y/^^^yL^:it_^c^^^y LAYS ANCIENT ROME. BY THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY. ILLUSTRATIONS, ORIGINAL AND FROM THE ANTIQUE, DHA.WN ON WOOD BY GEORGE SCHARF, JUN. NEW EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY E. H. BUTLER k CO. 1854. 1 . iicr ■^^^^'"irx. -' CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA PREFACE. That what is called the history of the Kings and early Consuls of Rome is to a great extent fabulous, few scholars have, since the time of Beaufort, ventured to deny. It is certain that, more than three hundred and sixty years after the date ordinarily assigned for the foundation of the city, the public records were, with scarcely an exception, destroyed by the Gauls. It is certain that the oldest annals of the commonwealth were compiled more than a century and a half after this destruction of the records. It is certain, therefore, that the great Latin writers of the Augustan age did not I'K i:rA(i:. iH>sj«os-'< tlu>so m:itiMi;ils. \vi(lioiit wliicli ;i liii^-t worth v account of tlio infancv o[' tlic rcpulilic could not possiMv he IVanicd. Tl>os<» writei-n own, iiulccil, that the clirouich's (o which thcv hail acoes8 weiv lilK-d with hattlcs that were never lought, and Consuls that wi iv iicmt inaiiguratod ; and -we have al)inulant proof tliat. in tlicse elironicles, events of the greatest imix)rtance. such as the issue of the war witli Porsena, and the issue of the war with Ihennus, were grossly misrepre- sented. Tnder these circumstances a Avise man will look with great suspicion on the legend which has come dow^n to us. He will perhaps he inclined to regard the princes who are said to have founded the civil and religious institutions of Rome, the son of Mars, and the husband of Egeria, as mere mythological personages, of the same class with Perseus and Ixion. As he draws nearer and nearer to the confines of authentic history, he will become less and less hard of Ix'lief He will admit that the most important parts of the narrative have some foundation in truth. But he will dis- trust almost all the details, not only because they seldom rest on any solid evidence, but also because he will con- stantly detect in them, even when they are within the limits of physical possibility, that peculiar character, more easily understood than defined, which distinguishes the creations TKEFACE. 7 of the imagination from the realities of the world in which we live. The early history of Rome is indeed far more poetical than anything else in Latin literature. The loves of the Vestal and the God of War, the cradle laid among the reeds of Tiber, the fig-tree, the she-wolf, the shepherd's cabin, the recog- nition, the fratricide, the rape of the Sabines, the death of Tarpeia, the fiill of Hostus Hostilius, the struggle of Mettus Curtius through the marsh, the women rushing with torn raiment and dishevelled hair between their fathers and their husbands, the nightly meetings of Numa and the Nymph by the well in the sacred grove, the fight of the three Romans and the three Albans, the purchase of the Sibylline books, the crime of Tullia, the simulated madness of Brutus, the am- biguous reply of the Delphian oracle to the Tarquins, the wrongs of Lucretia, the heroic actions of Horatius Codes, of Sccevola, and of Cloolia, the battle of Regillus, won by the aid of Castor and Pollux, the defence of Cremera, the touching story of Coriolanus, the still more touching story of Virginia, the wild legend about the draining of the Alban lake, the com- bat between Valerius Corvus and the gigantic Gaul, are among the many instances which will at on^e suggest themselves to every reader. 8 rKKTACi:. la tlif uarnitiM' of I-i\v. who was a man of lliu' imagi- imtion, thci^o sttirios ivtaiii iniich (»l" their ^ticiuiine cliariU'tor. Nor could even tlie tasteless Dionysius distort and mntilate them into mere prose. The i)()etrv shines, in spite of liini, throuirh the drearv pedantry of his eleven books. It is dis- cernible in the most tedious and in the most superficial modern works on the early times of Rome. It enlivens the dulncss of the Universal History, and gives a charm to the most meagre abridgments of Goldsmith. Even in the age of Plutarch, there were discerning rnen who rejected the popular account of the foundation of Rome, because that account appeared to them to have the air, not of a history, but of a romance or a drama. Plutarch, who Avas di.sploased at their incredulit}'. had nothing better to say in reply to their arguments than that chance sometimes turns poet, and produces trains of events not to be distinguished from the most elaborate plots which are constructed by art.'" But * "tro^Tov ftj'v ev/oif idTi to Jpafj-aTixov xai '7:'kaj|xarwv Sr,[j.ir,-jpyog cVri. — Plut. Rom. viii. This remarkable passage has been more grossly interpreted than any other in the Greek lun- puajre, where the sense was so obvious. The Latin version of Cruserius, the French version of Amyot, the old English version by several hands, and the later English version by Langhorne, are all equally destitute of every trace of the meaning of the original. None of the translators saw even that for/j^aa is a poem. They all render it an event. PREFACE. 'J though the existence of a poetical element in the early history of the Great City was detected so many ages ago, the first critic who distinctly saw from what source that poetical ele- ment had been derived was James Perizonius, one of the most acute and learned antiquaries of the seventeenth century. His theory, which, in his own days, attracted little or no notice, was revived in the present generation by Niebuhr, a man who would have been the first writer of his time, if his talent for communicating truths had borne any proportion to his talent for investigating them. That theory has been adopted by several eminent scholars of our own country, par- ticularly by the Bishop of St. David's, by Professor Maiden, and by the lamented Arnold. It appears to be now generally received by men conversant with classical antiquity ; and indeed it rests on such strong proofs, both internal and exter- nal, that it will not be easily subverted. A popular exposi- tion of this theorj^, and of the evidence by which it is sup- ported, may not be without interest even for readers who are unacquainted with the ancient languages. The Latin literature which has come down to us is of later date than the commencement of the Second Punic War, and consists almost exclusively of words fashioned on Greek models. The Latin metres, heroic, elegiac, lyric, and driiniatic, are of 10 riiKFAci:. (li.irx i.iiLiin. Tlic lust I.atiu epic jioctrv is the tcchlc cclio »)!' tlio Iliad anil (Mvssrv. Tlir lust Latin I'cloLiiU's aro imitations dI' Tlirocritus. T\\v plan c»l" the most linislicd iliilactic pooni in the Latin tonune was taken Ironi IK'siod. The Latin tragodios aro liad copies of the niaster-pieees of Sophocles and Knrijiides. The Latin comedies are iVee trans- lations from Deniophilus. Menander, and Appolodorus. The Latin philosoi)hy Mas borrowed, Avithont alteration, from the Portico and the Academy; and the great Latin orators con- stantly proposed to themselves as patterns the speeches of Demosthenes and Lysias. But there was an earlier Latin literature, a literature truly Latin, which has wholly perished, which had, indeed, almost wholly perished long before those whom we are in the habit of regarding as the greatest Latin writers were born. That literature abounded with metrical romances, such as are found in every country where there is much curiositj' and intelli- gence, but little reading and writing. All human beings, not utterly savage, long for some information about past times, and are delighted by narratives which present pictures to the eye of the mind. But it is only in very enlightened commu- nities that books are readily accessible. Metrical composi- tion, therefore, which, in a highly civilized nation, is a mere PREFACE. 11 luxury, is, in nations imperfectly civilized, almost a necessary of life, and is valued less on account of the pleasure which it gives to the ear, than on account of the help which it gives to the memory. A man who can invent or embellish an interesting story, and put it into a form which others may easily retain in their recollection, will always be highly esteemed by a people eager for amusement and information, but destitute of libraries. Such is the origin of ballad-poetry, a species of composition which scarcely ever fails to spring up and flourish in every society, at a certain point in the progress towards refinement. Tacitus informs us that songs were the only memorials of the past which the ancient Germans pos- sessed. We learn from Lucan and from Ammianus Marcel- linus, that the brave actions of the ancient Gauls were com- memorated in the verses of Bards. During many ages, and through many revolutions, minstrelsy retained its influence over both the Teutonic and the Celtic race. The vengeance exacted by the spouse of Attila, for the murder of Siegfried, was celebrated in rhymes, of which Germany is still justly proud. The exploits of Athelstane were commemorated by the Anglo-Saxons, and those of Canute by the Danes, in rude poems, of which a few fragments have come down to us. The chants of the Welsh harpers preserved, through ages of dark- I- ri; KiAiK. no8S, a faint aiul (louldliil iiicnuirv of Artliur. In tlic lliiili- lajuls oi' Si-Mtlaml ]na\ still Ik' uloani'd some ivlics ol" the old songs alxmt ("iithuUin and Fin,i:al. The long struggle of the Servians aiiainst the Ottoman power uas recorded in lays full of martial spirit. AVe learn from llerrera, that, when a Peru- \ ian Inea dii-d. men of skill were appointed to celebrate him in verses, whii'h all the peojjle learned by heart, and sang in public on days of festival. The feats of Kurroglou, the great freebooter of Tnrkistan. recounted in ballads composed by him.self, are known in every village of Northern Persia. Cajitain Beechey heard the bards of the Sandwich Islands recite the heroic achievements of Tamehameha, the most illustrious of their kings. Mungo Park found in the heart of Africa, a class of singing men, the only annalists of their rude tribes, and heard them tell the story of the victory which Darael, the negro prince of the Jalofis, "won over Abdulkader, the Mussulman tyrant of Foota Torra. This species of poetry attained a high degree of excellence among the Castilians, before they began to copy Tuscan patterns. It attained a still hitiher deG:ree of excellence amonor the English and the Lowland Scotch, during the fourteenth, fifteenth- and sixteenth centuries. But it reached its full perfection in ancii nt CI recce ; for there can be no doubt PREFACE. 13 that the great Homeric poems are genericallj ballads, though widely distinguished from all other ballads, and indeed from almost all other human compositions, by transcendent subli- mity and beauty. As it is agreeable to general experience that, at a certain stage in the progress of society, ballad-poetry should flourish, so is it also agreeable to general experience that, at a subse- quent stage in the progress of society, ballad-poetry should be undervalued and neglected. Knowledge advances : manners change : great foreign models of composition are studied and imitated. The phraseology of the old minstrels becomes ob- solete. Their versification, which, having received its laws only from the ear, abounds in irregularities, seems licentious and uncouth. Their simplicity appears beggarly when com- pared with the quaint forms and gaudy coloring of such artists as Cowley and Gongora. The ancient lays, unjustly despised by the learned and polite, linger for a time in the memory of the vulgar, and are at length too often irretrieva- bly lost. We cannot wonder that the ballads of Rome should have altogether disappeared, when we remember how^ very narrowly, in spite of the invention of printing, those of our own country, and those of Spain escaped the same fate. There is indeed little doubt that oblivion covers many Eng- 1 * r K K F A (■ i:. lish songs oijual to ;inv tli;it wrrr |>ulilisli('(l l)v Uisliop IVrcN', ami many Spanish soni^s as iiood as the best of tliosi' which have U'en so hai)[)ily transhited by Mr. Loekhart. Eighty years ago Enghiml possessed onl}- one tattered copy of Childe Waters and Sir Canline. and Spain only one tattered copy of the noble poem of the Cid. The snufT of a candle, or a mischievous dog, might in a moment have deprived the ^vorld for ever of any of those fine compositions. Sir Walter Scott, who united to the fire of a great poet, the minute curiosity and patient diligence of a great antiquary, was but just in time to save the precious relics of the Minstrelsy of the Border. In Germany, the lav of the Nibeluncrs had been long utterly forgotten when, in the eighteenth ccnturj^, it was, for the first time, printed from a manuscript in the old library of a noble family. In truth, the only people who, through their whole passage from simplicity to the highest civilization, never for a moment ceased to love and admire their old ballads, were the Greeks. That the early Romans should have had baUad-poetry, and that this poetry should have perished, is therefore not strange. It would, on the contrary, have been strange if these things had not come to pass; and we should be justified in pro- nouncing them highly probable, even if we had no direct evi- PREFACE. 15 dence on the subject. But we have direct evidence of unques- tionable authority. Ennius, who flourished in the time of the Second Punic War, was regarded in the Augustan age as the father of Latin poetry. He was, in truth, the father of the second school of Latin poetry, the only school of which the works have descended to us. But from Ennius himself we learn that there were poets who stood to him in the same relation in which the author of the romance of Count Alarcos stood to Garcilaso, or the author of the " Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode" to Lord Surrey. Ennius speaks of verses which the Fauns and the Bards were wont to chant in the old time, when none had yet studied the graces of speech, when none had yet climbed the peaks sacred to the Goddesses of Grecian song. " Where," Cicero mournfully asks, " are those old verses uow ?"* * " Quid ? Nostri veteres versus ubi suut ? < Quos olim Fiiuni vatcscjue canebant Cum neque Musarum scopulos quisquam supcrarat, Nee dicti studiosus erat.' " Jh-utiis, xviii. The Muses, it should be observed, are Greek divinities. The Italian Goddesses of verse were the Camocnae. At a later period, the appellations were used in- discriminately; but in the age of Ennius there was probably a distinction. In the epitaph of Najvius, who was the representative of the old Italian school of U> I'l; i:i- Aci:. (Vtntoinpoiarx with Ijinius \vas (.hiiiittis l"\iliiiis Pictor, tlic »>arlii'st of tlu' lloniaii annalists. His account of the inlancy anil voutli of IJonuilus and Kcnins lias been pivst'ivcd by Oioinsins, anil contains a very remarkable reference to the ancient Tiatin poetry. Fal)ius says that, in his time, his coun- trymen ^vere still in the habit oi' singing ballads ;ibuat the twins. •• Kven in the hut of Faustulus," — so these old lays appear to have run, — " the eliildren of Khea and Mars were, in port and in spirit, not like unto swineherds or cowherds, but such that men might well guess them to be of the blood of Kings and Gods."'-' poetry, the Canioena;, not the Muses, are represented as grieving for the loss of their votary. The "Musarum scopuli" are evidently the peaks of Parnassus. 8caliger, in a note on Varro (^De Limjua Latino, lib. vi.), suggests, with great ingenuity, that the Fauns, who were represented by the superstition of hiter ages as a race of monsters, half gods and half brutes, may really have been a class of men who exercised in Latium, at a very remote period, the same func- tions which belonged to the Magians in Persia and to the IJurds in Graul. * Oi 6f ufOp'jidivTSS yivovrai, y.aru |H)sitii»ii. iIh'iu (Iiat lu)nio liad l)al lad-poetry is not iiuMvly in itself lii;;lily proliahlo, liut is Tully })r()ved by direct evidence of the greatest weight. This proposition being established, it becomes easy to un- derstand why tlie early history of the city is unlike almost everything else in Latin literature, native where almost every- thing else is borrowed, imaginative where almost everything else is prosaic. We can scarcely hesitate to pronounce that the magnificent, pathetic, and truly national legends, which present so striking a contrast to all that surrounds them, are broken and defaced fragments of that early poetry which, even in the age of Cato the Censor, had become antiquated, and of which Tully had never heard a line. That this poetry should have been suffered to perish will not appear strange when we consider how complete was the triumph of the Greek genius over the public mind of Italy. It is probable that, at an early period. Homer and Plero- dotus furnished some hints to the Latin minstrels ■^' but Virtute functos, more patrum, duces, Lydis reuiixto, carmine tibiis, Trojamque, ct Anchisen, et almae Progenicm Veneris canemus." Carm. iv. 15. * See the Preface to the Lay of the Battle of Regillus. PREFACE. 