18 



ROMULUS ROOKE. 



fortunate accident, her children, \vlio were expo-i d 

 by connnand of Amnlins in u wild and desert coun- 

 try on the banks of the Tiber. Here a she wolf is 

 said to have found them, and to have suckled them 

 until chance brought thither a countryman, Faustu- 

 lus by name, who took them home and educated 

 them. With him Uomulus and Remus spent their 

 youth, exercising themselves in the chase, and some- 

 times in rapine. The younger, Remus, was taken 

 prisoner by the servants of Amulius, and his courage- 

 ous brother collected a small band of enterprising 

 companions, with whom he not only freed his bro- 

 ther, but likewise deprived Amuh'us of his usurped 

 throne, and reinstated his old grandfather Numitor 

 in his dominions. After the termination of this 

 exploit, Romulus, in connexion with his brother, 

 resolved to build a city. The gods, it is said, dur- 

 ing a solemn sacrifice, pointed out the proper site, 

 by the flight of seven eagles. Thus Rome was founded 

 in the year 752 (according to others 754) B. C. The 

 unanimity which had heretofore prevailed between 

 the two brothers, ended with this enterprise : either 

 from ambition, or a sudden burst of anger, Romulus 

 imbrued his hands in his brother's blood. Accord- 

 ing to another tradition, Remus fled from the anger 

 of his brother, beyond the Alps, and founded 

 Rheims. The small number of friends who had fol- 

 lowed Romulus were by no means sufficient to peo- 

 ple his city ; he saw himself, therefore, compelled 

 to make it a place of refuge for every houseless 

 exile. Men enough were thereby gained ; but the 

 Roman citizens soon wanted women, and their pro- 

 posals for the daughters of the neighbouring cities 

 were rejected by the fathers of the maidens, who 

 looked with an envious eye on the increase of this 

 city. On this account Romulus instituted a reli- 

 gious festival, to which he invited the Sabines (see 

 the article Sabines), with their wives and daughters. 

 They came ; but in the midst of the festival, the 

 unarmed strangers were suddenly attacked, and de- 

 prived of their wives and daughters, and every 

 Roman hastened to provide himself with a female 

 companion. The two states thus became engaged 

 in war ; but the entreaties of the ravished females, 

 who threw themselves between the contending par- 

 ties, at length effected a peace, and Rome gained by 

 her union with the Sabines, an important addition. 

 Many successful wars, which always ended in addi- 

 tions of population and territory to the infant state, 

 confirmed and extended its power. Romulus was 

 strict and arbitrary; too much so, perhaps, for his 

 subjects; and his sudden disappearance naturally 

 excited the conjecture that he fell by the hand of 

 a malcontent. According to tradition, he ascended 

 to heaven into the company of the gods, after he 

 had completed the work of founding the eternal 

 city; and, until the introduction of Christianity, 

 Rome worshipped its founder in temples expressly 

 dedicated to him. It is likewise possible that he 

 was struck by lightning; for his disappearance is 

 said to have happened during a thunderstorm, while 

 he was without the city, near the marshes of Ca- 

 prea, reviewing his army. Romulus reigned about 

 thirty-seven years, and was about fifty years of age ; 

 and the rude, but, considering the time and circum- 

 stances, the appropriate laws and ordinances, which 

 he gave his people, bear witness of his capacity as 

 a ruler. When Romulus died, Rome, according to 

 a census which he caused to be made a short time 

 before his death, is said to have contained between 

 3000 and 4000 men capable of bearing arms. See 

 Rome. 



RONA.OR NORTH RON A; an island in the 

 northern ocean, sixteen leagues from the Butt of 

 Lewis, and considered as the most north-westerly 

 part of Europe. It belongs to the parish of Bar- 

 vas, county of Ross, and is inhabited by one family. 

 It is only about a mile in length, and half a mile in 

 breadth. Macculloch, in his work on the Highlands 

 and Islands of Scotland, has given an interesting 

 description of this lonely place. Its produce is 

 corn, butter, cheese, wild fowl, and feathers; and 

 there are a few sheep. Near the centre of the 

 island is a chapel, dedicated to St Ronan. Four 

 leagues eastward of this island is the rock of Sulis- 

 ker, about a quarter of a mile in circumference, 

 noted for the abundance and variety of sea-fowl by 

 which it is frequented. 



RONA; the name of an island and islet in the 

 Hebrides. See Hebrides, 



RONALDSHAY, NORTH AND SOUTH. Sec 

 Orkney Islands. 



RONCESVALLES (French Roncevaux) ; aval- 

 ley in Navarre, between Pampeluna and St Jean 

 de Port, where, according to tradition, the rear of 

 Charlemagne's army was defeated by the Arabs, in 

 778, and the brave Roland killed. The battle 

 forms an essential part in the fabulous cyclus of 

 Charlemagne. The chief place of the valley, 

 called also Roncesvalles, is traversed by the (so 

 called) gates of Roland, leading over the Pyrenees 

 to France; and in the church of the little place, 

 fabulous antiquities bearing the name of Roland 

 are shown. The French, under Moncey, here de- 

 feated the Spaniards in 1794; and Soult took a 

 strong position here in 1813, frcm which Welling- 

 ton drove him. 



RONDO (Italian), OR RONDEAU (French) ; a 

 composition, vocal or instrumental, generally con- 

 sisting of three strains, the first of which closes in 

 the original key, while each of the others is so con- 

 structed, in point of modulation, as to reconduct 

 the ear, in an easy and natural manner, to the first 

 strain. The rondo takes its name from the circum- 

 stance of the melody going round, after both the 

 second and third strain, to the first strain, with 

 which it finally closes. 



RONSARD, PIERRE DE, an early French poet, 

 who contributed to the improvement of the lan- 

 guage and literature of his country, was born of a 

 noble family of Vendome, in 1524. Having finished 

 his education, he resided some time at the court ot 

 James V. of Scotland, and, on his return from his 

 travels, was employed in a diplomatic capacity in 

 Germany. At the Floral games, at Toulouse, he 

 triumphed over his competitors, and received a sil- 

 ver statue of Minerva, which he presented to 

 Henry II. He was greatly esteemed by that prince, 

 and by his successors, Francis II. and Charles IX. 

 He distinguished himself in the wars against the 

 Huguenots; obtained the abbey of Bellozane; and 

 was also prior of St Cosme, near Tours, where he 

 died in 1585. His writings, consisting of sonnets, 

 madrigals, eclogues, lyric pieces, elegies, and satires, 

 and an epic poern, La Franciade, are of little merit. 

 See France, Literature of, division Poetry. 



ROOF. See Architecture. 



ROOKE, SIR GEORGE, an English admiral, de- 

 scended of an ancient family, in the county of Kent, 

 was born in 1650. His strong predilection for a 

 seafaring life induced him to enter the royal navy 

 at an early age, in which he rose to the highest 

 situations. His conduct in several naval expeditions, 

 under king William and queen Anne placed hi 



