. The workmanship of this shield was 
 of the most elaborate and beautiful character. 
 The mother of Achilles had given this weapon 
 to her son when he left home to join the 
 Greeks in the Trojan war, not trusting en- 
 tirely it seems to his magical invulnerabil- 
 ity. 
 
 The armies looked on with great interest 
 
56 EOMULUS. 
 
 as these two champions advanced to meet 
 each other, while all the gods and goddesses 
 surveyed the scene with almost equal interest, 
 from their abodes above. Some joined Venus 
 in the sympathy which she felt for her son, 
 while others espoused the cause of Achilles. 
 When the two combatants had approached 
 each other, they paused before commencing 
 the conflict, as is usual in such cases, and sur- 
 veyed each other with looks of anger and de- 
 fiance. At length Achilles spoke. He began 
 to upbraid JSneas for his infatuation and 
 folly in engaging in the war, and especially 
 for coming forward to put his life at hazard 
 by encountering such a champion as was now 
 before him. " What can you gain," said he, 
 " even if you conquer in this warfare ? You 
 can never be king, even if you succeed in 
 saving the city. I know you claim to be 
 descended from the royal line ; but Priam 
 has sons who are the direct and immediate 
 heirs, and your claims can never be allowed. 
 Then, besides, what folly to attempt to con- 
 tend with me ! Me, the strongest, bravest, 
 and most terrible of the Greeks, and the 
 special favorite of many deities." With this 
 introduction Achilles went on to set forth 
 the greatness of his pedigree, and the lofti- 
 ness of his pretensions to superiority over all 
 others in personal prowess and valor, in a 
 manner very eloquent indeed, and in a style 
 which it seems was very much admired in 
 those days as evincing only a proper spirit 
 and energy, — though in our times such a 
 
THE STORY OP .ZBNEAS: 5? 
 
 harangue would be very apt to be regarded 
 as only a vainglorious and empty boasting. 
 
 vEneas replied, — retorting with vauntings 
 on his side no less spirited and energetic than 
 those which Achilles had expressed. He 
 gave a long account of his pedigree, and of 
 his various claims to lofty consideration. 
 He, however, said, in conclusion, that it was 
 idle and useless for them to waste their time 
 in such a war of words, and so he hurled his 
 spear at Achilles with all his force, as a token 
 of the commencement of the battle. 
 
 The spear struck the shield of Achilles, and 
 impinged upon it with such force that it pen- 
 etrated through two of the plates of metal 
 which composed the shield, and reached the 
 central plate of gold, where the force with 
 which it had been thrown being spent, it 
 was arrested and fell to the ground. Achil- 
 les then exerting his utmost strength threw 
 his spear in return. JEneas crouched down 
 to avoid the shock of the weapon, holding 
 his shield at the same time above his head, 
 and bracing himself with all his force against 
 the approaching concussion. The spear 
 struck the shield near the upper edge of it, 
 as it was held in JEneas's hand. It passed di- 
 rectly through the plates of which the shield 
 was composed, and then continuing its course, 
 it glided down just over iEneas's back, and 
 planted itself deep in the ground behind him, 
 and stood there quivering. JEneas crept 
 out from beneath it with a look of horror. 
 
 Immediately after throwing his spear, and 
 
 5 — Romulus 
 
58 ROMULUS. 
 
 perceiving that it bad failed of its intended 
 effect, Achilles drew his sword and rushed 
 forward to engage ./Eneas, hand to hand. 
 ./Eneas himself recovering in an instant from 
 the consternation which his narrow escape 
 from impalement had awakened, seized an 
 enormous stone, heavier, as Homer repre- 
 sents it, than any two ordinary men could 
 lift, and was about to hurl it at his advancing 
 foe, when suddenly the whole combat was ter- 
 minated by a very unexpected interposition. 
 It seems that the various gods and goddesses, 
 from their celestial abodes among the sum- 
 mits of Olympus, had assembled in invisible 
 forms to witness this combat — some sympa- 
 thizing with and upholding one of the com- 
 batants, and some the other. Neptune was 
 on ^Eneas's side ; and accordingly when he 
 saw how imminent the danger was which 
 threatened ./Eneas, when Achilles came rush- 
 ing upon him with his uplifted sword, he at 
 once resolved to interfere. He immediately 
 rushed, himself, between the combatants. 
 He brought a sudden and supernatural mist 
 over the scene, such as the God of the Sea 
 has always at his command ; and this mist 
 at once concealed ./Eneas from Achilles's 
 view. Neptune drew the spear out of the 
 ground, and released it too from the shield 
 which remained still pinned down by it ; and 
 then threw the spear down at Achilles's feet. 
 He next seized iEneas, and lifting him high 
 above the ground he bore him away in an 
 invisible form over the heads of soldiers and 
 
THE STORY OF JSNEAS. 59 
 
 horsemen that had been drawn up in long 
 lines around the field of combat. When the 
 mist passed away Achilles saw his spear ly- 
 ing at his feet, and on looking around him 
 "i'ound that his enemy was gone. 
 
 Such are the marvelous tales which were 
 told by the ancient narrators, of the prowess 
 and exploits of ./Eneas under the walls of 
 Troy, and of the interpositions which were 
 put forth to save him in moments of des- 
 perate danger, by beings supernatural and 
 divine. These tales were in those days be- 
 lieved as sober history. That which was 
 marvelous and philosophically incredible in 
 them, was sacredly sheltered from question 
 "by mingling itself with the prevailing prin- 
 ciples of religious faith. The tales were 
 thus believed, and handed down traditionally 
 from generation to generation, and admired 
 and loved by all who heard and repeated 
 them, partly on account of their romantic and 
 poetical beauty, and partly on account of 
 the sublime and sacred revelations which they 
 contained, in respect to the divinities of the 
 spiritual world. 
 
 Neptune in His Chariot. 
 
CHAPTEK IT. 
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 
 
 After the final conquest and destruction 
 of Troy, ^Eneas, in the course of his wander- 
 ings, stopped, it was said, at Carthage, on 
 his way to Italy, and there, according to 
 ancient story, he gave the following account 
 of the circumstances attending the capture 
 and the sacking of the city, and his own 
 escape from the scene. 
 
 One day, after the war had been continued 
 with various success for a long period of 
 time, the sentinels on the walls and towers 
 of the city began to observe extraordinary 
 movements in the camp of the besiegers, 
 which seemed to indicate preparations for 
 breaking up the camp and going away. 
 Tents were struck. Men were busy passing 
 to and fro,, arranging arms and military 
 stores, as if for transportation. A fleet of 
 ships was drawn up along the shore, which 
 was not far distant, and a great scene of 
 activity manifested itself upon the bank, 
 indicating an approaching embarkation. In 
 a word, the tidings soon spread throughout 
 the city, that the Greeks had at length be- 
 come weary of the protracted contest, and 
 
 60 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 61 
 
 were making - preparations to withdraw from 
 the field. These proceedings were watched, 
 of course, with great interest from the walls 
 of the city, and at length the inhabitants, 
 to their inexpressible joy, found their antici- 
 pations and hopes, as they thought, fully 
 realized. The camp of the Greeks was grad- 
 ually broken up, and at last entirely aban- 
 doned. The various bodies of troops were 
 drawn off one by one to the shore, where 
 they were embarked on board the ships, and 
 then sailed away. As soon as this result was 
 made sure, the Trojans threw open the gates 
 of the city, and came out in throngs, — soldiers 
 and citizens, men, women and children to- 
 gether, — to explore the abandoned encamp- 
 ment, and to rejoice over the departure of 
 their terrible enemies. 
 
 The first thing which attracted their at- 
 tention was an immense wooden horse, which 
 stood upon the ground that the Greek en- 
 campment had occupied. The Trojans im 
 mediately gathered, one and all, around 
 the monster, full of wonder and curiosity. 
 ^Eneas, in narrating the story, sa}^s that the 
 image was as large as a mountain ; but, as 
 he afterward relates that the people drew it 
 on wheels within the walls of the city, and 
 especially as he represents them as attach- 
 ing the ropes for this purpose to the neck of 
 the image, instead of to its fore-legs, which 
 would have furnished the only proper points 
 of attachment if the effigy had been of any 
 very extraordinary size, he must have" had a 
 
62 ROMULUS. 
 
 very small mountain in mind in making the 
 comparison. Or which is perhaps more prob- 
 able, he used the term only in a vague meta- 
 phorical sense, as we do now when we speak 
 of the waves of the ocean as running moun- 
 tain high, when it is well ascertained that 
 the crests of the billows, even in the most 
 violent and most protracted storms, never 
 rise more than twenty feet above the general 
 level. 
 
 At all events, the image was large enough 
 to excite the wonder of all the beholders. 
 The Trojan people gathered around it, wholly 
 unable to understand for what purpose the 
 Greeks could have constructed such a mon- 
 ster, to leave behind them on their departure 
 from Troy. After the first emotions of as- 
 tonishment and wonder which the spectacle 
 awakened, had somewhat subsided, there 
 followed a consultation in respect to the dis- 
 posal which was to be made of the prodigy. 
 The opinions on this point were very various. 
 One commander was disposed to consider 
 the image a sacred prize, and recommended 
 that they should convey it into the city, and 
 deposit it in the citadel, as a trophy of vic- 
 tory. Another, dissenting decidedly from 
 this council, said that he strongly suspected 
 some latent treachery, and lie proposed to 
 build a fire under the body of the monster, 
 and burn the image itself and all contriv- 
 ances for mischief which might be contained 
 in it, together. A third recommended that 
 they should hew it open, and see for them- 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TEOY. 63 
 
 selves what there might be within. One of 
 the Trojan leaders named Laocoon, who, 
 just at this juncture, came to the spot, 
 remonstrated loudly and earnestly against 
 having anything to do with so mysterious 
 and suspicious a prize, and, by way of ex- 
 pressing the strong animosity which he felt 
 toward it, he hurled his spear with all his 
 force against the monster's side. The spear 
 stood trembling in the wood, producing a 
 deep hollow sound by the concussion. 
 
 What the decision would have been in re- 
 spect to the disposal of the horse, if this 
 consultation and debate had gone on, it is 
 impossible to say, as the farther considera- 
 tion of the subject was all at once inter- 
 rupted, by new occurrences which here sud- 
 denly intervened, and which, after engross- 
 ing for a time the whole attention of the 
 company assembled, finally controlled the 
 decision of the question. A crowd of peas- 
 ants and shepherds were seen coming from 
 the mountains, with much excitement, and 
 loud shouts and outcries, bringing with them 
 a captive Greek whom they had secured and 
 bound. As the peasants came up with their 
 prisoner, the Trojans gathered eagerly round 
 them, full of excitement and threats of 
 violence, all thirsting, apparently, for their 
 victim's blood. He, on his part, filled the 
 air with the most piteous lamentations and 
 cries for mercy. 
 
 His distress and Wretchedness, and the 
 earnest entreaties which he uttered, seemed 
 
64 ROMULUS. 
 
 at length to soften the hearts of his enemies, 
 and finally, the violence of the crowd around 
 the captive became somewhat appeased, and 
 was succeeded by a disposition to question 
 him, and hear what he had to say. The 
 Greek told them, in answer to their interro- 
 gations, that his name was Sinon, and that 
 he was a fugitive from his own countrymen 
 the Greeks, who had been intending to kill 
 him. He said that the Greek leaders had 
 long been desirous of abandoning the siege 
 of Troy, and that they had made many at- 
 tempts to embark their troops and sail away, 
 but that the winds and seas had risen against 
 them on every such attempt, and defeated 
 their design. They then sent to consult the 
 oracle of Apollo, to learn what w r as the 
 cause of the displeasure and hostility thus 
 manifested against them by the god of the 
 sea. The oracle replied, that they could not 
 depart from Troy, till they had first made 
 an atoning and propitiatory offering by the 
 sacrifice of a man, such an one as Apollo 
 himself might designate. When this answer 
 was returned, the whole ainuy, as Sinon said, 
 was thrown into a state of consternation. 
 No one knew but tnat Lne fatal designation 
 might fall on him. The leaders were, how- 
 ever, earnestly determined on carrying the 
 measure into effect. Ulysses called upon 
 Calchas, the priest of Apollo, to point out 
 the man who was to die. Calchas waited 
 day after day, for teTa days before the divine 
 intimation was made to him in resuect to 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 65 
 
 the individual who was to suffer. At length 
 he said that Siuon was the destined victim. 
 His comrades, Sinon said, rejoicing in their 
 own escape from so terrible a doom, eagerly 
 assented to the priest's decision, and immedi- 
 ately made preparations for the cere-mony. 
 The altar was reared. The victim was 
 adorned for the sacrifice, and the garlands, 
 according to the accustomed usage, were 
 bound upon his temples. He contrived, 
 however, he said, at the last moment, to 
 his escape. He broke the bands with which 
 he had been bound, and fled into a morass 
 near the shore, where he remained concealed 
 in inaccessible thickets until the Greeks had 
 sailed away. He then came forth and was 
 at length seized and bound by the shepherds 
 of the mountains, who found him wandering 
 about, in extreme destitution and misery. 
 Sinon concluded his tale by the most piteous 
 lamentations, on his wretched lot. The Tro- 
 jans, he supposed, would kill him, and the 
 Greeks, on their return to his native land, 
 in their anger against him for having made 
 his escape from them, would destroy his 
 wife and children. 
 
 The air and manner with which Sinon 
 told this story seemed so sincere, and so 
 natural and unaffected were the expressions 
 of wretchedness and despair with which he 
 ended his narrative, that the Trojan leaders 
 had no suspicion that it was not true. Their 
 compassion was moved for the wretched 
 fugitive, and they determined to spare his 
 
66 ROMULUS. 
 
 life. Priam, the aged king, who was present 
 at the scene, in the midst of the Trojan 
 generals, ordered the cords with which the 
 peasants had bound the captive to be 
 sundered, that he might stand before them 
 free. The king spoke to him, too, in a kind 
 and encouraging manner. "Forget your 
 countrymen," said he. " They are gone. 
 Henceforth you shall be one of us. We 
 will take care of you." " And now," he 
 continued, " tell us what this monstrous 
 image means. Why did the Greeks make 
 it, and why have they left it here? " 
 
 Sinon, as if grateful for the generosity 
 with which his life had been spared, pro- 
 fessed himself ready to give his benefactors 
 the fullest information. He told them that 
 the wooden horse had been built by the 
 Greeks to replace a certain image of Pallas 
 which he had previously taken and borne 
 away from Troy. It was to replace this 
 image, Sinon said, that the Greeks had built 
 the wooden horse ; and their purpose in 
 making the image of this monstrous size was 
 to prevent the possibility of the Trojans 
 taking it into the city, and thus appropriat- 
 ing to themselves the benefit of its protect- 
 ing efficacy and virtue. 
 
 The Trojans listened with breathless inter- 
 est to all that Sinon said, and readily be- 
 lieved his story ; so admirably well did he 
 counterfeit, by his words and his demeanor, 
 all the marks and tokens of honest sincerity 
 in what he said of others, as well of grief 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 67 
 
 and despair in respect to his own unhappy 
 lot. The current of opinion which had 
 begun before to set strongly in favor of de- 
 stroying the horse, was wholly turned, and 
 all began at once to look upon the colossal 
 image as an object of sacred veneration, and 
 to begin to form plans for transporting it 
 within the limits of the city. Whatever re- 
 maining doubts any of them might have felt 
 on the subject were dispelled by the occur- 
 rence of a most extraordinary phenomenon 
 just at this stage of the affair, w T hich was 
 understood by all to be a divine judgment 
 upon Laocoon for his sacrilegious temerity 
 in striking his spear into the horse's side. 
 It had been determined to offer a sacrifice 
 to Neptune. Lots were drawn to determine 
 who should perform the rite. The lot fell 
 upon Laocoon. He began to make prepara- 
 tions to perform the duty, assisted by his 
 two young sons, when suddenly two im- 
 mense serpents appeared, coming up from 
 the sea. They came swimming over the 
 surface of the water, with their heads ele- 
 vated above the waves, until they reached 
 the shore, and then gliding swiftly along, 
 they advanced across the plain, their bodies 
 brilliantly spotted and glittering in the sun, 
 their eyes flashing, and their forked and 
 venomous tongues darting threats and de- 
 fiance as they came. The people fled in 
 dismay. The serpents, disregarding all 
 others, made their way directly toward the 
 affrighted children of Laocoon, and twining 
 
68 BOMULUS. 
 
 around them they soon held the writhing 
 and struggling limbs of their shrieking vic- 
 tims hopelessly entangled in their deadly 
 convolutions. 
 
 Laocoon, who was himself at a little dis- 
 tance from the spot, when the serpents came, 
 as soon as he saw his danger and heard the 
 agonizing cries of the boys, seized a weapon 
 and ran to rescue them. Instead, however, 
 of being able to save his children, he only 
 involved himself in their dreadful fate. 
 The serpents seized him as soon as he came 
 within their reach, and taking two turns 
 around his neck and two around his body, 
 and binding in a remorseless gripe the forms 
 of the fainting and dying boys with other 
 convolutions, they raised their heads high 
 above the group of victims which they thus 
 enfolded, and hissed and darted out their 
 forked tongues in token of defiance and 
 victory. When at length their work was 
 done, they glided away and took refuge in 
 a temple that was near, and coiled them- 
 selves up for repose beneath the feet of the 
 statue of a goddess that stood in the shrine. 
 
 The story of Laocoon has become cele- 
 brated among all mankind in modern times 
 by means of a statue representing the catas- 
 trophe, which was found two or three cen- 
 turies ago among the ruins of an ancient 
 edifice at Eome. This statue was mentioned 
 by an old Roman writer, Pliny, who gave 
 an account of it while it yet stood in its 
 place in the ancient city. He said that it 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 69 
 
 was the work of three artists, a father and 
 two sons, who combined their industry and 
 skill to carve in one group, and with im- 
 mense labor and care, the representation of 
 Laocoon himself, the two boys, and the two 
 serpents, making five living beings inter- 
 twined intricately together, and all carved 
 from one single block of marble. On the 
 decline and fall of Rome this statue was lost 
 among the ruins of the city, and for many 
 centuries it was known to mankind only 
 through the description of Pliny. At length 
 it was brought to light again, having been 
 discovered about three centuries ago, under 
 the ruins of the very edifice in which Pliny 
 had described it as standing. It immediately 
 became the object of great interest and at- 
 tention to the whole world. It was de- 
 posited in the Vatican ; a great reward was 
 paid to the owner of the ground on which 
 it was discovered ; drawings and casts of it, 
 without number, have been made ; and the 
 original stands in the Yatican now, an ob- 
 ject of universal interest, as one of the most 
 celebrated sculptures of ancient or modern 
 times. 
 
 Laocoon himself forms the center of the 
 group, with the serpents twined around him, 
 while he struggles, with a fearful expression 
 of terror and anguish in his countenance, in 
 the vain attempt to release himself from 
 their hold. One of the serpents has bitten 
 one of the boys in the side, and the wounded 
 child sinks under the effects of the poison. 
 
70 ROMULUS. 
 
 The other boy, in an agony of terror, is 
 struggling, hopelessly, to release his foot 
 from the convolutions with which one of 
 the serpents has encircled it. The expres- 
 sion of the whole group is exciting and 
 painful, and yet notwithstanding this, there 
 is combined * with it a certain mysterious 
 grace and beauty which charms every eye, 
 and makes the composition the wonder of 
 mankind. 
 
 But to return to the story. The people 
 understood this awful visitation to be the 
 judgment of heaven against Laocoon for his 
 sacrilegious presumption in daring to thrust 
 his spear into the side of the image before 
 them, and which they were now very sure 
 they were to consider as something super- 
 natural and divine. They determined with 
 one accord to take it into the city. 
 
 They immediately began to make prepara- 
 tions for the transportation of it. They 
 raised it from the ground, and fitted to the 
 feet some sort of machinery of wheels or 
 rollers, suitable to the nature of the ground, 
 and strong enough to bear the weight of the 
 colossal mass. They attached long ropes to 
 the neck of the image, and extended them 
 forward upon the ground ; and then brought 
 up large companies of citizens and soldiers 
 to man them. They arranged a procession, 
 consisting of the generals of the army, and 
 of the great civil dignitaries of the state; 
 and in addition to these were groups of sing- 
 ing boys and girls, adorned with wreaths and 
 
THE DESTKUCTION OF TEOY. 71 
 
 garlands, who were appointed to chant sacred 
 yrans to solemnize the occasion. They 
 widened the access to the city, too, by tear- 
 ing down a portion of the wall so as to open 
 a sufficient space to enable the monster to 
 get in. When all was ready the ropes were 
 manned, the signal was given, the ponder- 
 ous mass began to move, and though it en- 
 countered in its progress many difficulties, 
 obstructions, and delays, in due time it was 
 safely deposited in the court of a great public 
 edifice within the city. The wall was then 
 repaired, the day passed away, the night 
 came on, the gates were shut, and the curi- 
 osity and wonder of the people within being 
 gradually satisfied, they at length dispersed 
 to their several homes and retired to rest. 
 At midnight the unconscious effigy stood 
 silent and alone where its worshipers had 
 left it, while the whole population of the city 
 were sunk in slumber, except the sentinels 
 who had been stationed as usual to keep 
 guard at the gates, or to watch upon the 
 towers and battlements above them. 
 
 In the mean time the Greek fleet, which 
 had sailed away under pretense of finally 
 abandoning the country, had proceeded 
 only to the island of Tenedos, which was 
 about a league from the shore, and there 
 they had concealed themselves during the 
 day. As soon as night came on they returned 
 to the main land, and disembarking with the 
 utmost silence and secrecy, they made their 
 way back again under cover of the darkness, 
 
72 ROMULUS. 
 
 as near as they dared to come to the gates 
 of the city. In the mean time Sinon had 
 arisen stealthily from the sleep which he had 
 feigned to deceive those to whose charge he 
 had been committed, and creeping cautiously 
 through the streets he repaired to the 
 place where the wooden horse had been de- 
 posited, and there opened a secret door in 
 the side of the image, and liberated a band 
 of armed and desperate men who had been 
 concealed within. These men, as soon as 
 they had descended to the ground and had 
 adjusted their armor rushed to the city walls, 
 surprised and killed the sentinels and watch- 
 men, threw open the gates, and gave the 
 whole body of their comrades that were 
 lurking outside the walls, in the silence and 
 darkness of the night, an unobstructed 
 admission. 
 
 iEneas was asleep in his house while these 
 things were transpiring. The house where 
 he lived was in a retired and quiet situation, 
 but he was awakened from his sleep by dis- 
 tant outcries and din, and springing from his 
 couch, and hastily resuming his dress, he as- 
 cended to the roof of the house to ascertain 
 the cause of the alarm. He saw flames as- 
 cending from various edifices in the quarter 
 of the city where the Greeks had come in. 
 He listened. He could distinctly hear the 
 shouts of men, and the notes of triumpets 
 sounding the alarm. He immediately seized 
 his armor and rushed forth into the streets, 
 arousing the inhabitants around him from 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 73 
 
 their slumbers by his shouts, and calling 
 upon them to arm themselves and follow 
 him. 
 
 In the midst of this excitement, there sud- 
 denly appeared before him, coming from the 
 scene of the conflict, a Trojan friend, named 
 Pantheus, who was hastening away from the 
 danger, perfectly bewildered with excite- 
 ment and agitation. He was leading with 
 him his little son, Avho was likewise pale with 
 terror. iEneas asked Pantheus what had 
 happened. Pantheus in reply explained to 
 him in hurried and broken words, that armed 
 men, treacherously concealed within the 
 wooden horse, had issued forth from their 
 concealment, and had opened the gates of 
 the city, and let the whole horde of their 
 ferocious and desperate enemies in ; that the 
 sentinels and guards who had been stationed 
 at the gates had been killed ; and that the 
 Greek troops had full possession of the city, 
 and were barricading the streets and setting 
 fire to the buildings on every side. " All is 
 lost," said he, " our cause is ruined, and Troy 
 is no more." 
 
 The announcing of these tidings filled 
 ./Eneas and those who had joined him with a 
 species of phrensy. They resolved to press 
 forward into the" combat, and there, if they 
 must perish themselves, to carry down as 
 many as possible of their enemies with them 
 to destruction. They pressed on, therefore, 
 through the gloomy streets, guiding their 
 way toward the scene of action by the glare 
 
 6 — Romulus 
 
74 EOMULUS. 
 
 of the fires upon the sky, and by the sounds 
 of the distant tumult and din. 
 
 They soon found themselves in the midst 
 of scenes of dreadful terror and confusion, — 
 the scenes, in fact, which are usually exhib- 
 ited in the midnight sacking of a city. * They 
 met with various adventures during the time 
 that they continued their desperate but hope- 
 less resistance. They encountered a party of 
 Greeks, and overpowered and slew them, and 
 then, seizing the armor which their fallen 
 enemy had worn, they disguised themselves 
 in it, in hopes to deceive the main body of the 
 Greeks by this means, so as to mingle among 
 them unobserved, and thus attack and de- 
 stroy such small parties as they might meet 
 without being themselves attacked by the 
 rest. They saw the princess Cassandra, the 
 young daughter of king Priam, dragged away 
 by Greek soldiers from a temple where she 
 had sought refuge. They immediately un- 
 dertook to rescue her, and were at once at- 
 tacked both by the Greek party who had the 
 princess in charge, and also by the Trojan 
 soldiers, who shot arrows and darts down 
 upon them from the roofs above, supposing, 
 from the armor and the plumes which they 
 wore, that they were enemies. They saw 
 the royal palace besieged, and the tortoise 
 formed for scaling the walls of it. The tu- 
 mult and din, and the frightful glare of lurid 
 flames by which the city was illuminated, 
 formed a scene of inconceivable confusion 
 and terror. 
 
Somulut,/accp. U 
 
 Neptune. {Seep. 58.) 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 75 
 
 JEneas watched the progress of the assault 
 upon the palace from the top of certain lofty 
 roofs, to which he ascended for the purpose. 
 Here there was a slender tower, which had 
 been built for a watch-tower, and had 
 been carried up to such a height that, from 
 the summit of it, the watchmen stationed 
 there could survey all the environs of the 
 cit} 7 , and on one side look off to some distance 
 over the sea. This tower JEneas and the 
 Trojans who were with him contrived to 
 cut off at its base, and throw over upon the 
 throngs of Grecians that ^ 7 ere ^iujidering 
 at the palace gates oeiow. Great numbers 
 were killed by the falling ruins, and the tor- 
 toise was broken down. The Greeks, how- 
 ever, soon formed another tortoise, by means 
 of which some of the soldiers scaled the walls, 
 while others broke down the gates with bat- 
 tering rams and engines ; and thus the palace 
 the sacred and last remaining stronghold of 
 the city, was thrown open to the ferocious 
 and frantic horde of its assailants. 
 
 The sacking of the palace presented an 
 awful spectacle to the view of iEneas and 
 his companions, as they looked down upon 
 it from the roofs and battlements around. 
 As the walls, one after another, fell in under 
 the resistless blows dealt by the engines that 
 were brought against them, the interior halls, 
 and the most retired and private apartments, 
 were thrown open to view— all illuminated by 
 the glare of the surrounding conflagrations. 
 
 Shrieks and wailing, and every other 
 
76 ROMULUS. 
 
 species of outcry that comes from grief, 
 terror, and despair, arose from within ; and 
 such spectators as had the heart to look 
 continuously upon the spectacle, could see 
 wretched men running to and fro, and virgins 
 clinging to altars for protection, and frantic 
 mothers vainly endeavoring to find hiding- 
 places for themselves and their helpless 
 children. 
 
 Priam the king, who was at this time old 
 and infirm, was aroused from his slumbers 
 by the dreadful din, and immediately began 
 to seize his armor, and to prepare himself for 
 rushing into the fight. His wife, however, 
 Hecuba, begged and entreated him to desist. 
 She saw that all was lost, and that any fur- 
 ther attempts at resistance would only exas- 
 Serate their enemies, and render their own 
 estruction the more inevitable. She per- 
 suaded the king, therefore, to give up his 
 weapons and go with her to an altar, in one 
 of the courts of the palace, — a place which it 
 would be sacrilege for their enemies to violate 
 — and there patiently and submissively to 
 await the end. Priam yielded to the queen's 
 solicitations, and went with her to the place 
 of refuge which she had chosen ; — and the 
 plan which they thus adopted, might very 
 probably have been successful in saving their 
 lives, had it not been for an unexpected 
 occurrence which suddenly intervened, and 
 which led to a fatal result. While they were 
 seated by the altar, in attitudes of submission 
 and suppliance, they were suddenly aroused 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 77 
 
 by the rushing toward them of one of their 
 sons, who came in, wounded and bleeding 
 from some scene of combat, and pursued by 
 angry and ferocious foes. The spent and 
 fainting warrior sank clown at the feet of 
 his father and mother, and lay there dying 
 and weltering in the blood which flowed from 
 his wounds. The aged king was aroused to 
 madness at this spectacle. He leaped to his 
 feet, seized a javelin, and thundering out at 
 the same time the most loud and bitter im- 
 precations against the murderers of his son, 
 he hurled the weapon toward them as they 
 advanced. The javelin struck the shield of 
 the leader of the assailants, and rebounded 
 from it without producing any other effect 
 than to enrage still more the furious spirit 
 which it was meant to destroy. The assailant 
 rushed forward, seized the aged father by 
 the hair, dragged him slipping, as he went, in 
 the blood of his son, up to the altar, and there 
 plunged a sword into his body, burying it 
 to the hilt, — and then threw him down, con- 
 vulsed and dying, upon the body of his dying 
 child. 
 
 Thus Priam fell, and with him the last 
 hope of the people of Troy. The city in 
 full possession of their enemies, the palace 
 and citadel sacked and destroyed, and the 
 king slain, they saw that there was nothing 
 now left for which they had any wish to 
 contend. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 
 
 ^Eneas, from his station upon the battle- 
 ments of a neighboring edifice, witnessed the 
 taking of the palace and the death of Priam. 
 He immediately gave up all for lost, and 
 turned his thoughts at once to the sole ques- 
 tion of the means of saving himself and his 
 family from impending destruction. He 
 thought of his father, Anchises, "who at this 
 time lived with him in the city, and was 
 nearly of the same age as Priam the king, 
 whom he had just seen so cruelly slain. He 
 thought of his wife too, whom he had left 
 at home, and of his little son Ascanius, and 
 he began now to be overwhelmed with the 
 apprehension, that the besiegers had found 
 their way to his dwelling, and were, perhaps, 
 at that very moment plundering and destroy- 
 ing it, and perpetrating cruel deeds of vio- 
 lence and outrage upon his Avife and family. 
 He determined immediately to hasten home. 
 
 He look around to see who of his com- 
 panions remained with him. There was not 
 one. They had all gone and left him alone. 
 Some had leaped down from the battle- 
 ments and made their escape to other parts 
 78 
 
THE FLIGHT OF ./ENEAS. 79 
 
 of the city. Some had fallen in the attem pt to 
 leap, and had perished in the flames that 
 were burning among the buildings beneath 
 them. Others still had been reached by darts 
 and arrows from below, and had tumbled 
 headlong from their lofty height into the 
 street beneath them. The Greeks, too, had 
 left that part of the cit}\ When the de- 
 struction of the palace had been effected, there 
 was no longer any motive to remain, and 
 they had gone away, one band after another, 
 with loud shouts of exultation and defiance, 
 to seek new combats in other quarters of the 
 city. iEneas listened to the sounds of their 
 voices, as they gradually died away upon his 
 ear. Thus, in one way and another, all had 
 gone, and JEneas found himself alone. 
 
 ^Enens contrived to find his way back 
 safely to the street, and then stealthily choos- 
 ing his way, and vigilantly watching against 
 the dangers that surrounded him, he ad- 
 vanced cautiously among the ruins of the 
 palace, in the direction toward his own home. 
 He had not proceeded far before he saw a 
 female figure lurking in the shadow of an 
 altar near which he had to pass. It proved to 
 be the princess Helen. 
 