21 it was not till after the war with Pyrrhus that the poetry of Rome began to put off its old Ausonian character. The transformation was soon consummated. The conquered, says Horace, led captive the conquerors. It was precisely at the time at which the Roman people rose to unrivalled political ascendency that they stooped to pass under the intellectual yoke. It was precisely at the time at which the sceptre departed from Greece that the empire of her language and of her arts became universal and despotic. The revolution indeed was not effected without a struggle. Naevius seems to have been the last of the ancient line of poets. Ennius was the founder of a new dynasty. Naevius celebrated the First Punic War in Saturnian verse, the old national verse of Italy.* Ennius sang the Second Punic War in numbers * Cicero speaks highly in more than one place of this poem of Nasvius ; Ennius sneered at it, and stole from it. As to the Saturnian measure, see Hermann's Elenienta Doctrlnm Metricce, iii. 9. The Saturnian line, according to the grammarians, consisted of two parts. The first was a catalectic dimeter iambic ; the second was composed of three trochees. But the license taken by the early Latin poets seems to have been almost boundless. The most perfect Saturnian line which has been preserved was the work, not of a professional artist, but of an amateur : " Dabunt malum Metelli Na3vio poetaj." There has been much difference of opinion among learned men respecting the history of this measure. That it is the same with a Greek measure used by Archilochus is indisputable. (^Bcutlry, Pliuluris, xi.) JJut in spite of the I'KKF ACK, iKirroweil tVom tlio Iliad. The elder poet, in the epitaph ^vllieh he \vi\)te for himself, and Avhieh is a line specimen of authorit}- of Tercntianus Maurus, and of the still higber authority of IJcntley, we may venture to doubt whether the coincidence was not fortuitous. We con- stantly find the same rude and simple numbers in different countries, under cireumstanios which make it impossible to suspect that there has been imitation on either side. Bishop llebcr heard the children of a village in Bengal singing "Radha, Radha," to the tune of "My boy Billy." Neither the Castilian nor the German minstrels of the middle ages owed anything to Paros or to ancient Rome. Yet both the poem of the Cid and the poem of the Nibelungs contain many Saturnian verses; as, — " Estas nuevas a mio Cid eran venidas." '•'A mi lo dicen; a ti dan las orejadas." "Man mohte michel wunder von Sifride sagen." " Wa ich den Kiinic vinde daz sol man mir sagen." Indeed, there cannot be a more perfect Saturnian line than one which is sung in every English nursery — "The queen was in her parlor eating bread and honey;" yet the author of this line, we may be assured, borrowed nothing from either Xa2vius or Archilochus. On the other hand, it is by no means improbable that, two or three hundred years before the time of Ennius, some Latin minstrel may have visited Sybaris or Crotona, may have heard some verses of Archilochus sung, may have been pleased with the metre, and may have introduced it at Rome. Thus much is certain, that the Saturnian measure, if not a native of Italy, was at least so early and so completely naturalized there that its foreign origin was forgotten. Bentley says indeed that the Saturnian measure was first brought from Greece into Italy by Naevius. But this is merely ohita- dictum, to use a phrase common in our courts of law, and would not have been deliberately maintained by that incomparable critic, whose memory is held in reverence by all lovers of learning. The arguments which might be brought against Bentley's assertion — for it is mere assertion, supported by no evidence — are innumerable. A few will suffice. PREFACE. 23 the early Roman diction and versification, plaintively boasted that the Latin language had died with him.* Thus what to Horace appeared to be the first faint dawn of Roman litera- ture appeared to Naevius to be its hopeless setting. In truth, one literature was setting, and another dawning. The victory of the foreign taste was decisive : and indeed 1. Bentley's assertion is opposed to the testimony of Ennius. Ennius sneered at Naevius for writing on the First Punic War in verses such as the old Italian bards used before Greek literature had been studied. Now the poem of Naevius was in Saturnian verse. Is it possible that Ennius could have used such expressions, if the Saturnian verse had been just imported from Greece for the first time? 2. Bentley's assertion is opposed to the testimony of Horace. "When Greece," says Horace, ''introduced her arts into our uncivilized country, those rugged Saturnian numbers passed away." Would Horace have said this, if the Saturnian numbers had been imported from Greece just before the hexameter? 3. Bentley's assertion is opposed to the testimony of Festus and of Aurelius Victor, both of whom positively say that the most ancient prophecies attributed to the Fauns were in Saturnian verse. 4. Bentley's assertion is opposed to the testimony of Tcreutianus Maurus, to whom he has himself appealed. Terentianus Maurus docs indeed say that the Saturnian measure, though believed by the Komans from a very early period ("credidit vetustas") to be of Italian invention, was really borrowed from the Greeks. But Terentianus Maurus does not say that it was first borrowed by Naevius. Nay, the expressions used by Terentianus Maurus clearly imply the contrary : for how could the llomans have believed, from a very early period, that this measure was the indigenous production of Latium, if it was really brought over from Greece in an age of intelligence and liberal curiosity, in the age which gave birth to Ennius, Plautus, Cato the Censor, and other distin- guished writers ? If Bentley's assertion were correct, there could have been no more doubt at Home about the Greek origin of the Saturnian measure than about the Greek origin of hexameters or Sapphics. * Aulus GcUius, Noctes Atticae, i. 24. 2i rUKFACE. ^vo can lianlly blame the Ixomans for turning away with con- tempt iVom the rude hijs whieli liad delighted their fathers, and giving their whole admiration to the immortal productions oi' Cireece. The national romances, neglected ])y the great and the refined wliose education had been finished at Rhodes or Athens, continued, it may be supposed, during some gene- rations, to delight the vulgar. While Yirgil, in hexameters of exquisite modulation, described the sports of rustics, those rustics were still singing their wild Saturnian ballads.* It is not improbable that, at the time when Cicero lamented the irreparable loss of the poems mentioned by Cato, a search among the nooks of the Apennines, as active as the search which Sir Walter Scott made among the descendants of the mosstroopers of Liddesdale, might have brought to light many fine remains of ancient minstrelsy. No such search was made. The Latin ballads perished for ever. Yet discerning critics have thought that they could still perceive in the early history of Eome numerous fragments of this lost poetry, as the traveller on classic ground sometimes finds, built into the heavy wall of a fort or convent, a pillar rich with acanthus leaves, or a frieze where the Amazons and Bacchanals seem * See Servius, in Georg. ii. 385. PREFACE. 25 to live. The theatres and temples of the Greek and the Roman were degraded into the quarries of the Turk and the Goth. Even so did the ancient Saturnian poetry become the quarry in which a crowd of orators and annalists found the materials for their prose. It is not difficult to tr^ce the process by which the old songs were transmuted into the form which they now wear. Funeral panegyric and chronicle appear to have been the in- termediate links which connected the lost ballads with the histories now extant. From a very early period it was the usage that an oration should be pronounced over the remains of a noble Roman. The orator, as we learn from Polybius, was expected, on such an occasion, to recapitulate all the services which the ancestors of the deceased had, from the earliest time, rendered to the commonwealth. There can be little doubt that the speaker on whom this duty was imposed, would make use of all the stories suited to his purpose which were to be found in the popular lays. There can be as little doubt that the family of an eminent man would preserve a copy of the speech which had been pronounced over his corpse. The compilers of the early chronicles would have recourse to these speeches ; and the great historians of a later period would have recourse to the chronicles. -^ I'KKFACK. It ni;iy l»o worth wliili' to select a particular story, and to trace its prohaMe prc^^iress through these stages. The descrip- tion of the migration of the Fabian house to Cremcra is one of the finest of the many fine passages -wliicli lie thick in the earlier books of Livy. The Consul, clad in his military garb, stands in the vestibule of his house, marshalling his clan, three hundred and six fighting men, all of the same proud patrician blood, all worthy to be attended by the fasces, and to command the legions. A sad and anxious retinue of friends accompanies the adventurers through the streets ; but the voice of lamentation is drowned by the shouts of admiring thousands. As the procession passes the Capitol, prayers and vows are poured forth, but in vain. The devoted band, leaving Janus on the right, marches to its doom through the Gate of Evil Luck. After achieving high deeds of valor against overwhelming numbers, all perish save one child, the stock from which the great Fabian race was destined again to spring, for the safety and glory of the commonwealth. That this fine romance, the details of which are so full of poetical truth, and so utterly destitute of all show of historical truth, came originally from some lay which had often been sung with great applause at banquets, is in the highest degree pro- bable. Nor is it difficult to imagine a mode in which the PREFACE. 27 transmission might have taken pLace. The celebrated Quintus Fabius Maximus, who died abont twenty years before the First Punic War, and more than forty years before Ennius was born, is said to have been interred with extraordinary pomp. In the eulogy pronounced over his body, all the great exploits of his ancestors were doubtless recounted and exag- gerated. If there were then extant songs which gave a vivid and touching description of an event, the saddest and the most glorious in the long history of the Fabian house, nothing could be more natural than that the panegyrist should borrow from such songs their finest touches, in order to adorn his speech. A few generations later the songs would perhaps be forgotten, or remembered only by shepherds and vine- dressers. But the speech would certahily be preserved in the archives of the Fabian nobles. Fabius Pictor would be well acquainted with a document so interesting to his personal feelings, and would insert large extracts from it in his rude chronicle. That chronicle, as we know, was the oldest to which Livy had access. Livy would at a glance distinguish the bold strokes of the forgotten poet from the dull and feeble narrative by which they were surrounded, would retouch them with a delicate and powerful pencil, and would make them immortal. 2S rUKFACK. That this niii:ht li;ip[)eii at lioiiie can scarcely be doubted; for souiethinu- verv like thi.s has happened in several countries, anil, among- otliers. in our own. Perhaps the theory of Peri- zonius cannot he better illustrated than by showing that what he supposes to have taken place in ancient times, has, beyond all doubt, taken place in modern times. '•History," says Hume, with the utmost gravity, "has pre- served some instances of Edgar's amours, from which, as from a specimen, we may form a conjecture of the rest." He then tells very agreeably the stories of Ellleda and Elfrida, two stories which have a most suspicious air of romance, and which, indeed, greatly resemble, in their general character, some of the legends of early Rome. He cites, as his authority for these two tales, the chronicle of William of Malmesbury, who lived in the time of King Stephen. The great majority of readers suppose that the device by which Elfleda was substituted for her young mistress, the artifice by which Athelwold obtained the hand of Elfrida, the detection of that artifice, the hunting party, and the vengeance of the amorous king, are things about which there is no more doubt than about the execution of Anne Boleyn, or the slitting of Sir John Coventry's nose. But when we turn to William of Malmesbury, we find that Hume, in his eagerness to relate PREFACE. 29 these pleasant fables, has overlooked one very important cir- cumstance. William does indeed tell both the stories; but he gives us distinct notice that he does not warrant their truth, and that they rest on no better authority than that of ballads.* Such is the way in which these two well-known tales have been handed down. They originally appeared in a poetical form. They found their way from ballads into an old chro- nicle. The ballads perished; the chronicle remained. A great historian, some centuries after the ballads had been altogether forgotten, consulted the chronicle. He was struck by the lively coloring of these ancient fictions : he transferred them to his pages; and thus we find inserted as unquestionable facts, in a narrative which is likely to last as long as the English tongue, the inventions of some minstrel whose works were probably never committed to writing, whose name is buried in oblivion, and whose dialect has become obsolete. It must, then, be admitted to be possible, or rather highly pro- bable, that the stories of Romulus and Remus, and of the Horatii and Curiatii, may have had a similar origin. * "Infamias quas post dicam magis rcspcrsonmt cantilcnnc." Edgar appears to have been most mercilessly treated in the Anglo-Saxon ballads, lie was the favorite of the monks; and the monks and minstrels were at deadly feud. «>0 riJEFAci:. Castilian lite'ratiirr ulll fiirnisli us Avitli another parallel case. Mariana, the elassiral historian of Spain, tells the story oi' the lll-starnMl marriage whieh the King Don Alonso brought ahout between the heirs of Carrion and the two daughters of the Citl. The Cid bestowed a princely dower on his sons- in-law. But the young men were base and proud, cow^ardly and cruel. They were tried in danger, and found wanting. They lied before the Moors, and once, "when a lion broke out of his den, they ran and crouched in an unseemly hiding- place. They knew that they were despised, and took counsel how they might be avenged. They parted from their father- in-law with many signs of love, and set forth on a journey with Doiia Elvira and Doila Sol. In a solitary place the bridegrooms seized their brides, stripped them, scourged them, and departed, leaving them for dead. But one of the house of Bivar, suspecting foul play, had followed the travellers in disguise. The ladies were brought back safe to the house of their father. Complaint w^as made to the king. It was ad- judged by the Cortes that the dower given by the Cid should be returned, and that the heirs of Carrion together with one of their kindred, should do battle against three knights of the party of the Cid. The guilty youths would have declined the combat ; but all their shifts were vain. The}' were van- PREFACE. 31 quished in the lists, and for ever disgraced, while their injured wives were sought in marriage bj great princes.* Some Spanish writers have labored to show, by an exami- nation of dates and circumstances, that this story is untrue. Such confutation was surely not needed ; for the narrative is on the face of it a romance. How it found its way into Mariana's history is quite clear. He acknowledges his obli- gations to the ancient chronicles; and had doubtless before him the " Cronica del famoso Cavallero Cid Ruy Diez Cam- peador," which had been printed as early as the year 1552. He little suspected that all the most striking passages in this chronicle were copied from a poem of the twelfth centur}-, a poem of which the language and versification had long been obsolete, but which glowed with no common portion of the fire of the Iliad. Yet such was the fact. More than a cen- tury and a half after the death of Mariana, this venerable ballad, of which one imperfect copy on parchment, four hun- dred years old, had been preserved at Bivar, was for the first time printed. Then it was found that every interesting cir- cumstance of the story of the heirs of Carrion was derived by the eloquent Jesuit from a song of which he had never heard, * Mariana, lib. x. cap. 4. 82 1- H K F A C K. and wliich was coinposed hy a minstrel "svliose very name had long hoen l"ori::otten.''' Sueli, or nearly such, appears to have been the process by which the lost l)allad-poetry of Rome was transformed into history. To reverse that process, to transform some portions of early Ivoman history back into the poetry out of which they were made, is the object of this work. In the following poems the author speaks, not in his own person, but in the persons of ancient minstrels who know only what a Roman citizen, born three or four hundred years before the Christian era, may be supposed to have known, and who are in nowise above the passions and prejudices of their age and nation. To these imaginary poets must be ascribed some blunders wdiicli are so obvious that it is unnecessary to point them out. The real blunder w^ould have been to represent these old poets as deeply versed in general history, and studious of chronological accuracy. To them must also be attributed the illiberal sneers at the Greeks, the furious party spirit, the contempt for the arts of peace, the love of war * See the account which Sanchez gives of the Bivar manuscript in the first volume of the Coleccion de Pocsias Castellanas anteriores al Sigh XV. Part of the story of the lords of Carrion, in the poem of the Cid, has been translated by Mr. Frere in a manner above all praise. PREFACE. 