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1.

of Tullus

Hostilius.

CHAP. Mettius came after him, then, instead of giving batThe legend tle, the two leaders agreed that a few in either army should fight in behalf of the rest, and that the event of this combat should decide the quarrel. So three twin brothers were chosen out of the Roman army, called the Horatii, and three twin brothers out of the Alban army, called the Curiatii. The combat took place in the sight of both armies; and after a time all the Curiatii were wounded, and two of the Horatii were slain. Then the last Horatius pretended to fly, and the Curiatii each, as they were able, followed after him. But when Horatius saw that they were a great way off from one another, he turned suddenly and slew the first of them; and the second in like manner; and then he easily overcame and slew the third. So the victory remained to the Romans.

How Horatius slew his

of the judg

Then the Romans went home to Rome in trisister, and umph 54, and Horatius went at the head of the army, ment passed bearing his triple spoils. But as they were drawing for the deed. near to the Capenian gate, his sister came out to

upon him

meet him. Now she had been betrothed in marriage to one of the Curiatii, and his cloak, which she had wrought with her own hands, was borne on the shoulders of her brother; and she knew it, and cried out, and wept for him whom she had loved. At the sight of her tears Horatius was so wroth that he drew his sword, and stabbed his sister to the heart; and he said, "So perish the Roman maiden who shall weep for her country's enemy." But men

54 Livy, I. 26.

I.

said that it was a dreadful deed, and they dragged CHAP. him before the two judges who judged when blood had been shed. For thus said the law,

"The two men shall give judgment on the shedder of blood.
If he shall appeal from their judgment, let the appeal be tried.

If their judgment be confirmed, cover his head.

Hang him with a halter on the accursed tree;

Scourge him either within the sacred limit of the city or without."

So they gave judgment on Horatius, and were going to give him over to be put to death. But he appealed, and the appeal was tried before all the Romans, and they would not condemn him because he had conquered for them their enemies, and because his father spoke for him, and said, that he judged the maiden to have been lawfully slain. Yet as blood had been shed, which required to be atoned for, the Romans gave a certain sum of money to offer sacrifices to atone for the pollution of blood. These sacrifices were duly performed ever afterwards by the members of the house of the Horatii.

The legend of Tullus Hostilius.

ful punish

Mettius Fu

of the
of Alba.

The Albans were now become bound to obey the of the fearRomans 55; and Tullus called upon them to aid him ment of in a war against the people of Veii and Fidenæ. fetius, and But in the battle the Alban leader, Mettius Fufe- destruction tius, stood aloof, and gave no true aid to the Romans. So, when the Romans had won the battle, Tullus called the Albans together as if he were going to make a speech to them; and they came to

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I.

The legend

Hostilius.

CHAP. hear him, as was the custom, without their arms; and the Roman soldiers gathered around them, and of Tullus they could neither fight nor escape. Then Tullus took Mettius and bound him between two chariots, and drove the chariots different ways, and tore him asunder. After this he sent his people to Alba, and they destroyed the city, and made all the Albans come and live at Rome; there they had the hill Cælius for their dwelling-place, and became one people with the Romans.

How king
Tullus,

fended the

gods, was killed by

After this, Tullus made war upon the Sabines, and having of gained a victory over them 56. But now, whether it were that Tullus had neglected the worship of the lightning. gods whilst he had been so busy in his wars, the signs of the wrath of heaven became manifest. A plague broke out among the people, and Tullus himself was at last stricken with a lingering disease. Then he bethought him of good and holy Numa, and how, in his time, the gods had been so gracious to Rome, and had made known their will by signs whenever Numa inquired of them. So Tullus also tried to inquire of Jupiter, but the god was angry and would not be inquired of, for Tullus did not consult him rightly; so he sent his lightnings, and Tullus and all his house were burnt to ashes. This made the Romans know that they wanted a king who would follow the example of Numa; so they chose his daughter's son Ancus Marcius, to reign over them in the room of Tullus.

56 Livy, I. 31.

THE STORY OF ANCUS MARCIUS.

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CHAP.
I.

reign of

Marcius.

Ancient story does not tell much of Ancus Mar- of the good cius. He published the religious ceremonies which Ancus Numa had commanded, and had them written out upon whited boards, and hung up round the forum, that all might know and observe them 57. He had a war with the Latins and conquered them, and brought the people to Rome, and gave them the hill Aventinus to dwell on 58. He divided the lands of the conquered Latins amongst all the Romans 59; and he gave up the forests near the sea which he had taken from the Latins, to be the public property of the Romans. He founded a colony at Ostia, by the mouth of the Tiber 60. He built a fortress on the hill Janiculum, and joined the hill to the city by a wooden bridge over the river 61. He secured the city in the low grounds between the hills by a great dyke, which was called the dyke of the Quirites And he built a prison under the hill Saturnius, towards the forum, because as the people grew in numbers, offenders against the laws became more numerous also 63. At last king Ancus died, after a reign of three-and-twenty years

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61

64

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61 Livy, I. 33.
62 Livy, I. 33.
63 Livy, I. 33.

62

64 Cicero de Repub. II. 18. Livy says, "twenty-four years." I. 35.

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CHAPTER II.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME.

Ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τεκμηρίων τοιαῦτα ἄν τις νομίζων μάλιστα ἃ διῆλθον, οὐχ ἁμαρτάνοι· καὶ οὔτε ὡς ποιηταὶ ὑμνήκασι περὶ αὐτῶν, ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον κοσμοῦντες, μᾶλλον πιστεύων, οὔτε ὡς λογογράφοι ξυνέθεσαν ἐπὶ τὸ προσαγωγότερον τῇ ἀκροάσει ἡ ἀληθέστερον, ὄντα ἀνεξέλεγκτα καὶ τὰ πολλὰ ὑπὸ χρόνου αὐτῶν ἀπίστως ἐπὶ τὸ μυθῶδες ἐκνενικηκότα, εὑρῆσθαι δὲ ἡγησάμενος ἐκ τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων σημείων, ὡς παλαιὰ εἶναι, ἀποχρώντως. -THUCYDIDES, I. 21.

II.

The early

Rome.

CHAP. I HAVE given the stories of the early kings and founders of Rome, in their own proper form; not history of wishing any one to mistake them for real history, but thinking them far too famous and too striking to be omitted. But what is the real history, in the place of which we have so long admired the tales of Romulus and Numa? This is a question which cannot be satisfactorily answered: I shall content myself here with giving the few points that seem sufficiently established; referring those who desire to go deeply into the whole question, to that immortal work of Niebuhr, which has left other writers nothing else to do, except either to copy or to abridge it.

The first question in the history of every people is, What was their race and language? the next, What was the earliest form of their society, their social and

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