 Helen was a Grecian princess, formerly 
 the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, but 
 she had eloped from Greece some years be- 
 fore, with Paris, the son of Priam, king of 
 Troy, and this elopement had been the whole 
 cause of the Trojan war. In the first in- 
 stance, Menelaus, accompanied by another 
 
80 ROMULUS. 
 
 Grecian chieftain, went to Troy and de- 
 manded that Helen should be given up again 
 to her proper husband. Paris refused to 
 surrender her. Menelaus then returned to 
 Greece and organized a grand expedition 
 to proceed to Troy and recapture the queen. 
 This was the origin of the war. The people, 
 therefore, looked upon Helen as the cause, 
 whether innocent or guilty, of all their 
 calamities. 
 
 When vEneas, therefore, who was, as may 
 well be supposed, in no very amiable or gen- 
 tle temper, as he hurried along away from 
 the smoking ruins of the palace toward his 
 home, saw Helen endeavoring to screen her- 
 self from the destruction which she had been 
 the means of bringing upon all that he held 
 dear, he was aroused to a phrensy of anger 
 against her, and determined to avenge the 
 wrongs of his country by her destruction. 
 " I will kill her," said he to himself, as he 
 rushed forward toward the spot where she 
 was concealed. " There is no great glory it 
 is true in wreaking vengeance on a woman, 
 or in bringing her to the punishment which 
 her crimes deserve. Still I will kill her, and 
 I shall be commended for the deed. She 
 shall not, after bringing ruin upon us, escape 
 herself, and go back to Greece in safety and 
 be a queen there again." 
 
 As ^Eneas said these words, rushing for- 
 ward at the same time, sword in hand, he 
 was suddenly intercepted and brought to a 
 stand by the apparition of his mother, the 
 
THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 
 
 81 
 
 goddess Aphrodite, who all at once stood in 
 the way before him. She stopped him, took 
 him by the hand, urged him to restrain his 
 useless anger, and calmed and quieted him 
 with soothing words. " It is not Helen," 
 said she, " that has caused the destruction of 
 
 Troy. It is through the irresistible and ir- 
 revocable decrees of the gods that the city 
 has fallen. It is useless for you to struggle 
 against inevitable destiny, or to attempt to 
 take vengeance on mere human means and 
 instrumentalities. Think no more of Helen. 
 Think of your family. Your aged father, 
 
tSZ ROMULUS. 
 
 your helpless wife, your little son, — where 
 are they ? Even now while you are wast- 
 ing time here in vain attempts to take ven- 
 geance on Helen for what the gods have 
 done, all that are near and dear to you are 
 surrounded by ferocious enemies thirsting 
 for their blood. Fly to them and save them. 
 I shall accompany you, though unseen, and 
 will protect you and them from every im- 
 pending danger." 
 
 As soon as Aphrodite had spoken these 
 words she disappeared from view. ^Eneas, 
 following her injunctions, went directly to- 
 ward his home ; and he found as he passed 
 along the streets that the way was opened 
 for him, by mysterious movements among 
 the armed bands which were passing in 
 every direction about the city, in such a 
 manner as to convince him that his mother 
 was really accompanying him, and protect- 
 ing his way by her supernatural powers. 
 
 When he reached home the first person 
 whom he saw was Anchises his father. He 
 told Anchises that all was lost, and that 
 nothing now remained for them but to seek 
 safety for themselves by flying to the moun- 
 tains behind the city. Bat Anchises refused 
 to go. " You who are young," said he, " and 
 who have enough of life before you to be 
 worth preserving, may fly. As for me I 
 wiU not attempt to save the little remnant 
 that remains to me, to be spent, if saved, in 
 miserable exile. If the powers of heaven 
 ha : - intended that I should have lived any 
 
THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 83 
 
 longer, they would have spared my native 
 city, — my only home. You may go your- 
 selves, but leave me here to die." 
 
 In saying these words Anchises turned 
 away in great despondency, firmly fixed, 
 apparently, in his determination to remain 
 and share the fate of the city. ^Eueas and 
 Creusa his wife joined their entreaties in 
 urging him to go away. But he would not 
 be persuaded. ^Eneas then declared that he 
 would not go and leave his father. If one 
 was to die they would all die, he said, to- 
 gether. He called for his armor and began 
 to put it on, resolving to go out again into 
 the streets of the city and die, since he must 
 die, in the act of destroying his destroyers. 
 
 He was, however, pre vented from carry- 
 ing this determination into effect, by Creusa's 
 intervention, who fell down before him at 
 the threshold of the door, almost frantic 
 with excitement and terror, and holding her 
 little son Ascanius with one arm, and clasp- 
 ing her husband's knees with the other, she 
 begged him not to leave them. " Stay and 
 save us," said she ; " do not go and throw 
 your life away. Or, if you will go, take us 
 with you that we may all die together." 
 
 The conflict of impulses and passions in 
 this unhappy family continued for some 
 time longer/but it ended at last in the yield- 
 ing of Anchises to the wishes of the rest ; 
 and the} r all resolved to fly. In the mean 
 time, the noise and uproar in the streets of 
 the city, were drawing nearer and nearer, 
 
84 ROMULUS. 
 
 and the light of the burning buildings breaks 
 ing out continually at new points in the pro- 
 gress of the conflagration, indicated that no 
 time was to be lost. ^Eneas hastily formed 
 his plan. His father was too old and infirm 
 to go himself through the city. yEneas de- 
 termined therefore to carry him upon his 
 shoulders. Little Ascanius was to walk 
 along by his side. Creusa was to follow, 
 keeping as close as possible to her husband 
 lest she should lose him in the darkness of 
 the night, or in the scenes of uproar and con- 
 fusion through which they would have to 
 pass on the way. The domestics of the 
 family were to escape from the city by 
 different routes, each choosing his own, in 
 order to avoid attracting the attention of 
 their enemies ; and when once without the 
 gates they were all to rendezvous again at a 
 certain rising ground, not far from the city, 
 which ^Eneas designated to them by means 
 of an old deserted temple which marked the 
 spot, and a venerable cypress which grew 
 there. 
 
 This plan being formed the party imme- 
 diately proceeded to put it in execution. 
 ^Eneas spread a lion's skin over his shoul- 
 ders to make the resting-place more easy for 
 his father, or perhaps to lighten the pressure 
 of the heavy burden upon his own limbs. 
 Anchises took what were called the house- 
 hold gods, in his hands. These were sacred 
 images which it was customary to keep, in 
 those days, in every dwelling, as the symbol 
 
THE FLIGHT OF iENEAS. 86 
 
 and embodiment of divine protection. To 
 save these images, when everything else was 
 given up for lost, was always the object of 
 the last desperate effort of the husband and 
 father. iEneas in this case asked his father 
 to take these images, as it would have been 
 an impiety for him, having come fresh from 
 scenes of battle and bloodshed, to have put 
 his hand upon them, without previously per- 
 forming some ceremony of purification. 
 Ascanius took hold of his father's hand. 
 Creusa followed behind. Thus arranged 
 they sallied forth from the house into the 
 streets — all dark and gloomy, except so far 
 as they received a partial and inconstant 
 light from the flames of the distant conflag- 
 rations, which glared in the sky, and flashed 
 sometimes upon battlements and towers, and 
 upon the tops of lofty dwellings. 
 
 JEneas pressed steadily on, though in a 
 state continually of the highest excitement 
 and apprehension. He kept stealthily along 
 wherever he could find the deepest shadows, 
 under walls, and through the most obscure 
 and the narrowest streets. He was in con- 
 stant fear lest some stray dart or arrow 
 should strike Anchises or Creusa, or lest 
 some band of Greeks should come suddenly 
 upon them, in which case he knew well that 
 they would all be cut down without mercy, 
 for, loaded down as he was with his burden, 
 he would be entirely unable to do anything 
 to defend either himself or them. The 
 party, however, for a time seemed to escape 
 
86 FtOMULUS. 
 
 all these dangers, but at length, just as they 
 were approaching the gate ot the city, and 
 began to think that they were safe, they 
 were suddenly alarmed by a loud uproar, 
 and by a rush of men which came in toward 
 them "from some streets in that quarter of 
 the city, and threatened to overwhelm them. 
 Anchises was greatly alarmed. He saw 
 the gleaming weapons of the Greeks who 
 were rushing toward them, and he called 
 out to ./Eneas to fly faster, or to turn off 
 some other way, in order to escape the im- 
 pending danger. ./Eneas was terrified by 
 the shouts and uproar which he heard, and 
 his mind was for a moment confused by the 
 bewildering influences of the scene. He 
 however hurried forward, running this way 
 and that, wherever there seemed the best 
 prospect of escape, and often embarrassed 
 and retarded in his flight by the crowds of 
 people who were moving confusedly in all 
 directions. At length, however, he succeed- 
 ed in finding egress from the city. He 
 pressed on, without stopping to look behind 
 him till he reached the appointed place of 
 rendezvous on the hill, and then gently lay- 
 ing down his burden, he looked around for 
 Creusa. She was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 ./Eneas was in utter consternation, at find- 
 ing that his wife was gone. He mourned 
 and lamented this dreadful calamity with 
 loud exclamations of grief and despair ; then 
 reflecting that it was a time for action and 
 not for idle grief, he hastened to conceal 
 
THE FLIGHT OF yENEAS. 87 
 
 his father and Ascanius in a dark and wind- 
 ing valley behind the hill, and leaving them 
 there under the charge of his domestics, he 
 hastened back to the city to see if Creusa 
 could be found. 
 
 He armed himself completely before he 
 went, being in his desperation determined to 
 encounter every danger in his attempts to 
 find and to recover his beloved wife. He 
 went directly to the gate from which he had 
 come out, and re-entering the city there, he 
 began to retrace, as well as he could, the 
 way that he had taken in coming out of the 
 city — guiding himself as he went, by the 
 light of the flames which rose up here and 
 there from the burning buildings. 
 
 He went on in this way in a desperate 
 state of agitation and distress, searching 
 everywhere but seeing nothing of Creusa. 
 At length he thought it possible that she 
 had concluded, when she found herself separ- 
 ated from him, to go back to the house, as 
 the safest place of refuge for her, and he 
 determined, accordingly, to go and seek her 
 there. This was his last hope, and most 
 cruelly was it disappointed when he came 
 to the place of his dwelling. 
 
 He found his house, when he arrived near the 
 spot, all in flames. The surrounding buildings 
 were burning too, and the streets in the neigh- 
 borhood were piled up with furniture and 
 goods which the wretched inmates of the 
 dwellings had vainly endeavored to save. 
 These inmates themselves were standing 
 
 7— Romuhts 
 
88 ROMULUS. 
 
 around, distracted with grief and terror, and 
 gazing hopelessly upon the scene of devasta- 
 tion before them. 
 
 iEneas saw all these things at a glance, 
 and immediately, in a frenzy of excitement, 
 began to call out Oreusa's name. He went 
 to and fro among the groups surrounding 
 the fire, calling for her in a frantic manner, 
 and imploring all whom he saw to give him 
 some tidings of her. All was, however, in 
 vain. She could not be found. iEneas then 
 went roaming about through other portions 
 of the city, seeking her everywhere, and 
 inquiring for her of every person whom he 
 met that had the appearance of being a 
 friend. His suspense, however, was ter- 
 minated at last by his suddenly coming 
 upon an apparition of the spirit of Creusa, 
 which rose before him in a solitary part of 
 the city, and arrested his progress. The 
 apparition was of preternatural size, and it 
 stood before him in so ethereal and shadow- 
 lilio a form, and the features beamed upon 
 him with so calm and placid and benignant 
 an expression, as convinced him that the 
 vision was not of this world. ./Eneas saw 
 at a glance that Creusa's earthly sorrows 
 and sufferings were ended forever. 
 
 At first he was shocked and terrified at 
 the spectacle. Creusa, however, endeavored 
 to calm and quiet him by soothing words. 
 "My dearest husband," said she, "do not 
 give way thus to anxiety and grief. The 
 events which have befallen us, have not 
 
THE FLIGHT OF JENEAS. 89 
 
 come by chance. They are all ordered by 
 an overruling providence that is omnipotent 
 and divine. It was predetermined by the 
 decrees of heaven that you were not to take 
 me with you in your flight. 1 have learned 
 what your future destiny is to be. There is 
 a long period of weary wandering before 
 you, over the ocean and on the land, and 
 you will have many difficulties, dangers, and 
 trials to incur. You will, however, be con- 
 ducted safely through them all, and will in 
 the end find a peaceful and happy home on 
 the banks of the Tiber. There you will 
 found a new kingdom ; a princess is even 
 now provided for you there, to become your 
 bride. Cease then to mourn for me ; rather 
 rejoice that I did not fall a captive into the 
 hands of our enemies, to.be carried away 
 into Greece and made a slave. I am free, 
 and you must not lament my fate. Fare- 
 well. Love Ascanius for my sake, and 
 watch over him and protect him as long as 
 you live." 
 
 Having spoken these words, the vision 
 began to disappear. ^Eneas endeavored to 
 clasp the beloved image in his arms to retain 
 it, but it was intangible and evanescent, and, 
 before he could speak to it, it was gone, and 
 he was left standing in the desolate and 
 gloomy street alone. He turned at length 
 slowly away ; and solitary, thoughtful and 
 sad, he went back to the gate of the city, and 
 thence out to the valley where he had con- 
 cealed Anchises and his little son. 
 
90 ROMULUS. 
 
 He found them safe. The whole party- 
 then sought places of retreat among the glens 
 and mountains, where they could remain 
 concealed a few days, while yEneas and his 
 companions could make arrangements for 
 abandoning the country altogether. These 
 arrangements were soon completed. As soon 
 as the Greeks had retired, so that they could 
 come out without danger from their place of 
 retreat, ^Eneas employed his men in building 
 a number of small vessels, fitting them, as 
 was usual in those days, both with sails and 
 oars. 
 
 During the progress of these preparations, 
 small parties of Trojans were coming in con- 
 tinually, day by day, to join him ; being 
 drawn successively from their hiding-places 
 among the mountains, by hearing that the 
 Greeks had gone away, and that JEneas was 
 gradually assembling the remnant of the 
 Trojans on the shore. The numbers thus 
 collected at vEneas's encampment gradually 
 increased, and as iEneas enlarged and ex- 
 tended his naval preparations to correspond 
 with the augmenting numbers of his ad- 
 herents, he found when he was ready to set 
 sail, that he w r as at the head of a very re- 
 spectable naval and military force. 
 
 When the fleet at last w T as ready, he put a 
 stock of provisions on board, and embarked 
 his men, — taking, of course, Anchises and 
 Ascanius with him. As soon as a favorable 
 wind arose, the expedition set sail. As the 
 vessels moved slowly away, the decks were 
 
THE FLIGHT OF iENEAS. 
 
 91 
 
 covered with men and women, who gazed 
 mournfully at the receding shores, conscious 
 that they were bidding a linal farewell to 
 their native land. 
 
 The nearest country within reach in leav- 
 ing the Trojan coast, was Thrace — a country 
 lying north of the Egean Sea, and of the 
 Propontis, being separated, in fact, in one 
 part, from the Trojan territories, only by 
 
 Wanderings of ^Eneas. 
 
 the Hellespont. vEneas turned his course 
 northward toward this country, and, after a 
 short voyage, landed there, and attempted 
 to make a settlement. He was, however, 
 prevented from remaining long, by a dread- 
 ful prodigy which he witnessed there, and 
 which induced him to leave those shores 
 very precipitously. The prodigy was this: 
 They had erected an altar on the shore, 
 after they had landed, and were preparing 
 to offer the sacrifices customary on such oo 
 
92 ROMULUS. 
 
 casions, when ./Eneas, wishing to shade the 
 altar with boughs, went to a myrtle bush 
 which was growing near, and began to pull 
 up the green shoots from the ground. To 
 his astonishment and horror, he found that 
 blood flowed from the roots whenever they 
 were broken. Drops of what appeared to 
 be human bloodl would ooze from the rup- 
 tured part as he held the shoot in his hand, 
 and fall slowly to the ground. He was 
 greatly terrified at this spectacle, consider- 
 ing it as some omen of very dreadful import. 
 He immediately and instinctively offered up 
 a prayer to the presiding deities of the land, 
 that they would avert from him the evil in- 
 fluences, whatever they might be, which 
 the omen seemed to portend, or that they 
 would at least explain the meaning of the 
 prodigy. After offering this prayer, he 
 took hold of another stem of the myrtle, 
 and attempted to draw i't from the ground, 
 in order to see whether any change in the 
 appearances exhibited by the prodigy had 
 been effected by his prayer. At the instant, 
 however, when the roots began to give 
 way, he heard a groan coming up from 
 the ground below, as if from a person in 
 suffering. Immediately afterward a voice, 
 in a mournful and sepulchral accent, began 
 to beg him to go away, and cease disturbing 
 the repose of the dead. " What you are 
 tearing and lacerating," said the voice, " is 
 not a tree, but a man. I am Polydorus. I 
 was killed by the king of Thrace, and in- 
 
THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 93 
 
 stead of burial, have been turned into a 
 myrtle growing on the shore." 
 
 Polydorus was a Trojan prince. He was 
 the youngest son of Priam, and had been 
 sent some years before to Thrace, to be 
 brought up in the court of the Thracian king. 
 He had been provided with a large supply 
 of money and treasures when he left Troy, 
 in order that all his wants might be abun- 
 dantly supplied, and that he might maintain, 
 during his absence from home, the position 
 to which his rank as a Trojan prince entitled 
 him. His treasures, however, which had 
 been provided for him by his father as his 
 sure reliance for support and protection, 
 became the occasion of his ruin — for the 
 Thracian king, when he found that the war 
 was going against the Trojans, and that 
 Priam the father was slain, and the city 
 destroyed, murdered the helpless son to get 
 possession of his gold. 
 
 ' iEneas and his companions were shocked 
 to hear this story, and perceived at once 
 that Thrace was noplace of safety for tbem. 
 They resolved immediately to leave the 
 coast and seek their fortunes in other regions. 
 They, however, first, in secrecy and silence, 
 but with great solemnity, performed those 
 funeral rites for Polydorus which were con- 
 sidered in those ages essential to the repose 
 of the dead. When these mournful cere- 
 monies were ended they embarked on board 
 their ships again and sailed away. 
 
 After this, the party of JEneas spent 
 
94 ROMULUS. 
 
 many months in weary voyages from island 
 to island, and from shore to shore, along 
 the Mediterranean sea, encountering every 
 imaginable difficulty and danger, and meet- 
 ing continually with the strangest and most 
 romantic adventures. At one time they 
 were misled by a mistaken interpretation of 
 prophecy to attempt a settlement in Crete 
 — a green and beautiful island lying south 
 of the Egean sea. They had applied to a 
 sacred oracle, which had its seat at a cer- 
 tain consecrated spot which they visited in 
 the course of their progress southward 
 through the Egean sea, asking the oracle to 
 direct them where to go in order to find a 
 settled home. The oracle, in answer to 
 their request, informed them that they were 
 to go to the land that their ancestors had 
 originally come from, before their settle- 
 ment in Troy. JEneas applied to Anchises 
 to inform them what land this was. An- 
 chises replied, that he thought it was Crete. 
 There was an ancient tradition, he said, that 
 some distinguished men among the ancestors 
 of the Trojans had originated in Crete ; and 
 he presumed accordingly that that was the 
 land to which the oracle referred. 
 
 The course of the little fleet was accord- 
 ingly directed southward, and in due time 
 the expedition safely reached the island of 
 Crete, and landed there. They immediately 
 commenced the work of effecting a settle- 
 ment. They drew the ships up upon the 
 shore ; they laid out a city ; they inclosed 
 
Romulua,facep. 
 
 The Wooden Horse. {See p. 61.) 
 
THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 95 
 
 and planted fields, and began to build their 
 houses. In a short time, however, all their 
 bright prospects of rest and security were 
 blighted by the breaking out of a dreadful 
 pestilence among them. Many died; others 
 who still lived, were utterly prostrated by 
 the effects of the disease, and crawled about, 
 emaciated and wretched, a miserable and 
 piteous spectacle to behold. To crown their 
 misfortunes, a great drought came on. The 
 grain which they had planted was dried up 
 and killed in the fields ; and thus, in addition 
 to the horrors of pestilence, they were threat- 
 ened with the still greater horrors of 
 famine. Their distress was extreme, and 
 they were utterly at a loss to know what 
 to do. 
 
 In this extremity Anchises recommended 
 that they should send back to the oracle to 
 inquire more particularly in respect to the 
 meaning of the former response, in order to 
 ascertain whether they had, by possibility, 
 misinterpreted it, and made their settlement 
 on the wrong ground. Or, if this was not 
 the case, to learn by what other error or 
 fault they had displeased the celestial powers, 
 and brought upon themselves such terrible 
 judgments. iEneas determined to adopt 
 this advice, but he was prevented from carry- 
 ing his intentions into effect by the follow- 
 ing occurrence. 
 
 One night he was lying upon his couch 
 in his dwelling, — so harassed by his anxie- 
 ties and cares that he could not sleep, and 
 
96 ROMULUS. 
 
 revolving in his mind all possible plans for 
 extricating himself and his followers from 
 the difficulties which environed them. The 
 moon shone in at the windows, and by the 
 light of this luminary he saw, reposing in 
 their shrines in the opposite side of the apart- 
 ment where he was sleeping, the household 
 images which he had rescued from the 
 flames of Troy. As he looked upon these 
 divinities in the still and solemn hour of 
 midnight, oppressed with anxiety and care, 
 one of them began to address him. 
 
 " We are commissioned," said this super- 
 natural voice, " by Apollo, whose oracle you 
 are intending to consult again, to give you 
 the answer that you desire, without requir- 
 ing you to go back to his temple. It is true 
 that you have erred in attempting to make 
 a settlement in Crete. This is not the land 
 which is destined to be your home. You 
 must leave these shores, and continue your 
 voyage. The land which is destined to re- 
 ceive you is Italy, a land far removed from 
 this spot, and your way to it lies over wide 
 and boisterous seas. I)o not be discouraged, 
 however, on this account, or on account of 
 the calamities which now impend over you. 
 You will be prospered in the end. You will 
 reach Italy in safety, and there you will lav 
 the foundations of a mighty empire, which 
 in days to come will extend its dominion far 
 and wide among the nations of the earth. 
 Take courage, then, and embark once more 
 in your ships with a cheerful and confident 
 
THE FLIGHT OP ^ENEAS. 97 
 
 heart. You are safe, and in the end all will 
 turn out well." 
 
 The strength and spirits of the desponding 
 adventurer were very essentially revived by 
 this encouragement. He immediately pre- 
 pared to obey the injunctions which had 
 been thus divinely communicated to him, 
 and in a short time the half-built city was 
 abandoned, and the expedition once more 
 embarked on board the fleet and proceeded 
 to sea. They met in their subsequent wan- 
 derings with a great variety of adventures, 
 but it would extend this portion of our nar- 
 rative too far, to relate them all. They en- 
 countered a storm by which for three da} 7 s 
 and three nights they were tossed to and fro, 
 without seeing sun or stars, and of course 
 without any guidance whatever ; and during 
 all this time they were in the most imminent 
 danger of being overwhelmed and destroyed 
 by the billows which rolled sublimely and 
 frightfully around them. At another time, 
 having landed for rest and refreshment 
 among a group of Grecian islands, they were 
 attacked by the harpies, birds of prey of 
 prodigious size and most offensive habits, 
 and fierce and voracious beyond description. 
 The harpies were celebrated', in fact, in many 
 of the ancient tales, as a race of beings that 
 infested certain shores, and often teased and 
 tormented the mariners and adventurers that 
 happened to come among them. Some said, 
 however, that there was not a race of such 
 beings, but only two or three in all, and they 
 
98 ROMULUS. 
 
 gave their names. And yet different nar- 
 rators gave different names, among which 
 were Aelopos, Nicothoe, Ocythoe Ocypoae, 
 Celaeno, Acholoe, and Aello. Some said 
 that the harpies had the faces and forms of 
 women. Others described them as fright- 
 fully ugly ; but all agree in representing 
 them as voracious beyond description, always 
 greedily devouring everything that they 
 could get within reach of their claws. 
 
 These fierce monsters flew down upon 
 iEneas and his party, and carried away the 
 food from off the table before them; and 
 even attacked the men themselves. The 
 men then armed themselves with swords, 
 secretly, and waited for the next approach 
 of the harpies, intending to kill them, when 
 they came near. But the nimble marauders 
 eluded all their blows, and escaped with their 
 plunder as before. At length the expedition 
 was driven away from the island altogether, 
 by these ravenous fowls, and when they 
 were embarking on board of their vessels, 
 the leader of the harpies perched herself 
 upon a rock overlooking the scene, and in a 
 human voice loaded iEneas and his com- 
 panions, as they went away, with taunts and 
 execrations. 
 
 The expedition passed one night in great 
 terror and dread in the vicinity of Mount 
 Etna, where they had landed. The awful 
 eruptions of smoke, and flame, and burning 
 lava, which issued at midnight from the sum- 
 mit of the mountain, — the thundering sounds 
 
THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 99 
 
 which they heard rolling beneath them, 
 through the ground, and the dread which 
 was inspired in their minds by the terrible 
 monsters that dwelt beneath the mountains, 
 as they supposed, and fed the fires, all com- 
 bined to impress them with a sense of unut- 
 terable awe ; and as soon as the light of the 
 morning enabled them to resume their course, 
 they made all haste to get away from so 
 appalling a scene. At another time they 
 touched upon a coast which was inhabited 
 by a race of one-eyed giants, — monsters of 
 enormous magnitude and of remorseless 
 cruelty. They were cannibals, — feeding on 
 the bodies of men whom they killed by grasp- 
 ing them in their hands and beating them 
 against the rocks which formed the sides of 
 their den. Some men whom one of these 
 monsters named Polyphemus, had shut up 
 in his cavern, contrived to surprise their 
 keeper in his sleep, and though they were 
 wholly unable to kill him on account of his 
 colossal magnitude, they succeeded in put- 
 ting out his eye, and ./Eneas and his com- 
 panions saw the blinded giant, as they passed 
 along the coast, wading in the sea, and bath- 
 ing his wound. He was guiding his footsteps 
 as he walked, by means of the trunk of a 
 tall pine which served him for a staff. 
 
 At length, however, after the lapse of a 
 long period of time, and after meeting with 
 a great variety of adventures to which we can 
 not even here allude, iEneas and his party 
 reached the shores of Italy, at the point 
 
100 ROMULUS. 
 
 which by divine intimations had been pointed 
 out to them as the place where they were to 
 land. 
 
 The story of the life and adventures of 
 ./Eneas, which we have given in this and in 
 the preceding chapters, is a faithful summary 
 of the narrative which the poetic historians 
 
 r— 
 
 
 
 
 
 mm 
 
 
 421 
 SI 
 
 ssi 
 
 mgm 
 
 58 
 
 ^^^Z^^f^—r^^z- 
 
 Ttie Harpies. 
 
 of those days recorded. It is, of course, not 
 to be relied upon as a narrative of facts ; but 
 it is worthy of very special attention by 
 every cultivated mind of the present day. 
 from the fact, that such is the beauty, the 
 grace, the melody, the inimitable poetic 
 perfection with which the story is told, in 
 the language in which the original record 
 stands, that the narrative has made a more 
 deep, and widespread, and lasting impression 
 upon the human mind than any other narra- 
 tive perhaps that ever was penned. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 
 
 Latium was the name given to an ancient 
 province of Italy, lying south of the Tiber. 
 At the time of JEneas's arrival upon the coast 
 it was an independent kingdom. The name 
 of the king who reigned over it at this period 
 was Latinus. 
 
 The country on the hanks of the Tiber, 
 where the city of Rome afterward arose, 
 was then a wild but picturesque rural region, 
 consisting of hills and valleys, occupied by 
 shepherds and husbandmen, but with noth- 
 ing upon it whatever, to mark it as the site 
 of a city. The people that dwelt in Latium 
 were shepherds and herdsmen, though there 
 was a considerable band of warriors under 
 the command of the king. The inhabitants 
 of the country were of Greek origin, and they 
 had brought with them from Greece, when 
 they colonized the country, such rude arts 
 as were then known. They had the use of 
 Cadmus's letters, for writing, so far as writ- 
 ing was employed at all in those early days. 
 They were skilful in making such weapons 
 of war, and such simple instruments of music, 
 as were known at the time, and they could 
 
 8-Romulus 101 
 
102 ROMULUS. 
 
 erect buildings, of wood, or of stone, and 
 thus constructed such dwellings as they 
 needed, in their towns, and walls and citadels 
 for defense. 
 
 iEneas brought his fleet into the mouth of 
 the Tiber, and anchored it there. He him- 
 self, and all his followers were thoroughly 
 weary of their wanderings, and hoped that 
 they were now about to land where they 
 should find a permanent abode. The number 
 of ships and men that had formed the expedi- 
 tion at the commencement of the voyage, 
 was very large ; but it had been considerably 
 diminished by the various misfortunes and 
 accidents incident to such an enterprise, and 
 the remnant that was left longed ardently 
 for rest. Some of the ships took fire, and 
 were burned at their moorings in the Tiber, 
 immediately after the arrival of the expedi- 
 tion. It was said that they were set on 
 fire by the wives and mothers belonging to 
 the expedition, — who wished, by destroying 
 the ships, to render it impossible for the fleet 
 to go to sea again. 
 
 However this may be, ./Eneas was very 
 strongly disposed to make the beautiful re- 
 gion which he now saw before him, his final 
 home. The country, in every aspect of it, 
 was alluring in the highest degree. Level 
 plains, varied here and there by gentle ele- 
 vations, extended around him, all adorned 
 with groves and flowers, and exhibiting a 
 luxuriance in the verdure of the grass and 
 in the foliage of the trees that was perfectly 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 
 
 103 
 
 enchanting to the sea-weary- eyes of his 
 company of mariners. In the distance, blue 
 and beautiful mountains bounded the hori- 
 zon, and a soft, warm summer haze floated 
 over the whole scene, bathing the landscape 
 
 5 JA3J-WJS 
 
 Z hjtr 
 
 ma* or 
 
 Map of Latitjm. 
 
 in a rich, mellow light peculiar to Italian 
 skies. 
 
 As soon as the disembarkation was effect- 
 ed, lines of encampment were marked out, 
 at a suitable place on the shore, and such 
 simple fortifications as were necessary for 
 defense in such a case, were thrown up. 
 ^Eneas despatched one party in boats to 
 
104 ROMULUS. 
 
 explore the various passages and channels 
 which formed the mouth of the river, per- 
 haps in order to be prepared to make good 
 his escape again, to sea, in case of any sud- 
 den or extraordinary danger. Another 
 party were employed in erecting altars, and 
 preparing for sacrifices and other religious 
 celebrations, designed on the part of iEneas 
 to propitiate the deities of the place, and to 
 inspire his men Avith religious confidence 
 and trust. He also immediately proceeded 
 to organize a party of reconnoiterers who 
 were to proceed into the interior, to explore 
 the country and to communicate with the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The party of reconnoiterers thus sent out 
 followed up the banks of the river, and 
 made excursions in various directions across 
 the fields and plains. They found that the 
 country was everywhere verdant and beau- 
 tiful, and that it was covered in the interior 
 with scattered hamlets and towns. They 
 learned the name of the king, and also that 
 of the city which he made his capitol. La- 
 tinus himself at the same time, heard the 
 tidings of the arrival of these strangers. 
 His first impulse was immediately to make 
 an onset upon them with all his forces, and 
 drive them away from his shores. On far- 
 ther inquiry, however, he learned that they 
 were in a distressed and suffering condition, 
 and from the descriptions which were given 
 him of their dress and demeanor he con- 
 cluded that they were Greeks. This idea 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 105 
 
 awakened in his mind some apprehension ; 
 for the Greeks were then well known 
 throughout the world, and were regarded 
 everywhere as terrible enemies. Besides his 
 fears, his pity and compassion were awak- 
 ened, too, in some degree ; and he was on 
 the whole for a time quite at a loss to know 
 what course to pursue in respect to the in- 
 truders. 
 
 In the mean time yEneas concluded to 
 send an embassy to Latinus to explain the 
 circumstances under which he hacl been in- 
 duced to land so large a party on the Italian 
 coast. He accordingly designated a consid- 
 erable number of men to form this embassy, 
 and giving to some of the number his in- 
 structions as to what they were to say to 
 Latinus, he committed to the hands of the 
 others a large number of gifts which they 
 were to carry and present to him. These 
 gifts consisted of weapons elaborately fin- 
 ished, vessels of gold or silver, embroidered 
 garments, and such other articles as were 
 customarily employed in those days as pro- 
 pitiatory offerings in such emergencies. 
 The embassy when all was arranged pro- 
 ceeded to the Latian capital. 
 