33 for its own sake, the ungenerous exultation over the van- quished, which the reader will sometimes observe. To portray a Roman of the age of Camillus or Curius as superior to national antipathies, as mourning over the devastation and slaughter by which empires and triumphs were to be won, as looking on human suffering with the sympathy of Howard, or as treating conquered enemies with the delicacy of the Black Prince, would be to violate all dramatic propriety. The old Romans had some great virtues, — fortitude, tempe- rance, veracity, spirit to resist oppression, respect for legitimate authority, fidelity in the observing of contracts, disinterested- ness, ardent patriotism; but Christian charity and chivalrous generosity were alike unknown to them. It would have been obviously improper to mimic the manner of any particular age or country. Something has been bor- rowed, however, from our own old ballads, and more from Sir "Walter Scott, the great restorer of our ballad-poetry. To the Iliad still greater obligations arc due; and those obligations have been contracted with the less hesitation, because there is reason to believe that some of the old Latin minstrels really had recourse to that inexhaustible store of poetical images. It would have been easy to swell this little volume to a very considerable bulk, by appending notes filled with quotations ; ;U rUK FACK. hut to a loanuHl ivador such notes are not necessary; lor an unlearned reader tliev Mould have little interest ; and the judirment passed hoth hy the learned and hy the unlearned on a work of the imagination will always depend much more on the general character and spirit of such a work than on minute details. HO RATI us. H OR AT I us. There can be little doubt that among those parts of early Roman history which had a poetical origin was the legend of Horatius Codes. We have several versions of the story, and these versions differ from each other in points of no small importance. Polybius, there is reason to beheve, heard the tale recited over the remains of some Consul or Tnvtor de- scended from the old Iloratian patricians; for he introduces it as a specimen of the narratives with which the Romans were 88 UOR ATI US. ill tlio li;il)it o\' t,Miil)i,'llisliiiii;- thrir runcral onitoi'}'. It is iviuarkaMo that, at-rording to liiin, Iloratius defended the hridgc alone, and jH'iisiR'd in tlie waters. According to the chronicles which Li\ y and Dion^sius followed, Iloratius had two companions, swam safe to shore, and was loaded with honors and rewards. These discrepancies are easily exphiined. Our own litera- ture, indeed, will furnish an exact parallel to what may have taken place at Kome. It is highly probable that the memor}^ of the war of Porsena was preserved by compositions much resembling the two ballads which stand first in the Belies of Ai tea lit EiKjJlsli Poetry. In both those ballads the English, commanded by the Perc}^, fight with the Scots, commanded by the Douglas. In one of the ballads, the Douglas is killed by a nameless English archer, and the Percy by a Scottish spear- man : ill the other, the Percy slays the Douglas in single com- bat, and is himself made prisoner. In the former, Sir Hugh Montgomery is shot through the heart by a Northumbrian bowman : in the latter he is taken, and exchanged for the Percy. Yet both the ballads relate to the same event, and that an event which probably took place within the memory of persons who were alive when both the ballads were made. One of the minstrels says : H R A T I U S. 39 " Old men that knowen the grounde well yenoughe Call it the battell of Otterburn : At Otterburn began this spurne Upon a monnyn day. Ther was the dougglite Doglas slean : The Perse never went away." The other poet sums up the event in the following lines : "Thys fraye bygan at Otterborne Bytwene the nyghte and the day : Ther the Dowglas lost hys lyfe, And the Percy was lede away." It is by no means unlikely that there were two old Roman lays about the defence of the bridge ; and that, while the story which Livy has transmitted to us was preferred by the multi- tude, the other, which ascribed the whole glory to Horatius alone, may have been the favorite with the Horatian House. The following ballad is supposed to have been made about a hundred and twenty years after the w^ar which it celebrates, and just before the taking of Rome by the Gauls. The author seems to have been an honest citizen, proud of the military glory of his countrj^, sick of the disputes of factions, and much given to pining after good old times which had never really existed. The allusion, however, to the partial 40 IIOKATIUS. maiiiu'r in wh'u-li \\\v piililic laiuls were allotted conld proceed ou\y iVoin a plelieiau: and the allusion to the IVaudulent sale o( spoils marks the date of the poem, and shows that the poet shared in the general discontent with which the proceedings of Camilhis, after the taking of Veii, were regarded. The penultimate syllahle of the name Porsena has heen shortened in spite of the authority of Niebuhr, who pronounces, without assigning any ground for his opinion, that Martial was guilty of a decided blunder in the line, " Hanc spectarc manum Porsena non potuit." It is not easy to understand how any modern scholar, what- ever his attainments may be, — and those of Niebuhr were undoubtedly immense, — can venture to pronounce that Martial did not know the quantity of a word wdiicli he must have uttered and heard uttered a hundred times before he left school. Niebuhr seems also to have forgotten that Martial has fellow- culprits to keep him in countenance. Horace has committed the same decided blunder; for he gives us, as a pure iambic line, " Minacis aut Etrusca Porsense manus." Silius Italicus has repeatedly offended in the same way, as when he says. HORATIUS. -11 "Cernitur effugiens ardentcm Porsena dextram:"' and again, "Clusimim vulgiis, cum, Porsena magnc, jubeLas." A modern writer may be content to err in such company. Niebuhr's supposition, that each of the three defenders of the bridge was the representative of one of the three patrician tribes, is both ingenious and probable, and has been adopted in the following poem. TAf^Q.VINK-r H R A T I U S. A LAY MADE ABOUT THE TEAR OF THE CITY CCCLX. Lars Porsexa of Clusium By the Nine Gods lie swore That the great house of Tarquin Should suffer wrong no more. By the Nine Gods he swore it, And named a trysting day, And hade his messengers ride forth, East and Avest and south and north, To summon his array. ii lH)UATli:S. IT. East and west ami south and noitlf The messengers ride fast, And tower and town and cottage Have heard tlie trumpet's blast. Shame on the false Etruscan ^Vho lingers in his home. When Porsena of Clusium Is on the march for Rome. III. The horsemen and the footmen Are pouring in amain, From many a stately market-place : From many a fruitful plain ; From many a lonely hamlet. Which, hid by beech and pine. Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the crest Of purple xVpennine ; IV. P'rom lordly A^olaterrre, Where scowls the far-famed hold Piled by the hands of giants For godlike kings of old ; H R A T I U S. From seagirt Populonia, Whose sentinels descry Sardinia's snowy mountain-tops Fringing the southern sky ; 45 From the proud mart of Pis?e, Queen of the western waves, Where ride Massilia's triremes Heavy with fair-haired slaves ; From where sweet Clanis wanders Through corn and vines and flowers ; From where Cortona lifts to heaven Her diadem of towers. VI. Tall are the oaks whose acorns Drop in dark Auser's rill ; Fat are the stags that champ the bough;- Of the Ciminian hill ; Beyond all streams Clitumnus Is to the herdsman dear ; Best of all pools the foAvler loves The great Volsinian mere. 40 II OK AT I US. VII. r>ut now no stroke of woodinan Is lioavd hj Auscr's rill ; No hunter tracks the stag's green path Up the Ciminian hill ; Unwatched along Clitumnus Grazes the milk-white steer ; Unharmed the water-fowl may dip In the Volsinian mere. Yin. The harvests of Arretium, This year, old men shall reap ; This year, young boys in Umbro Shall plunge the struggling sheep ; And in the vats of Luna, This year, the must shall foam Hound the white feet of laughing girls. Whose sires have marched to Rome. IX. There be thirty chosen prophets. The wisest of the land, "Who alway by Lars Porsena Both morn and evening stand : n R A T I u s. 47 Evening and morn the Thirty Have turned the verses o'er, Traced from the right on linen white By mighty seers of yore. And with one voice the Thirty Have their glad answer given ; " Go forth, go forth, Lars Porsena ; Go forth, beloved of Heaven ; ts llOKATirS. {\o, :in at tlio wall, And darkly at tlu' too. *' Tiu'ir van \\\\\ be npon ns liofore the bridge goes down ; And if tlicy once may -win tlio bridge, "What hope to save the town?" xxvir. Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the gate : " To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or hite. And how can man die better Tlian facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his Gods, XXVIII. "And for the tender mother "Who dandled him to rest, And for the wife who nurses His baby at her breast, And for the holy maidens AVho feed the eternal flame, To save them from false Sextus, That wrought the deed of shame ? HORATIUS. 57 XXIX. " Hew down tlie bridge, Sir Consul, With all tlic speed ye may ; I, with two more to help me, Will hold the foe in play. In yon strait path a thousand May Avell be stopped by three. Now who will stand on either hand, And keep the bridge with me ?" 5S n OH All I s. XXX. Then out spake Spurius Lartius ; A Kaiimian proud was ho: '• \.<\ 1 will staiul at tliv right liaml, Aiul keep the bridge Avith thee." And out spake strong Ilcrniinius ; Of Titian ]>lood was he : •• I will abide on thy left side. And keep the bridge with thee." XXXI. " Horatius," quoth the Consul, " As thou sayest, so let it be." And straight against that great array P'orth went the dauntless Three. HORATIUS. 59 For Romans in Rome's quarrel Spared neither land nor gold, Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life, In the brave days of old. XXXII. Then none was for a party ; Then all were for the state : Then the great man helped the poor, And the poor man loved the great : Then lands were fairly portioned : Then spoils were fairly sold : The Romans were like brotliers In the brave days of old. XXXIII. Now Roman is to Roman More hateful than a foe, And the Tribunes beard tlic hivoro tiglili'iiiiig Thoir harness on their backs, Tho Consul was the foremost man To take in hand an axe : And Fathers mixed with Commons Seized hatehet, liar, and crow, An, Tlu* r«)vcr of tlic sea ; Ami Aruns of Volsiniuin, Who slow the great -svihl boar, The great wiKl hoar that liad his den Amidst the reeds of Cosa's fen, And ^vasted fichls, and shxughtcred men, Along Albinia's shore. XL. Ilcrminius smote down Aruns : Lartius laid Ocnus low : Right to the heart of Lausulus Horatius sent a blow. " Lie there," he cried, " fell pirate ! No more, aghast and pale, From Ostia's walls the crowd shall mark The track of thy destroying bark. No more Campania's hinds shall fly To woods and caverns when they spy Thy thrice accursed sail." XLI. But now no sound of laughter "Was heard among the foes. HO RAT I us. 65 A wild and wrathful clamor From all tlie vanguard rose. Six spears' lengths from the entrance Halted that deep array, And for a space no man came forth To win the narrow way. XLII. But hark ! the cry is Astur : And lo ! the ranks divide ; And the great Lord of Luna Comes with his stately stride. Upon his ample shoulders Clangs loud the fourfold shield ; And in his hand he shakes the brand Which none but he can wield. XLIII. He smiled on those bold Romans A smile serene and high ; He eyed the flinching Tuscans, And scorn was in his eye. Quoth he, " The she-wolf's litter Stand savagely at bay ; But will ye dare to follow, If Astur clears the way?" t»r» lIDKATirS. XI. IV. Then, ^^lli^lilll; uj) liis hroatlswurd Willi both lijuids to tlir height, IIo rushcMl airainst lloratius. And snioti' vith all his iiii;,'ht. "With shield and hladc lloratius Right deftly tunie(l the Mow, The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh ; It missed his helm, l>ut gashed liis tliigh : The Tuscans raised a joyful cry To see the red blood flow. XLV. He reeled, and on Herminius He leaned one breathing-space ; Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds. Sprang right at Astur's face. Through teeth, and skull, and helmet. So fierce a thrust he sped, The good sword stood a hand-breadth out Behind the Tuscan's head. XLVI, And the great Lord of Luna Fell at that deadly stroke, HO RATI us. '>7 As falls on Mount Alvernus A tliunder-smitten oak. Far o'er the crashing forest The giant arms lie spread ; And the pale augurs, muttering low, Gaze on the blasted head. XLVII. On Astur's throat Horatius Right firmly pressed his heel, And thrice and four times tugged amain, Ere he Avrenched out the steel. "And see," he cried, "the welcome. Fair guests, that waits you here ! What noble Lucomo comes next. To taste our Roman cheer?" XLVIII. But at his haughty challenge A sullen murmur ran, Mingled of wrath, and shame, and dread, Along that glittering van. There lacked not men of prowess. Nor men of lordly race ; For all Etruria's noblest Were round the fatal place. O** llDKATll S. XMX. l>ul all Etniria's noblest Fi'lt tliclr hearts sink to sec On the earth the hloody corpses, In the path the dauntless Three : And, from the ghastly entrance "Where these hold Romans stood, All shrank, like boys "who unaAvare, Ranjiinn: the woods to start a hare, Come to the mouth of the dark lair "Where, growling Ioav, a fierce old bear Lies amidst bones and blood. L. "Was none who would be foremost To lead such dire attack ; But those behind cried "Forward I" And those before cried "Back !" And backward now and forward Wavers the deep array ; And on the tossing sea of steel, To and fro the standards reel ; Ami the victorious trumpet-peal Dies fitfully away. H R A T I U S LI. Yet one man for one moment Strode out before the crowd ; "Well known was he to all the Three, And they gave him greeting loud. " Now welcome, welcome, Sextus ! Now welcome to thy home ! Why dost thou stay, and turn away ? Here lies the road to Rome." LII. Thrice looked he at the city ; Thrice looked he at the dead ; 70 lloKATirS. AikI tlirioo raiiu" nii in Wwy. Anil thric'o tunuil lunk in ilrciul : And, white with fVar an.l hatred, Scowh'tl at the narmw way Where, waUowinji ii> a pciil df l)hi()il. The liravest Tuseans lay. LIII. But meanwhile axe and lever Have manfully been plied, And now the bridge hangs tottering Above the boiling tide. " Come back, come back, Horatius !" Loud cried the Fathers all. " Back, Lartius ! back, Hcrminius 1 Back, ere the ruin fall !' LIV. Back darted Spurius Lartius ; Hcrminius darted back : And, as they passed, beneath their feet. They felt the timbers crack. But Avhen they turned their faces, And on the farther shore Saw brave Horatius stand alone, They would have crossed once more. '4 HORATIUS. 71 LV. But with a crash like thunder Fell every loosened beam, And, like a dam, the mighty ^Yreck Lay right atlnvart the stream : And a long shout of triumjih Rose from the walls of Rome, As to the highest turret-tops Was splashed the yellow^ foam. LVI. And, like a horse unbroken When first he feels the rein, The furious river struggled hard, And tossed his tawny mane, And burst the curb, and bounded, Rejoicing to be free. And whirling down, in fierce career, Battlement, and plank, and pier, Rushed headlong to the sea. LVII. Alone stood brave Horatius, But constant still in mind ; Thrice thirty thousand foes before, And the broad flood behind. iioKATi rs. '' Pown with him I" ciit'il false Scxtus, AVith a smik' on his pale iufc. "Mow vichl thco," cried Lars Porsena, "Now yield thee to our grace." LVIII. Round turned he, as not deigning Those craven ranks to see ; Kaiight spake he to Lars Porsena, To Sextus naught spake he : But he saw on Palatinus The white porch of his home ; And he spake to the noble river That rolls by the towers of Rome. LIX. " Oh, Tiber ! Father Tiber ! To whom the Romans pray, A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, Take thou in charge this day !" So he spake, and speaking sheathed The good sword by his side, And with his harness on his back, Plunged headlong in the tide. nORATIUS. 73 iFif No sound of joy or sorrow s%: Ji >^ Was heard from either bank, %^': jjJ vu^ia vX^^'C; "■ ':z-M^ 1 But friends and foes in dumb surprise^ /"'.^'li * With parted lips and straining eyes, / i& Stood gazing where he sank ; '^.