The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
their husbands' rank, or by lot. At the same time three centuries of
knights were enrolled, called Ramnenses, from Romulus; Tatienses, from
Titus Tatius. The reason of the name and origin of the Luceres is
uncertain.
[Footnote 19: _Nepotum et liberûm progeniem_ = Nepotes et
liberos,--??e? ??a??? = ?? ??a???.]
14. Thenceforward the two kings held the regal power not only in common,
but in concord also. Several years after, some relatives of king Tatius
beat the ambassadors of the Laurentes, and when the Laurentes commenced
proceedings according to the law of nations, the influence of his
friends and their importunities had more weight with Tatius. He
therefore drew upon himself the punishment due to them; for he is slain
at Lavinium, in a tumult which arose on his going thither to an
anniversary sacrifice. They say that Romulus resented this with less
severity than the case required, either by reason of their association
in the kingly power being devoid of cordiality, or because he believed
that he was justly killed. He therefore declined going to war; in order,
however, that the ill-treatment of the ambassadors and the murder of the
king might be expiated, the treaty was renewed between the cities of
Rome and Lavinium. With this party, indeed, peace continued, contrary to
expectation; another war broke out much nearer home, and almost at the
very gates. The Fidenates, thinking that a power too near to themselves
was growing to a height, resolve to make war, before their strength
should become as great as it was apparent it would be. An armed body of
young men being sent in, all the land is laid waste between the city and
Fidenæ. Then turning to the left, because the Tiber confined them on the
right, they continue their depredations to the great consternation of
the peasantry. The sudden alarm reaching the city from the country,
served as the first announcement. Romulus, roused at this circumstance,
(for a war so near home could not admit of delay,) leads out his army:
he pitches his camp a mile from Fidenæ. Having left there a small
garrison, marching out with all his forces, he commanded a party of his
soldiers to lie in ambush in a place [20]hidden by thick bushes which
were planted around. Then advancing with the greater part of the foot
and all the horse, and riding up to the very gates of the city in a
disorderly and menacing manner, he drew out the enemy, the very thing he
wanted. The same mode of fighting on the part of the cavalry likewise
made the cause of the flight, which was to be counterfeited, appear less
surprising: and when, the horse seeming irresolute, as if in
deliberation whether to fight or fly, the infantry also retreated, the
enemy suddenly rushed from the crowded gates, after they had made an
impression on the Roman line, are drawn on to the place of ambuscade in
their eagerness to press on and pursue. Upon this the Romans, rising
suddenly, attack the enemy's line in flank. The standards of those who
had been left behind on guard, advancing from the camp, further increase
the panic. The Fidenates, thus dismayed with terrors from so many
quarters, turn their backs almost before Romulus, and those who had
accompanied him on horseback, could wheel their horses round; and those
who a little before had pursued men pretending to fly, now ran back to
the town in much greater disorder, for their flight was in earnest. They
did not however get clear of the enemy: the Romans pressing on their
rear rush in as it were in one body before the gates could be shut
against them.
[Footnote 20: The original has undergone various changes here: my
version coincides with the reading, _locis circà densa obsita virgulta
obscuris_.]
15. The minds of the Veientes being excited by the contagious influence
of the Fidenatian war, both from the tie of consanguinity, for the
Fidenates also were Etrurians, and because the very proximity of
situation, in case the Roman arms should be turned against all their
neighbours, urged them on, they made an incursion on the Roman
territories, more to commit depredations than after the manner of a
regular war. Accordingly, without pitching a camp, or awaiting the
approach of the enemy's army, they returned to Veii, carrying with them
the booty collected from the lands; the Roman army on the other side,
when they did not find the enemy in the country, being prepared for and
determined on a decisive action, cross the Tiber. And when the Veientes
heard that they were pitching a camp, and intended to advance to the
city, they came out to meet them, that they might rather decide the
matter in the open field, than be shut up and fight from their houses
and walls. Here the Roman king obtained the victory, his power not being
aided by any stratagem, merely by the strength of his veteran army: and
having pursued the routed enemies to their walls, he made no attempt on
the city, strong as it was by its fortifications, and well defended by
its situation: on his return he lays waste their lands, rather from a
desire of revenge than booty. And the Veientes, being humbled by that
loss no less than by the unsuccessful battle, send ambassadors to Rome
to sue for peace. A truce for one hundred years was granted them after
they were fined a part of their land. These are the principal
transactions which occurred during the reign of Romulus, in peace and
war, none of which seem inconsistent with the belief of his divine
original, or of the deification attributed to him after death, neither
his spirit in recovering his grandfather's kingdom, nor his project of
building a city, nor that of strengthening it by the arts of war and
peace. For by the strength attained from that outset under him, it
became so powerful, that for forty years after it enjoyed a profound
peace. He was, however, dearer to the people than to the fathers; but
above all others he was most beloved by the soldiers. And he kept three
hundred of them armed as a body-guard not only in war but in peace, whom
he called Celeres.