 When they came in sight of it they found 
 that it was a spacious city, with walls 
 around it, and turrets and battlements 
 within, rising here and there above the 
 roofs of the dwellings. Outside the gates a 
 portion of the population were assembled 
 busily engaged in games, and in various 
 
106 ROMULUS. 
 
 gymnastic and equestrian performances. 
 Some were driving furiously in chariots 
 around great circles marked out for the 
 course. Others were practising feats of 
 horsemanship, or running races upon fleet 
 chargers. Others still were practising with 
 darts, or bows and arrows, or javelins ; 
 either to test and improve their individual 
 skill, or else to compete with each other for 
 victory or for a prize. The ambassadors 
 paused when they came in view of this scene, 
 and waited until intelligence could be sent 
 in to the monarch, informing him of their 
 arrival. 
 
 Latinus decided immediately to admit the 
 embassy to an audience, and they were ac- 
 cordingly conducted into the city. They 
 were led, after entering by the gates, through 
 various streets, until they came at length 
 to a large public edifice, which seemed to 
 be, at the same time, palace, senate-house, 
 and citadel. There were to be seen, in the 
 avenues which led to this edifice, statues of 
 old warriors, and various other martial 
 decorations. There were many old trophies 
 of former victories j)reserved here, such as 
 arms, and chariots, and prows of ships, and 
 crests, and great bolts and bars taken from 
 the gates of conquered cities, — all old, war- 
 worn, and now useless, but preserved as 
 memorials of bravery and conquest. The 
 Trojan embassy, passing through and among 
 these trophies, as they stood or hung in the 
 halls and vestibules of the palace, were at 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 10T 
 
 length ushered into the presence of Latinus 
 the king. 
 
 Here, after the usual ceremonies of intro- 
 duction were performed, they delivered the 
 message which ^Eneas had intrusted to 
 them. They declared that they had not 
 landed on Latinus's shore with any hostile 
 intent. They had been driven away, they 
 said, from their own homes, by a series of 
 dire calamities, which had ended, at last, in 
 the total destruction of their native city. 
 Since then they had been driven to and fro 
 at the mercy of the winds and waves, exposed 
 to every conceivable degree of hardship and 
 danger. Their landing iinally, in the domin- 
 ions of Latinus in Italy, was not, they con- 
 fessed, wholly undesigned, for Latium had 
 been divinely indicated to them, on their 
 way, as the place destined by the decrees of 
 heaven for their final home. Following 
 these indications, they had sought the shores 
 of Italy and the mouths of the Tiber, and 
 having succeeded in reaching them, had 
 landed ; and now ./Eneas, their commander, 
 desired of the king that he would allow 
 them to settle in his land in peace, and that 
 he would set apart a portion of his territory 
 for them, and give them leave to build a 
 city. 
 
 The effect produced upon the mind of La- 
 tinus by the appearance of these ambas- 
 sadors, and by the communication which 
 they made to him, proved to be highly 
 favorable. He received the presents, too, 
 
108 ROMULUS. 
 
 which they had brought him, in a very 
 gracious manner, and appeared to be much 
 pleased with them. He had heard, as would 
 seem, rumors of. the destruction of Troy, 
 and of the departure of vEneas's squadron ; 
 for a long time had been consumed by the 
 wanderings of the expedition along the 
 Mediterranean shores, so that some years 
 had now elapsed since the destruction of 
 Troy and the first sailing of the fleet. In a 
 word, Latinus soon determined to accede to 
 the proposals of his visitors, and he concluded 
 with ^Eneas a treaty of alliance and friend- 
 ship. He designated a spot where the new 
 city might be built, and all things were thus 
 amicably settled. 
 
 There was one circumstance which exerted 
 a powerful influence in promoting the estab- 
 lishment of friendly relations between La- 
 tinus and the Trojans, and that was, that 
 Latinus was engaged, at the time of ^Eneas's 
 arrival, in a war with the Rutulians, a 
 nation that inhabited a country lying south 
 of Latium and on the coast. Latinus thought 
 that by making the Trojans his friends, he 
 should be able to enlist them as his auxiliaries 
 in this war. vEneas made no objection to 
 this, and it was accordingly agreed that the 
 Trojans, in return for being received' as 
 friends, and allowed to settle in Latium, 
 were to join with their protectors in defend- 
 ing the country, and were especially to aid 
 them in prosecuting the existing war. 
 
 In a short time a still closer alliance was 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 109 
 
 formed between yEneas and Latinus, an alli- 
 ance which in the end resulted in the ac- 
 cession of YEneas to the throne of Latinus. 
 Latinus had a daughter named Lavinia. She 
 was an only child, and was a princess of ex- 
 traordinary merit and beauty. The name 
 of the queen, her mother, the wife of La- 
 tinus, was Amata, Amata had intended 
 her daughter to be the wife of Turnus, a 
 young prince of great character and promise, 
 who had been brought up in Latinus's court. 
 Turnus was, in fact, a distant relative of 
 Amata, and the plan of the queen was that 
 he should marry Lavinia, and in the end 
 succeed with her, to the throne of Latinus. 
 Latinus himself had not entered into this 
 scheme ; and when closing his negotiations 
 with YEneas, it seemed to him that it would 
 be well to seal and secure the adherence of 
 .^Eneas to his cause by offering him his 
 daughter Lavinia for his bride. ^Eneas was 
 very willing to accede to this proposal. 
 "What the wishes of Lavinia herself were in 
 respect to the arrangement, it is not very 
 well known ; nor were her wishes, according 
 to the ideas that prevailed in those times, 
 of any consequence whatever, The plan 
 was arranged, and the nuptials were soon 
 to be celebrated. Turnus, when he found 
 that he was to be superseded, left the court 
 of Latinus, and went away out of the country 
 in a rage. 
 
 ^Eneas and his followers seemed noAv to 
 have come to the end of all their troubles. 
 
110 BOMULUS. 
 
 They were at last happily established in 
 a fruitful land, surrounded by powerful 
 friends, and about to enter apparently upon 
 a long career of peaceful and prosperous in- 
 dustry. They immediately engaged with 
 great ardor in the work of building their 
 town. ./Eneas had intended to have named 
 it Troy, in commemoration of the ancient 
 city now no more. But, in view of his 
 approaching marriage with Lavinia, he de- 
 termined to change this design, and, in 
 honor of her, to name the new capital Lav- 
 inium. 
 
 The territory which had been assigned to 
 the Trojans by Latinus was in the south- 
 western part of Latium, near the coast, and 
 of course it w r as on the confines of the coun- 
 try of the Eutulians. Turnus, when he left 
 Latium, went over to the Eutulians, deter- 
 mining, in his resentment against Latinus 
 for having given Lavinia to his rival, to join 
 them in the war. The Rutulians made him 
 their leader, and he soon advanced at the 
 head of a great army across the frontier, 
 toward the new city of Lavinium. Thus 
 ./Eneas found himself threatened with a very 
 formidable danger. 
 
 Nor was this all. For just before the 
 commencement of the war w r ith Turnus, an 
 extraordinary train of circumstances oc- 
 curred Avhich resulted in alienating the 
 Latins themselves from their new ally, and 
 in leaving ./Eneas consequently to sustain 
 the shock of the contest with Turnus and 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. Ill 
 
 his Rutulians alone. It would naturally be 
 supposed that the alliance between Latinus 
 and ^Eneas would not be very favorably 
 regarded by the common people of Latium. 
 They would, on the other hand, naturally 
 look with much jealousy and distrust on a 
 company of foreign intruders, admitted by 
 what they would be very likely to consider 
 the capricious partiality of their king, to a 
 share of their country. This jealousy and 
 distrust was, for a time, suppressed and con- 
 cealed ; but the animosity only acquired 
 strength and concentration by being re- 
 strained, and at length an event occurred 
 which caused it to break forth with uncon- 
 trollable fury. The circumstances were 
 these : 
 
 There was a man in Latium named Tyr- 
 rheus, who held the office of royal herdsman. 
 He lived in his hut on some of the domains 
 of Latinus, and had charge of the flocks 
 and herds belonging to the king. He had 
 two sons, and likewise a daughter. The 
 daughter's name, was Sylvia. The two 
 boys had one day succeeded in making pris- 
 oner of a young stag, which they found in 
 the woods with its mother. It was extremely 
 young when they captured it, and they 
 brought it home as a great prize. They 
 fed it with milk until it was old enough to 
 take other food, and as it grew up accus- 
 tomed to their hands, it was very tame and 
 docile, and became a great favorite with all 
 the family. Sylvia loved and played with 
 
112 homulus. 
 
 it continually. She kept it always in trim 
 by washing it in a fountain, and combing 
 ;md smoothing its hair, and she amused her- 
 self by adorning it with wreaths, and gar- 
 lands, and such other decorations as her 
 sylvan resources could command. 
 
 One day when Ascanius, ^Eneas's son, 
 who had now grown to be a young man, 
 and who seems to have been characterized 
 by a full share of the ardent and impulsive 
 energy belonging to his years, was return- 
 ing from the chase, he happened to pass by 
 the place where the herdsman lived. As- 
 canius was followed by his dogs, and he had 
 his bow and arrows in his hand. As he was 
 thus passing along a copse of wood, near a 
 brook, the dogs came suddenly upon Sylvia's 
 stag. The confiding animal, unconscious 
 of any danger, had strayed away from the 
 herdsman's grounds to this grove, and had 
 gone down to the brook to drink. The dogs 
 immediately sprang upon him, in full cry. 
 Ascanius followed, drawing at the same 
 time an arrow from his quiver and fitting it 
 to the bow. As soon as he came in sight of 
 the stag, he let fly his arrow. The arrow 
 pierced the poor fugitive in the side, and in- 
 flicted a dreadful wound. It did not, how- 
 ever, bring him clown. The stag bounded 
 on down the valley toward his home, as if 
 to seek protection from Sylvia. He came 
 rushing into the house, marking his way 
 with blood, ran to the covert which Sylvia 
 had provided for his resting-place at night, 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 113 
 
 and crouching down there he filled the whole 
 dwelling with piteous bleatings and cries. 
 
 As soon as Tyrrheus, the father of Sylvia, 
 and the two young men, her brothers, knew 
 who it was that had thus wantonly wounded 
 their favorite, they were filled with indigna- 
 tion and rage. They went out and aroused 
 the neighboring peasantry, who very easily 
 caught the spirit of resentment and revenge 
 which burned in the bosoms of Tyrrheus 
 and his sons. They armed themselves with 
 clubs, firebrands, scythes, and such other 
 rustic weapons as came to hand, and rushed 
 forth, resolved to punish the overbearing 
 insolence of their foreign visitors, in the 
 most summary manner. 
 
 In the mean time the Trojan youth, hav- 
 ing heard the tidings of this disturbance, 
 began to gather hastily, but in great num- 
 bers, to defend Ascanius. The parties on 
 both sides were headstrong, and highly ex- 
 cited ; and before any of the older and more 
 considerate chieftains could interfere, a very 
 serious conflict ensued. One of the sons of 
 Tyrrheus was killed. lie was pierced in 
 the throat by an arrow, and fell and died 
 immediately. His name was Almon. He 
 was but a boy, or at all events had not yet 
 arrived at years of maturity, and his prema- 
 ture and sudden death added greatly to the 
 prevailing excitement. Another man too 
 was killed. At length the conflict was 
 brought to an end for the time, but the ex- 
 citement and the exasperation of the peasan- 
 
114 ROMULUS. 
 
 try were extreme. They carried the two 
 dead bodies in procession to the capital, to 
 exhibit them to Latinus ; and they demanded, 
 in the most earnest and determined manner, 
 that he should immediately make war upon 
 the whole Trojan horde, and drive them 
 back into the sea, whence they came. 
 
 Latinus found it extremely difficult to 
 withstand this torrent. lie remained firm 
 for a time, and made every exertion in his 
 power to quell the excitement and to pacify 
 the minds of his people. But all was in 
 vain. Public sentiment turned hopelessly 
 against the Trojans, and yEneas soon found 
 himself shut up in his city, surrounded with 
 enemies, and left to his fate. Turnus was 
 the leader of these foes. 
 
 He, however, did not despair. Both par- 
 ties began to prepare vigorously for war. 
 .zEneas himself went away with a few follow- 
 ers to some of the neighboring kingdoms, to 
 get succor from them. Neighboring states 
 are almost always jealous of each other, and 
 are easily induced to take part against 
 each other, when involved in foreign wars. 
 ./Eneas found several of the Italian princes 
 who were ready to aid him, and he returned 
 to his camp with considerable reinforcements, 
 and with promises of more. The war soon 
 broke out, and was waged for a long time 
 with great determination on both sides and 
 with varied success. 
 
 Latinus, who was now somewhat advanced 
 in life, and had thus passed beyond the period 
 
Laocoon and His Sons. {See p. 69. ) 
 
THE LANDING IN LAT1UM. 115 
 
 of ambition and love of glory, and who be- 
 sides must have felt that the interest of his 
 family were now indissolubly bound up in 
 those of iEneas and Lavinia, watched the 
 progress of the contest with a very uneasy 
 and anxious mind. He found that for a 
 time at least it would be out of his power to 
 do anything effectual to terminate the war, 
 so he allowed it to take its course, and con- 
 tented himself with waiting patiently, in 
 hopes that an occasion which would allow 
 of his interposing with some hope of success, 
 would sooner or later come. 
 
 Such an occasion did come ; for after the 
 war had been prosecuted for some time it 
 was found, that notwithstanding the dis- 
 advantages under which the Trojans labored, 
 they were rather gaining than losing ground. 
 There were in fact some advantages as well 
 as some disadvantages in their position. 
 They formed a compact and concentrated 
 body, while their enemies constituted a scat- 
 tered population, spreading in a more or less 
 exposed condition over a considerable extent 
 of country. They had neither flocks nor 
 herds, nor any other property for their ene- 
 mies to plunder, while the Kutulians and 
 Latins had great possessions, both of treas- 
 ure in the towns and of rural produce in the 
 countiw, so that when the Trojans gained 
 the victory over them in any sally or foray, 
 they always came home laden with booty, 
 as well as exultant in triumph and pride; 
 while if the Latins conquered the Trojans in 
 
 g—Ro?n uius 
 
116 ROMULUS. 
 
 a battle, they had nothing but the empty 
 honor to reward them. The Trojans, too, 
 were hardy, enduring, and indomitable. 
 The alternative with them was victory or de 
 struction. Their protracted voyage, and th 
 long experience of hardships and sufferings 
 which they had undergone, had inured them 
 to privation and toil, so that they proved to 
 the Latins and Kutulians to be very obstinate 
 and formidable foes. 
 
 At length, as usual in such cases, indica- 
 tions gradually appeared that both sides be- 
 gan to be weary of the contest. Latinus 
 availed himself of a favorable occasion which 
 offered, to propose that ambassadors should 
 be sent to JEneas with terms of peace. Tur- 
 nus was very much opposed to any such 
 plan. He was earnestly desirous of continu- 
 ing to prosecute the war. The other Latin 
 chieftains reproached him then with being 
 the cause of all the calamities which they 
 were enduring, and urged the unreasonable- 
 ness on his part of desiring any longer to 
 protract the sufferings of his unhappy 
 country, merely to gratify his own private 
 resentment and revenge. " Turnus ought not 
 any longer to ask, they said, that others should 
 fight in his quarrel ; and they proposed that 
 he should himself decide the question between 
 him and iEneas, by challenging the Trojan 
 leader to fight him in single combat. 
 
 Latinus strongly disapproved of this pro- 
 posal. He was weary of war and bloodshed, 
 and wished that the conflict might wholly 
 
THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 117 
 
 cease ; and he urged that peace should be 
 made withiEneas, and that his original design 
 of giving him Lavinia for his wife should 
 be carried into execution. For a moment 
 Turnus seemed to hesitate, but in looking to- 
 wards Lavinia who, with Amata her mother, 
 was present at this consultation, he saw, or 
 thought he saw, in the agitation which she 
 manifested, proofs of her love for him, and 
 indications of a wish on her part that he and 
 not JEneas should win her for his bride. 
 
 He accordingly without any farther hesita- 
 tion or delay agreed to the proposal of the 
 counselor. The challenge to single combat 
 was given and accepted, and on the appointed 
 day the ground was marked out for the duel, 
 and both armies were drawn up upon the 
 field, to be spectators of the fight. 
 
 After the usual preparation the conflict 
 began ; but, as frequently occurs in such cases, 
 it was not long confined to the single pair 
 of combatants with which it commenced. 
 Others were gradually drawn in, and the duel 
 became in the end a general battle. ^Eneas 
 and the Trojans were victorious, and both 
 Latinus and Turnus were slain. This ended 
 the war. ^Eneas married Lavinia, and 
 thenceforth reigned with her over the king- 
 dom of Latium as its rightful sovereign. 
 • ^Eneas lived several years after this, and 
 has the credit, in history, of having man- 
 aged the affairs of the kingdom in a very 
 wise and provident manner. He had 
 brought with him from Troy the arts and 
 
118 ROMULUS. 
 
 the learning of the Greeks, and these he in- 
 troduced to his people so as greatly to im- 
 prove their condition. lie introduced, too, 
 many ceremonies of religious worship, which 
 had prevailed in the countries from which he 
 had come, or in those which he had visited 
 in his long voyage. These ceremonies be- 
 came at last so firmly established among the 
 religious observances of the inhabitants of 
 Latium, that they descended from genera- 
 tion to generation, and in subsequent years 
 exercised great influence, in modeling the 
 religious faith and worship of the Roman 
 people. They thus continued to be prac- 
 tised for many ages, and, through the litera- 
 ture of the Romans, became subsequently 
 known and celebrated throughout the whole 
 civilized world. 
 
 At length, in a war which ^Eneas was wag- 
 ing with the Iiutulians, he was once, after a 
 battle, reduced to great extremity of danger, 
 and in order to escape from his pursuers he 
 attempted to swim across a stream, and was 
 drowned. The name of this stream was 
 Numicius. It flowed into the sea a little 
 north of Lavinium. It must have been 
 larger in former times than it is now, for 
 travelers who visit it at the present day say 
 that it is now only a little rivulet, in which 
 it would be almost impossible for any one to 
 be drowned. 
 
 The Trojan followers of JEneas concealed 
 his body, and spread the story among the 
 people of Latium that he had been taken up 
 
THE LANDING IN LATUM. 
 
 119 
 
 to heaven. The people accordingly, having 
 before considered their king 1 as the son of a 
 
 ^Eneas Eelating His Story. 
 
 goddess, now looked upon him as himself 
 divine. They accordingly erected altars to 
 him in Latium, and thenceforth worshiped 
 him as a Grou. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RHEA SILVIA. 
 
 Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus, was 
 a vestal virgin, who lived in the kingdom of 
 Latium about four hundred years after the 
 death of iEneas. A vestal virgin was a sort 
 of priestess, who was required, like the nuns 
 of modern times, to live in seclusion from 
 the rest of the world, and devote their time 
 wholly and without reserve to the services 
 of religion. They were, like nuns, especially 
 prohibited from all association aud inter- 
 course with men. 
 
 JEneas himself is said to have founded the 
 order of vestal virgins, and to have instituted 
 the rites and services which were committed 
 to their charge. These rites and services 
 were in honor of Yesta, who was the god- 
 dess of Home. The fireside has been, in all 
 ages and countries, the center and the sym- 
 bol of home, and the worship of Yesta con- 
 sisted, accordingly, of ceremonies designed 
 to dignify and exalt the fireside in the esti- 
 mation of the people. Instead of the images 
 and altars which were used in the worship 
 of the other deities, a representation of a 
 Ji/re-stand was made, such as were used in the 
 120 
 
RHEA SILVIA. , 121 
 
 houses of those days ; and upon this sacred 
 stand a tire was kept continually burning, 
 and various rites and ceremonies were per- 
 formed in connection with it, in honor of the 
 domestic virtues and enjoyments, of which 
 it was the type and symbol. 
 
 These fire-stands, as used by the ancients, 
 were very different from the fireplaces of 
 modern times, which are recesses in chimneys 
 with flues above for the passage of the 
 smoke. The household fires of the ancients 
 were placed in the center of the apartment, 
 on a hearth or supporter called the focus. 
 This hearth was made sometimes of stone or 
 brick, and sometimes of bronze. The smoke 
 escaped above, through openings in the roof. 
 This would seem, according to the ideas of 
 the present day, a very comfortless arrange- 
 ment ; but it must be remembered that the 
 climate in those countries was mild, and 
 there was accordingly but little occasion for 
 fire ; and then, besides, such were the habits 
 of the people at this period of the world, 
 that not only their pursuits and avocations, 
 but far the greater portion of their pleas- 
 ures, called them into the open air. Still, 
 the fireplace was, with them as with us, the 
 type and emblem of domestic life; and, ac- 
 cordingly, in paying divine honors to Yesta, 
 the goddess of Home, they set up a focus, 
 or fireplace, in her temple, instead of an 
 altar, and in the place of sacrifices they 
 simply kept burning upon it a perpetual fire. 
 
 The priestesses who had charge of the 
 
122 . ROMULUS. 
 
 fire were selected for this purpose when 
 they were children. It was required that 
 they should be from six to ten years of age. 
 "When chosen they were consecrated to the- 
 service of Yesta by the most solemn cere- 
 monies and as virgins, were bound under 
 awful penalties, to spotless purity of life. As 
 the perpetual fire in the temple of Yesta rep- 
 resented the fire of the domestic hearth, so 
 these vestal virgins represented the maidens 
 by whom the domestic service of a house- 
 hold is performed ; and the life of seclusion 
 and celibacy which was required of them 
 was the emblem of the innocence and purity 
 which the institution of the family is ex- 
 pressly intended to guard. The duties of 
 the vestals were analogous to those of do- 
 mestic maidens. They were to watch the 
 fire, and never to allow it to go out. They 
 were to perform various rites and ceremo- 
 nies connected with the worship of Yesta, 
 and to keep the interior of the temple and 
 the shrines pure and clean, and the sacred 
 vessels and utensils arranged, as in a well- 
 ordered household. In a word, they were 
 to be, in purity, in industry, in neatness, in 
 order, and in patience and vigilance, the 
 perfect impersonation of maidenly virtue as 
 exhibited in its own proper field of duty at 
 home. 
 
 The most awful penalties were visited 
 upon the head of any vestal virgin who was 
 
 fuilty of violating her vows. There is no 
 irect evidence what these penalties were at 
 
RHEA SLLVIA. 123 
 
 this early period, but in subsequent years, 
 at Rome, where the vestal virgins resided, 
 the man who was guilty of enticing one of 
 them away from her duty was publicly 
 scourged to death in the Roman forum. 
 For the vestal herself, thus led away, a cell 
 was dug beneath the ground, and vaulted 
 over. A pit led down to this subterranean 
 dungeon, entering it by one side. In the 
 dungeon itself there was placed a table, a 
 lamp, and a little food. The descent was 
 by a ladder which passed down through the 
 pit. The place of this terrible preparation 
 for punishment was near one of the gates of 
 the city, and when all was ready the unhappy 
 vestal was brought forth, at the head of a 
 great public procession, — she herself being- 
 attended by her friends and relatives, all 
 mourning and lamenting her fate by the 
 way. The ceremony, in a word, was in all 
 respects a funeral, except that the person who 
 was to be buried was still alive. On arriv- 
 ing at the spot, the wretched criminal Avas 
 conducted down the ladder and placed upon 
 the couch in the cell. The assistants who 
 performed this service then returned ; the 
 ladder was drawn up ; earth was thrown in 
 until the pit was filled ; and the erring girl 
 was left to her fate, which was, when her 
 lamp had burned out, and her food was 
 expended, to starve by slow degrees, and 
 die at last in darkness and despair. 
 
 If we would do full justice to the ancient 
 founders of civilization and empire, wa 
 
124 ROMULUS. 
 
 should probably consider their enshrinement 
 of Vesta, and the contriving of the cere- 
 monies and observances which were in- 
 stituted in honor of her, not as the setting 
 up of an idol or false god, for worship, in the 
 sense in which Christian nations worship 
 the spiritual and eternal Jehovah — but 
 rather as the embodiment of an idea, — a 
 principle, — as the best means, in those rude 
 ages, of attracting to it the general regard. 
 
 Even in our own days, and in Christian 
 lands, men erect a pole in honor of liberty, 
 and surmount it with the image of a cap. 
 And if, instead of the cap, they were to 
 place a carved effigy of liberty above, and 
 to assemble for periodical celebrations 
 below, with games, and music, and banners, 
 we should not probably call them idolaters. 
 So Christian poets write odes and invoca- 
 tions to Peace, to Disappointment, to Spring, 
 to Beauty, in which they impersonate an 
 idea, or a principle, and address it in the 
 language of adoration, as if it were a sen- 
 tient being, possessing magical and mysteri- 
 ous powers. In the same manner, the rites 
 and celebrations of ancient times are not 
 necessarily all to be considered as idolatry, 
 and denounced as inexcusably wicked and 
 absurd. Our fathers set up an image in honor 
 of liberty, to strengthen the influence of the 
 love of liberty on the popular mind. It is 
 possible that ^Eneas looked upon the subject 
 in the same light, in erecting a public fire- 
 side in honor of domestic peace and happi- 
 
KHEA SILVIA. 125 
 
 liess, and in designating maidens to guard it 
 with constant vigilance and with spotless 
 purity. At all events, the institution ex- 
 ercised a vast and an incalculable power, in 
 impressing the minds of men, in those rude 
 ages, with a sense of the sacredness of the 
 domestic tie, and in keeping before their 
 minds a high standard, in theory at least, 
 of domestic honor and purity. We must re- 
 member that they had not then the word of 
 God, nor any means of communicating to 
 the minds of the people any general enlight- 
 enment and instruction. They were obliged, 
 therefore, to resort to the next best method 
 which their ingenuity could devise. 
 
 There were a great many very extraor- 
 dinary rites and ceremonies connected with 
 the service of the vestal altar, and many 
 singular regulations for the conduct of it. 
 the origin and design of which it would now 
 be very difficult to ascertain. As has al- 
 ready been remarked, the virgins were chosen 
 when very young, being, when designated 
 to the office, not under six nor over ten years 
 of age. They were chosen by the king, and 
 it was necessary that the candidate, besides 
 the above-named requisite in regard to age, 
 should be in a perfect condition of soundness 
 and health in respect to all her bodily limbs 
 and members, and also to the faculties of 
 her mind. It was required too that she 
 should be the daughter of free and freeborn 
 
 Earents, who had never been in slavery, and 
 ad never followed any menial or degrading 
 
126 BOMULUS. 
 
 occupation ; and also that both her parents 
 should be living. To be an orphan was con- 
 sidered, it seems, in some sense an imperfec- 
 tion. 
 
 The service of the vestal virgins continued 
 for thirty years ; and when this period had 
 expired, the maidens were discharged from 
 their vows, and were allowed, if they chose, 
 to lay aside their vestal robes, and the other 
 emblems of their office, and return to the 
 world, with the privilege even of marrying, 
 if they chose to do so. Though the laws 
 however permitted this, there was a public 
 sentiment against it, and it was seldom that 
 any of the vestal priestesses availed them- 
 selves of the privilege. They generally re- 
 mained after their term of service had ex- 
 pired, in attendance at the temple, and died as 
 they had lived in the service of the goddess. 
 
 One of the chief functions of the virgins, 
 in their service in the temple, was to keep the 
 sacred fire perpetually burning. This fire 
 was never to go out, and if, by any neglect 
 on the part of the vestal in attendance, this 
 was allowed to occur, the guilty maiden was 
 punished terribly by scourging. The pun- 
 ishment was inflicted b}^ the hands of the 
 highest pontifical officer of the state. The 
 laws of the institution however evinced their 
 high regard for the purity and modesty of 
 the vestal maidens by requiring that the 
 blows should be administered in the dark, 
 the sufferer having been previously prepared 
 to receive them by being partially undressed 
 
RHEA SILVIA. 127 
 
 by her female attendants. The extinguished 
 fire was then rekindled with many solemn 
 ceremonies. 
 
 Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus, was, 
 we repeat, a vestal virgin. She lived foi»r 
 hundred years after the death of JEneas. 
 During these four centuries, the kingdom 
 had been governed by the descendants of 
 ^Eneas, generally in a peaceful and prosper- 
 ous manner, although some difficulties oc- 
 curred in the establishment of the succession 
 immediately after ^Eneas's death. It will 
 be remembered that JEneas was drowned 
 during the continuance of the war. He left 
 one son, and perhaps others. The one who 
 figured most conspicuously in the subsequent 
 history of the kingdom, was Ascanius, the 
 son who had accompanied ^Eneas from Troy, 
 and who had now attained to years of ma- 
 turity. He, of course, on his father's death, 
 immediately succeeded him. 
 
 There was some question, however, 
 whether, after, all, Lavinia herself was not 
 entitled to the kingdom. It was doubtful, 
 according to the laws and usages of those 
 da}^s, whether ./Eneas held the realm in his 
 own right, or as the husband of Lavinia, who 
 was the daughter and heir of Latinus, the 
 .ancient and legitimate king. Lavinia, how- 
 ever, seemed to have no disposition to assert 
 her claim. She was of a mild and gentle 
 spirit ; and, besides, her health was at that 
 time such as to lead her to wish for retire- 
 ment and repose. She even had some fears 
 
128 ROMULUS. 
 
 for her personal safety, not knowing but 
 that Ascanius would be suspicious and jeah 
 ous of her on account of her claims to the 
 throne, and that he might be tempted to do 
 her some injury.. Her husband had been 
 her only protector among the Trojans, and 
 now, since he was no more, and another, who 
 was in some sense her rival, had risen to 
 power, she naturally felt insecure. She ac- 
 cordingly took the first opportunity to re- 
 tire from Lavinium. She went away into 
 the forests in the interior of the country, 
 with a very few attendants and friends, and 
 concealed herself there in a safe retreat. 
 The family that received and sheltered her, 
 was that of Tyrrheus, the chief of her father's 
 shepherds, whose children's stag Ascanius 
 had formerly killed. Here, in a short time, 
 she had a son. She determined to name him 
 from his father ; and in order to com- 
 memorate his having been born in the midst 
 of the wild forest scenes which surrounded 
 her at the time of his birth, she called him 
 in full, ./Eneas of the woods, or, as it was ex- 
 pressed in the language which was then used 
 in Latium, iEneas Silvius. The boy, when 
 he grew up, was always known by this 
 name in subsequent history. 
 
 And not only did he himself retain the 
 name, but he transmitted it to his posterity, 
 for all the kings that afterward descended 
 from him, extending in a long line through 
 a period of four hundred years, had the 
 word Sylvius affixed to their names, in per- 
 
. RHEA SILVIA. 129 
 
 petual commemoration of the romantic birth 
 of their ancestor. Rhea, the mother of 
 Romulus, of whom we have already spoken, 
 and of whom we shall presently have occa- 
 sion to speak still more, was Rhea Silvia, 
 by reason of her having been by birth a 
 princess of this royal line. 
 
 Ascanius, in the mean time, on the death 
 of his father, was for a time so engrossed 
 in the prosecution of the war, that he paid 
 but little attention to the departure of La- 
 vinia. The name of the king of the Rutu- 
 lians who fought against him was Mezentius. 
 Mezentius had a son named Lausus, and 
 both father and son were personally serving 
 in the army by which Ascanius was besieged 
 in Lavinium. Mezentius had command in the 
 camp, at the headquarters of the army, 
 which was at some distance from the city. 
 Lausus headed an advanced guard, which 
 had established itself strongly at a post 
 which they had taken near the gates. In 
 this state of things, Ascanius, one dark and 
 stormy night, planned a sortie. He organ- 
 ized a desperate body of followers, and after 
 watching the flashes of lightning for a time, 
 to find omens from them indicating success, 
 he gave the signal. The gates were opened 
 and the column of armed men sallied forth 
 creeping noiselessly forward in the darkness 
 and gloom, until they came to the encamp- 
 ment of Lausus. They fell upon this camp 
 with an irresistible rush, and with terrific 
 shouts and outcries. The whole detachment 
 
130 ROMULUS. 
 
 were taken entirely by surprise, and great 
 numbers were made prisoners or slain. 
 Lausus himself was killed. 
 