\ ^:^^ ) 1 71 iioKATirs. And whvu above tho sur;:i's Tliov saw his crest a|»pe!ir, All Koine sent forth a niitlurons ery. Anil even the ranks of 'ruseany Could scarce forbear to eheer. I ' But fiercely ran the current, I Swollen bifib by months of rain : And fast his blood was flowing ; And he was sore in pain. And heavy with his ai-nior. And spent with changing blows : Ami oft they thought him sinking, But still again he rose. LXir. Xever, I ween, did swimmer, In such an evil case. Struggle through such a raging flood Safe to the landing-place : But his limbs were borne up bravely By the brave heart within, And our good Father Tiber Bare bravely up his chin." II 11 A T I U S. LXIII. " Curse on him !" quotli false Sextus : " Will not the villain drown ? But for this stay, ere close of day We should have sacked the town !" " Heaven help him !" quoth Lars Porsena, " And bring him safe to shore ; For such a gallant feat of arms Was never seen before." LXIV. And now he feels the bottom ; Now on dry earth he stands ; Now round him throng the Fathers To press his gory hands ; ' " Our Ladyc bare upp her clilnne." Ballad of Childe Waters. " Never heavier man and horse Stemmed a midnight torrent's force ; * i;- * -x- * Vet, tlirough good heart and Our Lady's grace, At length he gained the landing-place." Lay of the Last Minstrd, I. Tt« IIOKATII S. Ami now, with sliouts and i'l:i|ntiii;r, Ami noise of weeping loud, lie enters through the Kiver-Giite, Borne by the joyous crowd. LXV. They gave him of the corn-land That was of public right As much as two strong oxen Could plough from morn till night; And they made a molten image, And set it up on high, And there it stands unto this day To witness if I lie. LXVI. It Stands in the Comitium, Plain for all folk to see ; Iloratius in his harness, Halting upon one knee : And underneath is written, In letters all of gold, IIow valiantly he kept the bridge In the brave days of old. nORATIUS. 77 LXYII. And still his name sounds stirrin"; Unto the men of Rome, As the trumpet-blast that cries to them To charge the Volscian home ; And wives still pray to Juno Tor boys with hearts as bold As his who kept the bridge so well In the brave days of old. LXVIII. And in the nights of winter, When the cold north winds blow. And the long howling of the wolves Is heard amidst the snow ; When round the lonely cottage Roars loud the tempest's din. And the good logs of Algidus Roar louder yet within ; LXIX. When the oldest cask is opened, And the largest lamp is lit ; When the chestnuts glow in the embers, And the kid turns on the spit ; 7S II OU ATI IS. When younj; ami oltl in clirlr Ari>uml till' fuvlirantls doso ; When the ^irls are weaving baskets, Ami the huls are shaping bows; LXX. Wlion the gooilman mends his avnior, Ami trims his helmet's plume ; When the n;ooclwife's shuttle merrilv Goes flashing through the loom ; With weeping an?*^' THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE KEGILLUS. The following poem is supposed to have been produced about ninety years after the lay of Horatius. Some persons mentioned in the lay of Horatius make their appearance again, and some appellations and epithets used in the lay of Horatius have been purposely repeated : for, in an age of ballad-poetry, it scarcely ever fails to happen, that certain phrases come to be appropriated to certain men and things, and are regularly applied to those men and things by every minstrel. Thus we find, both in the Homeric poems and in Hesiod, /3i>] 'HpaxXvisiv], 'jTSpixXuTCig ^Aixcptyvrisig, (Jiaxropog 'Ap^ei(povTr]j, tifrxifv'kos Grj^y], 11 ^- 11 ATT I, K OF Tin: I, A K K lilKilLLUS. 'VXinn iu>k' v»ofwio. Thus, too, in our own national ^sonj^s, IXiuglas is almost alwavs tlie doughty J)ouglas: England is merry Knirlaml : all the gold is red ; and all tlir ladies are gay. Thr piincipal distinction between the lay of Iloratius and the lay o{ the Lake Regilhis is that the former is meant to Ih? purely Roman, while the latter, though national in its general spirit, has a slight tincture of Greek learning and of Greek superstition. The story of the Tarquins, as it has come down to us, appears to have been compiled from the works of several popular poets; and one, at least, of those poets appears to have visited the Greek colonies in Italy, if not Greece itself, and to have had some acquaintance with the works of Homer and Herodotus. Many of the most striking adventures of the house of Tarquin, before Lucretia makes her appearance, have a Greek character. The Tarquins them- selves are represented as Corinthian nobles of the great house of the Bacchiada?, driven from their country by the tyranny of that Cypselus, the tale of whose strange escape Herodotus has related with incomparable simplicity and liveliness.* Livy and Dionysius tell us that, when Tarquin the proud was asked * Herodotus, v. 92. Livj, i. 34. Dionysius, iii. 4G. BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 83 what was the best mode of governing a conquered city, he rephed only by beating down with his staff, all the tallest poppies in his garden.* This is exactly what Herodotus, in the passage to which reference has already been made, relates of the counsel given to Periander, the son of Cypselus. The stratagem by which the town of Gabii is brought under the power of the Tarquins is, again, obviously copied from Hero- dotus.f The embassy of the young Tarquins to the oracle at Delphi, is just such a story as w^ould be told by a poet whose head was full of the Greek mythology; and the ambiguous * Livy, i. 54. Dionysius, iv. 56, f Herodotus, iii. 154. Livy, i. 53. <4 HATTLK OK Tin: I. A K K IM'T. il.Ll'S. answer ivtiinuHl l>y Apollo is in the oxart stvlc of tlio \m)- phecios Avhich, accordinir to IKioilotus, lured Croesus to de- struction. Then the elianicter of the narrative changes. From the first mention of Lueretia to the retreat of Porscna notliing seems to be borrowed from foreign sources. The villany of Soxtus. the suicide of his victim, the revolution, the death of the sons of Brutus, the defence of the bridge. Mucins burning his hand,'=' Cloelia swimming through Tiber, seem • M. de Pouilly attempted, a hundred and twenty years ago, to prove that the story of Mucius wxs of Greek origin j but he was signally confuted by the Abbe Sallicr. See the Mtmoircs de V Academic des Inscriptions, vi. 27, 66. BATTLE OF THE LAKE EEGILLUS. 85 to be all strictly Koman. But when we have done with the Tuscan war, and enter upon the war Avith the Latines, we are again struck by the Greek air of the story. The Battle of the Lake Regillus is in all respects a Homeric battle, except that the combatants ride astride on their horses instead of driving chariots. The mass of fighting men is hardly men- tioned. The leaders single each other out and engage hand to hand. The great object of the warriors on both sides is, as in the Iliad, to obtain possession of the spoils and bodies of the slain; and several circumstances are related which forcibly remind us of the great slaughter round the corpses of Sarpedon and Patroclus. HATTi.r t>F Till; I. A K r. i; Kc I i.i.us. But there is one circumstance which deserves especial notice. Both the war of Troy and the war of Regillus were caused by the licentious passions of young princes, who were therefore peculiarly bound not to be sparing of their own persons in the day of battle. Now the conduct of Sextus at Regillus. as descriljed by Livy, so exactly resembles that of Paris, as described at the beginning of the third book of the Iliad, that it is difficult to believe the resemblance accidental. Paris appears before the Trojan ranks, defying the bravest Greek to encounter him : BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 87 'Ap^eiwv 'TTpoxoeXi^ero oravrotg a^itfTouc, ccvri§iov iJ.cc^iTxd^xt iv xIvyj ^rjioT^ri. Livy introduces Sextus in a similar manner : " Ferocem juvenem Tarquinium, ostentantem se in prima exsulum acie." Menelaus rushes to meet Paris. A Roman noble, eager for vengeance, spurs his horse towards Sextus. Both the guilty princes are instantly terror-stricken : T«v S' ag ouv evo'i^o'sv 'AX;'|£tial ImrsonuMi ])vdY [\\v ti(lill_L^•>! ot" victoiy to IJome. Manv years al'trr thr toiuple of the Twin (lods had heen huilt in the Forum, an im})ortant athlition was made to the eeremonial h\" whieh the state annually testified its iiratitude I'or their protection. Quintus Fabiiis and Publius Decius were elected Censors at a momentous crisis. It had become absolutely necessary that the classification ol' tlie citizens should lie revised. On that classification depended the dis- tribution of political power. Partj-spirit ran high ; and the republic seemed to be in danger of fiilling under the dominion either of a narrow oligarchy or of an ignorant and headstrong rabble. Under such circumstances the most illustrious pa- trician and the most illustrious plebeian of the age were intrusted with the office of arbitrating between the angry factions ; and they performed their arduous task to the satis- faction of all honest and reasonable men. One of their reforms was a remodelling of the equestrian order ; and, having effected this reform, they determined to give to their work a sanction derived from religion. In the chivalrous societies of modern times, societies which have BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 91 much more than may at first siglit appear in common witli the equestrian order of Rome, it has heen usual to invoke the special protection of some Saint, and to observe his day with peculiar solemnity. Thus the Companions of the Garter wear the image of Saint George depending from their collars, and meet, on great occasions, in Saint George's Chapel. Thus, when Louis the Fourteenth instituted a new order of chivalry for the rewarding of military merit, he commended it to the favor of his own glorified ancestor and patron, and decreed that all the members of the fraternity should meet at the royal palace on the Feast of Saint Louis, should attend the king to chapel, should hear mass, and should subsequently hold their great annual assembly. There is a considerable resem- blance between this rule of the order of Saint Louis and the rule which Fabius and Decius made respecting the Roman knights. It was ordained that a grand muster and inspection of the equestrian body should be part of the ceremonial per- formed, on the anniversary of the battle of Regillus, in honor of Castor and Pollux, the two equestrain Gods. All the knights, clad in purple and crowned with olive, were to meet at a temple of Mars in the suburbs. Thence they were to ride in state to the Forum, where the temple of the Twins stood. This pageant was, during several centuries, considered i*- HATTLK OK TlIK l.AKK K i: C 1 1. 1. r S. as one ot* tho most splnulid fle tliat those hiuh ivligious functionaries were, as nsual, fortunate enouiir|»l(>. With olive each is fro\\iicil ; A gallant war-liorsc under cmcIi Paws liati^litily tlu' ;:ioiiiiil. ^Vllile Hows the Ycllnw lliver, "While stands the Sailed Hill, The proud Ides of (.^uiiitilis Shall have such honor still. Gay are the Martian Kalends : Decemher's Nones are gay : But the proud Ides, ■when the squadron rides, Shall be Rome's whitest day. II. Unto the Great Twin Brethren AVe keep this solemn feast. Swift, swift, the Great Twin Brethren Came spurring from the east. They came o'er wild Parthcnius Tossing in waves of pine, O'er Cirrha's dome, o'er Adria's foam, O'er purple Apennine, From where with flutes and dances Their ancient mansion rings. BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 97 In lordly Lacedaemon, The City of two kings, To where, by Lake Regillus, Under the Porcian height, All in the lands of Tusculum, Was fought the glorious fight. iir. Now on the place of slaughter Are cots and sheepfolds seen, And rows of vines, and fields of wheat, And apple orchards green: The swine crush the big acorns That fall from Corne's oaks. Upon the turf by the Fair Fount The reaper's pottage smokes. The fisher baits his angle ; The hunter twangs his bow ; Little they think on those strong limbs That moulder deep below. Little they think how sternly That day the trumpets pealed ; How in the slippery swamp of blood Warrior and war-horse reeled ; 08 BATTI.K OF Tin: lAKi: KI.CILLUS. How wolvrs caiiic uiui iicirc -iuli.ji. And crows on eager wings, To tear the flesh of captains, Anil peck the eyes of kings ; How thick the dead hiy scattered Under the Porcian height ; How through the gates of Tusculum Raved the wihl stream of flight ; And how the Lake Regillus Bubbled with crimson foam, "What time the Thirty Cities Came forth to war with Rome. IV. But, Roman, when thou standest Upon that holy ground, Look thou with heed on the dark rock That girds the dark lake round. So shalt thou see a hoof-mark Stamped deep into the flint : It was no hoof of mortal steed That made so strange a dint : There to the Great Twin Brethren Vow thou thy vows, and pray BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 99 That tliej, in tempest and in fight, Will keep thy head alway. V. Since last the Great Twin Brethren Of mortal eyes were seen, Have years gone by an hundred And fourscore and thirteen. That summer a Virginius Was Consul first in place ; The second was stout Aulus, Of the Posthumian race. The Herald of the Latines From Gabii came in state : The Herald of the Latines Passed through Rome's Eastern Gate : The Herald of the Latines Did in our Forum stand ; And there he did his office, A sceptre in his hand. vr. " Hear, Senators and people Of tlie good town of Rome 100 BATTI, K OK Tin: I.AKK i; IKi 1 I. L f S. The Thirty Cities charge you To bring the Tarquins home : And if ye still be stubborn, To work the Tarquins wrong, The Thirty Cities warn you, Look that your walls be strong." !5>^- ^ 4 BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 101 VII. Then spake the Consul Aulus, He spake a bitter jest : " Once the jays sent a message Unto the eagle's nest : — Now yield thou up thine eyrie Unto the carrion-kite, Or come forth valiantly, and face The jays in deadly fight. — Forth looked in wrath the eagle ; And carrion-kite and jay. Soon as they saw his beak and claw. Fled screaming far away." 10-2 HAITI. K OF tin: l.AKF. KKCII.LUS. viir. Tlu" Ilcral.l of the L:itiiirs llalli liinl liini Imck in state : Tlif FatluTs of tlio City Are nu't m liigli doltate. Then spake the ekler Consul, An ancient man and wise, " Now hearken, Conscript Fathers, To that -wliieh I advise. In seasons of great peril 'Tis good that one bear sway ; Then choose we a Dictator, "Whom all men shall obey. Camerium knows how deeply The SAvord of Aulus bites ; And all our city calls him The man of seventy fights. Then let him be Dictator For six months and no more, And have a Master of the Knights, And axes twenty-four." IX. So Aulus was Dictator, The man of seventy fights ; BATTLE OF THE LAKE EEGILLUS. 103 He made J^butius Elva His Master of the Knights. On the third morn thereafter, At dawning of the da j, Did Aulus and iEbutius Set forth with their array. Sempronius Atratinus Was left in charge at home With boys, and with gray-headed men, To keep the walls of Rome. Hard by the Lake Regillus Our camp was pitched at night : Eastward a mile the Latines lay, Under the Porcian height. Far over hill and valley Their mighty host was spread ; And with their thousand watch-fires The midnight sky was red. Up rose the golden morning Over the Porcian height, The proud Ides of Quintilis Marked evermore with white. 101 r.ATTl.K OF Tin: I.AKi: Kr.(i 1 I.I.LS. Not without siHTrt trouMo Uur bravest saw tlu> foi's : For nirt liy tliroescore tliuiisaiul sjicars The thirty standards rose. From every warlike eity That boasts the Latian name, Foredoomed to dogs and vultures, That gallant army came ; From Setia's purple vineyards. From Norba's ancient wall. From the white streets of Tusculum, The proudest town of all ; From where the Witch's Fortress O'erhangs the dark-blue seas ; From the still glassy lake that sleeps Beneath Aricia's trees — Those trees in whose dim shadow The ghastly priest doth reign. The priest who slew the slayer, And shall himself be slain ; From the drear banks of Ufens, "WTiere flights of marsh-fowl play, And buffaloes lie wallowing Through the hot summer's day ; BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 105 From the gigantic watcli-towers, No work of earthly men, Whence Cora's sentinels o'erlook The never-ending fen ; From the Laurentian jungle, The wild-hog's reedy home ; From the green steeps whence Anio leaps In floods of snow-white foam. XI. Aricia, Cora, Norba, Velitrse, with the might Of Setia and of Tuscuhnn, Were marshalled on the right ; Their leader was Mamilius, Prince of the Latian name ; Upon his liead a helmet Of red gold shone like flame : High on a gallant charger Of dark-gray hue he rode ; Over his gilded armor A vest of purple flowed, Woven in the land of sunrise By Syria's dark-browed daughters, 14 100 liATTi.i: «>r Tin: i.aki: kkcim.is. Ami liy tlio sails of Caiilia^c Innu'lit Tar o'er tlic southern wuterr^. xir. Lavinium and Laurcntiun Had on the left their post, AVitli all the banners of the inavt^h, And hanncrs of the coast. Their leader was liilse Scxtus, That wrought the deed of shame : "With restless pace and haggard face To his last field he came. Men said he saw strange visions "Which none beside might see ; And that strange sounds were in his ears "Which none might hear but he. A woman fair and stately, But pale as arc the dead, Oft through the watches of the night Sat spinning by his bed. And as she plied the distaff. In a sweet voice and low, She sang of great old houses, And fights fought long ago. BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. l"^ HATTi.K iM' Tin: i.AKi: i;i:i;iM,us. Tlu'iv null' thr Volst-iim succors : There, in a tlark stern rin;;. The Human exiles ijathered close Aritund the ancient kin*;. Thoujrh white as Mount Soracte, "When winter ni^'lits are luiit:, His lu'iinl 11(i\vim1 down o'er mail ami licit, His heart ami liaml were strong. I'mler his hoary eyehrows Still Hashed forth (quenchless rage : And. if the lance sho(d< in his grijte, 'Twas more with hate than agQ. Close at his side was Titus On an Apulian steed, Titus, the youngest Tarquin, Too good for such a breed. XIV. Now on each side the leaders Gave signal for the charge ; And on each side the footmen Strode on with lance and targe ; And on each side the horsemen Struck their spurs deep in gore ; BATTLE OF THE LAKE EEGILLUS. 