384 



R O M AN EMPIRE. 



Roman 

 Empire. 



Jtliea 

 Sylvia. 



Birth of 

 Romulus 



and.Remus. 



Amulius 

 killed and 

 Numitor 

 restored. 



Romulus 

 and .Remus 

 found a co- 

 Juny. 



Death of 

 Renius. 



Foundation 

 of Rome. 



ther Arnulius, however, murdered ^Egestus, the only 

 son of Numitor ; and, in order to secure the sovereignty, 

 he consecrated Numitor's daughter, Rhea Sylvia, to the 

 worship of Vesta, and to the virginity which that office 

 demanded. 



While the unwilling vestal was fetching water from 

 a neighbouring spring, she was ravished by a person in 

 a military dress ; but whether the ravisher was Mars, 

 Amulius, or some lover of her own, she was carefully 

 watched by Amulius till she was delivered of two son?. 

 An assembly of the people condemned Rhea to death, 

 and her offspring to be thrown into the Tiber. The 

 sentence upon Rhea was changed into confinement; 

 but the innocent children were launched upon the Tiber 

 in a wooden trough. Fortune drove their frail bark 

 upon the strand, and its helpless crew were saved by 

 the king's shepherd Faustulus, and carefully suckled 

 by his wife Acca Laurentia. 



At the age proper for education, Faustulus sent the 

 boys to Gabii, to be instructed in Greek learning. A 

 superiority of mien and of intellect acquired for them a 

 superiority among the other shepherds ; and during a 

 quarrel between the herdsmen of Numitor and Amulius, 

 the twins, who had received the name of Romulus and 

 Remus, took the part of the latter. The herdsmen of 

 Numitor seized the earliest opportunity of revenging 

 themselves for the injury which had been done to their 

 party. They surprised Remus at the festival of the 

 Lupercalia, and carried him before Numitor, to receive 

 the punishment which he was thought to have merited. 

 The appearance of the young prisoner inspired Numitor 

 with a deep interest in his fate. He inquired into his 

 early history, and he quickly perceived in the myste- 

 rious circumstances of his infancy that Remus was his 

 own grandson. 



In order to dissuade Romulus from pursuing the 

 shepherds who had carried off his brother, Faustulus 

 was obliged to disclose the history of his birth. The 

 mingled excitements of ambition and natural affection 

 to which this disclosure gave rise, instantly prompted 

 Romulus to deliver his mother and his grandfather from 

 the tyranny of Amulius. Remus had by this time re- 

 ceived the same information respecting his origin from 

 Numitor; and a plan was speedily arranged for assem- 

 bling the peasantry, and investing the palace of Amu- 

 liu?. Formed into companies of 100 each, and carrying 

 as ensigns the manipuli, or bundles of bay, upon long 

 poles, this army of peasants entered the palace, and 

 having slain the tyrant after a reign of 42 years, they 

 restored Numitor to his throne. 



With the advice of Numitor, Romulus and Remus 

 resolved to establish a new colony on the lands near the 

 Tiber, where they had been educated. Most of the 

 Trojan families, and the inhabitants of the two small 

 towns of Pallantium and Saturnia, united themselves 

 with Romulus and Remus. The workmen were formed 

 into two detachments, one under Romulus and the other 

 under Remus ; but this separation gave rise to two 

 parties, one of whom chose the Aventine, while the 

 other under Romulus fixed upon the Palatine hill, as 

 the most desirable site of the city. Having failed in 

 settling this difference by augury, the two factions had 

 recourse to arms, and, in the contention which ensued, 

 Faustulus was killed, and Remus fell by the hand of 

 his brother. 



Thus left at the head of the colony, Romulus re- 

 solved to build the city on Mount Palatine, and to dis- 

 tinguish it by his own name. After performing the 

 preparatory ceremonies and sacrifices which the cus-. 



toms of the Etruscans required, Romulus yoked an ox 

 and a cow to a plough, and surrounded Mount Pala- 

 tine with a square outline, to form the wall of the new 

 city, which was begun on the 21st of April, about 

 the year 753 before Christ. 



After the city was finished, it consisted of about 1000 

 houses irregularly arranged, and the inhabitants were 

 principally employed in the cultivation of the soil. When 

 they were thus sheltered from the weather, their first 

 care was to choose their form of government. Romulus 

 was unanimously elected king, and no sooner had he 

 obtained this high office, than he devoted himself to 

 the formation of laws, and the establishment of good 

 order among his people. Assuming a distinctive ha- 

 bit for himself, he appointed twelve lictors as his body 

 guard, and divided his subjects, who amounted to 

 about 33,000, into curiae, decuriae, patricians, plebeians, 

 patrons, clients, &c. He established a senate of 100 

 patricians ; and he formed a guard of 300 youth, for the 

 purpose of fighting either on foot or on horseback. To 

 the senate he gave the power of debating and resolv- 

 ing upon measures proposed by the king ; and to the 

 people he gave the power of electing magistrate?, enact- 

 ing laws, and resolving upon any war which might be 

 proposed by the king. Of the religious affairs of his 

 kingdom he was equally careful, electing priests, esta- 

 blishing festivals, and constructing a regular system 

 of religion. 



The scarcity of females in the new colony, induced 

 Romulus to resort to violence for recruiting this branch 

 of his population. By the advice of Numitor, and the 

 consent of the senate, he proclaimed a solemn feast and 

 public games in honour of Neptune Equestris, which 

 were notified in all the neighbouring towns. The 

 splendid preparations which were made for that cele- 

 bration, attracted to Rome the Caeninenses, the Crustu- 

 mini, the Antemnates, and the whole nation of the Sa- 

 bines, with their wives and children. The strangers 

 were every where received with the warmest civility. 

 But when the shows began, a signal was given, and the 

 Roman youth seized and hurried off about 700 of their 

 female visitors, the most beautiful of whom were car- 

 ried to the houses of the principal senators. 



Although the Sabine women were soon reconciled 

 to their husbands, yet their fathers resolved to have 

 revenge for that breach of hospitality which they had 

 experienced. The injured nations under Acron, king 

 of Caenina, invaded Rome; but Romulus succeeded in 

 defeating the armies which were successively brought 

 against him, and in adding to his own population the 

 inhabitants of the conquered districts. By this accession 

 of inhabitants, it became necessary to add the hill Sa- 

 turnius to the city, and the citadel which was erected 

 upon it was placed under the charge of Tarpeius. 



Although several of the Etruscan states had volun- 

 tarily submitted to the Roman power, yet the Sabines, 

 undismayed at their success, demanded the restitution of 

 their women, and when the request was refused, they 

 marched to Rome with an army of 25,000 foot and 

 1000 horse under the command of their king, Titus 

 Tatius. Romulus took the field with 20,000 foot and 

 800 horse, and fortifying himself in an advantageous 

 position, would probably have driven back the Sa- 

 bines, had not the treachery of Tarpeia, the governor 

 of the citadel's daughter, betrayed this important posi- 

 tion into the hands of the Sabines. Entrenched in this 

 stronghold they defied for a while the power of Romu- 

 lus. They were defeated, however, in a general en- 

 gagement, and driven back into the citadel ; but the 



Roman 

 Kmpire. 



Regal state 

 of Rome. 

 753 B. C. 



Rape of tin 

 Sabines. 

 750 B. C. 



War with 

 the Caenin- 

 enses. 



Rome en- 

 larged. 



War with 

 the Sabines. 