 Excited by their victory, the Trojan sol- 
 diers, headed by Ascanius, now turned their 
 course toward the main body of the Rutu- 
 lian army. Mezentius had, however, in the 
 mean time, obtained warning of their ap- 
 proach, and when they reached his camp he 
 was ready to retreat. He fled with all his 
 forces toward the mountains. Ascanius and 
 the Trojans followed him. Mezentius halted 
 and attempted to fortify himself on a hill. 
 Ascanius surrounded the hill, and soon com- 
 pelled his enemies to come to terms. A 
 treaty was made, and Mezentius and his 
 forces soon after withdrew from the coun- 
 try, leaving Ascanius and Latium in peace. 
 
 Ascanius then, after having in some de- 
 gree settled his affairs, began to think of 
 Lavinia. In fact, the Latian portion of his 
 subjects seemed disposed to murmur and 
 complain, at her having been compelled to 
 withdraw from her own paternal kingdom, 
 in order to leave the throne to the occupancy 
 of the son of a stranger. Some even feared 
 that she had come to some harm, or that 
 Ascanius might in the end put her to death 
 when time had been allowed for the recol- 
 lection of her to pass in some degree from 
 the minds of men. So the public began 
 generally to call for Lavinia's return. 
 
 Ascanius seems to have been well disposed 
 to do justice in the case, for he not only 
 
RHEA SILVIA. 131 
 
 sought out Lavinia and induced her to re- 
 turn to the capital with her little son, but 
 he finally concluded to give up Lavinium to 
 her entirely, as her own rightful dominion, 
 while he went away and founded a new city 
 for himself. He accordingly explored the 
 country around for a favorable site, and at 
 length decided upon a spot nearly north of 
 Lavinium, and not many miles distant from 
 it. The place which he marked out for the 
 walls of the city was at the foot of a moun- 
 tain, on a tract of somewhat elevated 
 grouud, which formed one of the lower 
 declivities of it. The mountain, rising ab- 
 ruptly on one side, formed a sure defense 
 on that side : on the other side was a small 
 lake, of clear and pellucid water. In front, 
 and somewhat below, there were extended 
 plains of fertile land. Ascanius, after hav- 
 ing determined on this place as the site of 
 his intended city, set his men at work to 
 make the necessary constructions. Some 
 built the walls of the city, and laid out 
 streets and erected houses within. Others 
 were employed in forming the declivity of 
 the mountain above into terraces, for "the 
 cultivation of the vine. The slopes which 
 they thus graded had a southern exposure, 
 and the grapes which subsequently grew 
 there, were luxurious and delicious in flavor. 
 From the little lake channels were cut lead- 
 ing over the plains below, and by this means 
 a constant supply of water could be con- 
 veyed to the fields of grain which were to 
 
 IO— Romulus 
 
182 ROMULUS. 
 
 be sown there, for purposes of irrigation. 
 Thus the place which Ascanius chose fur- 
 nished all possible facilities both for main- 
 taining, and also for defending the people 
 who were to make it their abode. The town 
 was called Alba Longa, that is long Alba. 
 It was called long to distinguish it from an- 
 other Alba. It was really long in its form, 
 as the buildings extended for a considerable 
 distance along the border of the lake. 
 
 Ascanius reigned over thirty years at Alba 
 Longa, while Lavinia reigned at Lavinium, 
 each friendly to the other and governing the 
 country at large, together, in peace and har- 
 mony. In process of time both died. As- 
 canius left a son whose name was lulus, 
 while ^Eneas Sylvius was Lavinia's heir. 
 
 There was, of course, great diversity of 
 opinion throughout the nation in regard to 
 the comparative claims of these two princes, 
 respectively. Some maintained that ^Eneas 
 the Trojan became, b} r conquest, the rightful 
 sovereign of Latium, irrespective of any 
 rights that he acquired through his marriage 
 with Lavinia, and that lulus, as the son of 
 his eldest son, rightfully succeeded him. 
 Others contended that Lavinia represented 
 the ancient and the truly legitimate royal 
 line, and that iEneas Silvius, as her son and 
 heir, ought to be placed upon the throne. 
 And there were those who proposed to com- 
 promise the question, by dividing Latium 
 into two separate kingdoms, giving up one 
 part to lulus, with Alba Longa for its capital, 
 
RHEA SILVIA. 133 
 
 and the other, with Lavinium for its capital, 
 to JEneas Silvius, Lavinia's heir. This prop- 
 osition was, however, overruled. The two 
 kingdoms, thus formed would be small and 
 feeble, it was thought, and unable to defend 
 themselves against the other Italian nations in 
 case of war. The question was finally settled 
 by a different sort of compromise. It was 
 agreed that Latium should retain its integrity, 
 and that iEneas Silvius, being the son both 
 of JEneas and Lavinia, and thus representing 
 both branches of the reigning power, should 
 be the king, while lulus and his descendants 
 forever, should occupy the position, scarcely 
 less inferior, of sovereign power in matters 
 of religion. xEneas Silvius, therefore, and 
 his descendants, became Icings, and as such 
 commanded the armies and directed the 
 affairs of state, while lulus and his family 
 were exalted, in connection with them, to 
 the highest pontifical dignities. 
 
 This state of things, once established, con- 
 tinued age after age, and century after cen- 
 tury, for about four hundred years. No rec- 
 ords, and very few traditions in respect to 
 what occurred during this period remain. 
 One circumstance, however, took place which 
 caused itself to be remembered. There was 
 one king in the line of the Silvii, whose name 
 was Tiberinus. In one of his battles with 
 the armies of the nation adjoining him on 
 the northern side, he attempted to swim 
 across the river that formed the frontier. 
 He was forced down by the current, and was 
 
134 ROMULUS. 
 
 seen no more. By the accident, however, 
 he gave the name of Tiber to the stream, 
 and thus perpetuated his own memory 
 through the subsequent renown of the river 
 in which he was drowned. Before this time 
 the river was called the Albula. 
 
 Another incident is related, which is some- 
 what curious, as illustrating the ideas aud 
 customs of the times. One of this Silvian 
 line of sovereigns was named Alladius. This 
 Alladius conceived the idea of making the 
 people believe that he was a god, and in 
 order to accomplish this end lie resorted to 
 the contrivance of imitating, Irv artificial 
 means, the sound of the rumbling of thunder 
 and the flashes of lightning at night, from 
 his palace on the banks of the lake at Alba 
 Longa. He employed, probably, for this 
 purpose some means similar to those resorted 
 to for the same end in theatrical spectacles 
 at the present day. The people, however, 
 were not deceived by this imposture, though 
 they soon after fell into an error nearly as 
 absurd as believing in this false thunder 
 would have been ; for, on an occasion which 
 occurred not long afterward, probably that 
 of a great storm accompanied with torrents 
 of rain upon the mountains around, the lake 
 rose so high as to produce an inundation, in 
 which the water broke into the palace, and 
 the pretended thunderer was drowned. The 
 people considered that he was destroyed thus 
 by the special interposition of heaven, to 
 punish him for his impiety in daring to as- 
 
KHEA SILVIA. 135 
 
 sume what was then considered the peculiar 
 attribute and prerogative of supreme divinity. 
 In fact, the rumor circulated, and one his- 
 torian has recorded it as true, that Alladius 
 was struck by the lightning which accom- 
 panied the storm, and thus killed at once by 
 the terrible agency which he had presumed to 
 counterfeit, before the inundation of the 
 palace came on. If he met his death in any 
 sudden and unusual manner, it is not at all 
 surprising that his fate should have been at- 
 tributed to the judgment of God, for thunder 
 was regarded in those days with an extreme 
 and superstitious veneration and awe. All 
 this is, however, now changed. Men have 
 learned to understand thunder, and to pro- 
 tect themselves from its power ; and now, 
 since Franklin and Morse have commenced 
 the work of subduing the potent and mys- 
 terious agent in which it originates, to the 
 human will, the presumption is not very 
 strong against the supposition that the time 
 may come when human science may actually 
 produce it in the sky — as it is now produced, 
 in effect, upon the lecturer's table. 
 
 At last, toward the close of the four hun- 
 dred years during which the dynasty of the 
 Sylvii continued to reign over Latium, a cer- 
 tain monarch of the series died, leaving two 
 children, ISTumitor and Amulius. Numitor 
 was the eldest son, and as such entitled to 
 succeed his father. But he was of a quiet 
 and somewhat inefficient disposition, while 
 his younger brother was ardent and ambi- 
 
136 ROMULUS. 
 
 tious, and very likely to aspire to the posses- 
 sion of power. The father, it seems, antici- 
 Eated the possibility of dissension between 
 is sons after his death, and in order to do 
 all in his power to guard against it, he en- 
 deavored to arrange and settle the succession 
 before he died. In the course of the negotia- 
 tions which ensued, Amulius proposed that 
 his father's possessions should be divided in- 
 to two portions, the kingdom to constitute 
 one, and the wealth and treasures the other, 
 and that Numitor should choose which por- 
 tion he would have. This proposal seemed 
 to have the appearance, at least, of reason- 
 ableness and impartiality ; and it would 
 have been really very reasonable, if the right 
 to the inheritance thus disposed of, had be- 
 longed equally to the younger and to the 
 elder son. But it did not. And thus the 
 offer of Amulius was, in effect, a proposition 
 to divide with himself that which really be- 
 longed w r holly to his brother. 
 
 Numitor, however, who, it seems, was 
 little disposed to contend for his rights, 
 agreed to this proposal. He, however, chose 
 the kingdom, and left the wealth for his 
 brother; and the inheritance w r as accord- 
 ingly thus divided on the death of the father. 
 But Amulius, as soon as he came into pos- 
 session of his treasures, began to employ 
 them as a means of making powerful friends, 
 and strengthening his political influence. 
 In due time he usurped the throne, and 
 Numitor, giving up the contest with very 
 
RHEA SILVIA. 137 
 
 little attempt to resist the usurpation, fled 
 and concealed himself in some obscure place 
 of retreat. He had, however, two children, 
 a son and a daughter, which he left behind 
 him in his flight. Amulius feared that these 
 children might, at some future time, give 
 him trouble, by advancing claims as their 
 father's heirs. He did not dare to kill them 
 openly, for fear of exciting the popular 
 odium against himself. He was obliged, 
 therefore, to resort to stratagem. 
 
 The son, whose name was Egestus, he 
 caused to be slain at a hunting party, by 
 employing remorseless and desperate men to 
 shoot him, in the heat of the chase, with ar- 
 rows, or thrust him through with a spear, 
 watching their opportunity for doing this 
 at a moment when they were not observed, 
 or when it might appear to be an accident. 
 The daughter, whose name was Khea — the 
 Ehea Silvia named at the commencement of 
 this chapter — he could not well actually de- 
 stroy, without being known to be her mur- 
 derer ; and perhaps too, he had enough re- 
 maining humanity to be unwilling to shed 
 the blood of a helpless and beautiful maiden, 
 the daughter, too, of his own brother. Then, 
 besides, he had a daughter of his own named 
 Antho, who was the playmate and com- 
 panion of Ehea, and with whose affection 
 for her cousin he must have felt some sym- 
 pathy. He would not, therefore, destroy 
 the child, but contented himself with deter- 
 mining to make her a vestal virgin. By 
 
138 ROMULUS. 
 
 this means she would be solemnly set apart 
 to a religious service, which would incapaci- 
 tate her from aspiring to the throne ; and 
 by being cut off, by her vestal vows, from 
 all possibility of forming any domestic ties, 
 she could never, he thought, have any off- 
 spring to dispute his claim to the throne. 
 
 There was nothing very extraordinary in 
 this consecration of his niece, princess as she 
 was, to the service of the vestal fire ; for it 
 had been customary for children of the high- 
 est rank to be designated to this office. 
 The little Khea, for she was yet a child when 
 her uncle took this determination in respect 
 to her, made, as would appear, no objection to 
 what she perhaps considered a distinguished 
 honor. The ceremonies, therefore, of her 
 consecration were duly performed ; she took 
 the vows, and bound herself by the most 
 awful sanctions — unconscious, however, per- 
 haps, herself of what she was doing — to lead 
 thenceforth a life of absolute celibacy and 
 seclusion. 
 
 She was then received into the temple of 
 Yesta, and there, with the other maidens 
 who had been consecrated before her, she 
 devoted herself to the discharge of the duties 
 of her office, without reproach, for several 
 years. At length, however, certain circum- 
 stances occurred, which suddenly terminated 
 Rhea's career as a vestal virgin, and led to 
 results of the most momentous character. 
 What these circumstances were, will be ex- 
 plained in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE TWINS. 
 
 Although the temple of Vesta itself, at 
 Alba Longa, was the principal scene of the 
 duties which devolved upon the vestal vir- 
 gins, still they were not wholly confined in 
 their avocations to that sacred edifice, but 
 were often called upon, one or two at a time, 
 to perforin services, or to assist in the celebra- 
 tion of rites, at other places in the city and 
 vicinity. 
 
 There was a temple consecrated to Mars 
 near to Alba. It was situated in an opening 
 in the woods, in some little glen or valley at 
 the base of the mountain. There was a 
 stream of water running through the ground, 
 and Rhea in the performance of her duties 
 as a vestal was required at one time to pass 
 to and fro through the groves in this solitary 
 place to fetch water. Here she allowed her- 
 self, in violation of her vestal vows, to form 
 the acquaintance of a man, whom she met in 
 the groves. She knew well that by doing 
 so she made herself subject to the most dread- 
 ful penalties in case her fault should become 
 known. Still she yielded to the temptation, 
 and allowed herself to be persuaded to remain 
 
 139 
 
140 ROMULUS, 
 
 with the stranger. She said afterward, 
 when the facts were brought to light, that 
 her meeting with this companion was wholly 
 unintentional on her part. She saw a wolf 
 in the grove, she said, and she ran terrified 
 into a cave to escape from him, and that the 
 man came to her there, to protect her, and 
 then compelled her to remain with him. 
 Besides, from his dress and countenance, 
 and air, she had believed him. she said, to be 
 the God Mars himself, and thought that it 
 was not her duty to resist his will. 
 
 However this may be, her stolen interview 
 or interviews with this stranger were not 
 known at the time, and Iihea perhaps thought 
 that her fault would never be discovered. 
 Some weeks after this, however, it was ob- 
 served by her companions and friends that 
 she began to appear thoughtful and de- 
 pressed. Her dejection increased day by 
 day ; her face became wan and pale, and her 
 eyes were often filled with tears. They 
 asked her what was the cause of her trouble. 
 She said that she was sick. She was soon af- 
 terward excused from her duties in the Yestal 
 temple, and went away, and remained for 
 some time shut up in retirement and seclusion. 
 There at length two children, twins, were 
 born to her. 
 
 It was only through the influence of Antho, 
 Rhea's cousin, that the unhappy vestal was 
 not put to death by Amulius, before her 
 children were born, at the time when her 
 fault was first discovered. The laws of the 
 
THE TWINS. 141 
 
 State in respect to vestal virgins, which were 
 inexorably severe, would have justified him 
 in causing her to be executed at once, but 
 Antho interceded so earnestly for her un- 
 happy cousin, that Amulius for a time spared 
 her life. When, however, her sons were born, 
 
 Rhea Silvia. 
 
 the anger of Amulius broke out anew. If 
 she had remained childless he would probably 
 have allowed her to live, though she could 
 of course never have been restored to her 
 office in the temple of Testa-. Or if she had 
 given birth to a daughter she might have 
 been pardoned, since a daughter, on account 
 
142 ROMULUS. 
 
 of her sex, would have been little likely to 
 disturb Amulius in the possession of the King- 
 dom. But the existence of two sons, born 
 directly in the line of the succession, and 
 each of them having claims superior to his 
 own, endangered, most imminently, he per- 
 ceived, his possession of power. He was of 
 course greatly enraged. 
 
 He caused Rhea to be shut up in close im- 
 prisonment, and as for the boys, he ordered 
 them to be thrown into the" Tiber. The 
 Tiber was at some considerable distance from 
 Alba ; but it was probably near the place 
 where Rhea had resided in her retirement, 
 and where the children were born. 
 
 A peasant of that region was intrusted 
 with the task of throwing the children into 
 the river Whether his official duty in un- 
 dertaking this commission required him act- 
 ually to drown the boys, or whether he was 
 allowed to give the helpless babes some little 
 chance for their lives, is not known. At 
 all events he determined that in committing 
 the children to the stream he would so ar- 
 range it that they should float away from 
 his sight, in order that he might not him- 
 self be a witness of their dying struggles 
 and cries. He accordingly put them upon 
 a species of float that he made, — a sort of 
 box or trough, as would seem from the an- 
 cient descriptions, which he had hollowed 
 out from a log. — and disposing their little 
 limbs carefully within this narrow recepta- 
 cle, he pushed the frail boat* with its navi- 
 
THE TWINS. 
 
 143 
 
 gators still more frail, out upon the current 
 of the river. 
 
 The name of the peasant who performed 
 this task was Faustulus. The peasant also 
 who subsequently, — as will hereafter appear, 
 
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 Faustulus and the Twins. 
 
 — found and took charge of the children, is 
 spoken of by the ancient historians as Faus- 
 tulus, too. In fact we might well suppose 
 that no man, however rustic and rude, could 
 give his time and his thoughts to two such 
 babes long enough to make an ark for them, 
 for the purpose of making it possible to 
 
144 ROMULUS. 
 
 save their lives, and then place them care- 
 fully in it to send them away, without be- 
 coming so far interested in their fate, and 
 so touched by their mute and confiding help- 
 lessness, as to feel prompted to follow the 
 stream to see how so perilous a navigation 
 would end. We have, however, no direct 
 evidence that Faustuius did so watch the 
 progress of his boat down the river. The 
 story is that it was drifted along, now whirl- 
 ing in eddies, and now shooting down over 
 rapid currents, until at last, at a bend in the 
 river, it was thrown upon the beach, and 
 being turned over by the concussion, the 
 children were rolled out upon the sand. 
 
 The neighboring thickets soon of course 
 resounded with their plaintive cries. A 
 mother wolf who was sleeping there came 
 out to see what was the matter. Now t a 
 mother, of whatever race, is irresistibly 
 drawn by an instinct, if incapable of a senti- 
 ment, of affection, to love and to cherish 
 anything that is newly born. The wolf 
 caressed the helpless babes, imagining per- 
 haps that they w r ere her own offspring ; and 
 lying down by their side she cherished and 
 fed them, watching all the time with a fierce 
 and vigilant eye for any approaching enemy 
 or danger. The rude nursery might very 
 naturally be supposed to be in dangerous 
 proximity to the water, but it happened 
 that the river, when the babes were set 
 adi-ift in it, was very high, from the effect of 
 rains upon the mountains, and thus soon 
 
THE TWINS. 145 
 
 after the children were thrown upon the 
 land, the water began to subside. In a short 
 time it wholly returned to its accustomed 
 channel, leaving the children on the warm 
 sand, high above all danger. The wolf was 
 not their only guardian. A woodpecker, 
 the tradition says, watched over them too, 
 and brought them berries and other sylvan 
 food. The reader will perhaps be disposed 
 to hesitate a little in receiving this last 
 statement for sober history, hut as no part 
 of the whole narrative will bear any very 
 rigid scrutiny, we may as well take the story 
 of the woodpecker along with the rest. 
 
 In a short time the children were rescued 
 from their exposed situation by a shepherd, 
 who is called Faustulus, and may or may 
 not have been the same with the Faustulus 
 by whom they had been exposed. Faustu- 
 lus carried the children to his hut ; and there 
 the maternal attentions of the wolf and the 
 woodpecker were replaced by those of the 
 shepherd's wife. Her name was Larentia. 
 Faustulus was one of Amulius's herdsmen, 
 having the care of the flocks and herds that 
 grazed on this part of the royal domain, but 
 living, like any other shepherd, in great se- 
 clusion, in his hut in the forests. He not 
 only rescued the children, but he brought 
 home and preserved the trough in which 
 they had been floated down the river. He 
 put this relic aside, thinking that the day 
 might perhaps come in which there would 
 be occasion to produce it. lie told the story 
 
 IX — Romulus 
 
146 ROMULUS. 
 
 of the children only to a very few trust- 
 worthy friends, and he accompanied the 
 communication, in the cases where he made 
 it, with many injunctions of secrecy. He 
 named the foundlings Romulus and Remus, 
 and as they grew up they passed generally 
 for the shepherd's sons. 
 
 Faustulus felt a great degree of interest, 
 and a high sense of responsibility too, in hav- 
 ing these young princes under his care. He 
 took great pains to protect them from all 
 possible harm, and to instruct them in every- 
 thing which it was in those days considered 
 important for young men to know. It is 
 even said that he sent them to a town in 
 Latium where there was some sort of semi- 
 nary of learning, that their minds might re- 
 ceive a proper intellectual culture. As they 
 grew up they Avere both handsome in form 
 and in countenance, and were characterized 
 by a graceful dignity of air and demeanor, 
 which made them very attractive in the eyes 
 of all who beheld them. They were prom- 
 inent among the young herdsmen and hun- 
 ters of the forest, for their courage, their 
 activity, their strength, their various per- 
 sonal accomplishments, and their high and 
 generous qualities of mind. Romulus was 
 more silent and thoughtful than his brother, 
 and seemed to possess in some respects supe- 
 rior mental powers. Both were regarded by 
 all who knew them with feelings of the high- 
 est respect and consideration. 
 
 Romulus and Remus treated their own 
 
THE TWINS. 147 
 
 companions and equals, that is the young 
 shepherds and herdsmen of the mountains, 
 with great courtesy and kindness, and were 
 very kindly regarded by them in return. 
 They, however, evinced a great degree of 
 independence of spirit in respect to the 
 various bailiffs and chief herdsmen, and 
 other officers of field and forest police, who 
 exercised authority in the region where they 
 lived. These men were sometimes haughty 
 and domineering, and the peasantry in gen- 
 eral stood greatly in awe of them. Romulus 
 and Remus, however, always faced them 
 without fear, never seeming to be alarmed 
 at their threats, or at any other exhibitions 
 of their anger. In fact, the boys seemed to 
 be imbued with a native loftiness and fear- 
 lessness of character, as if they had inherited 
 a spirit of confidence and courage with their 
 royal blood, or had imbibed a portion of the 
 indomitable temper of their fierce foster 
 mother. 
 
 They were generous, however, as well as 
 brave. They took the part of the weak and 
 the oppressed against the tyrannical and the 
 strong in the rustic contentions that they 
 witnessed ; they interposed to help the feeble, 
 to relieve those who were in want, and to 
 protect the defenseless. They hunted wild 
 beasts, they fought against robbers, they 
 rescued and saved the lost. For amusements, 
 they practised running, wrestling, racing, 
 throwing javelins and spears, and other ath- 
 letic feats and accomplishments — in every- 
 
148 ROMULUS. 
 
 thing excelling all their competitors, and be 
 coming in the end greatly renowned. 
 
 Numitor, the father of Ehea Silvia, whom 
 Amulius had dethroned and banished from 
 Alba, was all this time still living ; and he 
 had now at length become so far reconciled 
 to Amulius as to be allowed to reside in Alba 
 — though he lived there as a private citizen. 
 He owned, it seems, some estates near the 
 Tiber, where he had flocks and herds that 
 were tended by his shepherds and herdsmen. 
 It happened at one time that some conten- 
 tion arose between the herdsmen of Nu- 
 mitor and those of Amulius, among whom 
 Romulus 'and Remus were residing. Now 
 as the young men had thus far, of course, no 
 idea whatever of their relationship to Nu- 
 mitor, there was no reason why they should 
 feel any special interest in his affairs, and 
 they accordingly, as might naturally have 
 been expected, took part with Amulius in 
 this quarrel, since Faustulus, and all the 
 shepherds around them were on that side. 
 The herdsmen of Numitor in the course of 
 the quarrel drove away some of the cattle 
 which were claimed as belonging to the 
 herdsmen of Amulius. Romulus and Remus 
 headed a band which they hastily called to- 
 gether, to pursue the depredators and bring 
 the cattle back. They succeeded in this ex- 
 pedition, and recaptured the herd. This in- 
 censed the party of Numitor, and they deter- 
 mined on revenge. 
 
 They waited some time for a favorable op- 
 
THE TWINS. 149 
 
 portunity. At length the time came for 
 celebrating a certain festival called the Super- 
 calia, which consisted of very rude games 
 and ceremonies, in which men sacrificed 
 goats, and then dressed themselves partially 
 in the skins, and ran about whipping every 
 one whom they met, with thongs made like- 
 wise of the skins of goats, or of rabbits, or 
 other animals remarkable for their fecundity. 
 The meaning of the ceremonies, so far as 
 such uncouth and absurd ceremonies could 
 have any meaning, was to honor the God of 
 fertility and fruitfulness, and to promote 
 the fruitfulness of their flocks and herds, 
 during the year ensuing at the time that 
 the celebrations were held. 
 
 The retainers and partisans of Numitor de- 
 termined on availing themselves of this op- 
 portunity to accomplish their object. Ac- 
 cordingly, they armed themselves, and com- 
 ing suddenly upon the spot where the shep- 
 herds of Amulius were celebrating the games, 
 they made a rush for Remus, who was at that 
 time, in accordance with the custom, running 
 to and fro, half-naked, and armed only with 
 goat-skin thongs. They succeeded in making 
 him prisoner, and bore him away in triumph 
 to Numitor. 
 
 Of course, this daring act produced great 
 excitement throughout the country. Numi- 
 tor was well pleased with the prize that he had 
 secured, but felt, at the same time, some fear 
 of the responsibility which he incurred by 
 holding the prisoner. He was strongly in- 
 
150 ROMULUS. 
 
 clined to proceed against Remus, and punish 
 him himself for the offenses which the herds- 
 men of his lands charged against him ; but he 
 finally concluded that this would not be safe, 
 and he determined, in the end, to refer the 
 case to Amulius for decision. He accordingly 
 sent Hem ns to Amulius, making grievous 
 charges against him, as a lawless desperado, 
 who, with his brother, Numitor said, were 
 the terror of the forests, through their domi- 
 neering temper and their acts of robbery and 
 rapine. 
 
 The king, pleased, perhaps, with the spirit 
 of deference to his regal authority on the 
 part of his brother, implied in the referring of 
 the case of the accused to him for trial, sent 
 Remus back again to Numitor, saying that 
 Numitor might punish the freebooter himself 
 in any way that he thought best. Remus 
 was accordingly brought again to Numitor's 
 house. In the mean time, the fact of his be- 
 ing thus made a prisoner, and charged with 
 crime, and the proceedings in relation to him, 
 in sending him back and forth between Amu- 
 lius and Numitor, strongly attracted public 
 attention. Every one was talking of the 
 prisoner, and discussing the question of his 
 probable fate. The general interest which 
 was thus awakened in respect to him and to 
 his brother Romulus, revived the slumbering 
 recollections in the minds of the old neigh- 
 bors of Faustulus, of the stories which he had 
 told them of his having found the twins on 
 the bank of the river, in their infancy. They 
 
THE TWINS. 151 
 
 told this story to Romulus, and he or some 
 other friends made it known to Remus while 
 he was still confined. 
 
 When Remus was brought before Numi- 
 tor — who was really his grandfather, though 
 the fact of this relationship was wholly 
 unknown to both of them — Numitor was 
 exceedingly struck with his handsome coun- 
 tenance and form, and with his fearless and 
 noble demeanor. The young prisoner seemed 
 perfectly self-possessed and at his ease, 
 and though he knew well that his life was 
 at stake, there was a certain air of calmness 
 and composure in his manner which seemed 
 to denote very lofty qualities, both of person 
 and mind. 
 
 A vague recollection of the lost children 
 of his daughter Rhea immediately flashed 
 across Numi tor's mind. It changed all his 
 anger against Remus to a feeling of wonder- 
 ing interest and curiosity, and gave to his 
 countenance, as he looked upon his prisoner, 
 an expression of kind and tender regard. 
 After a short pause Numitor addressed the 
 young captive — speaking in a gentle and 
 conciliating manner — and asked him who 
 he was, and who his parents were. 
 
 " I will frankly tell you all that I know," 
 said Remus, " since you treat me in so fair 
 and honorable a manner. The king deliv- 
 ered me up to be punished, without listening 
 to what I had to say, but you seem willing 
 to hear before you condemn. My name is 
 Remus, and I have a twin-brother named 
 
152 ROMULUS. 
 
 Romulus. "We have always supposed our- 
 selves to be the children of Faustulus, but 
 now, since this difficulty has occurred, we 
 have heard new tidings in respect to our 
 origin. AVe are told that we were found in 
 our infancy on the shore of the river, at the 
 place where Faustulus lives, and that snear by 
 there was a box or trough, in which we had 
 been floated down to the spot from a. place 
 above. When Faustulus found us, there 
 was a wolf and a woodpecker talcing care of 
 us and bringing us food. Fausimus carried 
 us to his house, and brought its up as his 
 children. He preserved the trough, too, and 
 has it now." 
 
 Numitor was, of course, greatly excited at 
 hearing this intelligence. He perceived at 
 once that the finding of these children, both 
 in respect to time and place, and to all the 
 attendant circumstances, corresponded so 
 precisely with the exposure of the children 
 of Rhea Silvia as to leave no reasonable 
 ground for doubt that Romulus and Remus 
 were his grandsons. He resolved immedi- 
 ately to communicate this joyful discovery 
 to his daughter, if he could contrive the 
 means of gaining access to her ; for during 
 all this time she had been kept in close con- 
 finement in her prison. 
 
 In the mean time, Romulus himself, at the 
 house of Faustulus, in the forests, had be- 
 come greatly excited by the circumstances 
 in which he found himself placed. He had 
 been first very much incensed at the capture 
 
THE TWINS. 153 
 
 of Remus, and while concerting with Faus- 
 tulus plans for rescuing him, Faustulus had 
 explained to him the mystery of his birth. 
 He had informed him not only how he was 
 found with his brother, on the bank of the 
 river, but also had made known to him 
 whose sons he and Eemus were. Romulus 
 was, of course, extremely elated at this in- 
 telligence. His native courage and energy 
 were quickened anew by his learning that he 
 and his brother were princes, and as he be- 
 lieved, rightfully entitled to the throne. He 
 immediately began to form plans for raising 
 a rebellion against the government of Amu- 
 lias, with a view of first rescuing Remus 
 from his power, and afterward taking such 
 ulterior steps as circumstances might re- 
 quire. 
 
 Faustulus, on the other hand, leaving 
 Romulus to raise the forces for his insurrec- 
 tion as he pleased, determined to go himself 
 to Numitor and reveal the secret of the birth 
 of Romulus and Remus to him. In order to 
 confirm and corroborate his story, he took 
 the trough with him, carrying it under his 
 cloak, in order to conceal it from view, and 
 in this manner made his appearance at the 
 gates of Alba. 
 
 There was something in his appearance 
 and manner when he arrived at the gate, 
 which, attracted the attention of the officers 
 on guard there. He wore the dress of a 
 countryman, and had obviously come in from 
 the forests, a long way ; and there was some- 
 
154 ROMULUS. 
 
 thing in his air which denoted hurry and 
 agitation. The soldiers asked him what he 
 had under his cloak, and compelled him to 
 produce the ark to view. The curiosity of 
 the guardsmen was still more strongly 
 aroused at seeing this, old relic. It was 
 bound with brass bands, and it had some 
 rude inscription 'marked upon it. It hap- 
 pened that one of the guard was an old 
 soldier who had been in some way connected 
 with the exposure of the children of Rhea 
 when they were set adrift in the river, and 
 he immediately recognized this trough as 
 the float which they had been placed in. 
 He immediately concluded that some very 
 extraordinary movement was going on, — 
 and he determined to proceed forthwith and 
 inform Amulius of what he had discovered. 
 He accordingly went to the king and in- 
 formed him that a man had been intercepted 
 at the gate of the city, who was attempting 
 to bring in, concealed under his cloak, the 
 identical ark or float, which to his certain 
 knowledge had been used in the case of the 
 children of Rhea Silvia, for sending them 
 adrift on the waters of the Tiber. 
 