109 And front to front the armies Met Avith a mighty roar : And under that great battle The earth Avitli blood was red ; And, like the Pomptine fog at morn, The dust hung overhead ; And louder still and louder Rose from the darkened field The braying of the war-horns, The clang of sword and shield, The rush of squadrons SAveeping Like whirlwinds o'er the plain, The shouting of the slayers, And screeching of the slain. XV. False Sextus rode out foremost : His look Avas high and l)old ; His corslet Avas of bison's hide, Plated Avith steel and (jjold. As glares the famished eagle From the Digentian rock On a choice lamb that bounds alone Before Bandusia's flock, Hi' i;atti.i: of tiii: i.aki; i; r.i. i i.i, us. Ilcnniiiiiis F Tin: i.akk kkc illl'S. Tall C;vso was the bravi-.-t man Of tlu' brave FaMau race : Aiilus slew Kox of (!al)ii, Tlie priest of Juno's shrine : Valerius smote down Julius, Of liome's great Julian line; Julius, who left his mansion Iliffh on the Velian liill, And through all turns of wail and woe Followed proud Tarquin still. Now right across proud Tarquin A corpse was Julius laid ; And Titus groaned -with rage and grief, And at Valerius made. Valerius struck at Titus, And lopped off half his crest ; But Titus stabbed Valerius A span deep in the breast. Like a mast snapped by the tempest, Valerius reeled and fell. Ah ! woe is me for the good house That loves the people well ! Then shouted loud the Latines ; And with one rush they bore BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 115 The strugo-lino; Romans backward Three lances' length and more ; And up they took proud Tarquin, And laid him on a shield, And four strong yeomen bare him, Still senseless, from the field. XVIII. But fiercer grew the fighting Around Valerius dead ; For Titus dragged him by the foot, And Aulus by the head. 116 15ATT1.K or Till: i.AKi: KKi; M. I, rs. *• On, liiiliiu's, on I" (juntli Titus, " Si>o liow tlu' iilu'ls lly!" '* Hoinans. st:inil firm I" (pioili Aiiliis, •• Ami will iliis fi:_']it or tlir I Tlu'V must not ^ivr \';ili'iius To raven ami to kite ; For aye A'aleriiis loatlieil tlie wrong, And aye iijilieM tlie riglit : And for your Avi\ es ami Itabies In the front rank lie fell. Kow play the men for the good house That loves the people "well !" XIX. Then tenfold round the body The roar of battle rose, Like the roar of a burning forest, When a strong northwind blows. Now backward, and now forward, Rocked furiously the fray, Till none could see Valerius, And none wist where he lay. For sliivered arms and ensigns Were heaped there in a mound. BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. And corpses stiff, and dying men That writhed and gnawed the ground ; And wounded horses kicking, And snorting purple foam : Rig-ht well did such a couch befit A Consular of Rome. XX. But north looked the Dictator ; North looked he long and hard ; And spake to Caius Cossus, The Captain of his Guard: " Caius, of all the Romans Thou hast the keenest sight : Say, what through yonder storm of dust Comes from the Latian rifflit ?" xxr. Then answered Caius Cossus : " I sec an evil sight ; The banner of proud Tusculum Comes from the Latian right ; I see the plumed horsemen ; And far before the rest 117 lis 15ATT1.E ov Tin: i.AKi: i;i:(; ii.i.i'S. I soo tlu' (lark-i^ray rliav;:i'r, 1 siH' the purple vost ; I SCO the polden helmet That shines far nfl" like flame ; So ever rides Mamilius, I'riiiee of the Latiaii ikiuu'."' XXII. " Now hearken, Cuius Cossus : Spring on thy horse's back ; Ride as the wolves of Apennine "Were all upon thy track ! Haste to our southward battle ; And never draw thy rein Until thou find Ilerminius, And bid him come amain," xxiir. So Aulus spake, and turned him Again to that fierce strife ; And Caius Cossus mounted. And rode for death and life. Loud clanged beneath his horse-hoofs The helmets of the dead, 15ATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. HO And many a curdling pool of blood Splashed him from heel to head. So came he far to southward, Where fought the Roman host, Against the banners of the marsh And banners of the coast. Like corn before the sickle The stout Lavinians fell, Beneath the edge of the true sword That kept the bridge so w^ell. XXIV. " Herminius ! Aulus greets thee ; He bids thee come with speed, To help our central battle ; For sore is there our need. There wars the youngest Tarquin, And there the Crest of Flame, The Tusculan Mamilius, Prince of the Latian name. Valerius hath fallen fighting In front of our array ; And Aulus of the seventy fields Alone upholds the day. 1-0 UATTI.i: OV TUr. l.AKK KKCILM'S. XXV. Ilortiiinins luat liis Imsdiii ; r>iit iHVt r a AVHid lu' spake. Ilr clapju'il his liaml (Ui Austor's niaiu' I If 1 -4 BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 125 XXX. Uut, like a graven image, Black Anster kept liis place, And ever wistfully he looked Into his master's face. The raven niaiic tluit daily, AVitli pats and f<»nd caresses, The young llerniinia washed and cnmhci And twiiKMl in even tresses, 126 i.Aiii.i. <■!■ riii: i.aki: kkc i LT,rs. Aiiil (K'fki'il Aviili cdldi-cMl riliMiids l-'roiii Iht own <.';iy iillirc, lliiiii: sadly o'er her I'allu-i-'s corpse 111 ciniairr and in niirc. Forth wiili a shout sprang Titus, And sri/t'(l l)hH'k Anster's rein. Then Aldus sware a fearful oath, -Vnd ran at him amain. " The furies of thy l)r()ther With me and mine ahide, If one of your accursed liouse Upon black Auster ride !"' As on an Alpine ^vatcli-toAver From heaven comes do\vii the flame. Full on the neck of Titus The hlade of Aldus came : And out the red hlood spouted, In a wide arcli and tall, As spouts a fountain in the court Of some rich Capuan's hall. The knees of all the Latines AVere loosened Avith dismay, When dead, on dead Herminius, The hravest Tarfpiin lay. BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. XXXI. And Aulus tlie Dictator Stroked Auster's raven mane, With heed he looked unto the girths, With heed unto the rein. "Now bear me well, black Auster, Into yon thick array; And thou and I will have revenge For thy good lord this day." 127 xxxir. So spake he ; and was buckling Tighter black Auster's band, When he was aware of a princely pair That rode at his right hand. So like they were, no mortal Might one from other know : White as snow their armor was : Their steeds were white as snow. Never on earthly anvil Did such rare armor gleam ; And never did such gallant steeds Drink of an earthly stream. 128 HAITI. r. OF Tin; i.aki; kkc i i.i.rs. will. And all who saw tlinii 1 1 1'liiMrd, .\ih1 \)-a\v iiww c'vny clici-k ; And Aulus the Dit-tator Scarce gathered voiee to speak. "Say hy what luune men call you? "What city is your home ? And wherefore ride ye in such guise Before the ranks of Home?'' XXXIV. "By many names men call us ; In many lands we dwell ; Well Samothracia knows us ; Cyrenc knows ivs well. Our house in gay Tarcntum Is huns each morn with floAvers : High o'er the masts of Syracuse Our marble portal towers ; But hy the proud Eurotas Is our dear native home ; And for the right we come to fight Before the ranks of Rome." BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 129 XXXV. So answered those strange horsemen, And each couched low his spear ; And forthwith all the ranks of Rome Were bold, and of good cheer: And on the thirty armies Came wonder and affright. And Ardea wavered on the left, And Cora on the right. "Rome to the cliai-ge !" cried Aldus ; " The foe begins to yield ! 130 HAITI. i: OF Till-: laki: kkcillus, C'liariTi' for tlio licartli iA' \fsla 1 ('liar^ri' l\»r tlic (ioMon ShicUl ! Li't no man stop to plunder, l)ut slay, and slay, and slay : The Gods who live for ever Are on our side to-dav." XXXVI. Then the fierce trumpet-flourish From earth to heaven arose, The kites know well the long stern swell That hids the Romans close. Then the good sword of Aulus Was lifted up to slay : Then, like a crag down Apennine, Rushed Auster through the fray. Rut under those strange horsemen Still thicker lay the slain ; And after those strange horses Rlack Auster toiled in vain. Rehind them Rome's long battle Came rolling on the foe, Ensijrns dancino; wild above, Rlades all in line below. BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. So comes the Po in flood-timo Upon the Celtic plain : So comes the squall, blacker than night, Upon the Adrian main. Now, by our Sire Quirinus, It -was a goodly sight To see the thirty standards Swept down the tide of flight. So flies the spray of Adria When the black squall doth blow ; So corn-sheaves in the flood-time Spin down the whirling Po. False Scxtus to the mountains Turned first his horse's head, And fast fled Ferentinum, And fast Lanuvium fled. The horsemen of Nomentum Spurred hard out of the fray ; The footmen of Velitroe Threw shield and spear aAvay. And underfoot was trampled. Amidst the mud and gore. The banner of proud Tusculum, That never stooped before. 131 i::j 11 ATT I. i: OV TlIK LAKK KKCILI.US. AikI ilcwii unit Flavins Faustus, "NVlio li'il his stately ranks From wlioro the appU' hlossoius wave On Aiiio's ochoini: banks, And TuUns of Arpinuni, Chief of tlie A^olscian aids, And ^Nletius with the long fair curls, The love of Anxur's maids, And the white head of A^ulso, The great Arician seer. •\ BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. And Nepos of Laurentum, The liuntcr of the deer ; And in the back false Scxtus Felt the good Roman steel, And -wriggling in the dust he died, Like a worm beneath the -wheel : And fliers and pursuers "Were mingled in a mass ; And far a-way the battle Went roaring through the pass. XXXVII. Sempronius Atratinus Sate in the Eastern Gate, Beside him -were three Fathers, Each in his chair of state ; Fabius, Avhose nine stout grandsons That day -were in the field. And Manlius, eldest of the t-welve "Who keep the Golden Shield ; And Sergius, the High Pontifi", For -wisdom far renowned ; In all Etruria's colleges Was no such Pontiff found. 133 !;'•» hatti.i: of tui; i.aki: ki;(;illus. And all aroUMil tlic portal. Ami high above tlio wall. Stood a great throng of people, But sail and silent all ; Young lads, and stooping elders That might not hear the mail. Matrons "with lips that quivered, And maids "with faces pale. Since the first gleam of daylight, Sempronius had not ceased To listen for the rushing Of horse-hoofs from the east. The mist of eve was rising. The sun was hastening down, When he was aware of a princely pair Fast pricking towards the town. So like they were, man never Saw twins so like before ; Red with gore their armor was, Their steeds were red with gore. XXXVIII. "Hail to the great Asylum I Hail to the hill-tops seven I BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGIE L US. 135 Hail to tlic fire tliat burns for aye, And the shield that fell from heaven This day, by Lake Regillns, Under the Porcian height, All ill the hinds of Tuseulinn Was foucht a glorious fifTht. ISO i; A T T 1. 1; OV Til K 1. A K K K K (". I L L U S. To-iiuiirttw vmir Pii-lator Shall Itrini: in triiunpli home The spoils of thirty cities To ik'fk the shrines of Rome !" XXXIX. Then burst from that great concourse A shout that shook the towers, And some ran north, and some ran south. Crying, "The day is ours !" Eut on rode these strange horsemen, "With slow and lordly pace ; And none who saw their bearing Durst ask their name or race. On rode they to the Forum, While laurel-boughs and flowers, From house-tops and from windows. Fell on their crests in showers. AVhcn they drew nigh to Yesta, They vaulted down amain, And washed their horses in the well That springs by Vesta's fane. And straight again they mounted. And rode to Vesta's door; BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. Then, like ca blast, away they passed, And no man saw them more. IC- XL. And all the peoj^le trembled, And pale grew every cheek ; And Sergius the High Pontiff Alone found voice to speak : " The Gods who live for ever Have fought for Rome to-day ! These be the Great Twin Brethren To whom the Dorians pray. IS 188 liATTl.K OF Tin-: LARK KKCILLUS. ]);K-k comes the Chief in tiiuniiih, "Who, ill the hour of fight, Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren In harness on his right. Safe comes the ship to haven, Through billows and through gales, If once the Great Twin Brethren Sit shining on the sails. Wherefore they washed their horses In Vesta's holy "well, "Wherefore they rode to Yesta's door, I know, but may not tell. Here, hard by Yesta's temple, Build we a stately dome Unto the Great Twin Brethren "Who fought so Avell for Rome. And when the months returning Bring back this day of fight, The proud Ides of Quintilis, Marked evermore with white. Unto the Great Twin Brethren Let all the people throng, "With chaplets and with offerings, "With music and with song ; BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 139 And let the doors and windows Be hung with garlands all, And let the Knights be summoned To Mars without the wall : Thence let them ride in purple With joyous trumpet-sound, Each mounted on his war-horse, And each with olive crowned ; And pass in solemn order Before the sacred dome. Where dwell the Great Twin Brethren Who fought so well for Rome." A^ H G I N I A. A COLLECTION Consisting exclusively of war-songs would give an imperfect, or rather an erroneous, notion of the spirit of the old Latin ballads. The Patricians, during more than a century after the expulsion of the Kings, held all the high military commands. A Plebeian, even though, like Lucius Siccius, he were distinguished by his valor and knowledge of war, could serve only in subordinate posts. A minstrel, therefore, who wished to celebrate the early triumphs of his country, could hardly take any but Patricians for his heroes. The warriors who are mentioned in the two preceding lays, Horatius, Lartius, Herminius, Aulus Posthumius, iEbutius Elva, Sempronius Atratinus, Valerius Poplicola, were all members of the dominant order ; and a poet who was singing their praises, whatever his own political opinions might be, would naturally abstain from insulting the class to which they in \- 1 IJ C I N I A . l>oU>nLroil, and tVmn rctKH-tinj:" on tlu' svNti'in wliicli liad placed sni'li nion at tlir luad of the legions of the ('(Unuionwealtli. r)Ut there Nvas a elass of compositions in uhicli the great families \vere hv no means so conrteonsly treated. No parts o[^ early llonian history are richer ^^•ith poetical coloring than those Avhieh relate to the long contest between the privileged honses and the commonalt3\ The population of Rome "was. from a very early period, divided into hereditary castes, Mliicb, indeed, readily united to repel foreign enemies, hut which regarded each other, during many years, "with bitter animosity. Between those castes there was a barrier hardly less strong than that Avliich, at Venice, parted the members of the Great Council from their countrymen. In some respects, indeed, the line 'svhich separated an Icilius or a Duilius from a Posthumius or a Fabius was even more deeply marked than that which separated the rower of a gondola from a Contarini or a Morosini. At Venice the distinction was merely civil. At Rome it was both civil and religious. Among the grievances under which the Plebeians suffered, three were felt as peculiarly severe. They were excluded from the highest magistracies; they were excluded from all share in the public lands ; and they were ground dmvn to the dust by partial and barbarous legislation touch- VIRGINIA. 