ROM 



38.3 



ROM 



icomanee. po*e it likely he shall ever be surpassed, we yet see no 

 ,-w unlikelihood of In- being followed with steps less dis- 

 advantageous. Romance may always continue to be 

 the minor of that human nature which is inexhausti- 

 ble, and depict the spirit of age after age, throughout 



whatever varieties of thought and feeling it may be the Rovaace, 

 fortune of our race to past. We see no form of imagi- <w 

 native literature which appears to us so likely to keep 

 pace with the daily increasing luxury, and yet the 

 daily increasing expansion of the modern mind. 



ROMAN EMPIRE. 



Roman 

 Kmpire. 



Miviure of 

 t.Jilc in Uie 

 early his- 

 tory of 

 Home. 



leavesTroy. 

 1184 B. C. 



jfineas 

 forms an 

 alliance 

 with Lati- 

 nus. 



Marries 



J.fivinia. 



Turnus 

 joins the 

 Itutuli. 



takes pos- 

 session of 

 the throne. 

 1182 B.C. 



TIIK early history of Rome, like that of all other an- 

 cient nations, is involved in mystery and fable. \Vhen 

 the memory of distant events has been preserved only 

 in poetry, it is diflicult to separate the true from the 

 fictitious narrative ; and this difficulty is no where 

 greater than in the early history of Rome. If 

 the poet, however, exaggerates and embellishes, and 

 even invents new circumstances, we must not deny 

 the whole narrative as fictitious, because a part of it 

 has existed only in the imagination of the narrator. In 

 such a case the probability of the events is the only 

 test which we can obtain of their truth ; and even if 

 the poet has been careful to stamp this character upon 

 his own creations, we cannot err much in adopting the 

 leading outlines of his story. 



When ./Eneas was driven from his native land by the 

 sack of Troy, he landed in Italy after a variety of wan- 

 derings and misfortunes.* He first disembarked at Cape 

 Minerva, in Japygia, and afterwards sailed toDrepanum, 

 in Sicily, where a Trojan colony had already established 

 itself under Elymus, and jEgystus. Either from necessity 

 or choice, or perhaps partly from both, he left behind 

 him at Drepanum several of his followers, and pursu- 

 ing his course over the Tyrrhenian Sea, he landed in 

 Italy near a cape, to which he gave the name of his 

 faithful pilot Palinurus, who terminated his life and 

 his duties at the same interesting moment. From hence 

 ./Eneas continued his examination of the Italian coast, 

 till he reached the territory of Latium, situated on the 

 east side of the Tiber, and now forming a part of the 

 Campagna cli Roma. The capital of this territory was 

 called Laurentium. It was subject to Latinus, who was 

 then engaged in a war with the Rutuli, and who on 

 that account gave a warmer reception to the helpless 

 strangers, and speedily secured their friendship by a 

 liberal alliance. The character of ./Eneas and of his 

 followers seem to have inspired the Latins with the 

 highest confidence. Latinus gave ./Eneas his daughter 

 Lavinia in marriage ; and the rest of the Trojans formed 

 matrimonial alliances with Latin families. 



These events, however, while they united the houses 

 of Latinus and of ./Eneas in the closest bonds of friend- 

 ship, gave rise to a formidable attempt against Latium. 

 Turnus, a relation of the queen, and who had been 

 brought up in the family of Latinus, had conceived an 

 early attachment to Lavinia. Enraged and mortified 

 that a stranger should possess that being on whom he 

 had placed his happiness, he joined the arms of the 

 Rutuli ; and in the first battle which took place both 

 Turnus and Latinus fell. 



Having thus come into the peaceful possession of 

 the throne, /Eneas united the religion of Troy with 

 that of Latium. He introduced the worship of Vesta, 

 and it was probably from him that the Latins derived 

 their knowledge of Jupiter, and many other of the Trojan 

 deities. 







An alliance between the Rutuli and Mezentiui, the Roman 

 king of the Tyrrhenians, again forced ./Eneas into the Empire. 

 field. The hostile armies met near Lavinium, and KI -u_^ 

 ./Eneas, being pressed by superior numbers to the bank* 

 of the Numicus, was driven into the river and drowned, 

 Having concealed his body, the Trojans pretended that 

 he had ascended to heaven ; and a temple was erected 

 to him under the appellation of Jupiter Indiges. 



The Trojan warrior was succeeded by his son Asca- 

 nius, or Euryleon, who prudently sought to terminate 

 the war by an honourable peace. Mezentius, how- 

 ever, having demanded too high a tribute, the Latins 

 resolved to try the contingencies of war. The flower 

 of the Tyrrhenian army lay entrenched at the very 

 gates of Lavinium, and was placed under the command 

 of Lausus, the son of Mezentius. The Trojans, accus- 

 tomed to this species of warfare, made a valorous sally 

 against the besiegers, and 'having forced the entrench- 

 ments under Lausus, drove him to the main body, 

 which was posted in the plain. The terror which was 

 thus struck into the confederated army, incited the 

 Latins to pursue their advantages, by driving the enemy 

 into the fastnesses of the neighbouring mountains. In 

 this pursuit Lausus fell, and Mezentius, disheartened 

 by the loss of his favourite son, sued for peace, and 

 yielded to the principal condition of the Latins, that 

 the Tiber should henceforth be the boundary between 

 the Latin and the Tyrrhenian territories. 



Lavinia, who was with chird at the death of jEnea?, 

 began to entertain an unreasonable dread of Ascanius ; 

 and retiring to the woods, was delivered of a son, who 

 received the name of /Eneas Sylvius. As soon as As- 

 canius became acquainted with the retreat of Lavinia, 

 and the cause of her alarm, he treated her with the 

 greatest gentleness, and prevailed upon her to return 

 to Lavinium with her child. 



As /Eneas Sylvius was the undoubted heir to the Alba 

 throne of Latium, Ascanius cheerfully resigned the 1 * 11 ^ 

 sovereignty, and built for himself the town of Alba l ^/ B C 

 Longa, where he died after a reign of thirty-eight n . , 

 years, of which he had spent twelve in his new city. 



Ascanius left behind him an only son Julius, the 

 undoubted sovereign of Alba Longa. To prevent the 

 risks of a divided kingdom, the Latins agreed to unite 

 both these states under the political sovereignty of Syl- 

 vius, and to confer upon Julius the sovereign authority 

 in religious affairs. 



After the death of Sylvius, who reigned 29 years, his 

 son ./Eneas Sylvius governed Latium for 31 years; La- 

 tinus Sylvius for 51 years ; Alba 39 ; Capetus or Atys 

 2G; Capis 28; Capetus 13; Tiberinus (who gave his 

 name to the Tiber where he was drowned) 41 years ; 

 and Alladius 19. His successor Aventinus left his 

 name to the Aventine Hill, where he was buried ; and 

 Procus, who reigned after him for 23 years, left the 

 throne to nis eldest son Numitor. His younger bro* 



* See J2NEA3, 



, Vol. I. p. 16; ANCUJSES, VoL II. ; and HOMER, Vol. XL p. 97. 