 The king was greatly excited and agitated 
 at receiving this intelligence. He ordered 
 Faustulus to be brought into his presence. 
 Faustulus was much terrified at receiving 
 this summons. He had but little time to re- 
 flect what to say, and during the few min- 
 utes that elapsed while they were conducting 
 him into the presence of the king, he found 
 
THE TWINS. 155 
 
 it hard to determine how much it would be 
 best for him to admit, and how much to 
 deny. Finally, in answer to the interroga- 
 tions of the king, he acknowledged that he 
 found the children and the ark in which they 
 had been drifted upon the shore, and that 
 he had saved the boys alive, and brought 
 them up as his children. He said, however, 
 that he did not know where they were. 
 They had gone away, he alleged, some 
 years before, and were now living as shep- 
 herds in some distant part of the country, he 
 did not know exactly where. 
 
 Amulius then asked Faustulus what he 
 had been intending to do with the trough, 
 which he was bringing so secretly into the 
 city. Faustulus said that he was going to 
 carry it to Rhea in her prison, she having 
 often expressed a strong desire to see it, as 
 a token or memorial which would recall the 
 dear babes that had lain in it very vividly 
 to her mind. 
 
 Amulius seemed satisfied that these state- 
 ments were honest and true, but they awak- 
 ened in his mind a very great solicitude and 
 anxiety. He feared that the children, being 
 still alive, might some day come to the 
 knowledge of their origin, and so disturb 
 his possession of the throne, and perhaps 
 revenge, by some dreadful retaliation, the 
 wrongs and injuries which he had inflicted 
 upon their mother and their grandfather. 
 The people, he feared, would be very much 
 inclined to take part with them, and not 
 
156 ROMULUS. 
 
 with Lira, in any contest which might arise ; 
 for their sympathies were already on the 
 side of Numitor. In a word, he was greatly 
 alarmed, and he was much at a loss to know 
 what to do, to avert the danger which was 
 impending over him. 
 
 lie concluded to send to Numitor and in- 
 quire of him whether he was aware that the 
 boys were still alive, and if so, if he knew 
 where they were to be found, lie accord- 
 ingly sent a messenger to his brother, com- 
 missioned to make these inquiries. This 
 messenger, though in the service of Amulius, 
 was really a friend to Numitor, and on be- 
 ing admitted to Numitor's presence, when he 
 went to make the inquiries as directed by 
 the king, ho found Remus there, — though 
 not, as he had expected, in the attitude of a 
 prisoner awaiting sentence from a judge, 
 but rather in that of a son in affectionate 
 consultation with his father. He soon 
 learned the truth, and immediately expressed 
 his determination to espouse the cause of 
 the prince. " The whole city will be on 
 your side," said he to Remus. " You have 
 only to place yourself at the head of the 
 population, and proclaim your rights ; and 
 you will easily be restored to the possession 
 of them." 
 
 Just at this crisis a tumult was heard at 
 the gates of the city. Romulus had arrived 
 there at the head of the band of peasants 
 and herdsmen that he had collected in the 
 forests. These insurgents were rudely armed 
 
THE TWINS. 157 
 
 and were organized in a very simple and 
 primitive manner. For weapons the peas- 
 ants bore such implements of agriculture as 
 could be used for weapons, while the hunts- 
 men brought their pikes, and spears, and 
 javelins, and such other projectiles as were 
 employed in those days in hunting wild 
 beasts. The troop was divided into com- 
 panies of one hundred, and for banners they 
 bore tufts of grass on wisps of straw, or 
 fern, or other herbage, tied at the top of a 
 pole. The armament was rude, but the men 
 were resolute and determined, and they made 
 their appearance at the gates of the city 
 upon the outside, just in time to co-operate 
 with Remus in the rebellion which he had 
 raised within. 
 
 The revolt was successful. A revolt is 
 generally successful against a despot, when 
 the great mass of the population desire his 
 downfall. Amulius made a desperate at- 
 tempt to stem the torrent, but his hour had 
 come. His palace was stormed, and he was 
 slain. The revolution was complete, and 
 Romulus and Remus were masters of the 
 country. 
 
CHAPTEE 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF ROM?:. 
 
 As soon as the excitement and the agita 
 tions which attended the sudden revolution 
 by which Amulius was dethroned were in 
 some measure calmed, and tranquillity waa 
 restored, the question of the mode in which 
 the new government should be settled, arose. 
 Numitor considered it best that he should 
 call an assembly of the people and lay the 
 subject before them. There was a very 
 large portion of the populace who yet knew 
 nothing certain in respect to the causes of 
 the extraordinary events that had occurred. 
 The city was filled with strange rumors, in 
 all of which truth and falsehood were in- 
 extricably mingled, so that they increased 
 rather than allayed the general curiosity and 
 wonder. 
 
 Numitor accordingly convened a general 
 assembly of the inhabitants of Alba, in a 
 public square. The rude and rustic moun- 
 taineers and peasants whom Romulus had 
 brought to the city came with the rest. 
 Romulus and Remus themselves did not at 
 first appear. Kunritor, when the audience 
 was assembled, came forward to address 
 158 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 159 
 
 them. He gave them a recital of all the 
 events connected with the usurpation of 
 Amulius. He told them of the original 
 division which had been made thirty or 
 forty years before, of the kingdom and the 
 estates of his father, between Amulius and 
 himself, — of the plans and intrigues by which 
 Amulius had contrived to possess himself of 
 the kingdom and reduce him, Numitor, into 
 subjection to his sway, — of his causing 
 Egestus, Numitor's son, to be slain in the 
 hunting party, and then compelling his little 
 daughter Rhea to become a vestal virgin in 
 order that she might never be married. He 
 then went on to describe the birth of Romu- 
 lus and Remus, the anger of Amulius when 
 informed of the event, his cruel treatment 
 of the children and of the mother, and his 
 orders that the babes should be drowned in 
 the Tiber. He gave an account of the man- 
 ner in which the infants had been put into 
 the little wooden ark, of their floating down 
 the stream, and finally landing on the bank, 
 and of their being rescued, protected and 
 fed, by the wolf and the woodpecker. He 
 closed his speech by saying that the young 
 princes were still alive!, and that they w 7 ere 
 then at hand ready to present themselves 
 before the assembly. 
 
 As he said these words, Romulus and Re- 
 mus came forward, and the vast assembly, 
 after gazing for a moment in silent wonder 
 upon their tall and graceful forms, in which 
 they saw combined athletic strength and vigor 
 
 13 — Romulus 
 
160 EOMULUS. 
 
 with manly beauty, they burst into long and 
 loud acclamations. As soon as the applause 
 had in some measure subsided, Romulus and 
 Eemus turned to their grandfather and hailed 
 him king. The people responded to this an- 
 nouncement with new plaudits, and Numitor 
 was universally recognized as the rightful 
 sovereign. 
 
 It seems that notwithstanding the personal 
 graces and accomplishments of Romulus and 
 Remus, and their popularity among their 
 fellow foresters, that they and their fol- 
 lowers made a somewhat rude and wild ap- 
 pearance in the city, and Numitor was very 
 willing, when the state of things had become 
 somewhat settled, that his rustic auxiliaries 
 should find some occasion for withdrawing 
 from the capital and returning again to their 
 own native fastnesses. Romulus and Remus, 
 however, having now learned that they were 
 entitled to the regal name, naturally felt 
 desirous of possessing a little regal power, 
 and thus desired to remain in the city ; 
 while still they had too much consideration 
 for their grandfather to wish to deprive him 
 of the government. After some deliberation 
 a plan was devised which promised to gratify 
 the wishes of all. 
 
 The plan was this, namely, that Numitor 
 should set apart a place in his kingdom of 
 Latium Avhere Romulus and Remus might 
 build a city for themselves, — taking with 
 them to the spot the whole horde of their re- 
 tainers. The place which he designated for 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 161 
 
 this purpose was the spot on the banks of 
 the Tiber where the two children had been 
 landed when floating down the stream. It 
 was a wild and romantic region, and the en- 
 terprise of building a city upon it was one 
 exactly suited to engage the attention and 
 occupy the powers of such restless spirits as 
 those who had collected under the young 
 princes' standard. Many of these men, it is 
 true, were shepherds and herdsmen, well 
 disposed in mind, though rude and rough in 
 manners. But then there were many others 
 of a very turbulent and unmanageable char- 
 acter, outlaws, fugitives, and adventurers of 
 every description, who had fled to the woods 
 to escape punishment for former crimes, or 
 seek opportunities for the commission of new 
 deeds of rapine and robbery ; and who had 
 seized upon the occasion furnished by the 
 insurrection against Amulius to come forth 
 into the world again. Criminals always 
 flock into armies when armies are raised ; for 
 war presents to the wicked and depraved, all 
 the charms, with but half the danger, of a life 
 of crime. War is in fact ordinarily only a 
 legal organization of crime. 
 
 Romulus and Remus entered into their 
 grandfather's plan with great readiness. 
 Numitor promised to aid them in their en 
 terprise by every means in his power. He 
 was to furnish tools and implements, for ex- 
 cavations and building, and artisans so far 
 as artisans were required, and was also to 
 provide such temporary supplies of provisions 
 
162 ■ ROMULUS. 
 
 and stores as might be required at the outset 
 of the undertaking. He gave permission also 
 to any of his subjects to join .Romulus and 
 Remus in their undertaking, and they, in 
 order to increase their numbers as much 
 as possible, sent messengers around to the 
 neighboring country inviting all who were 
 disposed, to come and take part in the build- 
 ing of the new city. This invitation was ac- 
 cepted by great numbers of people, from 
 every rank and station in life. 
 
 Of course, however, the greater portion of 
 those who came to join the enterprise, were 
 of a very low grade in respect to moral 
 character. Men of industry, integrity, and 
 moral worth, who possessed kind hearts and 
 warm domestic affections, were generally 
 well and prosperously settled each in his 
 own hamlet or town, and were little inclined 
 to break away from the ties which bound 
 them to friends and society, in order to 
 plunge in such a scene of turmoil and con- 
 fusion as the building of a new city, under 
 snch circumstances, must necessarily be. It 
 was of course generally the discontented, the 
 idle, and the bad, that would hope for benefit 
 from such a change as this enterprise pro- 
 posed to them. Every restless and desperate 
 spirit, every depraved victim of vice, every 
 fugitive and outlaw would be ready to em- 
 bark in such a scheme, which was to create 
 certainly a new phase in their relations to 
 society, and thus afford them an opportunity 
 to make a fresh beginning. The enterprise 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 
 
 163 
 
 at the same time seemed to offer them, 
 through a new organization .and new laws, 
 some prospect of release from responsibility 
 for former crimes. In a word, in preparing 
 to lay the foundations of their city, Romulus 
 
 Situation of Rome. 
 
 and Remus found themselves at the head of 
 a very wild and lawless company- 
 There were seven distinct hills on the 
 ground which was subsequently included 
 within the limits of Rome. Between and 
 among these hills the river meandered by 
 sweeping and graceful curves, and at one 
 point, near the center of what is now the 
 
164 KOMULUS. 
 
 city, the stream passed very near the foot ot 
 one of the elevations called the Palatine Hill. 
 Here was the spot where the wooden ark in 
 which Romulus and Remus had been set 
 adrift, had been thrown upon the shore. 
 The sides of the hill were steep, and between 
 it and the river there was in one part a deep 
 morass. Romulus thought, on surveying 
 the ground with Remus his brother, that this 
 was the best spot for building the city. 
 They could set apart a sufficient space of 
 level ground around the foot of the hill for 
 the houses — inclosing the whole with a wall 
 — while the top of the hill itself might be 
 fortified to form the citadel. The wall and 
 the steep acclivity of the ground would form 
 a protection on three sides of the inclosure, 
 while the morass alone would be a sufficient 
 defense on the part toward the river. Then 
 Romulus was specially desirous to select this 
 spot as the site, as it was here that he and 
 his brother had been saved from destruction 
 in so wonderful a manner. 
 
 Remus, however, did not concur in these 
 views. A little farther down the stream 
 there was another elevation called the Aven- 
 tine Hill, which seemed to him more suit- 
 able for the site of a town. The sides were 
 less precipitous, and thus were more con- 
 venient for building ground. Then the land 
 in the immediate vicinity was better adapted 
 to the purposes which they had in view. In 
 a word, the Aventine Hill was, as Remus 
 thought, for every substantial reason, much 
 
THE FOUNDING OP HOME. 165 
 
 the best locality ; and as for the fact of their 
 having been washed ashore at the foot of 
 the other hill, it was in his opinion an in- 
 significant circumstance, wholly unworthy 
 of being taken seriously into the account in 
 laying the foundation of a city. 
 
 The positions in which Kemus and Romu- 
 lus stood in respect to each other, and the 
 feelings which were naturally awakened in 
 their hearts by the circumstances in which 
 they found themselves placed, were such as 
 did not tend to allay any rising asperity 
 which accident might occasion, but rather 
 to irritate and inflame it. In the first place, 
 they were both ardent, impulsive, and impe- 
 rious. Each was conscious of his strength, 
 and eager to exercise it. Each wished to 
 command, and was wholly unwilling to 
 obey. While they were in adversity, they 
 clung together for mutual help and protec- 
 tion ; but now, when they had come into 
 the enjoyment of prosperity and power, the 
 bands of affection which had bound them 
 together were very much weakened, and 
 were finally sundered. Then there was 
 nothing whatever to mark any superiority 
 of one over the other. If they had been of 
 different ages, the younger could have 
 yielded to the elder, in some degree, without 
 wounding his pride. If one had been more 
 prominent than the other in effecting the 
 revolution by which Amulius was dethroned, 
 or if there had been a native difference of 
 temperament or character to mark a dis- 
 
166 KOMULUS. 
 
 tinction, or if either had been designated by 
 Numitor, or selected by popular choice, for 
 the command, — all might have been well. 
 But there seemed in fact to be between them 
 no grounds of distinction whatever. They 
 were twins, so that neither could claim any 
 advantage of birthright. They were equal 
 in size, strength, activity, and courage. 
 They had been equally bokl and efficient in 
 effecting the revolution ; and now they 
 seemed equally powerful in respect to the 
 influence which they wielded over the minds 
 of their followers. We have been so long 
 accustomed to consider Romulus the more 
 distinguished personage, through the as- 
 sociations connected with his name, that 
 have arisen from his subsequent career, that 
 it is difficult for us to place him and his 
 brother on that footing of perfect equality 
 which they occupied in the estimation of all 
 who knew them in this part of their history. 
 This equality had caused no difference be- 
 tween them thus far, but now, since the ad- 
 vent of power and prosperity prevented their 
 continuing longer on a level, there neces- 
 sarily came up for decision the terrible ques- 
 tion, — terrible when two such spirits as theirs 
 have it to decide, — which was to yield the 
 palm. 
 
 The brothers, therefore, having each ex- 
 pressed his preference in respect to the best 
 place for the city, were equally unwilling to 
 recede from the ground which they had 
 taken. Remus thought that there was no 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 167 
 
 reason why he should yield to Romulus, and 
 Romulus was equally unwilling to give way 
 to Remus. Neither could yield, in fact, 
 without in some sense admitting the superi- 
 ority of the other. The respective partisans 
 of the two leaders began to take sides, and 
 the dissension threatened to become a serious 
 quarrel. Finally, being not yet quite ready 
 for an open rupture, they concluded to refer 
 the question to Xumitor, and to abide by 
 his decision. They expected that he would 
 come and view the ground, and so decide 
 where it was best that the city should be 
 built, and thus terminate the controversy. 
 
 But Numitor w r as too sagacious to hazard 
 the responsibility of deciding between two 
 such equally matched and powerful oppo- 
 nents. He endeavored to soothe and quiet 
 the excited feelings of his grandsons, and 
 finally recommended to them to appeal to 
 augury to decide the question. Augury was 
 a mode of ascertaining the divine will in 
 respect to questions of expediency or duty, 
 by means of certain prognostications and 
 signs. These omens were of various kinds, 
 but perhaps the most common were the ap- 
 pearances observed in watching the flight 
 of birds through the air. 
 
 It was agreed between Remus and Romu- 
 lus, in accordance with the advice of Numi- 
 tor, that the question at issue between them 
 should be decided in this wa} r . The} 7 " were 
 to take their stations on the two hills re- 
 spectively — the Palatine and the Aventine, 
 
168 ROMULUS. 
 
 and watch for vultures. The homes of the 
 vultures of Italy were among the summits 
 of the Apennines, and their function in the 
 complicated economy of animal life, was to 
 watch from the lofty peaks of the moun- 
 tains, or from the still more aerial and com- 
 manding positions which they found in soar- 
 ing at vast elevations in the air, for the 
 bodies of the dead, — whether of men after a 
 battle, or of sheep, or cattle, or wild beasts 
 of the forests, killed by accident or dying 
 of age, — and when found to remove and de- 
 vour them ; and thus to hasten the return 
 of the lifeless elements to other forms of 
 animal and vegetable life. What the earth, 
 and the rite of burial, effects for man in 
 advanced and cultivated stages of society, 
 the vultures of the Apennines were com- 
 missioned to perform for all the animal com- 
 munities of Italy, in Numitor's time. 
 
 To enable the vulture to accomplish the 
 work assigned him, he is endowed with an 
 inconceivable strength of wing, to sustain 
 his flight over the vast distances which he 
 has to traverse, and up to the vast elevations 
 to which he must sometimes soar ; and also 
 with some mysterious and extraordinary 
 sense, whether of sight or smell, to enable 
 him readily to find, at any hour, the spot 
 where his presence is required, however re- 
 mote or however hidden it may be. Guided 
 by this instinct, he flies from time to time 
 with a company of his fellows, from moun- 
 tain to mountain, or wheels slowly in vast 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 1G9 
 
 circles over the plains— surveying the whole 
 surface of the ground, and assuredly finding 
 his work ; — finding it too equally easily, 
 whether it lie exposed in the open field, or 
 is hidden, no matter how secretly, in forest, 
 thicket, grove or glen. 
 
 It was, to certain appearances, indicated 
 in the flight of these birds — such as the num- 
 ber that were seen at a time, the quarter of 
 the heavens in which they appeared, the 
 direction in which they flew, as from left 
 to right or from right to left — that the 
 people of Numitor's day were accustomed 
 to look for omens and auguries. So Romu- 
 lus and Remus took their stations on the 
 hills which they had severally chosen, each 
 surrounded by a company of his own adher- 
 ents and friends, and began to watch the 
 skies. It was agreed that the decision of 
 the question between the two hills should 
 be determined by the omens which should 
 appear to the respective observers stationed 
 upon them. 
 
 But it happened, unfortunately, that the 
 rules for the interpretation of auguries and 
 omens were far too indefinite and vague to 
 answer the purpose for which they were 
 now appealed to. The most unequivocal 
 distinctness and directness in giving its re- 
 sponses is a very essential requisite in any 
 tribunal that is called upon as an umpire, to 
 settle disputes ; while the ancient auguries 
 and oracles were always susceptible of a 
 great variety of interpretations. When 
 
170 ROMULUS. 
 
 Remus and Romulus commenced their watch 
 no vultures were to be seen from either hill. 
 They waited till evening, still none appeared. 
 They continued to watch through the night. 
 In the morning a messenger came over from 
 the Palatine hill to Remus on the Aventine, 
 informing him that vultures had appeared 
 to Romulus. Remus did not believe it. At 
 last, however, the birds really came into 
 view ; a flock of six were seen by Remus, 
 and afterward one of twelve by Romulus. 
 The observations were then suspended, and 
 the parties came together to confer in respect 
 to the result ; but the dispute, instead of 
 bein<y settled, was found to be in a worse 
 condition than ever. The point now to be 
 determined was whether six vultures seen 
 first, or twelve, seen afterward, were the 
 better omen, that is whether numbers, or 
 simple priority of appearance, should decide 
 the question. In contending in respect to 
 this nice point the brothers became more 
 angry with each other than ever. Their 
 respective partisans took sides in the contest, 
 which resulted finally in an open and vio- 
 lent collision. Romulus and Remus them- 
 selves seem to have commenced the affray 
 by attacking one another. Faustulus, their 
 foster-father, who, from having had the 
 care of them from their earliest infancy, 
 felt for them an almost parental affection, 
 rushed between them to prevent them from 
 shedding each other's blood. He was struck 
 down and killed on the spot, by some un- 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 17 1 
 
 known hand. A brother of Faustulus too, 
 named Plistinus, who had lived near to him, 
 and had known the boys from their infancy, 
 and had often assisted in taking care of 
 them, was killed in the endeavor to aid his 
 brother to appease the tumult. 
 
 At length the disturbance was quelled. 
 The result of the conflict was, however, to 
 show that Romulus and his party were the 
 strongest. Romulus accordingly went on to 
 build the walls of the city at the spot which 
 he had first chosen. The lines were marked 
 out, and the excavations were commenced 
 with great ceremony. 
 
 In laying out the work, the first thing to 
 be done was to draw the lines of what was 
 called the jponmrium. The pomcerium was 
 a sort of symbolical wall, and was formed 
 simply by turning a furrow with a plow all 
 around the city, at a considerable distance 
 from the real walls, for the purpose, not of 
 establishing lines of defense, but of marking 
 out what were to be the limits of the corpo- 
 ration, so to speak, for legal and ceremonial 
 purposes. Of course, the pomcerium in- 
 cluded a much greater space than the real 
 walls, and the people were allowed to build 
 houses anywhere within this outer inclosure, 
 or even without it, though not very near to 
 it. Those who built thus were, of course, 
 not protected in case of an attack, and of 
 course they would, in such case, be compelled 
 to abandon their houses, and retreat for 
 safety within the proper walls. 
 
172 ROMULUS. 
 
 So Romulus proceeded to mark out the 
 pomcerium of the city, employing in the 
 work the ceremonies customary on such 
 occasions. The plow used was made of 
 copper, and for a team to draw it a bullock 
 and a heifer were yoked together. Men 
 appointed for the purpose followed the plow, 
 and carefully turned over the clods toward 
 the wall of the city. This seems to have 
 been considered an essential part of the 
 ceremony. At the places where roads were 
 to pass in toward the gates of the city, the 
 plow was lifted out of the ground and carried 
 over the requisite space, so as to leave the 
 turf at those points unbroken. This was a 
 necessary precaution ; for there was a certain 
 consecrating influence that was exerted by 
 this ceremonial plowing which hallowed the 
 ground wherever it passed in a manner that 
 would very seriously interfere with its use- 
 fulness as a public road. 
 
 The form of the space inclosed by the 
 pomcerium, as Romulus plowed it, was nearly 
 square, and it included not merely the Pala- 
 tine hill itself, but a considerable portion of 
 level land around it. 
 
 Though Romulus thus seemed to have 
 conquered, in the strife with Remus, the 
 difficulty was not yet fully settled. Remus 
 was very little disposed to acquiesce in his 
 brother's assumed superiority over him. He 
 Avas sullen, morose, and ill at ease, and was 
 inclined to take little part in the proceedings 
 which were going on. Finally an occasion 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 173 
 
 occurred which produced a crisis, and brought 
 the rivalry and enmity of the brothers sud- 
 denly and forever to an end. Eemus was 
 one day standing by a part of the Avail which 
 his brother's workmen were building, and 
 expressing, in various ways, and with great 
 freedom, his opinions of his brother's plans; 
 and finally he began to speak contemptuously 
 of the wall which the workman were build- 
 ing. Romulus all the time was standing by. 
 At length, in order to enforce what he said 
 about the insufficiency of the work, Remus 
 leaped over a portion of it, saying, " This is 
 the way the enemy will leap over your wall." 
 Hereupon Romulus seized a mattock from 
 the hands of one of the laborers, and struck 
 his brother down to the ground with it, 
 saying, " And this is the way that we will 
 kill them if they do." Remus was killed by 
 the blow. 
 
 As soon as the deed was done, Romulus 
 was at once overwhelmed with remorse and 
 horror at the atrocity of the crime which he 
 had been so suddenly led to commit. His 
 anguish was so great for a time that he re- 
 fused all food, and he could not sleep. He 
 caused the dead body of Remus, and also 
 those of Faustulus and of Plistinus, the 
 brother of Faustulus, to be buried with the 
 most solemn and imposing funeral cere- 
 monies, so as to render all possible honor to 
 their memory ; and then, not satisfied with 
 this, he instituted and celebrated certain 
 religious rites, to prevent the ghosts of the 
 
174 KOMULUS. 
 
 deceased from coming back to haunt him. 
 The ghosts, or specters of the dead that 
 came back to haunt and terrify the living 
 were called lemures. Hence the celebration 
 which Romulus ordained was called the 
 Lemuria, and it continued to be annually 
 observed in Eome during the whole period 
 of its subsequent history. 
 
 Precisely what the ceremonies were which 
 Romulus performed to appease the spirit of 
 his brother cannot now be ascertained, as 
 there was no particular description of them 
 recorded. But the Lemuria, as afterward per- 
 formed, were frequently described by Roman 
 writers, and they were of a very curious and 
 extraordinary character. The time for the 
 celebration of these rites was in May, the 
 anniversary, as was supposed, of the days in 
 which Romulus originally celebrated them. 
 The Lemurial ceremonies extended through 
 three days, or rather nights, although for 
 some curious reason or other, they were al- 
 ternate and not consecutive nights. They 
 were the nights of the ninth, eleventh, and 
 thirteenth of May. The ceremonies were 
 performed in the night, for the reason that 
 it was in the dark hours that ghosts and 
 goblins were accustomed, as was supposed, 
 to roam about the world to haunt and terrify 
 men. 
 
 The ceremonies performed on these occa- 
 sions are thus described. They commenced 
 at midnight. The father of the family would 
 rise at that hour and go out at the door of 
 
JJ — Romulus 
 
THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 175 
 
 4ie house, making certain gesticulations and 
 signals with his hands, which were supposed 
 to have the effect of keeping the specters 
 away. He then washed his hands three times 
 in pure spring water. Then he filled his 
 mouth with a certain kind of black beans 
 for which ghosts were supposed to have some 
 particular fondness. Being thus provided he 
 would walk along, taking the beans out of 
 his mouth as he walked, and throwing them 
 behind him. The specters were supposed 
 to gather up these beans as he threw them 
 down. He must, however, by no means look 
 round to see them. He then, after speaking 
 certain mysterious and cabalistic words, 
 washed his hands again, and then making 
 a frightful noise by striking brass basins 
 together, he shouted out nine times, " Ghosts 
 of this house begone ! " This was supposed 
 effectuallj- to drive the specters away — an 
 opinion which was always abundantly con- 
 firmed by the fact ; for on looking round 
 after this vociferated adjuration, the man 
 always found that the specters were gone ! 
 When by these ceremonies, or ceremonies 
 such as these, Romulus had appeased the 
 spirit of his brother, and those of the guard- 
 ians of his childhood, his mind became 
 more composed, and he turned his attention 
 once more toward the building of the city. 
 The party of Remus now, of course, since it 
 was deprived of its head, no longer main- 
 tained itself, but was gradually broken up 
 and merged in the general mass. Romulus 
 
176 ROMULUS. 
 
 became the sole leader of the enterprise, and 
 immediately turned his attention to the meas- 
 ures to be adopted for a more complete and 
 effectual organization of the community 
 over which he found himself presiding. 
 
 In respect to Remus, it ought perhaps to 
 be added, that after his death a story was 
 circulated in Rome that it was a man named 
 Celer, and not Romulus, that killed him. This 
 story has not, however, been generally be- 
 lieved. It has been thought more probable 
 that Romulus himself, or some of his par- 
 tisans and friends, invented and circulated 
 the story of Celer, in order to screen him in 
 some degree from the reproach of so un- 
 natural a crime as the killing of a brother so 
 near and dear to him as Remus had been ; — 
 a brother who had shared his infancy with 
 him, who had slept with him, at the same 
 time, in the arms of his mother, who had 
 floated with him down the Tiber in the same 
 ark, been saved from death by the same 
 miraculous intervention, and through all the 
 years of infancy, childhood, and youth, had 
 been his constant playmate, companion, and 
 friend. The crime was as much more atro- 
 cious than any ordinary fratricide, as Remus 
 had been nearer to ' Romulus thaD any 
 ordinary brother. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ORGANIZATION. 
 
 There has been a great deal of philo- 
 sophical discussion, and much debate, among 
 historians and chronologists, in attempting 
 to fix the precise year in which Romulus 
 commenced the building of Rome. The 
 difficulty arises from the fact, that no reg- 
 ular records of public events were made in 
 those ancient days. In modern times, such 
 records are very systematically kept, — an 
 express object of them being to preserve and 
 perpetuate a knowledge of the exact truth 
 in respect to the time, and the attendant 
 circumstances, relating to all great transac- 
 tions. On the other hand, the memory of 
 public events in early periods of the world, 
 was preserved only through tradition ; and 
 tradition cares little for the exact and the 
 true. She seeks only for what is entertain- 
 ing. Her function being simply to give 
 pleasure to successive generations of listeners, 
 by exciting their curiosity and wonder with 
 tales, — which, the more strange and romantic 
 they are, the better they are suited to her 
 purpose — she concerns herself very little with 
 such simple verities as dates and names. The 
 
 177 
 
178 ROMULUS. 
 
 exposure of the twin infants of Rhea, suppos- 
 ing such an event to have actually happened, 
 she remembered well, and repeated thf, nar- 
 rative of it — adorning it, doubtless, with 
 many embellishments — from age to age, so 
 that the whole story comes down to modern 
 times in full detail ; but as to the time when 
 the event took place, she gave herself no 
 concern. The date would have added noth- 
 ing to the romance of the st( 
 was neglected and forgotten. 
 
 In subsequent times, however, when regu- 
 lar historical annals began to be recorded, 
 chronologists attempted to reason backward, 
 from events whose periods were known, 
 through various data which they ingeniously 
 obtained from the preceding and less formal 
 narratives, until they obtained the dates of 
 earlier events by a species of calculation. 
 In this way the time for the building of Home 
 was determined to be about the year 754 be- 
 fore Christ. As to Romulus himself, the tra- 
 dition is that he was but eighteen or twenty 
 years old when he commenced the building 
 of it. If this is true, his extreme youth goes 
 far to palliate some of the wrongs which he 
 perpetrated — wrongs which would have been 
 far more inexcusable if committed with the 
 deliberate purpose of middle life, than if 
 prompted by the unthinking impulses and 
 passions of eighteen. 
 
 A certain Roman philosopher, named Var- 
 ro, who lived some centuries after the build- 
 ing of the city, conceived of a very ingenious 
 
ORGANIZATION. 179 
 
 plan for discovering the year in which Rom- 
 ulus was born. It was tin's. By means of 
 the science of astrology, as practised in those 
 days, certain learned magicians used to pre- 
 dict what the life and fortunes of any man 
 would be, from the aspects and phases of the 
 planets and other heavenly bodies at the 
 time of his birth. The idea of Varro was to 
 reverse this process in the case of Romulus ; 
 that is, to deduce from the known facts of 
 his history what must have been the relative 
 situations of the planets and stars when he 
 came into the world ! He accordingly ap- 
 plied to a noted astrologer to work out the 
 problem for him. Given, a history of the 
 incidents and events occurring to the man in 
 his progress through life; required, the ex- 
 act condition of the skies when the child 
 was born. In other words, the astrologer 
 was to determine what must have been the 
 relative positions of the sun, moon, and stars, 
 at the birth of Romulus, in order to produce 
 a being whose life should exhibit such trans- 
 actions and events as those which appeared 
 in Romulus's subsequent history. When the 
 astrologer had thus ascertained the condition 
 of the skies at the time in question, the as- 
 tronomers, as Yarro concluded, could easily 
 calculate the month and the year when the 
 combination must have occurred. 
 