145 ing pecuniary contracts. The ruling class in Rome was a monied class ; and it made and administered the laws with a view solely to its own interest. Thus the relation between lender and borrower was mixed up with the relation between sovereign and subject. The great men held a large portion of the community in dependence by means of advances at enormous usury. The law of debt, framed by creditors, and for the protection of creditors, was the most horrible that has ever been known among men. The liberty, and even the life, of the insolvent were at the mercy of the Patrician money-lenders. Children often became slaves in consequence of the misfortune of their parents. The debtor was imprisoned, not in a public gaol under the care of impartial public functionaries, but in a private workhouse belonging to the creditor. Frightful stories were told re- specting these dungeons. It was said that torture and brutal violation were common ; that tight stocks, heavy chains, scanty measures of food, were used to punish wretches guilty of nothing but poverty ; and that brave soldiers, whose breasts were covered with honorable scars, were often marked still more deeply on the back by the scourges of high-born usurers. The Plebeians were, however, not wholly without consti- tutional rights. From an early period they had been admitted 146 NIUCINIA. to soiiH' sIkuv of [lolitii'al powi r. Tlicy -wvw enrolled each in Ins ci'uturv, and wrre allowed a share, eoiisideialile though not proportioned to tlieir munerieal strength, in the disposal of those hi^h dignities iVom wliich tliey were themselves ex- cluded. Thus their position bore some resemblance to that of the Irish Catholics during the interval between the year 17'J2 and the year 1829. The Plebeians had also the privilege of annually appointing officers, named Tribunes, who had no active share in the government of the Common- wealth, but who, by degrees, acquired a power formidable even to the ablest and most resolute Consuls and Dictators. The person of the Tribune was inviolable; and, though he could directly effect little, he could obstruct everything. During more than a century after the institution of the Tribuneship, the Commons struggled manfully for the re- moval of the grievances under which they labored ; and, in spite of manj- checks and reverses, succeeded in wringing concession after concession from the stubborn aristocracy. At length, in the year of the city 378, both parties mustered their whole strength for their last and most desperate con- flict. The popular and active Tribune, Caius Licinius, pro- posed the three memorable laws which are called by his name, and which were intended to redress the three great VIRGINIA. 147 evils of which the Plebeians complained. He was supported, with eminent ability and firmness, by his colleague, Lucius Sextius. The struggle appears to have been the fiercest that ever in any community terminated without an appeal to arms. If such a contest had raged in any Greek city, the streets would have run with blood. But, even in the paroxysms of faction, the Eoman retained his gravity, his respect for law, and his tenderness for the lives of his fellow-citizens. Year after year Licinius and Sextius were re-elected Tribunes. Year after year, if the narrative which has come down to us is to be trusted, they continued to exert, to the full extent, their power of stopping the Avliole machine of govern- ment. No curule magistrates could be chosen ; no military muster could be held. We know too little of the state of Rome in those days to be able to conjecture how, during that long anarchy, the peace was kept, and ordinary justice administered between man and man. The animosity of both parties rose to the greatest height. The excitement, we may well suppose, would have been peculiarly intense at the annual election of Tribunes. On such occasions there can be little doubt that the great families did all that could be done, by threats and caresses, to break the union of the Plebeians. That union, however, proved indissoluble. At 148 V 1 im; I N I A. K'lmtli the gocul cause trinin[)lRMl. Tlie Liciuiau laws were carrieil. Lueiiis Sextius was the first IMelteian Consul, Caius Lieiuius the third. The results of this great change were singularly ha])i)y and glorious. Two centuries of prosperity, harnion\-, and victory followed the reconciliation of the orders. Men who remembered Kome engaged in waging petty wars almost within sight of the Capitol lived to see her the mistress of Italy. While the disabilities of the Plebeians continued, she was scarcely able to maintain her ground against the Yolscians and Hernicans. AVlien those disabilities were removed, she rapidly became more than a match for Carthage and Macedon. During the great Licinian contest the Plebeian poets were, doubtless, not silent. Even in modern times songs have been by no means without influence on public affairs; and we may therefore infer that, in a society where printing was unknown, and where books were rare, a pathetic or humorous party-ballad must have produced effects such as we can but faintly conceive. It is certain that satirical poems were common at Rome from a very early period. The rustics, wlio lived at a distance from the seat of government, and took little part in the strife of factions, gave vent to their petty local animosities in coarse Fescennine verse. The VIRGINIA. 149 lampoons of tlie city were doubtless of a liiglier order; and their sting was early felt by the nobility. For in the Twelve Tables, long before the time of the Licinian laws, a severe jDunishment was denounced against the citizen who should compose or recite verses reflecting on another.=^= Satire is, indeed, the only sort of composition in which the Latin poets, whose works have come down to us, were not mere imitators of foreign models ; and it is therefore the only sort of composition in which they have never been rivalled. It was not, like their tragedy, their comedy, their epic and lyric poetry, a hothouse plant, which, in return for assiduous and skilful culture, gave only scanty and sickly fruits. It was hardy and full of sap; and in all the various juices which it yielded might be distinguished the flavor of the Ausonian soil. "Satire," said Quinctilian, with just pride, "is all our own." Satire sprang, in truth, naturally from the con- stitution of the Roman government and from the spirit of the Roman people ; and, though at length subjected to metrical rules derived from Greece, retained to the last an essentially * Cicero justly infers from this law that there had been early Latin poets whose works had been lost before his time. " Quainquam id quidem ctiam xii tabulae declarant, condi jam turn solitum esse carmen, quod ne liceret fieri ad alterius injuriam lege sanxerunt." — Tmc. iv. 2. 1''0 VlKdlNIA. lumum ch;ir;u'tor. Liu'ilius was tlie rarliost satirist whose works wore lieM in esteem uiuler the Ciesars. ]hit, many vears before LiieiUus was born, Nivvius had been Ihmg into a ihuigeon, and guarded there witli circumstances of unusual rigor, on account of the bitter lines in wliich he had attacked the great Ca^cilian family/-' The genius and spirit of the Roman satirists survived the liberty of their country', and were not extinguished by the cruel despotism of the Julian and Fhivian Emperors. The great poet who told the story of Domitian's turbot was the legitimate successor of those forgotten minstrels whose songs animated the frictions of the infant Republic. Those minstrels, as Niebuhr has remarked, appear to have generally taken the popular side. We can hardly be mis- taken in supposing that, at the great crisis of the civil con- flict, they employed themselves in versifying all the most powerful and virulent speeches of the Tribunes, and in heap- ing abuse on the leaders of the aristocracy. Every personal defect, every domestic scandal, every tradition dishonorable to a noble house, would be sought out, brought into notice, and exaj'o-erated. The illustrious head of the aristocratical oo * Plautus, Miles Gloriosus. Aulus Gellius, iii. 3. VIRGINIA. 251 party, Marcus Furius Camillas, might perhaps be, in some measure, protected by his venerable age and by the memory of his great services to the State. But Appius Claudius Crassus enjoyed no such immunity. He was descended from a long Ime of ancestors distinguished by their hau-hty de- meanor, and by the inflexibility with which they had with- stood all the demands of the Plebeian order. While the political conduct and the deportment of the Claudian nobles drew upon them the fiercest public hatred, they were accused of wantmg, if any credit is due to the early history of Rome a class of qualities which, in a military Commonwealth, is sufficient to cover a multitude of offences. The chiefs of the family appear to have been eloquent, versed in civil business and learned after the fashion of their age; but in war they were not distinguished by skill or valor. Some of them as If conscious where their weakness lay, had, when filling the highest magistracies, taken internal administration as their department of public business, and left the military command to their colleagues.* One of them had been intrusted with an army, and liad failed ignominiously.t None of them had been honored with a triumph. None of them had achieved * In the years of the city 200, 304, and 330. t lu the year of the city 282. l'»- ^■ I KC 1 N I A. any martial oxploit. siieli as those l>y Avliich T.iiciiis (^Uilnctius CiiU'innatus. Titus (^hiinctius ('a})it()rmus, Aiiliis Cornelius Cossiis, luul, above all, the great Caniillus, had extorted the reluctant esteem of the multitude. During the Licinian con- llict, Appius Claudius Crassus signalized himself by the ability and severity with which he harangued against the two great agitators. lie would naturally, therefore, be the fiivorite mark of the Plebeian satirists ; nor would they have been at a loss to find a point on which he was open to attack. His grandfather, called, like himself, Appius Claudius, had left a name as much detested as that of Sextus Tarquinius. This elder Appius had been Consul more than seventy years before the introduction of the Licinian laws. By availing himself of a singular crisis in public feeling, he had obtained the consent of the Commons to the abolition of the Tribune- ship, and had been the chief of that Council of Ten to which the whole direction of the State had been committed. In a few months his administration had become universally odious. It had been swept away by an irresistible outbreak of popular fury ; and its memory was still held in abhorrence by the whole city. The immediate cause of the downfall of this execrable government was said to have been an attempt made by Appius Claudius upon the chastity of a beautiful VIRGINIA. 153 young girl of humble birth. The story ran that the De- cemvir, unable to succeed by bribes and solicitations, resorted to an outrageous act of tyranny. A vile dependent of the Claudian house laid claim to the damsel as his slave. The cause was brought before the tribunal of Appius. The wicked magistrate, in defiance of the clearest proofs, gave judgment for the claimant. But the girl's father, a brave soldier, saved her from servitude and dishonor by stabbing her to the heart in the sight of the whole Forum. That blow was the signal for a general explosion. Camp and city rose at once ; the Ten were j)ulled down ; the Tribuneship was re- established ; and Appius escaped the hands of the execu- tioner only by a voluntary death. It can hardly be doubted that a story so admirably adapted to the purposes both of the poet and of the demagogue would be eagerly seized upon by minstrels burning with hatred against the Patrician order, against the Claudian house, and especially against the grandson and namesake of the in- famous Decemvir. In order that the reader may judge fairly of these frag- ments of the lay of Virginia, he must imagine himself a Plebeian who has just voted for the re-election of Sextius and Licinius. All tlie power of the Patricians has been 20 ir>4 \ 1 ii(; 1 N 1 A. exortotl ti) throw out the two ureat chaniiiions ol" the Com- mons. Kvor\ Posthiiiuius, .iMiiirms, and Conicliiis has used his inthionce to the utmost. Debtors have jjeeii let out of the -workhouses on eondition ol" voting against the men of the people ; elients have been posted to hiss and interrupt the favorite eandidates : Appius Claudius Crassus has spoken with more than his usual eloquence and asperity : all has been in vain; Lieinius and Sextius have a fifth time carried all the tribes : work is suspended : the booths are closed : the Plebeians bear on their shoulders the two champions of hljerty through the Forum. Just at this moment it is announced that a popular poet, a zealous adherent of the Tribunes, has made a new song which will cut the Claudian nobles to the heart. The crowd gathers round him, and calls on him to recite it. He takes his stand on the spot where, according to tradition, Virginia, more than seventy years ago, Avas seized by the pandar of Appius, and he begins his story. LVCRETIA. Ir^^^^^^ VIRGINIA. FRAGMENTS OF A LAY SUNG IN THE FORUM ON THE DAY WHEREON LUCIUS SEXTIUS SEX- TINUS LATERANUS AND CAIUS LICINIUS CALVUS STOLO WERE ELECTED TRIBUNES OF THE COMMONS THE FIFTH TIME, IN THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCLXXXII. Ye good men of the Commons, with loving hearts and true, Who stand hy the bold Tribunes that still have stood by you, Come, make a circle round me, and mark my tale Avith care, A tale of what Rome once hath borne, of what Rome yet may bear. 158 V 1 liC 1 N 1 A. This is no Grooiau faMi', of fountains running wino, Of niaitls with snaky tresses, or saihirs tiu'ned to swine. Hero, in thi< very Fornni, ninler tlie noonday sun. In sight of all the jH'ojjle, the MdoiIv deed was done. Ohl men still creep among us who saw that fearful day, Just seventy years and seven a, when the wieked Ten hare sway. ( »f all tlic wicked Ten still the names arc held accursed, And of all the wicked Ten Appius Claudius was the ■worst. He stalked along the Forum like King Tarquin in his pride : Twelve axes waited on him, six marching on a side ; The townsmen shrank to right and left, and eyed askance "with fear Ilis lowering brow, his curling mouth, which alway seemed to sneer : That brow of hate, that mouth of scorn, marks all the kindred still ; For never was there Claudius yet but wished the Commons ill : Xor lacks he fit attendance ; for close behind his heels, "With outstretched chin and crouching pace, the client Marcus steals, Ilis loins girt up to run with speed, be the errand what it may, And the smile flickering on his cheek, for aught his lord may say. Such varlcts pimp and jest for hire among the lying Greeks : Such varlcts still are paid to hoot when brave Licinius speaks. Where'er ye shed the honey, the buzzing flies will crowd ; Where'er ye fling the carrion, the raven's croak is loud ; VIEGINIA. 159 Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, tlie greedy pike ye see And "wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client still will be. Just then, as tlirougli one cloudless chink in a black stormy sky Shines out the dewy morning-star, a fair young girl came by. With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on her arm, Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed of shame or harm ; And past those dreaded axes she innocently ran, With bright, frank brow that had not learned to blush at gaze of man ; And up the Sacred Street she turned, and, as she danced along, She warbled gaily to herself lines of the good old song, How for a sport the princes came spurring from the camp, And found Lucrecc, combing the fleece, under the midnight lamp. 160 V 1 K ( ; I N I A . The ma'ulon sang as siiifis tlio lark, ulun uj) lir darts liis ili;;lit. From his nest in the preen Ajtril cdvu, to nu'ct tlu" ni liravo Lifiniiis, no lioncst Scxtiiis tlicii ; But all tlio fitv. in irroat lV:ir, oIu'VimI tlic wicked Ten. Yi't orr tlio varlot M:iri-us mlmiii iiiiirlit srizc tlic niniil, Who clung tight to Mur:cna's skirt. Mini solilx-il, ;intl shrickcMl for ;iiil, Forth through tlie tlirong of gazers tlic vdiiiig Iciliiis pressed, Ami stamped his foot, and rent liis gown, and smote upon liis hroast, Ami sprang upon that eolinnn, liy many a minstrel sung, "Whereon three mouldering helmets, three rusting swords arc hung, And heckoned to the people, and in bold voice and clear Toured thick and fast the burning words which tyrants quake to hear. "Now, by your children's cradles, now, by your fathers' graves, Be men to-day, Quirites, or be for ever slaves ! VIRGINIA. 1G3 For this did Servius give us laws ? For this did Lucrece bleed ? For this was the great vengeance wrought on Tarquin's evil seed ? For this did those false sons make red the axes of their sire ? For this did Scievola's right hand hiss in the Tuscan fire ? Shall the vile fox-earth awe the race that stormed the lion's den ? Shall we, who could not brook one lord, crouch to the wicked Ten ? Oh for that ancient spirit which curbed the Senate's will ! Oh for the tents which in old time whitened the Sacred Hill ! In those brave days our fathers stood firmly side by side ; They faced the Marcian fury ; they tamed the Fabian pride ; They drove the fiercest Quinctius an outcast forth from Rome ; They sent the haughtiest Claudius Avith shivered fasces home. But what their care bequeathed us our madness flung away : All the ripe fruit of threescore years was blighted in a day. Exult, ye proud Patricians ! The hardfought fight is o'er. We strove for honors — 'twas in vain : for freedom — 'tis no more. No crier to the polling summons the eager throng ; No Tribune breathes the word of might that guards the weak from wrong. Our very hearts, that were so high, sink down beneath your will. Riches, and lands, and power, and state — ye have them : — keep them still. Still keep the holy fillets ; still keep the purple gown. The axes, and the curule chair, the car, and laurel crown : Still press us for your cohorts, and, when the fight is done. Still fill your garners from the soil whicli our good swords have won. l'>i VIIK^NIA. Still, like :i s|irr:i V I KC 1 \ 1 A. Yi'a, ami tVoin iiaiiu'loss r\il. that i>a>.sctli taunt ami Mow — Foul outrage whit-li tlioii kiiowost not, \\lii(li tliim >liall never know. Tlu'ii c'lasj> ino roiiinl tin- m-ek onee more, and i:i\e me one moii' kiss An>l now, mine own dear little ifirl, tln-re is no way Imt this." With that he lifted hiijli the steel, and smote her in the side, And in her IdooJ she sank to earth, and with one sol) she died. Then, for a little moment, all people held their hreath; And through the erowded Forum ^vas stillness as of deatli; And in another moment brake forth from one and all A cry as if the Yolscians Avcrc coming oer the wall. Some with averted faces shrieking fled home amain ; Some ran to call a leech ; and some ran to lift the slain : Some felt her lips and little Avrist, if life might there he found ; And some tore up their garments fast, and strove to stanch the wound. In vain thej ran, and felt, and stanched ; for never truer blow That good right arm had dealt in fight against a Volscian foe. When Appius Claudius saw that deed, he shuddered and sank down. And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown, Till, with white lips and bloodshot eyes, Virginius tottered nigh, And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high. '• Oh I dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain, By this dear blood I cry to you, do right between us twain ; VIRGINIA. 