16. After performing these immortal achievements, while he was holding
an assembly of the people for reviewing his army, in the plain near the
lake of Capra, on a sudden a storm having arisen, with great thunder and
lightning, enveloped the king in so dense a mist, that it took all sight
of him from the assembly. Nor was Romulus after this seen on earth. The
consternation being at length over, and fine clear weather succeeding so
turbulent a day, when the Roman youth saw the royal seat empty, though
they readily believed the fathers who had stood nearest him, that he was
carried aloft by the storm, yet, struck with the dread as it were of
orphanage, they preserved a sorrowful silence for a considerable time.
Then, a commencement having been made by a few, the whole multitude
salute Romulus a god, son of a god, the king and parent of the Roman
city; they implore his favour with prayers, that he would be pleased
always propitiously to preserve his own offspring. I believe that even
then there were some, who silently surmised that the king had been torn
in pieces by the hands of the fathers; for this rumour also spread, but
was not credited; their admiration of the man, and the consternation
felt at the moment, attached importance to the other report. By the
contrivance also of one individual, additional credit is said to have
been gained to the matter. For Proculus Julius, whilst the state was
still troubled with regret for the king, and felt incensed against the
senators, a person of weight, as we are told, in any matter however
important, comes forward to the assembly, "Romans," he says, "Romulus,
the father of this city, suddenly descending from heaven, appeared to me
this day at day-break. While I stood covered with awe, and filled with a
religious dread, beseeching him to allow me to see him face to face, he
said, Go tell the Romans, that the gods so will, that my Rome should
become the capitol of the world. Therefore let them cultivate the art of
war, and let them know and hand down to posterity, that no human power
shall be able to withstand the Roman arms. Having said this, he ascended
up to heaven." It is surprising what credit was given to the man on his
making this announcement, and how much the regret of the common people
and army, for the loss of Romulus, was assuaged upon the assurance of
his immortality.
17. Meanwhile ambition and contention for the throne actuated the minds
of the fathers; factions had not yet sprung up from individuals,
because, among a new people, no one person was eminently distinguished
above the rest: the contest was carried on between the different orders.
The descendants of the Sabines wished a king to be elected out of their
body, lest, because there had been no king on their side since the death
of Tatius, they might lose their claim to the crown[21] according to the
compact of equal participation. The old Romans spurned the idea of a
foreign prince. Amid this diversity of views, however, all were anxious
that there should be a king, they not having yet tasted the sweets of
liberty. Fear then seized the senators, lest the minds of the
surrounding states being incensed against them, some foreign power
should attack the state, now without a government, and the army without
a leader. It was therefore their wish that there should be some head,
but no one could bring himself to give way to another. Thus the hundred
senators divide the government among them, ten decuries being formed,
and one selected from each decury, who was to have the chief direction
of affairs. Ten governed; one only was attended with the insignia of
authority and the lictors: their power was limited to the space of five
days, and it passed through all in rotation, and the interval between a
kingly government lasted a year. From the circumstance it was called an
Interregnum, a term which holds good even now. But the people began to
murmur, that their slavery was multiplied, and that they had got a
hundred sovereigns instead of one, and they seemed determined to bear no
authority but that of a king, and that one of their own choosing. When
the fathers perceived that such schemes were in agitation, thinking it
advisable to offer them, of their own accord, what they were sure to
lose; they thus conciliate the favour of the people by yielding to them
the supreme power, yet in such a manner as to grant them no greater
privilege than they reserved to themselves. For they decreed, that when
the people should choose a king, the election should be valid, if the
senate approved. And[22] the same forms are observed at this day in
passing laws and electing magistrates, though their efficacy has been
taken away; for before the people begin to vote, the senators declare
their approbation, whilst the result of the elections is still
uncertain. Then the interrex, having called an assembly of the people,
addressed them in this manner: "Do you, Romans, choose yourselves a
king, and may it prove fortunate, happy, and auspicious to you; so the
fathers have determined. Then, if you choose a prince worthy to succeed
Romulus, the fathers will confirm your choice." This concession was so
pleasing to the people, that, not to be outdone in generosity, they only
voted, and required that the senate should determine who should be king
of Rome.
[Footnote 21: Although, according to the terms of the alliance, the
Sabines and the Romans were to be in all respects on an equal footing.]
[Footnote 22: The order of the people still requires the sanction of the
senate for its ratification: but that sanction now being given
beforehand, the order of the people is no longer subject to the control
of the senate, and therefore not precarious as heretofore.]