 Now, it was the custom in those days to 
 reckon by Olympiads, which were periods of 
 four years, the series commencing with a 
 great victory at a foot-race in Greece, won 
 
180 ROMULUS. 
 
 by a man named Coroebus, from which event 
 originated the Olympian games, which were 
 afterward celebrated every four years, and 
 which in subsequent ages became so re- 
 nowned. The time when Coroebus ran his 
 race, and thus furnished an era for all the sub- 
 sequent chronologists and historians of his 
 country, is generally regarded as about the 
 year 776 before Christ ; and the result of the 
 calculations of Yarro's astrologer, and of the 
 astronomers who perfected it, was, that to 
 lead such a life as Romulus led, a man must 
 have been born at a time corresponding with 
 the first year of the second Olympiad ; that 
 is, taking off from 776, four years, for the 
 first Olympaid, the first } 7 ear of the second 
 Olympaid would be 772 ; this would make 
 the time of his birth 772 before Christ ; and 
 then deducting eighteen years more, for the 
 age of Komulus when he began to build his 
 wall, we have 754 before Christ as the era 
 of the foundation of Kome. This method 
 of determining a point in chronology seems 
 so absurd, according to the ideas of the present 
 day, that we can hardly resist the conclusion, 
 that Varro, in making his investigation, was 
 really guided by other and more satisfactory 
 modes of determining the point, and that the 
 horoscope was not what he actually relied 
 upon. However this may be, the era which 
 he fixed upon has been very generally re- 
 ceived, though many others have been pro- 
 posed by the different learned men who have 
 successively investigated the question. 
 
ORGANIZATION. 181 
 
 According to the accounts given by the 
 early writers, the constructions which Romu- 
 lus and his companions made were of a very 
 rude and simple character; such as might 
 have been expected from a company of 
 boys : for boys we ought perhaps to con- 
 sider them all, since it is not to be presumed 
 that the troop, in respect to age and experi- 
 ence, would be much in advance of the lead- 
 ers. The wall which they built about the 
 city was probably only a substantial stone 
 fence, and their houses were huts and hovels. 
 Even the palace, for there was a building 
 erected for Romulus himself which was 
 called the palace, was made, it is said, of 
 rushes. Perhaps the meaning is that it was 
 thatched with rushes, — or possibly the ex- 
 pression refers to a mode of building some- 
 times adopted in the earlier stages of civiliza- 
 tion, in which straw, or rushes, or some 
 similar material is mixed with mud or clay 
 to help bind the mass together, the whole 
 being afterward dried in the sun. Walls 
 thus made have been found to possess much 
 more strength and durability than would 
 be supposed possible for such a material to 
 attain. 
 
 However this may be, the hamlet of huts 
 which Romulus and his wild coadjutors 
 built and walled in, must have appeared, at 
 the time, to all observers, a very rude and 
 imperfect attempt at building a city ; in fact 
 it must have seemed to them, if it is true 
 that Romulus was at that time only eight- 
 
182 ROMULUS. 
 
 een years old, more like a frolic of thought- 
 less boys than a serious enterprise of men. 
 Romulus, however, whatever others may 
 nave thought of his work, was wholly in 
 earnest. He felt that he was a prince, and 
 proud of his birth, and fully conscious of 
 his intellectual and personal power, he de- 
 termined that he would have a kingdom. 
 
 It seems, however, that thus far he had 
 not been considered as possessing anything 
 like regal authority over his company of 
 followers, but had been regarded only as a 
 sort of chieftain exercising an undefined and 
 temporary power ; for as soon as the huts 
 were built and the inclosures made, he is 
 said to have convened an assembly of the 
 people, for consultation in respect to the 
 plan of government that they should form. 
 Romulus introduced the business of this 
 meeting by a speech appropriate to the oc- 
 casion, which speech is reported by an an- 
 cient historian somewhat as follows. Wheth- 
 er Romulus actually spoke the words thus 
 attributed to him, or whether the report 
 contains only what the reporter himself im- 
 agined him to say, there is now no means of 
 knowing. 
 
 " "We have now," said Romulus, according 
 to this record, " completed the building of 
 our city, so far as at present we are able to 
 do it ; and it must be confessed that if we 
 were required to depend for protection 
 against a serious attack from an enemy, on 
 the height of our walls, or on their strength 
 
ORGANIZATION. 183 
 
 and solidity, our prospects would not be 
 very encouraging. But our walls we must 
 remember are not what we rely upon. JS T o 
 walls can be so high, that an enemy cannot 
 scale them. The dependence must be after 
 all on the men within the city, and not on 
 the ramparts and entrenchments which sur- 
 round it, whatever those ramparts and en- 
 trenchments may be. We must therefore 
 rely upon ourselves, for our safety ; — upon 
 our valor, our discipline, our union and har- 
 mon} r . It is courage and energy in the 
 people, not strength in outward defenses, on 
 which the safety and prosperity of a State 
 must depend. 
 
 " The great work before us therefore is 
 yet to be done. We have to organize a 
 government under which order and disci- 
 pline may come in, to control and direct our 
 energies, and prepare us to meet whatever 
 future exigencies may arise, whether of 
 peace or war. What form shall be given to 
 this government is the question that you 
 have now to consider. I have learned by 
 inquiry that there are various modes of 
 government adopted among men, and be- 
 tween these we have now to decide. Shall 
 our commonwealth be governed by one 
 man ? Or shall Ave select a certain number 
 of the wisest and bravest of the citizens, and 
 commit the administration of public affairs 
 to them ? Or, in the third place, shall we 
 commit the management of the government 
 to the control of the people at large ? Each 
 
184 KOMULUS. 
 
 of these three forms has its advantages, and 
 each is attended with its own peculiar dan- 
 
 gers. You are to choose between them. 
 >nly when the decision is once made, let us 
 all unite in maintaining the government 
 which shall be established, whatever its 
 form may be.'' 
 
 The result of the deliberation which fol- 
 lowed, after the delivery of this address, was 
 that the government of the state should be, 
 like the government of Alba, under which 
 the followers of Romulus had been born, a 
 monarchy ; and that Romulus himself should 
 be king. He was a prince by birth, an in- 
 heritor of regal rank and power, by regular 
 succession, from a line of kings. He had 
 shown himself, too, by his deeds, to be 
 worthy of power. He w T as courageous, en- 
 ergetic, sagacious, and universally esteemed. 
 It was decided accordingly that he should 
 be king, and he was proclaimed such by all 
 the assembled multitude, w T ith long and loud 
 acclamations. 
 
 Notwithstanding the apparent unanimity 
 and earnestness of the people, however, in 
 calling Romulus to the throne, he evinced, 
 as the story goes, the proper degree of that 
 reluctance and hesitation which a suitable 
 regard to appearances seems in all ages to 
 require of public men when urged to accept 
 of power. He was thankful to the people 
 for the marks of their confidence, but he 
 could not consent to assume the responsibil- 
 ities and prerogatives of power until the 
 
ORGANIZATION. 185 
 
 choice made by his countrymen had been 
 confirmed by the divinities of the land. So 
 he resolved on instituting certain solemn 
 religious ceremonies, during the progress of 
 which he hoped to receive some manifesta- 
 tion of the divine will. These ceremonies 
 consisted principally of sacrifices which he 
 caused to be offered on the plain near the 
 city. "While Romulus was engaged in these 
 services, the expected token of the divine 
 approval appeared in a supernatural light 
 which shone upon his hand. At least it was 
 said that such a light was seen, and the ap- 
 pearing of it was considered as clearly con- 
 firming the right of Romulus to the throne. 
 He no longer made any objection to assum- 
 ing the government of the new city as its 
 acknowledged king. 
 
 The first object to which he gave his at- 
 tention was the organization of the people, 
 and the framing of the general constitution 
 of society. The community over which he 
 was called to preside had consisted thus far 
 of very heterogeneous and discordant ma- 
 terials. Yast numbers of the people were 
 of the humblest and most degraded condi- 
 tion, consisting of ignorant peasants, some 
 stupid, others turbulent and ungovernable ; 
 and of refugees from justice, such as thieves, 
 robbers, and outlaws of every degree. But 
 then, on the other hand, there were many 
 persons of standing and respectability. The 
 sons of families of wealth and influence in 
 Alba had, in many cases, joined the expedi- 
 
18G HOMULUS. 
 
 tion, and at last, when the buho.ing o5 the 
 city had advanced so far as to make ili ap- 
 pear that the enterprise might succeed, more 
 men of age and character came to join it, so 
 that Romulus found himseir, when he for- 
 mally assumed the kingly power, at the head 
 of a community which contained the ele- 
 ments of a very respectable common wealth. 
 These elements were, however, thus far all 
 mingled together in complete confusion, and 
 the work that was first to be done was to 
 adopt some plan for classifying and arrang- 
 ing them. 
 
 It is most probable, as a matter of fact, 
 that the organization and the institutions 
 which in subsequent times appeared in the 
 Roman state, were not deliberately planned 
 and formally introduced by Romulus at the 
 outset, but that they gradually grew up in 
 the progress of time, and that afterward 
 historians and philosophers, in speculating 
 upon them at their leisure, carried back the 
 history of them to thee arliest times, in 
 order, by so doing, to honor the founder of 
 the city, and also to exalt and aggrandize 
 the institutions themselves in public estima- 
 tion, by celebrating the antiquity and dig- 
 nity of their origin. 
 
 The institutions which Romulus actually 
 founded, were of a very republican charac- 
 ter, if the accounts of subsequent writers 
 are to be believed. He established, it is true, 
 a gradation of ranks, but the most impor- 
 tant offices, civil and military, were filled, 
 
ORGANIZATION. 187 
 
 it is said, by election on the part of the 
 people. In the first place, the whole popu- 
 lation was divided into three portions, which 
 were called tribes, which word was formed 
 from the Latin word ires, meaning three. 
 These tribes chose each three presiding of- 
 ficers, selecting for the purpose the oldest 
 and most distinguished of their number. It 
 is probable, in fact, that Romulus himself 
 really made the selection, and that the action 
 of the people was confined to some sort of 
 expression of assent and concurrence ; for it 
 is difficult to imagine how any other kind 
 of election than this could be possible among 
 so rude and ignorant a multitude. The 
 tribes were then subdivided each into thirty 
 counts or counties, and each of these like- 
 wise elected its head. Thus there was a 
 large body of magistrates or chieftains ap- 
 pointed, ninety-nine in number, namely, 
 nine heads of tribes and ninety heads of 
 counties. Romulus himself added one to 
 the number, of his own independent selec- 
 tion, which made the hundredth. The men 
 thus chosen, constituted what was called the 
 senate. They formed the great legislative 
 council of the nation. They and the families 
 descending from them became, in subse- 
 quent times, an aristocratic and privileged 
 class, called the Patricians. The remaining 
 portion of the population were called Ple- 
 beians. 
 
 The Plebeians comprised, of course, the 
 industrial and useful classes, and were in 
 
188 KOMTTLTTS. 
 
 rank and station inferior to the Patricians. 
 They were, however, not all upon a level 
 with each other, for they were divided into 
 two great classes, called patrons and clients. 
 The patrons were the employers, the pro- 
 prietors, the men of influence and capital. 
 The clients were the employed, the depend- 
 ent, the poor. The clients were to perform 
 services of various kinds for the patrons, 
 and the patrons were to reward, to protect, 
 and to defend the clients. All these arrange- 
 ments Romulus is said to have ordained by 
 his enactments, and thus introduced as ele- 
 ments in the social constitution of the state. 
 It is more probable, however, that instead 
 of being thus expressly established, by the 
 authority of Romulus as a lawgiver, they 
 gradually grew up of themselves, perhaps 
 with some fostering attention and care on 
 his part, and possibly under some positive 
 regulation of law. For such important and 
 complicated relations as these are not of a 
 nature to be easily called into existence and 
 action, in an extended and unorganized com- 
 munity, by the mere fiat of a military chief- 
 tain. 
 
 Perhaps, however, it is not intended by 
 the ancient historians, in referring all these 
 complicated arrangements of the Roman 
 civil polity to the enactments of Romulus, to 
 convey the idea that he introduced them at 
 once in all their completeness, at the outset 
 of his reign. Romulus continued king of 
 Rome for nearly forty years, and instead of 
 
ORGANIZATION. 189 
 
 making formal and positive enactments, be 
 may have gradually introduced the arrange- 
 ments ascribed to him, as usages which he 
 fostered and encouraged, — con firming and 
 sanctioning them from to time, when oc- 
 casion required, by edicts and laws. 
 
 However this may have been, it is certain 
 that Komulus, in the course of his reign, 
 laid the foundation of the future greatness 
 and glory of Home, by the energ}^ with 
 which he acted in introducing order, system, 
 and discipline into the community which he 
 found gathered around him. He seems to 
 have had the sagacity to perceive from the 
 outset that the great evil and danger which 
 he had to fear was the prevalence of the 
 spirit of disorder and misrule among his fol- 
 lowers. In fact, nothing but tumult and 
 confusion was to have been expected from 
 such a lawless horde as his, and even after 
 the city was built, the presumption must 
 have been very strong in the mind of any 
 considerate and prudent man, against the 
 possibility of ever regulating and controlling 
 such a mass of heterogeneous and discordant 
 materials, by any human means. Romulus 
 saw, however, that in effecting this purpose 
 lay the only hope of the success of his en- 
 terprise, and he devoted himself with great 
 assiduity and care, and at the same time 
 with great energy and success, to the work 
 of organizing it. The great leading objects 
 of his life, from the time that he commenced 
 the government of the new city, were to 
 
 14 — Romulus 
 
190 ROMULUS. 
 
 arrange and regulate social institutions, to 
 establish laws, to introduce discipline, to 
 teach and accustom men to submit to au- 
 thority, and to bring in the requirements of 
 law, and the authority of the various rec- 
 ognized relations of social life, to control 
 and restrain the wayward impulses of the 
 natural heart. 
 
 As a part of this system of policy, he laid 
 great stress upon the parental and family 
 relation. lie saw in the tie which binds the 
 father to the child and the child to the 
 father, a natural bond which he foresaw 
 would greatly aid him in keeping the tur- 
 bulent and boisterous propensities of human 
 nature under some proper control. He ac- 
 cordingly magnified and confirmed the nat- 
 ural force of parental authority by adding 
 the sanctions of law to it. He defined and 
 established the power of the father to govern 
 and control the son, rightly considering that 
 the father is the natural ally of the state in 
 restraining yo\mg men from violence, and 
 enforcing na bits of industry and order upon 
 them, at an age when they most need con- 
 trol. He clothed parents, therefore, with 
 authority to fulfil this function, consider- 
 ing that what he thus aided them to do, was 
 so much saved for the civil magistrate and 
 the state. In fact, he carried this so far 
 that it is said that the dependence of the 
 child upon the father, under the institutions 
 of Romulus, was more complete, and was 
 protracted to a later period than was the 
 
ORGANIZATION. 191 
 
 case under the laws of any other nation. 
 The power of the father over his household 
 was supreme. He was a magistrate, so far 
 as his children were concerned, and could 
 thus not only require their services, and 
 inflict light punishments for disobedience 
 upon them, as with us, but he could sentence 
 them to the severest penalties of the law, if 
 guilty of crime. 
 
 The laws were equally stringent in respect 
 to the marriage tie. Death was the penalty 
 for the violation of the marriage vows. All 
 property belonging to the husband and to 
 the wife was held by them in common, and 
 the wife, if she survived the husband, and if 
 the husband died without a will, became 
 his sole heir. In a word, the laws of Rom- 
 ulus evince a very strong desire on the 
 part of the legislator to sustain the sacred- 
 ness and to magnify the importance of the 
 family tie; and to avail himself of those 
 instinctive principles of obligation and duty 
 which so readily arise in the human mind 
 out of the various relations of the family 
 state, in the plans which he formed for sub- 
 duing the impulses and regulating the action 
 of his rude community. 
 
 He devoted great attention too to the in- 
 stitutions of religion. He knew w T ell that 
 such lawless and impetuous spirits as his 
 could never be fully subdued and held in 
 proper subordination to the rules of social 
 order and moral duty, without the influence 
 of motives drawn from the spiritual world ; 
 
192 ROMULUS. 
 
 and he accordingly adopted vigorous meas- 
 ures for confirming and perpetuating such 
 religious observances as were at that time 
 observed, and in introducing others. Every 
 public act which he performed was always 
 accompanied and sanctioned by religious 
 solemnities. 'The rites and ceremonies which 
 he instituted seem puerile to us, but they 
 Avere full of meaning and of efficacy in the 
 view of those who performed them. There 
 was, for example, a class of religious func- 
 tionaries called augurs, whose office it was 
 to interpret the divine will by means of cer- 
 tain curious indications which it was their 
 special profession to understand. There 
 were three of these augurs, and they were 
 employed on all public occasions, both in 
 peace and Avar, to ascertain from the omens 
 whether the enterprise or the work in regard 
 to which they Avere consulted was or Avas 
 not favored by the councils of heaven. If 
 the augury was propitious the work was en- 
 tered upon Avith vigor and confidence. If 
 otherwise, it was postponed or abandoned. 
 
 The omens which the augurs observed 
 Avere of various kinds, being drawn some- 
 times from certain peculiarities in the form 
 and structure of the internal organs of 
 animals offered in sacrifice, sometimes from 
 the appearance of birds in the sky, their 
 numbers or the direction of their flight, and 
 sometimes from the forms of clouds, the ap- 
 pearance of the lightning, and the sound of 
 the thunder, Whenever the augurs were to 
 
BomulKS,/acep. 192 
 
 Rhea Sylvia Feeding the Sacred Fire. {Seep. 121.) 
 
ORGANIZATION. 193 
 
 take the auspices from any of the signs of 
 the sky, the process was this. They would 
 go with solemn ceremony to some high place 
 — in Rome there was a station expressly con- 
 secrated to this purpose on the Capitoline 
 hill, — and there, with a sort of magical wand 
 which they had for the purpose, one of the 
 number would determine and indicate the 
 four quarters of the heaven, pointing out in 
 a solemn manner the directions of east, west, 
 north and south. The augur would then 
 take his stand with his back to the Avest and 
 his face of course to the east. The north 
 would then be on his left hand and the south 
 at his right. He would then, in this posi- 
 tion watch for the signs. If it was from the 
 thunder that the auspices were to be taken, 
 the augur would listen to hear from what 
 quarter of the heavens it came. If the light- 
 ning appeared in the east and the sound of 
 the thunder seemed to come from the north- 
 ward, the presage was favorable. So it was 
 if the chain of lightning seen in the sky ap- 
 peared to pass from cloud to cloud above, 
 instead of descending to the ground. On 
 the other hand, thunder sounding as if it 
 came from the southward, and lightning 
 striking down to the earth, were both un- 
 propitious omens. As to birds, some were 
 of good omen, as vultures, eagles and wood- 
 peckers. Others were evil, as ravens and 
 owls. Various inferences were drawn too 
 from the manner in which the birds, that 
 appeared in the air, were seen to fly, and 
 
194 ROMULUS. 
 
 from the sound of their note at the time 
 when the observation was made. 
 
 By these and many similar means the gov- 
 ernment of Romulus vainly endeavored to 
 ascertain the will of heaven in respect to the 
 plans and enterprises in which they were 
 called upon from time to time to engage. 
 There was perhaps in these observances much 
 imposture, and much folly ; still they could 
 only have been sustained," in their influence 
 and ascendency over the minds of the people, 
 by a sincere veneration on their part for 
 some unseen and spiritual power, and a rev- 
 erent desire to conform the public measures 
 of their government to what they supposed 
 to be the divine will. 
 
 By such measures as we have thus de- 
 scribed Romulus soon produced order out of 
 confusion within his little commonwealth. 
 The enterprise which he had undertaken and 
 the great success which had thus far followed 
 it, attracted great attention, and he soon 
 found that great numbers began to come in 
 from all the surrounding country to join 
 him. Many of these Avere persons of still 
 worse character than those who had adhered 
 to him at first, and he soon found that to 
 admit them indiscriminately into the city 
 would be to endanger the process of organ- 
 ization which was now so well begun. He 
 accordingly set apart a hill near to his city 
 called the Capitoline hill, as an asylum for 
 them, where they could remain in safety 
 under regulations suitable to their condition, 
 
ORGANIZATION. 195 
 
 and without interfering with the arrange- 
 ments which he had made for the rest. This 
 asylum soon became a very attractive place 
 for all the vagabonds, outlaws, thieves and 
 robbers of the country. Romulus welcomed 
 them all, and as fast as they came he busied 
 himself with plans to furnish them with em- 
 
 Early Roman Ploughing. 
 
 ployment and subsistence. He enlisted some 
 of them in his army. Some he employed to 
 cultivate the ground in the territory belong- 
 ing to the city. Others were engaged as 
 servants for the people within the walls — 
 being taken into the city, in small numbers, 
 from time to time, as fast as they could be 
 safely received. In process of time, how- 
 ever, the walls of the city were extended so 
 as to include the Oapitoline hill, and thus at 
 last the whole mass was brought into Rome 
 together. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Every reader who has made even the 
 smallest beginning in the study of ancient 
 history, must be acquainted, in general, with 
 the mode which Romulus adopted to provide 
 the people of his city with wives, by the 
 transaction which is commonly called in 
 history the rape of the Sabines. The deed 
 itself, as it actually occurred, may perhaps 
 have been one of great rudeness, violence, 
 and cruelty. If so, the historians who de- 
 scribed it contrived to soften the character 
 of it, and to divest it in a great measure of 
 the repulsive features which might have been 
 supposed to characterize such a transaction, 
 for, according to the narrative which they 
 give us, the whole proceeding was conducted 
 in such a manner as to evince not only great 
 ingenuity and sagacity on the part of Rom- 
 ulus and his government, but also great mod- 
 eration and humanity. The circumstances, 
 as the historians relate them, were these : 
 
 As might naturally be supposed from the 
 manner in which the compan}^ which formed 
 the population of Rome had been collected, 
 it consisted at first almost wholly of men. 
 
 196 
 
WIVES. 197 
 
 The laws and regulations referred to in the 
 last chapter, in respect to the family relation, 
 were those framed after the organization of 
 the community had become somewhat ad- 
 vanced, since at the outset there con Id be 
 very few families, inasmuch as the company 
 which first met together to build the city, 
 consisted simply of an army of young men. 
 It is true that among those who joined them 
 at first there were some men of middle life 
 and some families, — still, as is always the 
 case with new cities and countries suddenly 
 and rapidly settled, the population consisted 
 almost entirely of men. 
 
 It was necessary that the men should have 
 wives. There were several reasons for this. 
 First, it Avas necessary for the comfort and 
 happiness of the people themselves. A com- 
 munity of mere men is gloomy and desolate. 
 Secondly, for the continuance and perpetuity 
 of the state it was necessary that there 
 should be wives and children, so that when 
 one generation should have passed away 
 there might be another to succeed it. And, 
 thirdly, for the preservation of order and 
 law. Men unmarried are, in the mass, pro- 
 verbially ungovernable. Nothing is so ef- 
 fectual in keeping a citizen away from scenes 
 of tumult and riot as a wife and children at 
 home. The fearful violence of the riots and 
 insurrections of which the city of Paris has 
 so often been the scene, is explained, in a 
 great degree, by the circumstance that so 
 immense a proportion of the population are 
 
198 ROMULUS. 
 
 unmarried. They have no homes, and no 
 defenseless wives and children to fear for, 
 and so they fear nothing, but give themselves 
 up, in times of public excitement, to the 
 wildest impulses of passion. Romulus seems 
 to have understood this, and his first care 
 was to provide the way by which as many 
 as possible of his people should be mar- 
 ried. 
 
 The first measure which he adopted, was 
 to send ambassadors around to the neighbor- 
 ing states, soliciting alliances with them, and 
 stipulations allowing of intermarriages be- 
 tween his people and theirs. The proposal 
 seemed not unreasonable, and it was made 
 in an unassuming and respectful manner. 
 In the message which Romulus commissioned 
 the ambassadors to deliver, he admitted that 
 his colony was yet small, and by no means 
 equal in influence and power to the king- 
 doms whose alliance he desired ; but he re- 
 minded those whom he addressed that great 
 results came sometimes in the end from very 
 inconsiderable beginnings, and that their 
 enterprise thus far, though yet in its infancy, 
 had been greatly prospered, and was plainly 
 an object of divine favor, and that the time 
 might not be far distant when the new state 
 would be able fully to reciprocate such favors 
 as it might now receive. 
 
 The neighboring kings to whom these em- 
 bassages were sent rejected the proposals 
 with derision. They did not even give seri- 
 ous answers, obviously considering the new 
 
wives. 199 
 
 city as a mere temporary gathering and en- 
 campment of adventurers and outlaws, which 
 would be as transient as it was rude and 
 irregular. They looked to see it break up 
 as suddenly and tumultuously as it had been 
 formed. They accordingly sent back word 
 to Komulus that he must resort to the same 
 plan to get women for his city that he had 
 adopted to procure recruits of men. He 
 must open an asylum for them. The low 
 and the dissolute would come flocking to 
 him then, they said, from all parts, and vaga- 
 bond women would make just the kind of 
 wives for vagabond men. 
 
 Of course, the young men of the city were 
 aroused to an extreme pitch of indignation 
 at receiving this reponse. They were clamor- 
 ous for war. They wished Romulus to lead 
 them out against some of these cities at once, 
 and allow them at the same time to revenge 
 the insults which they had received, and to 
 provide themselves with wives by violence, 
 since they could not obtain them by solicita- 
 tion. But Romulus restrained their ardor, 
 saying that they must do nothing rashly, 
 and promising to devise a better way than 
 theirs to attain the end. 
 
 The plan which he devised was to invite 
 the people of the surrounding states and 
 cities both men and women, to come to Rome, 
 with a view of seizing some favorable occa- 
 sion for capturing the women while they 
 were there, and driving the men away. The 
 difficulty in the way of the execution of this 
 
200 ROMULUS. 
 
 plan was obviously to induce the people to 
 come, and especially to bring the young 
 women with them. The native timidity of 
 the maidens, joined to the contemptuous 
 feelings which their fathers and brothers 
 cherished, in regard to everything pertain- 
 ing to the new city, would very naturally 
 keep them away, unless something could be 
 devised which would exert a very strong 
 attraction. 
 
 Romulus waited a little time, in order that 
 any slight excitement which had been pro- 
 duced by his embassy should have had time 
 to subside, and then he made, or pretended 
 to make, a great discovery in a field not far 
 from his town. This discovery was the 
 finding of an ancient altar of Neptune, un- 
 der ground. The altar was brought to view 
 by some workmen who were making exca- 
 vations at the place. How it came to be un- 
 der ground, and who had built it, no one 
 knew. The rumor of this great discovery 
 was spread immediately in every direction. 
 Romulus attached great importance to the 
 event. The altar had undoubtedly been 
 built, he thought, by the ancient inhabitants 
 of the country, and the finding it was a very 
 momentous occurrence. It was proper that 
 the occasion should be solemnized by suitable 
 religious observances. Accordingly, arrange- 
 ments were made for a grand celebration. 
 In addition to the religious rites, Romulus 
 proposed that a great fair should be held or 
 a plain near the city at the same time, 
 
WIVES. 201 
 
 Booths were erected, and the merchants of 
 all the neighboring cities were invited to 
 come, bringing with them such articles as 
 they had for sale, and those who wished to 
 buy were to come with their money. In a 
 word arrangements were made for a great 
 and splendid festival. 
 
 There were to be games too, races 5 and 
 wrestlings, and other athletic sports, such 
 as were in vogue in those times. The celebra- 
 tion was to continue for many days, and the 
 games and sports were to come at the end. 
 Romulus sent messengers to all the surround- 
 ing country to proclaim the program of 
 these entertainments, and to invite every- 
 body to come ; and he adroitly arranged the 
 details in such a manner that the chief attrac- 
 tions for grave, sober-minded and substantial 
 men should be on the earlier days of the 
 show, and that the latter days should be de- 
 voted to lighter amusements, such as would 
 possess a charm for the young, the light- 
 hearted and the happy. It was among this 
 last class that he naturally expected to find 
 the maidens whom his men would choose in 
 looking for wives. 
 
 When the time arrived the spectacles com- 
 menced. There was a great concourse at the 
 outset, but the people who first came, were, 
 as Romulus supposed would be the case r 
 chiefly men. They came in companies, as if 
 for mutual support and protection, and they 
 exhibited in a greater or less degree an air of 
 suspicion, watchfulness and mistrust. They 
 
202 ROMULUS. 
 
 were, ho wever, received with great cordiality 
 and kindness. They were conducted about 
 the town, and were astonished to find how 
 considerable a town it was. The streets, the 
 houses, the walls, the temples, simple in con- 
 struction as they were, far surpassed the ex- 
 pectations they had formed. The visitors 
 were treated with great hospitality, and en- 
 tertained in a manner which, considering the 
 circumstances of the case, was quite sump- 
 tuous. The women and children too, who 
 came on these first days, received from all 
 the Romans very special attention and re- 
 gard. 
 
 As the celebrations went on from day to 
 day, a considerable change took place in the 
 character and appearance of the company. 
 The men ceased to be suspicious and watchful. 
 Some went home, and carried such reports 
 of the new city, and of the kindness, and 
 hospitality, and gentle behavior of the in- 
 habitants, that new visitors came continu- 
 ally to see for themselves. Every day the 
 proportion of stern and suspicious men di- 
 minished, and that of gay and happy-looking 
 youths and maidens increased. 
 
 In the mean time, the men of the city were 
 under strict injunctions from Romulus to 
 treat their guests in the most respectful 
 manner, leaving them entirely at liberty to 
 go and come as they pleased, except so far as 
 they could detain them by treating them with 
 kindness and attention, and devising new 
 sports and amusements for them from day to 
 
wives. 203 
 
 day. Things continued in this state for two 
 or three weeks, during all which time the 
 new city was a general place of resort for the 
 people of all the surrounding country. Of 
 course a great many agreeable acquaintances 
 would naturally be formed between the young 
 men of the city and their visitors, as acci- 
 dental circumstances, or individual choice and 
 preference brought them together ; and thus, 
 without any direction on the subject from 
 Romulus, each man would very naturally 
 occupy himself in anticipation of the general 
 seizure which he knew was coming, in mak- 
 ing his selection beforehand, of the maiden 
 whom he intended, when the time for the 
 seizure came, to make his own ; and the 
 maiden herself would probably be less terri- 
 fied, and make less resistance to the attempt 
 to capture her, than if it were by a perfect 
 stranger that she was to be seized. 
 
 All this Romulus seems very adroitly to 
 have arranged. The time for the final exe- 
 cution of the scheme was to be the last day 
 of the celebration. The best spectacle and 
 show of all was to take place on that day. 
 The Romans were directed to come armed to 
 this show, but to keep their arms carefully 
 concealed beneath their garments. They 
 were to do nothing till Romulus gave the sig- 
 nal. He was himself to be seated upon a sort 
 of throne, in a conspicuous place, where all 
 could see him, presiding, as it were, over the 
 assembly, while the spectacle went on ; and 
 finally, when he judged that the proper mo- 
 
 X5 — Romulus 
 
204 KOMDLtJS. 
 
 raent had arrived, he was to give the signal 
 by taking off a certain loose article of dress 
 which he wore — a sort of cloak or mantle — 
 and folding it up, and then immediately un- 
 folding it again. This mantle was a sort of 
 badge of royalty, and was gaily adorned 
 with purple stripes upon a white ground. It 
 was well adapted, therefore, to the purpose 
 of being used as a signal, inasmuch as any 
 motions that were made with it could be 
 very easily seen. 
 
 Everything being thus arranged, the as- 
 sembly was convened, and the games and 
 spectacles w r ent on. The Komans were full 
 of excitement and trepidation, each one hav- 
 ing taken his place as near as possible to the 
 maiden whom he was intending to seize, and 
 occupying himself with keeping his eye upon 
 her as closely as he could, without seeming 
 to do so, and at the same time watching the 
 royal mantle and every movement made by 
 the wearer of it that he might catch the signal 
 the instant that it should be made. All this 
 time the men among the guests at the en- 
 tertainment were off their guard, and 
 wholly at their ease — having no suspicion 
 whatever of the mine that was ready to be 
 sprung beneath them. The wives, mothers, 
 and children, too, were all safe, as well as 
 unsuspicious of danger; for Romulus had 
 given special charge that no married woman 
 should be molested. The men had had ample 
 time and opportunity in the many days of 
 active social intercourse which they had 
 
wives. 205 
 
 enjoyed with their guests, to know who 
 were free, and they were forbidden in any 
 instance to take a wife away from her hus- 
 band. 
 