169 And even as Appius Claudius liatli dealt by me and mine, Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line !" So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way ; But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay. And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan, and then, with steadfiist feet, Strode right across the market-place unto the Sacred Street. Then up sprang Appius Claudius : " Stop him ; alive or dead ! Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head." no VIKCINIA. IIo IooIvimI upon Ills clients; Imt nunc woiiM \viiik liis will. Ho lookotl upon his lit-tors : luit tlicv tiiiiililcd. Mini stond still. Ami, as Virginius tlirouiih the jiress liis u;iy in >ilciir(' cU'l't, Ever the iui<:hty multitude i'dl Icick to riirht :niil left. Ami he hath passed in safety unto his woeful homo, And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in Uome. Ijv this the flood of people was SAVollcn from every side, And streets and porches round were filled with that o'crflowing tide ; And close around the body gathered a little train Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain. They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown, And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid lier down. The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer, And in the Claudian note he cried, " What doth this rabble here ? Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray ? IIo ! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away !" The voice of grief and fury till then had not been loud ; But a deep sullen murmm- wandered among the crowd. Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep. Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep. But when the lictors at that Avord, tall yeomen all and strong, Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng. VIRGINIA. 171 Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin, That in the Roman forum was never such a din. The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate, Were heard beyond the Pincian Hill, beyond the Latian Gate. But close around the body, where stood the little train Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain. No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black frowns. And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns. 'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay, Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day. Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their heads, With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek ; And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove to speak ; And thrice the tossing Forum set up a frightful yell ; " See, see, thou dog ! what thou hast done ; and hide thy shame in hell ! Thou that w^ouldst make our maidens slaves must first make slaves of men. Tribunes ! Hurrah for Tribunes ! Down with the wicked Ten !" And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through the air Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule chair : And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembling came ; For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame. Though the great houses love us not, we own, to do them right. That the great houses, all save one, have borne them well in fight. 172 V T R n T X T A . U •N^^X. v:^S>^ -^• Still Caius of Corioli, his triumphs, and his wrongs, His vengeance, and bis merej, live in our camp-fire songs. Beneath the yoke of Furius oft have Gaul and Tuscan bowed ; And Rome may bear the pride of him of whom herself is proud. But evermore a Claudius shrinks from a stricken field. And changes color like a maid at sio;lit of sword and shield. The Claudian triumphs all were won within the city-towers ; The Claudian yoke was never pressed on any necks but om-s. A Cossus, like a wild-cat, springs ever at the face ; A Fubius rushes like a boar against the shouting chase ; But the vile Claudian litter, raging with currish spite, Still yelps and snaps at those who run, still runs from those who smite. So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly, He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote upon his thigh. " Kind clients, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray ! Must I be torn to pieces ? Home, home, the nearest way !" VIRGINIA. 173 While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered stare, Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the curule chair ; And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on the right, Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt up for fight. But though without or staff or sword, so furious was the throng. That scarce the train with might and main could bring their lord along. Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his gown,^ Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down; And sharper came the pelting ; and evermore the yell— " Tribunes ! we will have Tribunes !"-rose with a louder swell : I7t VI nr, 1 \ I A. Ami the chair tossed as tosses a liaik witli tattcreil sail Wlien raves tin- Adriatic beneath an eastern gak», ^^^lon the Cahilirian sea->iiarks are lost in clouds of sjniine, And the great Thunder-Caite has donned liis veil id' inky i:looni. One stone hit Appius in the moiitli, any a great retribution. Seven years before this time, Lucius Posthumius Megellns, who sprang from one of the noblest houses of Rome, and had been thrice Consul, was sent am- bassador to Tarentum, with charge to demand reparation for grievous injuries. The Tarentines gave him audience in their theatre, where he addressed them in such Greek as he could command, which, we may well believe, was not exactly such as Cineas would have spoken. An exquisite sense of the ridiculous belonged to the Greek character ; and closely connected with this faculty was a strong propensity to flippancy and impertinence. When Posthumius placed an accent wrong, his hearers burst into a laugh. When he remonstrated, they hooted him, and called him barbarian ; and at length hissed him off the stage as if he had been a bad actor. As the grave Roman retired, a buffoon, who, from his constant drunkenness, was named the Pint-pot, came up with gestures of the grossest indecency, and bespattered the senatorial gown with filth. Posthumius turned round to the multitude, and held up the gown, as if appealing to the THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 179 universal law of nations. The sight only increased the inso- lence of the Tarentines. They clapped their hands, and set up a shout of laughter which shook the theatre. " Men of Tarentum," said Posthumius, "it will take not a little blood to wash this gown."* Rome, in consequence of this insult, declared war against the Tarentines. The Tarentines sought for allies beyond the Ionian Sea. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, came to their help with a large army -, and, for the first time, the two great nations of antiquity were fairly matched against each other. The fame of Greece in arms, as well as in arts, was then at the height. Half a century earlier, the career of Alexander had excited the admiration and terror of all nations from the Ganges to the Pillars of Hercules. Royal houses, founded by Macedonian captains, still reigned at Antioch and Alex- andria. That barbarian warriors, led by barbarian chiefs, should win a pitched battle against Greek valor guided by Greek science, seemed as incredible as it would now seem that the Burmese or the Siamese should, in the open plain, put to flight an equal number of the best English troops. The Tarentines were convinced that their countrymen were * Dion, IIul. Dc Wationibus. 180 TiiK rijoi'ii re V of rAi'vs. /s^.-"^^ irresistible in war; and this conviction had emboldened thorn to treat with the grossest indignity one Avhom they regarded as the representative of an inferior race. Of the Greek generals then living Pyrrhus was indisputably the first. Among the troops who were trained in the Greek discipline his Epirotes ranked high. His expedition to Italy was a turning-point in the history of the world. He found there a people who, far inferior to the Athenians and Corinthians THE PROPHECY OF CAP YS. 181 ill the fine arts, in the speculative sciences, and in all the refinements of life, were the best soldiers on the face of the earth. Their arms, their gradations of rank, their order of battle, their method of intrenchment, were all of Latian origin, and had all been gradually brought near to perfection, not by the study of foreign models, but by the genius and experience of many generations of great native commanders. The first words which broke from the king, when his prac- tised eye had surveyed the Eoman encampment, were full of meaning : — " These barbarians," he said, " have nothing bar- barous in their military arrangements." He w'as at first victorious ; for his own talents w^ere superior to those of the captains who were opposed to him ; and the Romans were not prepared for the onset of the elephants of the East, which were then for the first time seen in Italy — moving mountains, with loivj: snakes for hands.* But the victories of the Epirotes were fiercely disputed, dearly purchased, and altogether unprofitable. At length, Manius Curius Dentatus, wdio had in his first Consulship won two triumphs, was again placed at the head of the Roman Commonwealth, and sent to encounter the invaders. A great battle Avas fought near *Aii(juim(innii i,s the old ]j;itiii oiiitliet, for an elephant. Lucretius, ii. 538, v. 1.302. l<-2 TllK I'Koril r.(" Y (»F cArvs. IWnevoiitum. I'vnlms uas ooin})U'ti'lv (lofcatcd. lie r(']i:isso(l tlu» soa ; ami tin.' \vorl(l Iranicd ullh amazciiu'iit, that a people had hoen disiMUcivd. w ho. in lair li,i:htiii!i\ \vere siiiteriDr to the hest troo})> that had been drilled on the sy.steni of Tar- menio and Antigonus. The conquerors had a good right to exult in their success; lor their glory Mas all their own. They had not learned tVoni their enemy how to conquer him. It was with their own national arms, and in their own national battle-array, that they had overcome weapons and tactics long believed to be invincible. The pilum and the broadsword had vanquished THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 183 the Macedonian spear. The legion had broken the Mace- donian phalanx. Even the elephants, when the surprise pro- duced by their first appearance was over, could cause no disorder in the steady yet flexible battalions of Rome. It is said by Florus, and may easily be believed, that the triumph far surpassed in magnificence any that Rome had previously seen. The only spoils which Papirius Cursor and Fabius Maximus could exhibit were flocks and herds, wagons of rude structure, and heaps of sjDears and helmets. But now, for the first time, the riches of Asia and the arts of Greece adorned a Roman pageant. Plate, fine stuffs, costly furniture, rare animals, exquisite paintings and sculptures, formed part of the procession. At the banquet would be assembled a crowd of warriors and statesmen, among whom Manius Curius Dentatus would take the highest room. Caius Fabricius Luscinus, then, after two Consulships and two 1*^* Tin: I'l;!)!'!! KC Y OF C A P Y S. triiiinplis, ConsDi' of tlu* ('oininonwoaltli. would douhtk'jss ocoiipN a jihuo of honor at tlu' hoard. hi situations less conspicuous probahly lay some of those who were, a Jew \ears later, the terror t)!' Carthaiie ; Caius Duilius, the founder of the maritime iireatness of his country; ^Marcus Atilius Kogulus. who owed to defeat a renown far luLiher than that which he had derived from his victories ; and Caius Lutatius Catulus, who. while suffering from a grievous wound, fought the great battle of *the ^Egates, and brought the First Punic War to a triumphant close. It is impossible to recount the names of these eminent citizens, without reflecting that they were all, without exception. Plebeians, and would, but for the ever memorable struggle maintained by Caius Licinius and Lucius Sextius, have been doomed to hide in obscurity, or to waste in civil broils, the capacity and energy which prevailed against Pyrrhus and Hamilcar. On such a day we ma\- suppose that the patriotic enthu- siasm of a Latin poet would vent itself in reiterated shouts of lo triumplie, such as were uttered by Horace on a far less exciting occasion, and in boasts resembling those which Virgil put into the mouth of Anchises. The superiority of some foreign nations, and especially of the Greeks, in the lazy arts of peace, would be admitted with disdainful candor; but THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 185 pre-eminence in all the qualities which fit a people to subdue and govern mankind would be claimed for the Romans. The following lay belongs to the latest age of Latin ballad- poetry. NaBvius and Livius Andronicus were probably among the children whose mothers held them up to see the chariot of Curius go by. The minstrel who sang on that day might possibly have lived to read the first hexameters of Ennius, and to see the first comedies of Plautus. His poem, as might be expected, shows a much wider acquaintance with the geography, manners, and productions of remote nations, than would have been found in compositions of the age of Camillus. But he troubles himself little about dates ; and having heard travellers talk with admiration of the Colossus of Rhodes, and of the structures and gardens with which the Macedonian kings of Syria had embellished their residence on the banks of the Orontes, he has never thought of inquiring whether these things existed in the age of Romulus. 24 ROMTE 1 .ORDIA. THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. A LAY SUNG AT THE BANQUET IN THE CAPITOL, ON THE DAY WHEREON MANIUS CURIUS DENTATUS, A SECOND TIME CONSUL, TRIUMPHED OVER KING PYRRHUS AND THE TAKENTINES, IN THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCCLXXIX. ^'1 ■ LJ I. Now slain is King Amulius, Of the great Sylvian line, Who reigned in All)a Longa, On the throne of Aventine. Slain is the Pontiif Gamers, Who spake the words of doom ; "The chiltlriMi to the Tilx-r, 'i'lu- mother to tho toml»." ir. In Alba's hike no fislicr His net to-day is flinging : On tlie dark rind of Alba's oaks To-day no axe is ringing : The yoke hangs o'er the manger : The scythe lies in the hay : Through all the Alban villages No work is done to-day. III. And every Alban burgher Hath donned his whitest gown ; And every head in Alba "VVeareth a poplar crown ; And every Alban door-post With houghs and flowers is gay : For to-day the dead are li\dng ; The lost are found to-day. IV. They were doomed hy a bloody king : They were doomed by a lying priest They were cast on the raging flood : They were tracked by the raging beast Raging beast and raging flood Alike have spared the prey ; And to-day the dead are living : The lost are found to-day. V. The IrouliU'tl river knew tluMii, Ami siuoiitlu'd liis vdlow t'oaiii. Ami irontly rDi-ki-il the c'r:iiire tlio f";ite of Konu'. Tlu' r;ivoiiiii;j; sho-wolt" knew them, And Ik'kctl them o'er aiul o'er, And ffavt' them of lier own fierce milk Rich ■with ruAV iiesh and <:ore. Twenty winters, twenty sprinf^s, Since then have rolled away; And to-day the dead are living: The lost are found to-day. VI. Blithe it was to see the twins, Right goodly youths and tall, Marching from Alha Longa To their old grandsire's hall. Along their path fresh garlands Are hung from tree to tree : Before them stride the pipers, Piping a note of glee. VII. On the right goes Romulus, With arms to the elhows red. And in liis hand a broadsword, And on the blade a head — A head in an iron helmet, With horse-hair hanging down, A shaggy head, a swarthy head, Fixed in a ghastly frown — The head of King Amulius Of the great Sylvian line, Who reigned in Alba Longa, On the throne of Aventiuc. Vlll. On tlio h>ft side j^oos lu'imis, W"\{]\ wrists ami fuigors ro(l. Ami in his hand a boar-spcar, And on tlic point a head — ,V wrinkled head and aged, "With silver beard and hair, ; And holly fillets round it, I I Such as the pontiffs wear — The head of aneient Gamers, I Who spake the words of doom : I " The children to the Tiber ; : The mother to the tomb." I I IX. Two and two behind the twins Their trusty comrades go, Four-and-forty valiant men, ; With club, and axe, and bow. ' On each side every hamlet Pours forth its joyous crowd, Shouting lads and baying dogs, And children laughing loud, And old men weeping fondly As Rhea's boys go by, And maids who shriek to see the heads. Yet, shrieking, press