 At length the moment arrived for giving 
 the signal. Romulus took off his mantle, 
 folded it, and then unfolded it again. The 
 Romans immediately drew their swords, and 
 rushed forward, each to secure his own 
 prize. A scene of the greatest excitement 
 and confusion ensued. The whole company 
 of visitors perceived of course that some 
 great act of treachery was perpetrated upon 
 them, but they were wholly in the dark in 
 respect to the nature and design of it. They 
 were chiefly unarmed, and wholly unprepared 
 for so sudden an attack, and they fled in all 
 directions in disma} r , protecting themselves 
 and their wives and children as well as they 
 could, as the} r retired, and aiming only to 
 withdraw as large a number as possible from 
 the scene of violence and confusion that pre- 
 vailed. The Romans were careful not to do 
 them any injury, but, on the contrar} r , to 
 allow them to withdraw, and to take away 
 all the mothers and children without any 
 molestation. In fact, it was the very object 
 and design of the onset which they made 
 upon the compan} r , not only to seize upon 
 the maidens, but to drive all the rest of their 
 visitors away. The men, therefore, in the 
 excitement and terror of the moment, fled in 
 all directions, taking with them those whom 
 they could most readily secure, who were, of 
 
206 ROMULUS. 
 
 course, those whom the Romans left to them ; 
 while the Romans themselves withdrew with 
 their prizes, and secured them within the 
 walls of the city. 
 
 In reading this extraordinary story, we 
 naturally feel a strong disposition to inquire 
 what part the damsels themselves took, 
 when they found themselves thus suddenly 
 seized and carried awa} r , by these daring 
 and athletic assailants. Did they resist and 
 struggle to get free, or did they yield them- 
 selves without much opposition to their fate ? 
 That they did not resist effectually is plain, 
 for the Roman young men succeeded in 
 carrying them away, and securing them. It 
 may" be that they attempted to resist, but 
 found their strength overpowered by the 
 desperate and reckless violence of their cap- 
 tors. And yet, it cannot be denied that wo- 
 man is endued with the power of making 
 by various means a very formidable opposi- 
 tion to any attempt to abduct her by any 
 single man, when she is thoroughly in ear- 
 nest about it. How it was in fact in this 
 case we have no direct information, and we 
 have consequently no means of forming any 
 opinion in respect to the light in which this 
 this rough and lawless mode of wooing was 
 regarded by the objects of it, except from 
 the events which subsequently occurred. 
 
 One incident took place while the Romans 
 were seizing and carrying away their prizes, 
 which was afterward long remembered, as 
 it became the foundation of a custom which 
 
wives. 207 
 
 continued for many centuries to form a part 
 of the marriage ceremony at Home. It 
 seems that some young men — very young, 
 and of a humble class — had seized a pecul- 
 iarly beautiful girl — one of some note and 
 consideration, too, among her country-women 
 — and were carrying her away, like the rest. 
 Some other young Romans of the patrician 
 order seeing this, and thinking that so beau- 
 tiful a maiden ought not to fall to the share 
 of such plebeians, immediately set out in 
 full pursuit to rescue her. The plebeians 
 hurried along to escape from them, calling 
 out at the same time, " Thalassio ! Thalas- 
 sio!" which means "For Thalassius, For 
 Thalassius." They meant by this to convey 
 the idea that the prize which they had in 
 possession was intended not for any one of 
 their own number, but for Thalassius. Now 
 Thalassius was a young noble universally 
 known and very highly esteemed by all his 
 countrymen, and when the rescuing party 
 were thus led to suppose that the beautiful 
 lady was intended for him, they acquiesced 
 immediately, and desisted from their attempt 
 to recapture her, and thus by the aid of their 
 stratagem the plebeians carried off their prize 
 in safety. When this circumstance came af- 
 terward to be known, the ingenuity of the 
 young plebeians, and the success of their 
 maneuver, excited very general applause, 
 and the exclamation, Thalassio, passed into 
 a sort of proverb, and was subsequently 
 adopted as an exclamation of assent and 
 
208 ROMULUS. 
 
 congratulation, to be used by the spectators 
 at a marriage ceremony. 
 
 Romulus had issued most express and posi- 
 tive orders that the young captives should 
 be treated after their seizure in the kindest 
 and most respectful manner, and should be 
 subject to no violence, and no ill-treatment 
 of any kind, other than that necessary for 
 conveying them to the places of security 
 previously designated. They suffered un- 
 doubtedly a greater or less degree of dis- 
 tress and terror, — but finding that they were 
 treated, after their seizure, with respectful 
 consideration, and that they were left unmo- 
 lested by their captors, they gradually re- 
 covered their composure during the night, 
 and in the morning were quite self-possessed 
 and calm. Their fathers and brothers in the 
 mean time had gone home to their respective 
 cities, taking with them the women and 
 children that they had saved, and burning 
 with indignation and rage against the perpe- 
 trators of such an act of treachery as had 
 been practised upon them. They were of 
 course in a state of great uncertainty and 
 suspense in respect to the fate which awaited 
 the captives, and were soon eagerly engaged 
 in forming and discussing all possible plans 
 for rescuing and recovering them. Thus the 
 night was passed in agitation and excite- 
 ment, both within and without the city, — 
 the excitement of terror and distress, great 
 perhaps, though subsiding, on the part of the 
 captives, and of resentment and rage which 
 
wives. 209 
 
 grew deeper and more extended every hour, 
 on the part of their countrymen. 
 
 When the morning came, Romulus ordered 
 the captive maidens to be all brought to- 
 gether before him in order that he might 
 make as it were an apology to them for the 
 violence to which they had been subjected, 
 and explain to them the circumstances which 
 had impelled the Romans to resort to it. 
 
 " You ought not," said he, " to look upon 
 it as an indignity that you have been thus 
 seized, for the object of the Romans in seiz- 
 ing you was not to dishonor you, or to do 
 you any injury, but only to secure you for 
 their wives in honorable marriage ; and far 
 from being displeased with the extraordi- 
 nariness of the measures which they have 
 adopted to secure you, you ought to take 
 pride in them, as evincing the ardor and 
 strength of the affection with which you 
 have inspired your lovers. I will assure 
 you that when you have become their wives 
 you shall be treated with all the respect and 
 tenderness that you have been accustomed 
 to experience under your fathers' roofs. 
 The brief coercion which we have employed 
 for the purpose of securing you in the first 
 instance, — a coercion which we were com- 
 pelled to resort to by the necessity of the 
 case, — is the only rudeness to which you will 
 ever be exposed. Forgive us then for this 
 one liberty which we have taken, and con- 
 sider that the fault, whatever fault in it 
 there may be, is not ours, but that of your 
 
210 ROMULUS. 
 
 fathers and brothers who rejected our offers 
 for voluntary and peaceful alliances, and 
 thus compelled us to resort to this stratagem 
 or else to lose you altogether. Your destiny 
 if you unite with us will be great and glori- 
 ous. We have not taken you captive to 
 make you prisoners or slaves, or to degrade 
 you in any way from your former position ; 
 but to exalt you to positions of high con- 
 sideration in a new and rising colony ; — a 
 colony which is surely destined to become 
 great and powerful, and of which we mean 
 you to be the chief glory and charm." 
 
 The young and handsome Romans stood 
 by while Romulus made this speech, their 
 countenances animated with excitement and 
 pleasure. The maidens themselves seemed 
 much inclined to yield to their fate. Their 
 resentment gradually subsided. It has been, 
 in fact, in all ages, characteristic of women 
 to be easily led to excuse and forgive any 
 wrong on the part of another which is 
 prompted by love for herself : and these in- 
 jured maidens seemed gradually to come to 
 the conclusion, that considering all the cir- 
 cumstances of the case their abductors were 
 not so much in fault after all. In a short 
 time an excellent understanding was estab- 
 lished, and they were all married. There 
 were, it is said, about five or six hundred 
 of them, and" it proved that most of them 
 were from the nation of the Sabines, a nation 
 which inhabited a territory north of the 
 colony of the Romans. The capital of the 
 
WIVES. 211 
 
 Sabines was a city called Cures. Cures was 
 about twenty miles from Rome.* 
 
 The Sabines, in deliberating on the course 
 which they should pursue in the emergency, 
 found themselves in a situation of great per- 
 plexity. In the first place the impulse which 
 urged them to immediate acts of retaliation 
 and hostility was restrained by the fact that 
 so many of their beloved daughters were 
 wholly in the power of their enemies, and 
 they could not tell what cruel fate might 
 await the captives if they were themselves 
 to resort to any measures that would ex- 
 asperate or provoke the captors. Then 
 again their own territory was very much, 
 exposed, and they were by no means certain, 
 in case a war should be commenced between 
 them and the Romans, how it would end. 
 Their own population was much divided, 
 being scattered over the territory, or settled 
 in various cities and towns which were but 
 slightly fortified, and consequently were 
 much exposed to assault in case the Romans 
 were to make an incursion into their country. 
 In view of all these considerations the 
 Sabines concluded that it would be best for 
 them on the whole, to try the influence of 
 gentle measures, before* resorting to open 
 war. 
 
 They therefore sent an embassy to Rom- 
 ulus, to remonstrate in strong terms against 
 the wrong which the Romans had done 
 them by their treacherous violence, and to 
 * See map of Latium, page 103. 
 
212 ROMULUS. 
 
 demand that the young women should be 
 restored. " If you will restore them to us 
 now," said they, " we will overlook the 
 affront which you have put upon us, and 
 make peace with you ; and we will enter 
 into an alliance with you so that hereafter 
 your people and ours may be at liberty to 
 intermarry in a fair and honorable way, 
 but we cannot submit to have our daughters 
 taken away from us by treachery and force." 
 
 Reasonable as this proposition seems, 
 Romulus did not think it best to accede to 
 it. It was, in fact, too late, for such deeds 
 once done can hardly be undone. Romulus 
 replied, that the women, being now the 
 wives of the Romans, could not be surren- 
 dered. The violence, he said, of which the 
 Sabines complained was unavoidable. No 
 other possible way had been open to them 
 for gaining the end. He was willing, he 
 added, to enter into a treaty of peace and 
 alliance with the Sabines, but they must 
 acknowledge, as a preliminary to such a 
 treaty, the validity of the marriages, which, 
 as they had already been consummated, 
 could not now be annulled. 
 
 The Sabines, on their part, could not ac- 
 cede to these proposals. Being, however, 
 still reluctant to commence hostilities, they 
 continued the negotiations — though while 
 engaged in them they seemed to anticipate 
 an unfavorable issue, for they were occupied 
 all the time in organizing troops, strength- 
 ening the defenses of their villages and 
 
WIVES. 
 
 213 
 
 towns, and making other vigorous prepara- 
 tions for war. 
 
 The Romans, in the mean time, seemed to 
 find the young wives which they had pro- 
 cured by these transactions a great acquisi- 
 tion to their colony. It proved, too, that 
 they not only prized the acquisition, but 
 
 Spearman and Bowman. 
 
 they exulted so much in the ingenuity and 
 success of the stratagem by which their 
 object had been effected, that a sort of sym- 
 bolical violence in taking the bride became 
 afterward a part of the marriage ceremony 
 in all subsequent weddings. For always, 
 in future years, when the new-married wife 
 was brought home to her husband's house, 
 it was the custom for him to take her up in 
 his arms at the door, and carry her over the 
 threshold as if by force, thus commemorat- 
 ing by this ceremony the coercion which 
 had signalized the original marriages of his 
 ancestors, the founders of Eome. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE SABINE WAR. 
 
 "While the negotiations with the Sabines 
 were still pending, Romulus became involved 
 in another difficulty, which for a time as- 
 sumed a very threatening aspect. This dif- 
 ficulty was a war which broke out, some- 
 what suddenly, in consequence of the inva- 
 sion of the Roman territories by a neighbor- 
 ing chieftain named Acron. Acron was the 
 sovereign of a small state, whose capital 
 was a town called Caenina.* This Caenina 
 is supposed to have been only four or five 
 miles distant from Romuius's city, — a fact 
 which shows very clearly on how small a 
 scale the deeds and exploits connected with 
 the first foundation of the great empire, 
 which afterward became so extended and 
 so renowned, were originally performed, 
 and how intrinsically insignificant they 
 were, in themselves, though momentous in 
 the extreme in respect to the consequences 
 that flowed from them. 
 
 Acron was a bold, energetic, and deter- 
 mined man, who had already acquired great 
 fame by his warlike exploits, and who had. 
 * See map of Latium, page 103. 
 214 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 215 
 
 long been watching the progress of the new 
 colony with an evil eye. He thought that 
 if it were allowed to take root, and to grow, 
 it might, at some future day, become a for- 
 midable enemy, both to him, and also to the 
 other states in that part of Italy. He had 
 been very desirous, therefore, of finding some 
 
 Eretext for attacking the new city, and when 
 e heard of the seizure of the Sabine women, 
 he thought that the time had arrived. He, 
 therefore, urged the Sabines to make war at 
 once upon the Romans, and promised, if 
 they would do so, to assist them with all the 
 forces that he could command. The Sabines, 
 however, were so unwilling to proceed to ex- 
 tremities, and spent so much time in negotia- 
 tions and embassies, that Acron's patience 
 was at length wholly exhausted by the de- 
 lays, and he resolved to undertake the exter- 
 mination of the new colony himself alone. 
 
 So he gathered together a rude and half- 
 organized army, and advanced toward Rome. 
 Romulus, who had been informed of his 
 plans and preparations, went out to meet him. 
 The two armies came in view of each other 
 on an open plain, not far from the city. 
 Romulus advanced at the head of his troops, 
 while Acron appeared likewise in the fore- 
 front of the invaders. After uttering in 
 the hearing of each other, and of the assem- 
 bled armies, various exclamations of chal- 
 lenge and defiance, it was at length agreed 
 that the question at issue should be decided 
 by single combat, the two commanders 
 
216 ROMULUS. 
 
 themselves to be the champions. Bomulus 
 and Acron accordingly advanced into the 
 middle of the field, while their armies drew 
 up around them, forming a sort of ring with- 
 in which the combatants were to engage. 
 
 The interest which would be naturally felt 
 by such an encounter, was increased very 
 much by the strong contrast that was ob- 
 served in the appearance of the warriors. 
 Romulus was very young, and though tall 
 and athletic in form, his countenance exhib- 
 ited still the expression of softness and deli- 
 cacy characteristic of youth. Acron, on the 
 other hand, was a war-worn veteran, rugged, 
 hardy, and stern ; and the throngs of martial 
 spectators that surrounded the field, when 
 they saw the combatants as they came for- 
 ward to engage, anticipated a very unequal 
 contest. Romulus was nevertheless victori- 
 ous. As he went into the battle, he made a 
 vow to Jupiter, that if he conquered his foe, 
 he would ascribe to the god all the glory of 
 the victory, and he would set up the arms 
 and spoils of Acron at Rome, as a trophy 
 sacred to Jupiter, in honor of the divine 
 aid through which the conquest should be 
 achieved. It was in consequence of this 
 vow, as the old historians say, that Romulus 
 prevailed in the combat. At all events, he 
 did prevail. Acron was slain, and while 
 Romulus was stripping the fallen body of 
 its armor on the field, his men were pursu- 
 ing the army of Acron, for the soldiers fled 
 in dismay toward their city, as soon as 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 217 
 
 they saw that the single combat had gone 
 against their king. 
 
 Caenina was not in a condition to make any 
 defense, and it was readily taken. When 
 the city was thus in the power of Romulus, 
 he called the inhabitants together, and said 
 to them, that he cherished no hostile or re- 
 sentful feelings toward them. On the con- 
 trary, he wished to have them his allies and 
 friends, and he promised them, that if they 
 would abandon Caenina, and go with him to 
 Eome, they should all be received as 
 brothers, and be at once incorporated into 
 the Roman state, and admitted to all the 
 privileges of citizens. The people of Cas- 
 nina, when the first feelings of terror and 
 distress which their falling into the power 
 of their enemies naturally awakened, had 
 been in some measure allayed, readily ac- 
 quiesced in this arrangement, and were all 
 transferred to Rome. Their coming made a 
 great addition not only to the population 
 and strength of the city, but vastly increased 
 the celebrity and fame of Romulus in the 
 estimation of the surrounding nations. 
 
 This victory over Acron, and the annexa- 
 tion of his dominions to the Roman common- 
 wealth, are considered of great historical 
 importance, as the original type and exem- 
 plar of the whole subsequent foreign policy 
 of the Roman state ; — a policy marked by 
 courage and energy in martial action on the 
 field, and by generosity in dealing with the 
 conquered ; and which was so successful in 
 
 1 6- -Romulus 
 
218 ROMULUS. 
 
 its results, that it was the means of extend- 
 ing the Roman power from kingdom to 
 kingdom, and from continent to continent, 
 until the vast organization almost encircled 
 the world. 
 
 Romulus faithfully fulfilled the vow which 
 he had made to Jupiter. On the return of 
 the army to Rome, the soldiers, by his direc- 
 tions, cut down a small oak-tree, and trim- 
 ming the branches at the top, and shortening 
 them as much as was necessary for the pur- 
 pose, they hung the weapons and armor of 
 Acron upon it, and marched with it thus, 
 in triumph into the city. Romulus walked 
 in the midst of the procession, a crown of 
 laurel upon his head, and his long hair hang- 
 ing down upon his shoulders. Thus the 
 victors entered the city, greeted all the way 
 by the shouts and acclamations of the people, 
 who had assembled, — men, women, and chil- 
 dren, — at the gates and upon the tops of the 
 houses. When the long procession had thus 
 passed in, tables for the soldiers were spread 
 in the streets and public squares, and the 
 whole day was spent in festivity and rejoicing. 
 This was the first Roman triumph, — the 
 original model and example of those magnifi- 
 cent and imposing spectacles which in sub- 
 sequent ages became the wonder of the 
 world. 
 
 The spoils which had been brought in 
 upon the oak were solemnly set up, on one 
 of the hills within the city, as a trophy to 
 Jupiter. A small temple was erected ex- 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 219 
 
 pressly to receive them. This temple was 
 very small, being but five feet wide and ten 
 feet long. 
 
 A short time after these transactions two 
 other cities were incorporated into the Roman 
 state. The name of these cities were Crustu- 
 menium and AntemnaB. Some women from 
 these cities had been seized at Rome when 
 the Sabine women were taken, and the inhab- 
 itants had been ever since that period medi- 
 tating plans of revenge. They were not 
 strong enough to wage open war against 
 Romulus, but they began at last to make 
 hostile incursions into the Roman territories 
 by means of such small bands of armed men 
 as they had the means of raising. Romulus 
 immediately organized bodies of troops suf- 
 ficient for the purpose, and then suddenly, 
 and, as it would seem, without giving the 
 kings of these cities any previous warning, 
 he appeared before the walls and captured 
 the cities before the inhabitants had time to 
 recover from their consternation. 
 
 He then sent to all the women in Rome 
 who had formerly belonged to these cities, 
 summoning them to appear before him at his 
 public place of audience in the city, and in 
 the presence of the Roman Senate. The 
 women were exceeding terrified at receiving 
 this summons. They supposed that death 
 or some other terrible punishment,, was to 
 be inflicted upon them in retribution for the 
 offenses committed by their countrymen, 
 and they came into the senate-house, hiding 
 
220 homulxjs. 
 
 their faces in their robes, and crying- out with 
 grief and terror. Romulus bid them calm 
 their fears, assuring them that he intended 
 them no injury. "Your countrymen," said 
 he, " preferred war to the peaceful alterna- 
 tive of friendship and alliance which we of- 
 fered them ; and the fortune of war to which 
 they thus chose to appeal, has decided against 
 them. They have now fallen into our hands, 
 and are wholly at our mercy. We do not, 
 however, mean to do them any harm. We 
 spare and forgive them for your sakes. We 
 intend to invite them to come and live with 
 us and with you at Rome, so that you can 
 once more experience the happiness of being 
 joined to your fathers and brothers as well 
 as your husbands. We shall not destroy or 
 even injure their cities ; but shall send some 
 of our own citizens to people them, so that 
 they may become fully incorporated into the 
 Roman commonwealth. Thus your fathers 
 and brothers, and all your countrymen, re- 
 ceive the boon of life, liberty, and happiness 
 through you ; and all that we ask of you in 
 return, is that you will continue your con- 
 jugal affection and fidelity to your Roman 
 husbands, and seek to promote the harmony 
 and happiness of the city by every means.in 
 your power." 
 
 Of course such transactions as these at- 
 tracted great attention throughout the coun- 
 try, and both the valor with which Romulus 
 encountered his enemies while they resisted 
 and opposed him, and the generosity with 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 221 
 
 ■which he admitted them to an honorable 
 alliance with him when they were reduced to 
 submission, were universally applauded. In 
 fact, there began to be formed a strong public 
 sentiment in favor of the new colon} T , and 
 the influx to it of individual adventurers, from 
 all parts of the country, rapidly increased. 
 In one instance a famous chieftain named 
 Caelius, a general of the Etrurians who lived 
 north of the Tiber, brought over the whole 
 army under his command in a body, to join 
 the new colony. New and special arrange- 
 ments were necessary to be made at Rome for 
 receiving so sudden and so large an accession 
 to the numbers of the people, and accord- 
 ingly a new eminence, one which had been 
 hitherto without the city, was now inclosed, 
 and brought within the pcemerium. This 
 hill received the name of Caelius, from the 
 general whose army occupied it. The city 
 was extended too at the same time on the 
 other side toward the Tiber. The walls were 
 continued down to the very bank of the river, 
 and thence carried along the banks so as to 
 present a continued defense on that side, 
 except at one place where there was a great 
 gate leading to the water. 
 
 During all this time, however, the Sabines 
 still cherished the spirit of resentment and 
 hostility, and instead of being conciliated by 
 the forbearance and generosity of the Ro- 
 mans, were only excited to greater jealousy 
 and ill-will at witnessing the proofs of their 
 increasing influence and power. They em- 
 
222 EOMULTTS. 
 
 ployed themselves in maturing their plans 
 for a grand onset against the new colony, 
 and with the intention to make the blow 
 which they were about to strike effectual 
 and final, they took time to arrange their 
 preparations on the most extensive scale, 
 and to mature them in the most deliber- 
 ate and thorough manner. They enlisted 
 troops; they collected stores of provisions 
 and munitions of war, they formed alliances 
 with such states lying beyond them as they 
 could draw into their quarrel ; and finally, 
 when all things were ready, they assembled 
 their forces upon the frontier, and prepared 
 for the onset. The name of the general 
 who was placed in command of this mighty 
 host was Titus Tatius. 
 
 In the mean time, Romulus and the people 
 of the city were equally busy in making 
 preparations for defense. They procured 
 and laid up in magazines, great stores of 
 provisions for the use of the city. They 
 strengthened and extended the walls, and 
 built new ramparts and towers wherever 
 they were needed. JSTumitor rendered very 
 essential aid to his grandson in these prep- 
 arations. He sent supplies of weapons to 
 him for the use of the men, and furnished 
 various military engines, such as were used 
 in those times in the attack and defense of 
 besieged cities. In fact, the preparations on 
 both sides were of the most extensive char- 
 acter, and seemed to portend a \ery resolute 
 and determined contest. 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 223 
 
 "When all things were thus ready, the 
 Sabines, before actually striking the blow 
 for which they had been so long and so 
 deliberately preparing, concluded to send 
 one more final embassy to Romulus, to 
 demand the surrender of the women. This 
 was of course only a matter of form, as they 
 must have known well from what had 
 already passed that Romulus would not now 
 yield to such a proposal. He did not yield. 
 He sent back word in answer to their de- 
 mand, that the Sabine women were all well 
 settled in Rome, and were contented and 
 happy there with their husbands and friends, 
 and that he could not think now of disturb- 
 ing them. This answer having been re- 
 ceived, the Sabines prepared for the onset. 
 
 There was a certain tract of country sur- 
 rounding Rome which belonged to the 
 people of the city, and was cultivated by 
 them. This land was used partly for tillage 
 and partly for the pasturage of cattle, but 
 principally for the latter, as the rearing of 
 flocks and herds was, for various reasons, a 
 more advantageous mode of procuring food 
 for man in those ancient days than the cul- 
 ture of the ground. The rural population, 
 therefore, of the Roman territory consisted 
 chiefly of herdsmen ; and when the approach- 
 ing danger from the Sabines became immi- 
 nent, Romulus called all these herdsmen in, 
 and required the flocks of sheep and the 
 herds of cattle to be driven to the rear of 
 the city, and shut up in an inclosure there, 
 
224 KOMULUS. 
 
 where they could be more easily defended. 
 Thus the Sabine army found, when they 
 were ready to cross the frontier, that the 
 Koman territory, on that side, was deserted 
 and solitary ; and that there was nothing to 
 oppose them in advancing across it almost 
 to the very gates of Rome. 
 
 They advanced accordingly, and when 
 they came near to the city they found that 
 Romulus had taken possession of two hills 
 without the walls, where he had entrenched 
 himself in great force. These two hills 
 were named the Esquilineand Quirinal hills. 
 The city itself included two other hills, 
 namely, the Palatine and the Capitoline. 
 The Capitoline hill was the one on which the 
 asylum had formerly been built, and it was 
 now the citadel. The citadel was surrounded 
 on all parts with ramparts and towers which 
 overlooked and commanded all the neighbor- 
 ing country. The command of this fortress 
 was given to Tarpeius, a noble Roman. He 
 had a daughter named Tarpeia, whose name 
 afterward became greatly celebrated in 
 history, on account of the part which she 
 took in the events of this siege, as will pres- 
 ently appear. 
 
 At the foot of the Capitoline hill, and on 
 the western side of it, that is, the side away 
 from the city, there was a spacious plain 
 which was afterward included within the 
 limits of the city, and used as a parade- 
 ground, under the name of Campus Martius, 
 which words mean the ""w*** "fi^i'i " Thio 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 225 
 
 field was now, however, an open plain, and 
 the Sabine army advancing to it, encamped 
 upon it. The Sabine forces were much more 
 numerous than those of the Romans, but the 
 latter were so well guarded and protected 
 by their walls and fortifications, that Titus 
 Tatius saw no feasible way of attacking 
 them with any prospect of success. At last, 
 one day as some of his officers were walking 
 around the Capitoline hill, looking at the 
 walls of the citadel, Tarpeia came to one of 
 the gates, which was in a retired and solitary 
 position, and entered into a parley with the 
 men. The story of what followed is vari- 
 ously related b}^ different historians, and it 
 is now difficult to ascertain the actual truth 
 respecting it. The account generally re- 
 ceived is this : — 
 
 Tarpeia had observed the soldiers from 
 the walls, and her attention had been at- 
 tracted by the bracelets and rings which 
 they wore ; and she finally made an agree- 
 ment with the Sabines that she would open 
 the postern gate in the night, and let them 
 in, if they would give her what they wore 
 upon their arms, meaning the ornaments 
 which had attracted her attention. The 
 Sabines bound themselves to do this and then 
 went away. Titius Tatius, accordingly, 
 when informed of this arrangement, detailed 
 a strong detachment of troops, and gave 
 them orders to repair at night in a very 
 silent and secret manner to the gate which 
 had been designated as the place where they 
 
226 ROMULUS. 
 
 were to be let in. It is asserted, however, 
 by some writers, that this apparent treachery 
 on the part of Tarpeia was only a deep-laid 
 stratagem on her part to draw the Sabines 
 into a snare ; and that she sent word to 
 Romulus, informing him of the agreement 
 which she had made, in order that he might 
 secretly despatch a strong force to take their 
 position at the gate, and intercept and cap- 
 ture the Sabine party as soon as they should 
 come in. But if this was Tarpeia's design, 
 it totally failed. The Sabines, when they 
 came at midnight to the postern gate whicn. 
 Tarpeia opened for them, came in sufficient 
 force to bear down all opposition ; and in 
 fulfilment of their promise to give Tarpeia 
 what they wore upon their arms they threw 
 their heavy bucklers upon her until she was 
 crushed down beneath the weight of them 
 and killed. 
 
 A steep rock which forms that side of the 
 Capitoline hill is called the Tarpeian rock, in 
 memory of this maiden, to the present day. 
 
 In this way the Sabines gained possession 
 of the citadel, though Romulus still held the 
 main city. The Romans were of course ex- 
 tremely disconcerted at the loss of the citadel, 
 and Romulus, finding that the danger was 
 now extremely imminent, resolved no longer 
 to stand on the defensive, but to come out 
 upon the plain and offer the Sabines battle. 
 He accordingly brought his forces out of the 
 city and took up a strong position with them, 
 between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 
 
 227 
 
 with his front toward the Campus "Marti us, 
 Avhere the main body of the Sabines were 
 posted. Thus the armies were confronted 
 against each other on the plain, the Romans 
 holding the city and the Palatine hill as a 
 stronghold to retreat to in case of necessity, 
 
 WM!m 
 
 
 
 Mm;! 
 
 '."■'.MB^i 
 
 
 
 J! fTr 
 
 
 oift 
 
 i'l^^f f j9r* k' 
 
 Promising the Bracelets. 
 
 while the Sabines in the same manner could 
 seek refuge on the Capitoline hill aud in the 
 citadel. 
 
 Things being in this state a series of des- 
 perate but partial contests ensued, which 
 were continued for several days, when at 
 length a general battle came on. During 
 
228 ROMULUS. 
 
 all this time the walls of the city and of the 
 citadel were lined with spectators who had 
 ascended to witness the combats ; for from 
 these walls and from the declivities of the 
 hills, the whole plain could be looked down 
 upon as if it were a map. The battle con- 
 tinued all day. At night both parties were 
 exhausted, and the field was covered with 
 the dead and dying, but neither side had 
 gained the victory. The next day by com- 
 mon consent they suspended the combat in 
 order to take care of the wounded, and to 
 bury the bodies of the dead. 
 
 After the interval of a day, which was 
 spent, on both sides, in removing the horrid 
 relics of the previous combats, and in gather- 
 ing fresh strength and fresh desperation and 
 rage for the conflicts yet to come, the struggle 
 was renewed. The soldiers fought now, on 
 this renewal of the battle, with more dread- 
 ful and deadly ferocity than ever. Various 
 incidents occurred during the day to give 
 one party or the other a local or temporary 
 advantage, but neither side wholly prevailed. 
 At one time Romulus himself was exposed 
 to the most imminent personal danger, and 
 for a time it was thought that he was actu- 
 ally killed. The Romans had gained some 
 great advantage over a party of the Sabines, 
 and the latter were rushing in a headlong 
 flight, to the citadel, the Romans pursuing 
 them and hoping to follow them in, in the 
 confusion, and thus regain possession of the 
 fortress. To prevent this the Sabines within 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 229 
 
 the citadel and on the rocks above threw 
 stones down upon the Romans. One of these 
 stones struck Romulus on the head, and he 
 fell down stunned and senseless under the 
 blow. His men were extremely terrified at 
 this disaster, and abandoning the pursuit of 
 their enemies they took up the body of Rom- 
 ulus and carried it into the city. It was 
 found, however, that he was not seriously 
 injured. He soon recovered from the effects 
 of the blow and returned into the battle. 
 
 Another incident which occurred in the 
 course of these battles has been commemo- 
 rated in history, by having been the means 
 of giving a name to a small lake or pool 
 which was afterward brought within the 
 limits of the city. A Sabine general named 
 Curtius happened at one time to encounter 
 Romulus in a certain part of the field, and a 
 loug and desperate combat ensued between 
 the two champions. Other soldiers gradually 
 came up and mingled in the fray, until at 
 length Curtius, finding himself wounded and 
 bleeding, and surrounded by enemies, fled 
 for his life. Romulus pursued him for a 
 short distance, but Curtius at length came 
 suddenly upon a small swampy pool, which 
 was formed of water that had been left by 
 the inundations of the river in some old de- 
 serted channel, and which was now covered 
 and almost concealed by some sort of mossy 
 and floating vegetation. Curtius running, 
 headlong, and paying little heed to his steps 
 fell into this hole, and sank in the water. 
 
230 ROMULUS. 
 
 Romulus supposed of course that he would 
 be drowned there, and so turned away and 
 went to find some other enemy. Curtius, 
 however, succeeded in crawling out of the 
 pond into which he had fallen ; and in com- 
 memoration of the incident the pond was 
 named Lake Curtius, which name it retained 
 for centuries afterward, when, not only had 
 all the Avater disappeared, but the place itself 
 had been filled up, and had been covered 
 with streets and houses. 
 