more nigh. So tliey marcliecl along the lake ; They marched by fold and stall, By corn-field and hy vineyard Unto the old man's hall. XI. In the hall-gate sat Capys, Capys, the sightless seer ; From head to foot he trembled As Romulus drew near. And up stood stiff his thin white hair, And his blind eyes flashed fire : Hail ! foster child of the Avonderous nurse I Hail ! son of the wonderous sire. ■i V ^ 5-'i. ^'A I', MI. • r>iit tli"U — wliat ilci>t tliitii liclH' 111 till- old iiiMii's jicact'l'iil liall? AVlial ca^lc in tlu- i'iM>|t, Tho bison in tlu- stall? (hir corn fills nmny a Lrarnor; (.)ur vini's clasj) many a \vvc : Our Hocks arc Avliitc on many a liill ; lint these arc not for tlicc. xiir, "For tliee no treasure ripens In the Tartcssian mine : For tliee no sliij) brings precious bales Across the Libyan brine : Thou shalt not drink from amber ; Thou shalt not rest on down ; -Vrabia shall not steep tln^ locks, Xor Sidon tinge thy gown. XIV. "Leave gold and myrrh and jewels, Rich table and soft bed, To them who of man's seed are born, "Whom woman's milk hath fed. w: Thou Avast not made for lucre, For pleasure, nor for rest ; Thou, that art sprung from the War-god's loins, And hast tufro;ed at the she-wolf's breast. Co XV. "From sunrise unto sunset All earth shall hear thy fame :: A glorious citj thou shalt build, And name it by thy name : And there, un quenched through agcs^ Like Vesta's sacred fire, Sliall live the spirit of tliy nurse, The spirit of tliy sire. \VI. •TIu' i>\ toils tliroiiixh the rminw, ( >ln-tlii-iit to till- jxoatl ; The iiMtiriit ass, iip lliiitv |iatlis. IM'xls \\ill. Ills wv.wy load : With \\liim' and IkuukI the' sjtanicl His master's Avliistlo licars ; Ami the shoi'i* yicMs hi^T jiaticntlv To the loud-cla.shiug shears. XVII. "But thy nurse ^vill hear no master. Thy nurse will bear no joail : And woe to them that shear hei% And woe to them that goad ! "When all the pack, loud haying, Her bloody lair surrounds, She dies in silence, biting hard, Amidst the dN'ing hountls. xviir. ''I'oniona loves the orchard; And Jjiber loves the vine ; And Pales loves the straw-built shed AVarm with the breath of kine. V^'^ And Venus love.s the Avliispers Of })liglited youth and maid, In April's ivory moonlight, Beneath the chestnut shade. XIX. " But thy father loves the clashing Of broadsword and of shield : He loves to drink the steam that reeks From the fresh battle-field : He smiles a smile more dreadful Than his own dreadful froAvn, When he sees the thick black cloud of smoke Go up from the conquered town. .issa c:v:l.:o "Ami such ;is is tlic \\':ir-;r"<1. Till* aiitliur nf i\[\ line. And siH'li as she who siickhd ihii l']\cii such ])c tlittu ami tliim.'. Lcavt* In the soft ('am|iaiiiaii 1 lis haths ami his jx'ii'uiiics ; Leave tn the sordid race of Tyre 'i'licir dyeiii;x-vats and Iooujs : Leave to the sons of Carthajic The rudder and the oar : Leave to tlie Greek his niarlde Kymjdis, And serolls of wordlv hire. XXI. '' Thine, Roman, is the pilnm, Roman, the swoivl is thine, The even trench, the hristling mound The legion's ordered line; And thine the wheels of triumjili, AVhich -with their laurelled train Move slowly uj) the shouting streets To Jove's eternal fane. SPOHA OPIMA XXII. "Beneath tliy joke the Volscian Shall vail his loft j broAv : Soft Capua's curled revellers Before thy chairs shall boAv: The Lucumoes of Arnus Shall quake thy rods to see ; And the proud Samnite's heart of steel Shall yield to only thee. XXIII. " The Gaul shall come against thee, From the land of snow and night : Thou shalt give his fair-haired armies To the raven and the kite. XXIV. " The Greek shall come against thee, The conqueror of the East. Beside him stalks to battle The huge earth-shaking beast, S; -4^* Tlu" l>»'a>t oil wliniii llu" c.istlr With all its L'nar«ls dolli staiitl. Tlio hcast wholiatli lutwfcii liis <'Vfs riie siTpiMit l"or a liaml. First iiianli tin- Imlil Epirotcs, Wo«l^cd close with sliiol"l and spear : Ami the ranks of false 'rareiitinu Are glittorini: in the rear. XXV. •• The ranks of false Tarentuni Like hunted sheej) shall lly : In vain the bold Epirotcs Shall round their standards die : And Apennine's gray vultures Shall have a noble feast On the fat and the eyes Of the liuge earth-shaking beast. t"* XXVI. *' Hurrah 1 for the good weapons That keep the War-god's land, Hurrah ! for Rome's stout pilum In a stout Roman hand. Ht;.^>- Hurrali ! for Rome's sliort broad- sword, That through the thick array Of levelled spears and serried shields Hews deep its gory way. XXVII. " Hurrah ! for the great triumph That stretches many a mile. Hurrah ! for the wan captives That pass in endless file. Ho ! bold Epirotes, whither Plath the Red Kins; ta'en flight ? Ho ! dogs of false Tarentum. Is not the gOAvn Avashed Avliite ? XXVIII. " Hurrah ! for the great triumph That stretches many a mile. Hurrah ! for the rich dye of Tyre And the fine web of Nile, The helmets gay Avith {dum^^ge. Torn from the pheasant's wings. The belts set thick with starry gems That shone on Indian kings. The urns of massy silver, The goblets rougli with gold, The manj-colored tablets bright With loves and wars of old, The stone that breathes and struggles, The brass that seems to speak ; — Such cunning thcj who dwell on high Have given unto the Greek. XXIX. " Hurrah ! for Manius Curius, The bravest son of Rome, Thrice in utmost need sent forth, Thrice drawn in triumph home. Weave, weave, for Manius Curius The third embroidered gown : Make ready the third lofty car, And twine the third green crown, And yoke the steeds of Rosea "With necks like a bonded bow ; And deck the bull, Mevania's bull, ^^^ The bull as white as snow. ^^^5^2i\ XXX. "Blest aiiil tliricc Mcst the Kuiuan AVlio 8CCS Rome's brightest day, AVbo sees that hmg Aictorions pomp "Wind down the Sacred Way, And through tlie bellowing Forum, And round the Suppliant's Grove, Up to the everlasting gates Of Capitolian Jove. ' i«a a 2. p- XXXI. " Then where, o'er two bright havens. The towers of Corinth frown ; Where the gigantic King of Day On his own Rhodes looks down : Where soft Orontes murmurs Beneath the hiurel shades : Where Nile reflects the endless length Of dark-red colonnades ; Where in the still deep Mater. Sheltered from waves and blasts. Bristles the dusky forest Of Byrsa's thousand masts ; Where fur-clad hunters wander Amidst the northern ice ; Where through the sand of morning-land The camel bears the spice ; Where Atlas flings his shadow Far o'er tlie western foam, Shall be great fear on all wlio liear The mighty name of Rome." /.?•, sejaKHJ it* t\ m fe i^ I V R Y; A SONG OF THE HUGUENOTS. I V R Y. Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are ! And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of Navarre ! Now let there be the merry sound of music and of dance, Through thy corn-fields green, and smmy vines, oh pleasant land of France ! And thou, Rochelle, our own Rochelle, proud city of the waters. Again let rapture light the eyes of all thy mourning daughters. As'thou wert constant in our ills, be joyous in our joy. For cold, and stiff, and still are they who wrought thy walls annoy. Hurrali ! Hurrah ! a single field hath turned the chance of Avar, Hurrah ! Hurrah ! for Ivry, and Henry of Navarre. Oh ! how our hearts were beating, when, at the dawn of day. We saw the army of the League drawn out in long array : With all its priest-led citizens, and all its rebel peers, And Appenzcl's stout infantry, and Egmont's Flemish s])ears. 27 '2\0 ivky: There rodo the lu-tn^d of i';ilM' Lorraine, the eurses of our land ; And dark Mayenni- vas in the midst, a truneheon in liis hand: And, as Ave h»oked on them, >ve tliought of Seine's cmpurjtled flood, And good Coligni's hoary hair all dabbled Avith his blood ; And we cried luito the living God, Avho rnles the fate of ^var, To fight for his own holy name, and Henry of Navarre. The King is come to marshal us, in all his armor drcst, And he has bomid a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest. He looked upon his people, and a tear Avas in his eye ; lie looked upon the traitors, and liis glance was stern and high. Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing to wing, Down all our line, a deafening shout, " God save our Lord the King." •' And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he may. For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray. Press where ye see my white plume shine, amidst the ranks of war. And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre." Hurrah ! the foes are moving. Hark to the mingled din, Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring culverin. The fiery Duke is pricking fast across Saint Andre's plain, "With all the hireling chivalry of Gueldcrs and Almayne. Now by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of France, Charge for the golden lilies, — upon them with the lance. A SONG OF THE HUGUENOTS. 211 A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears in rest, A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snow-white crest ; And in thej burst, and on they rushed, while, like a guiding star. Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre. Now, God be praised, the day is ours. Mayenne hath turned his rein. D'Aumale hath cried for quarter. The Flemish count is slain. Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds before a Biscay gale ; The field is heaped with bleeding steeds, and flags, and cloven mail. And then Ave thought on vengeance, and, all along our van, " Kemember Saint Bartholomew," was passed from man to man. But out spake gentle Henry, "No Frenchman is my foe: Down, down, with every foreigner, but let your brethren go." Oh ! was there ever such a knight, in friendship or in war. As our Sovereign Lord, King Henry, the soldier of Navarre ? Right well fought all the Frenchmen who fought for France to-day ; And many a lordly banner God gave them for a prey. But we of the religion have borne us best in fight ; And the good Lord of Rosny hath ta'en the cornet Avhite. Our own true Maximilian the cornet Avhitc hath ta'en. The cornet white with crosses black, the flag of f^ilsc Lorraine. Up witli it liigh; unfurl it wide ;^ tliat all tlie host may know How God hath humlded the proud house wliich wrought his church sucli AVOC. -1- IVKV: A SON (J OF TIIK II U C T K N OTS. 'riien on the «jroun(l, wliiK- trimipcts smunl ilicii- lomlrst i»(iiiit dl" wai- Fliuir the ivd shrotls, a looti-lotli iiun-t lor Ilciiry dt" Navarre. llo ! luaiilens of \ iciiiia ; ]I<) I matrons of Luti-rm- ; Woi'p, weop. ami roml your liair for those Avlio never sliall return. Ho I rhilip. send, for ehnrity, thy ]Mc.\iean pistoles, That Antwerp monks uia^' sing a mass for thy poor spearmen's souls. 1 lo ! gallant nohles of the League, look that your arms he hright ; Ho ! hurghers of Saint Geuevicvc, keep wateh and -ward to-night. For our God hath crushed the tj'rant, our God hatli raised the slave, And mocked the counsel of the wise, and the valor of tlie l^rave. The glory to his holy name, from whom all glories arc ; And glory to our Sovereign Lord, King Henry of Navarre. THE ARMADA A FRAGMENT. THE A EM A DA. Attend, all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise ; I tell of the thrice famous deeds she wrought in ancient days, When that great fleet invincible against her bore in vain The richest spoils of Mexico, the stoutest hearts of Spain. It was about the lovely close of a warm summer day, There came a gallant merchant-ship full sail to Plymouth Bay ; Her crew hath seen Castile's black fleet, beyond Aurigny's isle, At earliest twilight, on the waves lie heaving many a mile. At sunrise she escaped their van, by God's especial grace ; And the tall Pinta, till the noon, had held her close in chase. Forthwith a guard at every gun was placed along the wall ; The beacon blazed upon the roof of Edgecumbc's lofty hall ; Many a light fishing bark put out to pry along the coast, And with loose rein and bloody spur rode inland many a post. With his white hair unbonneted, the stout old sheriff comes ; Behind him march the halberdiers; before him sound the drums '' Til i: \ K M A !» A : His voonuMi round tlu> inarkrt noss make clcai' an aiiijilc sjiacc; For there behoves him to set np tlie stainhntl of Jlrr (irac(>. Aiul haiijihtilv the tniiiijiels jieal, ami ;rail_v (hiiiee the hell>. As sliAV upon the hihoiiiii: \\\\u\ tlie roval lihi/.oii swells. Look how the Lion of tlie sea lifts up his ancient ei'own. And underneath his deadly ])aw treads the rl|»liii' ttrai'lo. a Iciiialc (•(in^ulliii:: Aimllu. IVdiii Sir W . Hamilton's vases. K4. Miu'ius So:vviila, from an aiitii|U(' irciii in the l-'ldit'iitiiii' Miix'imi, j |nililishril Ity iJori. ! S."». CKolia cT(>ssin<; the TiKir. tViMii an cii^'raviii^ l»y IJuiiasoni, iiivi'iiU-d i by Uapharl. 8(.5. The fi^ht rountl tlio Itody of Patroclus, frttm a ]»aiiitc(l vase j)ul>- lishe.l l.y Millin. m. The Saliau ])ri(.'sts boarin;^ the sacred aueilia, from a east of tlie gem in the Florentine Museum. Sec p. 48 and p. 135. !•.'>. From the Partlienon frieze. KH. E-.»p;le's nest, from a sculpture in the A'^atican Museum. \'2[K Coin of Laccdiemon with the Dioscuri, engraved b\' Millin. loT. Two early Roman coins representing the Dioscuri with their horses. , The centre is from a bas-relief in the Spada collection at ]^lnle. 130. From a cast of a gem in Rome. 141. Roman tomb, from Santi Bartoli. 1 •"'■'. Lucretia stabbing herself, from the drawing by Raphael, engraved under his own inspection by Marc Antonio. lT-'». The Goddess Rome seated, from the column of Antoninus Pius, in the Vatican. 1^0. A statue in the Capitol at Rome, supposed to be Pyrrhus. The head on the coin is considered by Visconti, to represent Pyrrhus. On the reverse is Thetis with armor for Achilles. 182. An example of Macedonian spears, in a fragment of the celebrated mosaic from Pompeii representing Alexander the Great and Darius, preserved in the Museum at Naples. 183. Wagons of rude structure, with spoils, &c., from the Arch of Scp- timius Sevcrus at Rome, engraved by Santi Bartoli. 185. Regal Macedonian coin. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 221 Page. 187. The divine origin of Rome. Mars descending to Rhea, from the reverse of a medal of Antoninus Pius. The military standards are from Trajan's column. 189. Two bas-reliefs from the sides of an altar preserved in the Vatican Museum. 193. The Prophet, from the Vatican Virgil, engraved by Bartoli. 194. From the baths of Titus. 195. A banquet, from Micali. 196. From Pompeii, with the reverse of a coin of Commodus. 197. A town on fire, from a cartoon in the Louvre, by Giulio Romano. The fruit from Raphael's Loggie in the Vatican. 198. Left column. — A coin of Campania, A coin of Tyre, bearing the divinities Apollo and Hercules, and, between them, the murex which produced the celebrated dye. The Duilian column, erected to commemorate the earliest naval victory of the Romans, over the Carthaginians, 260 b. c, recently engraved by Canina. A Roman general jiresenting the aplustre to a female representing Africa. RigJit column. — Romulus bearing the first spolia opima, the arms of Acron, king of the Caeninenses, whom he slew in battle, from a cast of the gem in the Florentine Museum. A coin of the Cornelia gens, representing A. Cornelius Cossus as victorious, having slain Lars Tolumnius, king of the Veientes, and bearing the second spolia opima. He triumphed over the Volscians. {Livy, vi. 16.) 199. Left column. — A coin showing the third dedication of the spolia opima, by Marcellus, wlio killed Viridomarus, king of the Gauls, A. U. 530. The statue is a Gaulish chief, from the Gallery in the Louvre. A coin of Tarentum ; the small elephant is an extraordinary addition to the usual type of the city, which is Taras on the dolphin. --■-■ LIST OK 1 I.I.rSTK ATIONS. l'.*'.^ iii<;h( t'cliinui, — A !^aiiinito roiii. A l»arl);iri:iii prisoner, from tho Louvre. A head called Pynlms, from a east of the <;em in the Florentine Museum. Beneath is a hattle with elephants, from :i saroopliagus in the Capitol Museum. il'^'K A eoin of Vespasian with the elei)hants subservient to a Koman triumph. [Paccatus, Pancg. Theod. c. 22.) The two groups of hert>es and Amazons are from the famous hronzes of Siris, preserved in the ]Jritish Museum. There is great probal)ility that they were j>art of the armor worn by some Greek of liigh rank in the last battle between Pyrrhus and the Romans ; the military trophies are taken from those on the Capitol, and a frieze from the temple of Bacchus. 201, 202. From the cartoons by Andrea Mantcgna, now preserved at Hampton Court. 203. Victory sacrificing a bull, from a group in the British Museum. The candelabrum is from the Louvre. Coin of Augustus, showing the embroidered gown, scejitre, and crown ; and, on the reverse, steeds and car. The captives below arc from cameos preserved in Vienna and Paris. 204. .Jupiter Capitolinus, from a coin of Vitcllius. The arch of Con- stantine, on the Via Triumphalis at Bome. 20o. Left column. — Coin of Corinth. The River Nile, from a coin of Hadrian. Sarmatia, from a coin of Constantino. Mauritania, from a coin of Hadrian. Rigid column. — Coin of Rhodes. Coin of Antiocheia, Avith the River Orontes at lier feet. Coin of Carthage. Arabia, from a coin of Trajan. 20(j. The apotheosis of a Roman emperor, from a cameo at Paris. THE END. c. SHZSXAii, PXiRTXB, 19 St. James Street p*'f y.;3 ' , •' ;..^ J '-^ "^^^^ ^^^v:--ft -'J-