 The combats between the Romans and the 
 Sabines were continued for several days, 
 during all which time the Sabine women, on 
 whose account it was that this dreadful quar- 
 rel had arisen, were suffering the greatest 
 anxiety and distress. They loved their fa- 
 thers and brothers, but then they loved their 
 husbands too ; and they were overwhelmed 
 with anguish at the thought that day after 
 day those who were equally dear to them 
 were engaged in fighting and destroying one 
 another, and that they could do nothing to 
 arrest so unnatural a hostility. 
 
 At length, however, after suffering extreme 
 distress for many days, a crisis arrived when 
 they found that they could interpose. Both 
 parties had become somewhat weary of the 
 contest. Neither could prevail over the 
 other, and yet neither was willing to yield. 
 The Sabines could not bring themselves to 
 submit to so humiliating an alternative as to 
 withdraw from Rome and leave their daugh- 
 ters and sisters in the captors' hands, aftei 
 
THE SABINE WAR. 231 
 
 all the grand preparations which they had 
 made for retaking them. And on the other 
 hand the Romans could not take those, who, 
 whatever had been their previous history, 
 were now living happily as wives and moth- 
 ers, each in her own house in the city, and 
 give them up to an army of invaders, demand- 
 ing them with threats and violence, without 
 deep dishonor. Thus, though there was a 
 pause in the conflict, and both parties were 
 weary of it, neither was willing to yield, 
 and both were preparing to return to the 
 struggle with new determination and vigor. 
 
 The Sabine women thought that they 
 might now interpose. A lady named Her- 
 silia, who is often mentioned as one of the 
 most prominent among the number, proposed 
 this measure and made the arrangements 
 for carrying it into effect. She assembled 
 her country-women and explained to them 
 her plan, which was that they should go in 
 a body to the Roman Senate, and ask per- 
 mission to intercede between the contending 
 nations, and plead for peace. 
 
 The company of women, taking their 
 children with them, all of whom were yet 
 very young, went accordingly in a body to 
 the senate-chamber, and asked to be ad- 
 mitted. The doors were opened to them, 
 and they went in. They all appeared to be 
 in great distress and agitation. The grief 
 and anxiety which they had suffered during 
 the progress of the war still continued, and 
 they begged the Senate to let them go out 
 
232 ROMULUS. 
 
 to the camp of the Sabines, and endeavor to 
 persuade them to make peace. The Senate 
 were disposed to consent. The women 
 wished to take their children with them, but 
 some of the Romans imagined that there 
 might, perhaps, be danger, that under pre- 
 tense of interceding for peace, they were 
 really intending to make their escape from 
 Rome altogether. So it was insisted that 
 they should leave their children behind them 
 as hostages for their return, excepting that 
 such as had two children were allowed to 
 take one, which plan it was thought would 
 aid them in moving the compassion of their 
 Sabine relatives. 
 
 The women, accordingly, left the senate- 
 chamber, and with their children in their 
 arms, their hair disheveled, their robes 
 disordered, and their countenances wan 
 with grief, went in mournful procession 
 out through the gate of the city. They 
 passed across the plain and advanced toward 
 the citadel. They were admitted, and after 
 some delay, were ushered into the council 
 of the Sabines. Here their tears and ex- 
 clamations of grief broke forth anew. 
 When silence was in some measure restored, 
 Hersilia addressed the Sabine chieftains, 
 saying, that she and her companions had 
 come to beg their countrymen to put an end 
 to the war. " We know," said she, " that 
 you are waging it on our account, and we 
 see in all that you have done proofs of your 
 love for us. In fact, it was our supposed 
 
THE SABINE WAE. 233 
 
 interests which led you to commence it, but 
 now our real interests require that it should 
 be ended. It is true that when we were 
 first seized by the Romans we felt greatly 
 wronged, but having submitted to our fate, 
 we have now become settled in our new 
 homes, and are contented and happy in 
 them. We love our husbands and love our 
 children ; and we are treated with the ut- 
 most kindness and respect by all. Do not 
 then, under a mistaken kindness for us, at- 
 tempt to tear us away again, or continue 
 this dreadful war, which, though ostensibly 
 on our account, and for our benefit, is really 
 making us inexpressibly miserable." 
 
 This intercession produced the effect which 
 might have been expected from it. The 
 Sabines and Romans immediately entered 
 upon negotiations for peace, and peace is 
 easily made where both parties are honestly 
 desirous of making it. In fact, a great re- 
 action took place, so that from the reckless 
 and desperate hostility which the two na- 
 tions had felt for each other, there succeeded 
 so friendly a sentiment, that in the end a 
 treaty of union was made between the two 
 nations. It was agreed that the two nations 
 should be merged into one. The Sabine 
 territory was to be annexed to that of Rome, 
 and Titus Tatius, with the principal Sabine 
 chieftains, were to remove to Rome, which 
 was thenceforth to be the capital of the new 
 kingdom. In a word, never was a recon- 
 ciliation between two belligerent nations so 
 sudden and so complete. 
 
 17 — Romulus 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 After the termination of the Sabine war, 
 Romulus continued to reign many years, 
 and his reign, although no very exact and 
 systematic history of it was recorded at the 
 time, seems to have presented the usual 
 variety of incidents and vicissitudes ; and 
 yet, notwithstanding occasional and partial 
 reverses, the city, and the kingdom connected 
 with it, made rapid progress in wealth and 
 population. 
 
 For four or five years after the union of 
 the Sabines with the Romans, Titus Tatius 
 was in some way or other associated with 
 Romulus in the government of the united 
 kingdom. Romulus, during all this time, 
 had his house and his court on the Palatine 
 hill, where the city had been originally 
 built, and where most of the Romans lived. 
 The headquarters of the Sabine chieftain 
 were, on the other hand, upon the Capito- 
 line hill, which was the place on which the 
 citadel was situated that his troops had 
 taken possession of in the course of the war, 
 and which it seems they continued to occupy 
 after the peace. The space between tne 
 
 234 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 235 
 
 two hills was set apart as a market-place, or 
 forum,, as it was called in their language,— 
 that place being designated for the purpose 
 on account of its central and convenient 
 situation. When afterward that portion of 
 the city became filled as it did with mag- 
 nificent streets and imposing architectural 
 edifices, the space which Romulus had set 
 apart for a market remained an open public 
 square, and as it was the scene in which 
 transpired some of the most remarkable 
 events connected with Roman history, it 
 became renowned throughout the world 
 under the name of the Roman Forum. 
 
 In consequence of the union of the Ro- 
 mans and the Sabines, and of the rapid 
 growth of the city in population and power 
 which followed, the Roman state began soon 
 to rise to so high a position in relation to 
 the surrounding cities and kingdoms, as 
 soon to take precedence of them altogether. 
 This w T as owing, however, in part undoubt- 
 edly, to the character of the men who 
 governed at Rome. The measures which 
 they adopted in founding the city, and in 
 sustaining it through the first years of its 
 existence, as described in the foregoing 
 chapters, were all of a very extraordinary 
 character, and evinced very extraordinary 
 qualities in the men who devised them. 
 These measures were bold, comprehensive 
 and sagacious, and they were carried out 
 with a certain combination of courage and 
 magnanimity w T hich always gives to those 
 
236 ROMULD&. 
 
 who possess it, and who are in a position to 
 exercise it on a commanding scale, great 
 ascendency over the minds of men. They 
 who possess these qualities generally feel 
 their power, and are usually not slow to as- 
 sert it. A singular and striking instance of 
 this occurred not many years after the 
 peace with the Sabines. There was a city 
 at some distance from Rome called Cameria, 
 whose inhabitants were a lawless horde, and 
 occasionally parties of them made incur- 
 sions, as was said, into the surrounding coun- 
 tries, for plunder. The Roman Senate sent 
 word to the government of the city that 
 such accusations were made against them, 
 and very coolly cited them to appear at 
 Rome for trial. The Camerians of course 
 refused to come. The Senate then declared 
 war against them, and sent an army to take 
 possession of the city, proceeding to act in 
 the case precisely as if the Roman govern- 
 ment constituted a judicial tribunal, having 
 authority to exercise jurisdiction, and to en- 
 force law and order, among all the nations 
 around them. In fact, Rome continued to 
 assert and to maintain this authority over a 
 wider and wider circle every year, until in 
 the course of some centuries after Romulus's 
 day, she made herself the arbiter of the 
 world. 
 
 Titius Tatius shared the supreme power 
 with Romulus at Rome for several years, 
 and the two monarchs continued during this 
 time to exercise their joint power in a much 
 
Carrying Off a Sabine Woman. (Seep. 206.) 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 237 
 
 more harmonious manner than would have 
 have been supposed possible. At length, 
 however, causes of disagreement began to 
 occur, and in the end open dissension took 
 
 Elace, in the course of which Tatius came to 
 is end in a very sudden and remarkable 
 manner. A party of soldiers from Rome, 
 it seems, had been committing some deed of 
 violence at Lavinium, the ancient city which 
 iEneas had built when he first arrived in 
 Latium. The people of Lavinium com- 
 
 ?lained to Romulus against these marauders, 
 t happened, however, that the guilty men 
 were chiefly Sabines, and in the discussions 
 which took place at Rome afterward in re- 
 lation to the affair, Tatius took their part, 
 and endeavored to shield them, while Rom- 
 ulus seemed disposed to give them up to the 
 Lavinians for punishment. " They are rob- 
 bers and murderers," said Romulus, " and 
 we ought not to shield them from the pen- 
 alty due to their crimes." " They are Roman 
 citizens," said Tatius, " and we must not give 
 them up to a foreign state." The controversy 
 became warm ; parties were formed ; and at 
 last the exasperation became so great that 
 when the Lavinian envoys, who had come to 
 Rome to demand the punishment of the 
 robbers, were returning home, a gang of 
 Tatius's men intercepted them on the way 
 and killed them. 
 
 This of course increased the excitement 
 and the difficulty in a tenfold degree. Rom- 
 ulus immediately sent to Lavinium to express 
 
238 ROMULUS. 
 
 his deep regret at what had occurred, and 
 his readiness to do everything in his power 
 to expiate the offense which his countrymen 
 had committed. He would arrest these 
 murderers, he said, and send them to Lavin- 
 ium, and he would come himself, with Tatius, 
 to Lavinium, and there make an expiatory 
 offering to the gods, in attestation of the 
 abhorrence which they both felt for so atro- 
 cious a crime as waylaying and murdering 
 the ambassadors of a friendly city. Tatius 
 was compelled to assent to these measures, 
 though he yielded very reluctantly. He 
 could not openly defend such a deed as the 
 murder of the envoys ; and so he consented to 
 accompany Komulus to Lavinium, to make 
 the offering, but he secretly arranged a plan 
 for rescuing the murderers from the Lavin- 
 ians, after they had been given up. Accord- 
 ingly, while he and Romulus were at Lavin- 
 ium offering the sacrifices, news came that 
 the murderers of the envo} T s, on their way 
 from Rome to Lavinium, had been rescued 
 and allowed to escape. This news so exaspe- 
 rated the people of Lavinium against Tatius, 
 for they considered him as unquestionably 
 the secret author and contriver of the deed, 
 that they rose upon him at the festival, and 
 murdered him with the butcher knives and 
 spits which had been used for slaughtering 
 and roasting the animals. They then formed 
 a grand procession and escorted Romulus 
 out of the city in safety, with loud acclama- 
 tions. 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 239 
 
 The government of Laviniura, as soon as 
 the excitement of the scene was over, fear- 
 ing the resentment which they very naturally 
 supposed Romulus would feel at the murder 
 of his colleague, seized the ringleaders of the 
 riot, and sent them bound to Rome, to place 
 them at the disposal of the Roman govern- 
 ment. Romulus sent them back unharmed, 
 directing them to say to the Lavinian govern- 
 ment, that he considered the death of Tatius, 
 though inflicted in a mode lawless and un- 
 justifiable, as nevertheless, in itself, only a 
 just expiation for the murder of the La- 
 vinian ambassador which Tatius had insti- 
 gated or authorized. 
 
 The Sabmes of Rome were for a time 
 greatly exasperated at these occurrences, 
 but Romulus succeeded in gradually quieting 
 and calming them, and they finally acqui- 
 esced in his decision. Romulus thus became 
 once more the sole and undisputed master of 
 Rome. 
 
 After this the progress of the city in 
 wealth and prosperity, from year to year, 
 was steady and sure, interrupted, it is true, 
 by occasional and temporary reverses, but 
 with no real retrocession at any time. Causes 
 of disagreement arose from time to time with 
 neighboring states, and, in such cases Romu- 
 lus always first sent a summons to the party 
 implicated, whether king or people, citing 
 them to appear and answer for their conduct 
 before the Roman Senate. If they refused 
 to come, he sent an armed force against them, 
 
240 ROMULUS. 
 
 as if he were simply enforcing the jurisdic- 
 tion of a tribunal of justice. The result 
 usually was that the refractory state was 
 compelled to summit, and its territories were 
 added to those of the kingdom of Rome. 
 Thus the boundaries of the new empire were 
 widening and extending every year. 
 
 Romulus paid great attention, in the mean 
 time, to everything pertaining to the internal 
 organization of the state, so as to bring 
 every part of the Jiational administration 
 into the best possible condition. The muni- 
 cipal police, the tribunals of justice, the social 
 institutions and laws of the industrial classes, 
 the discipline of the troops, the enlargement 
 and increase of the fortifications of the city, 
 and the supply of arms, and stores, and muni- 
 tions of war, — and every other subject, in 
 fact, connected with the welfare and pros- 
 perity of the city, — occupied his thoughts in 
 every interval or peace and tranquillity. In 
 consequence of the exertions which he made, 
 and the measures which he adopted, order 
 and system prevailed more and more in every 
 department, and the community became 
 every year better organized, and more and 
 more consolidated ; so that the capacity of 
 the city to receive accessions to the popula- 
 tion increased even faster than accessions 
 were made. In a word, the solid foundations 
 were laid of that vast superstructure, which, 
 in subsequent ages, became the wonder of 
 world. 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, all this in- 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 241 
 
 creasing, greatness and prosperity, Romulus 
 was not without rivals and enemies, even 
 among his own people at Rome. The lead- 
 ing senators became, at last, envious and jeal- 
 ous of his power. The}' said that he him- 
 self grew imperious and domineering in spirit, 
 as he grew older, and manifested a pride and 
 haughtiness of demeanor which excited their 
 ill-will. He assumed too much authorit} r , 
 they said, in the management of public affairs, 
 as if he were an absolute and despotic sover- 
 eign. He wore a purple robe on public oc- 
 casions, as a badge of royalty. He organ- 
 ized a body-guard of three hundred young 
 troopers, who rode before him whenever he 
 moved about the city ; and in all respects as- 
 sumed such pomp and parade in his demean- 
 or, and exercised such a degree of arbitrary 
 power in his acts, as made him many enemies. 
 The whole Senate became, at length, greatly 
 disaffected. 
 
 At last one day, on occasion of a great re- 
 view which took place at a little distance from 
 the city, there came up a sudden shower, at- 
 tended" with thunder and lightning, and the 
 violence of the tempest was such as to compel 
 the soldiers to retire precipitately from the 
 ground in search of some place of shelter. 
 Romulus was left with a number of senators 
 who were at that time attending upon him, 
 alone, on the shore of a little lake which was 
 near the place that had been chosen for the 
 parade. After a short time the senators 
 themselves came away f ram the ground, and 
 
242 uomulus. 
 
 returned to the city ; but Romulus was not 
 with them. The story which they told was 
 that in the middle of the tempest, Romulus 
 had been suddenly enveloped in a flame 
 which seemed to come down in a bright flash 
 of lightning from the clouds, and imme- 
 diately afterward had been taken up in the 
 flame to heaven. 
 
 This strange story was but half believed 
 even at first, by the people, and very soon 
 rumors began to circulate in the city that 
 Romulus had been murdered by the senators 
 who were around him at the time of the 
 shower, — they having seized the occasion 
 afforded by the momentary absence of his 
 guards, and by their solitary position. There 
 were various surmises in respect to the dis- 
 posal which the assassins had made of the 
 body. The most obvious supposition was 
 that it had been sunk in the lake. There 
 was, however, a horrible report circulated 
 that the senators had disposed of it by cut- 
 ting it up into small pieces, and conveying it 
 away, each taking a portion, under their 
 robes, 
 
 Of course these rumors produced great agi- 
 tation and excitement throughout the city. 
 The current of public sentiment set strongly 
 against the senators. Still as nothing could 
 be positively ascertained in respect to the 
 transaction, the mystery seemed to grow 
 more dark and dreadful every day, and the 
 public mind was becoming more and more 
 deeply agitated. At length, however, the 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 243 
 
 mystery was suddenly explained by a rev- 
 elation, which, whatever may be thought 
 of it at the present day, was then entirely 
 satisfactory to the whole community. 
 
 One of the most prominent and distin- 
 guished of the senators, named Proculus, one 
 who it seems had not been present among 
 the other senators in attendance upon Rom- 
 ulus at the time when he disappeared, came 
 forward one day before a grand assembly 
 which had been convened for the purpose, 
 and announced to them in the most solemn 
 manner, that the spirit of Romulus had ap- 
 peared to him in a visible form, and had as- 
 sured him that the story which the other 
 senators had told of the ascension of their 
 chieftain to heaven in a flame of fire was 
 really true. " I was journeying," said Pro- 
 culus, " in a solitary place, when Romulus 
 appeared to me. At first I was exceedingly 
 terrified. The form of the vision was taller 
 than that of a mortal man, and it was clothed 
 in armor of the most resplendent brightness. 
 As soon as I had in some measure recovered 
 my composure I spoke to it. ' Why,' said 
 1, ' have you left us so suddenly ? and espe- 
 cially why did you leave us at such a time, 
 and in such a way, as to bring suspicion and 
 reproach on the Roman senators ? ' 'I left 
 you,' said he, ' because it pleased the gods 
 to call me back again to heaven, whence I 
 originally came. It was no longer necessary 
 for me to remain on earth, for Rome is now 
 established, and her future greatness and 
 
244 ROMULUS. 
 
 glory are sure. Go back to Rome and com. 
 municate this to the people. Tell them that 
 if they continue industrious, virtuous and 
 brave, the time will come when their city 
 will be the mistress of the world ; and that 
 I, no longer its king, am henceforth to be its 
 tutelar divinity.' ' ' 
 
 The people of Rome were overjoyed to 
 hear this communication. Their doubts and 
 suspicions were now all removed ; the sena- 
 tors at once recovered their good standing in 
 the public regard, and, all was once more 
 peace and harmony. Altars were immedi- 
 ately erected to Romulus, and the whole pop- 
 ulation of the city joined in making sacri- 
 fices and in paying other divine honors to his 
 memory. 
 
 The declaration of Proculus that he had 
 seen the spirit of Romulus, and his report of 
 the conversation which the spirit had ad- 
 dressed to him, constituted proof of the 
 highest kind, according to the ideas which 
 prevailed in those ancient days. In modern 
 times, however, there is no faith in such a 
 story, and the truth in respect to the end of 
 Romulus can now never be known. 
 
 After the death of Romulus the senators 
 undertook to govern the State themselves, 
 holding the supreme power one by one, in 
 regular rotation. This plan was, however, 
 not found to succeed, and after an interreg- 
 num of about a year, the people elected an- 
 other king. 
 
ALTEMUS' NEW ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Young People's Library 
 
 A new series of choice literature for children, selected from the 
 best and most popular works. Handsomely printed on fine 
 paper from large type, with numerous colored illustrations and 
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 Fine English cloth, handsome new original designs, 40 cents each. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 70 illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. 42 illustrations. 
 
 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE 
 FOUND THERE, 50 illustrations. 
 
 BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 46 illustrations. 
 
 A CHILD'S STOEY OF THE BIBLE. 72 illustrations. 
 
 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 49 illustrations. 
 
 iESOP'S FABLES. 62 illustrations. 
 
 SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON. 50 illustrations. 
 
 EXPLOEATION AND ADVENTURE IN AFRICA. SO illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. 50 illustrations. 
 
 MOTHER GOOSE 'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND FAIRY TALES 
 234 illustrations. 
 
2 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE FROZEN SEAS. 70 illustrations. 
 
 WOOD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 80 illustrations. 
 
 BLACK BEAUTY. By Anna Sewell. r,0 illustrations. 
 
 ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS. 130 illustrations. 
 
 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 75 illustrations. 
 
 GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. 50 illustrations. 
 
 FLOWER FABLES. By Louisa M. Alcott. HO illustrations. 
 
 AUNT MARTHA'S CORNER CUPBOARD. By Mary and Eliza 
 beth Kirby. 54 illustrations. 
 
 WATER BABIES. By Charles Kingsley. 84 illustrations. 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 90 illustrations. 
 
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By Charles and Mary Lamb. 
 05 illustrations. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND. 70 illustrations. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE. IS illustrations. 
 
 MIXED PICKLES. 31 illustrations. 
 
 LITTLE LAME PRINCE. By Miss Muloek. 24 illustrations. 
 
 THE SLEEPY KING. 77 illustrations. 
 
 RIP VAN WINKLE. By Washington Irving. 40 illustrations. 
 
 A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES. By Robert Louis Steven- 
 son. 100 illustrations. 
 
 ANIMAL STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 50 illustrations. 
 
AI^rBMUS* 
 
 Stories from History Series 
 
 A. series of stories from history which every boy and girl should 
 know. No library is complete without these valuable eon 
 tributions to juvenile literature. 
 
 1'rofusely illustrated. Bound in cloth with illuminated .-oxers. 
 40 cents each. 
 
 KOMULUS, THE FOUNDER OF ROME. By Jacob Abbot I. m 
 
 illustrations, 
 
 CYRUS THE GREAT, THE FOUNDER OF THE PERSIA* 
 EMPIRE. By Jacob Abbott, 40 illustrations, 
 
 DARIUS THE GREAT, KING OF THE MEDES AND PER- 
 SIANS. By Jacob Abbott. 34 illustrations. 
 
 XERXES THE GREAT, KING OF PERSIA. By Jacob Abbott. 
 39 illustrations. 
 
 ALEXANDER THE GREAT, KING OF MACEDON. By Jacob 
 
 Abbott. 51 illustrations. 
 
 PYRRHUS, KING OF EPIRUS. By Jacob Abbott. 45 illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 HANNIBAL, THE CARTHAGINIAN. By Jacob Abbott. 37 
 illustrations. 
 
 JULIUS CAESAR, THE ROMAN CONQUEROR. By Jacob Ab- 
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 DICKENS' CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. SO illustra- 
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 ALFRED THE GREAT, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott. 40 
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 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob 
 Abbott. 43 illustrations. 
 
A HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OP 
 AMERICA. 70 illustrations. 
 
 HERNANDO CORTEZ, THE CONQUEROR OF MEXICO. By 
 Jacob Abbott. 30 illustrations. 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott, 49 
 
 illustrations. 
 
 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. By Jacob Abbott. 45 illustrations. 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. 68 il- 
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 KING CHARLES THE FIRST, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Ab- 
 bott, 41 illustrations. 
 
 KING CHARLES THE SECOND, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob 
 Abbott. 28 illustrations. 
 
 MADAME ROLAND, A HEROINE OF THE FRENCH REVO- 
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 MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE. By John S. C. 
 Abbott. 41 illustrations. 
 
 JOSEPHINE, EMPRESS OF FRANCE. By Jacob Abbott. 4(1 
 illustrations. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. By Pres- 
 
 cott Holmes. 70 illustrations. 
 
 MILITARY HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES. 60 illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 60 illustrations. 
 
 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 With portraits and illustrations. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE WAR, FOR THE UNION. By Prescott 
 Holmes. 80 illustrations. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 
 
 50 illustrations. 
 
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 5 
 
 Al tern us' Illustrated 
 
 Mother Goose Series 
 
 A series of entirely new editions of the most popular books 
 for young people. Handsomely printed from large, clear 
 type, on choice paper; each volume containing about one 
 hundred illustrations. Half vellum, with illuminated sides 
 (6%.\8% inches). Price, 50 cents each. 
 
 Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp. — Our Animal Friends. — 
 Beauty and the Beast. — Bird Stories for Little People. 
 — Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper. — The House 
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 Altemus* Illustrated 
 
 Little Men and Women Series 
 
 A new series for young people, by the best known English 
 and American authors. Profusely illustrated, and with 
 handsome and appropriate bindings. Cloth, 12mo. Price, 
 50 cts. each. 
 
 Black Beauty. By Anna Sewell. 
 
 Hiawatha. By Henry W. Longfellow. 
 
 Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. By 
 
 Lewis Carroll. 
 
 Paul and Virginia. By Sainte Pierre. 
 
6 IIKNKV ALTEMUS COMPAQ Y'ti PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Altemus' Illustrated Little Men and Women Series, Continued 
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 Gypsy, the Talking Doc. By Tudor Jenks. 
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 Another Year with Dkxise and Ned Toodi.es. By Gabrielle 
 
 E. Jackson. 
 Poor Boys' Chances. By John Habberton. 
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HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 7 
 Altemus' Illustrated 
 
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 Altemus' Illustrated 
 
 Banbury Cross Series 
 
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 volume containing about forty beautiful illustrations, 
 including - a frontispiece in colors. Half vellum, with 
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 Old Mother Hubbard. — Chicken-Little. — Blue Beard. — Tom 
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 Altemus' Illustrated 
 
 Boys and Girls Booklovers Series 
 
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 of established reputation. Price, 50 cents each. 
 
 Bumper and Baby John.— The Story of the Golden Fleece. — 
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 — Robbie's Bible Stories. — Baby Bible Stories. — Delight. 
 
8 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 Altemus' Illustrated 
 
 Dainty Series of Choice Gift Books 
 
 Bound in half-white vellum, illuminated sides, unique designs 
 in gold and colors, with numerous half-tone illustrations. 
 Price, 50 cents each. 
 
 The Silver Buckle. By M. Nataline Crumpton 
 
 Charles Dickens' Children Stories. 
 
 The Children's Shakespeare. 
 
 Young Robin Hood. By G. Manville Fenn. 
 
 Honor Bright. By Mary C. Rowsell. 
 
 The Voyage of the Mary Adair. By Frances E. Crompton. 
 
 The Kingfisher's Egg. By L. T. Meade. 
 
 Tattine. By Ruth Ogden. 
 
 The Doings of a Dear Little Couple. By Mary D. Brine. 
 
 Our Soldier Boy. By G. Manville Fenn. 
 
 The Little Skipper. By G. Manville Fenn. 
 
 Little Gervaise and Other Stories. 
 
 The Christmas Fairy. By John Strange "Winter. 
 
 Molly the Drummer Boy. By Harriet T. Comstock. 
 
 How a "Dear Little Couple" Went Abroad. By Mary D. 
 
 Brine. 
 The Rose-Carnation. By Frances E. Crompton. 
 Mother's Little Man. By Mary D. Brine. 
 Little Swan Maidens. By Frances E. Crompton. 
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 A Young Hero. By G. Manville Fenn. 
 Queen of the Day. By L. T. Meade. 
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 What Chablie Pound to Po. By Amanda M* Dauglau. 
 
Hi^K¥ ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 9 
 
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 Mother Goose's Puzzle Pictures. 
 
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 The Night Before Christmas, with Puzzle Pictures. 
 
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 Altemus' Illustrated 
 
 Mother Stories Series 
 
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 illustrated. Ornamental cloth. Price, 50 cents each. 
 
 Mother Stories. 89 illustrations. 
 
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 Mother Fairy Tales. 117 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Nature Stories. 97 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Stories from the Old Testament. 45 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Stories from the New Testament. 45 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Bedtime Stories. 86 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Animal Stories. 92 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Bird Stories. 131 illustrations. 
 
 Mother Santa Claus Stories. 91 illustrations, 
 
in HENRY ALTEMTJS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Motor Boat Club Series 
 
 By H. Irving Hancock 
 
 These popular books are altogether American in plots, scenes, 
 characters and narratives. These are wholesome stories, 
 full of incident and action, and cannot fail to arouse the 
 interest and attention of hoys and girls everywhere. 
 Handsomely printed in large type on tine paper. Splen- 
 didly bound in' cloth with decorated covers. 
 
 The Motor Boat Club of the Kennebec; Or, The Secret of 
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 The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket; Or, The Mystery of tlic 
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 The Motor Boat Club off Long Island; Or, A Daring Marine 
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 The Motor Boat Club and the Wireless; Or, The Dot, Dash 
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 The Motor Boat Club in Florida; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alli- 
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 Capture in the Great Fog. 
 
 Cloth, 12nio, Illustrated. Trice, per Volume, 50 cts. 
 
iih.\UV ALTEMUS COMPAQ 1"S PUBLICATIONS. ' li 
 
 The Submarine Boys Series 
 
 By Victor G. Durham 
 
 These splendid books for hoys and girls deal with life aboard 
 submarine torpedo boats, and with the adventures of the 
 young crew, who, by degrees, become expert in this 
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 The Submarine Boys on Duty; Or, Life en a Diving Torpedo 
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 The Submarine Boys' Trial Trip; Or, "Making Good" as 
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 The Submarine Boys and the Spies; Or, Dodging the Sharks 
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 Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50 cts. 
 
12 HENRY ALTEMITS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Pony Rider Boys Series 
 
 By Frank Gee Patchin 
 
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High School Boys Series 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 < fljjS fe * &^L 
 
 ■hlC M'H "I L. 
 
 By H. Irving Hancock 
 
 In this series of bright, crisp books a new- 
 note has been struck. 
 
 Boys of every age under sixty will be in- 
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 i The High School Freshmen ; Or, 
 Dick & Co's First Year Pranks 
 and Sports. 
 
 2 The High School Pitcher ; Or, 
 Dick & Co. on the Gridlej' 
 Diamond. 
 
 3 The High School Left End ; Or, 
 Dick & Co. Grilling on the 
 
 Football Gridiron. 
 4 The High School Captain of the Team ; Or, Dick & 
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 Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. 
 
 Crrammar School Boys Series 
 
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 This series of stories, based on the actual 
 doings of grammar school boys comes near to 
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 i The Grammar School Boys of 
 Gridley ; Or, Dick & Co. Start 
 Things Moving. 
 
 2 The Grammar School Boys Snow- 
 
 bound ; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter 
 Sports. 
 
 3 The Grammar School Boys in the 
 
 Woods; Or, Dick & Co. Trail 
 Fun and Knowledge. 
 
 4 The Grammar School Boys in Summer Athletics ; Or, 
 
 Dick & Co. Make Their Fame Secure. 
 
 Tshe 
 
 GRAMMAR SCHOOL 
 BOYS OF GRIDLEY 
 
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 U 
 
West Point Series 
 
 By H. Irving Hancock 
 
 4 Dick Prescott 
 Ready to Dro 
 
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 The principal characters in these narratives 
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 i Dick Prescott's First Year at 
 
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 2 Dick. Prescott's Second Year at 
 
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 3 Dick Prescott's Third Year at 
 
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 s Fourth Year at West Point; Or, 
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 i Davk Darrin's First Year at 
 
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 2 Dave Darrin's Second Year at 
 
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 3 Dave Darrin's Third Year at 
 
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 4 Dave Darrin's Fourth Year 
 
 Headed for Graduation and the 
 
 DAVE-DARRINS 
 
 FIRST-YEAR 
 ATANNAPOLIS 
 
 H IRVING -HANCOCK 
 
 \t Annapolis 
 Bi? Cruise. 
 
 Or, 
 
 Cloth, Illustrated 
 
 Price, per Volume, 50c. 
 
 11 
 
Boys of the Army Series 
 
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 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS 
 IN THE RANKS' t . These books breathe the life and spirit of 
 
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 just as it is, is described by a master-pen. 
 
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 2 Uncle Sam's Boys on Field Duty ; 
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 3 Uncle Sam's Boys as Sergeants ; 
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 {Other volumes to follow rapidly.') 
 
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 By Frank Gee Patchin 
 
 th 
 
 ife of 
 
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 By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON 
 
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 2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning 
 
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 3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND ; Or, Winning the Plaudits 
 
 of the Sunny South. 
 
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 3 GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, 
 
 Fast Friends in the Sororities. 
 
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 The Parting of the Ways. 
 
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 written for present-day girls. 
 i THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the 
 
 Summer Parade. 
 2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The 
 
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 t, THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, 
 
 Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow. 
 
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 id