HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 29 



caused a band of Roman youtlis to carry off a number of maidens, whom 

 they compelled to become their wives. This involved the Romans in a war 

 with their neighbors, in which the Latins were defeated ; but the Sabines 

 penetrated as far as tlie Forum, and were only persuaded by the stolen wives 

 to make peace w^ith the Romans. The Sabines settled on the Capitoline 

 hill, which they had taken, and united with the Roman people under the 

 name of Quirites. Romulus, and the Sabine king, Titus Tatius, governed 

 jointly, until the latter was murdered at Lavinium, when Romulus again 

 acquired the sole power. Not long after, his own life was brought to a close. 

 There is a strong probability that he was killed by the senate, who made 

 the people believe that he had been carried to heaven to take a place 

 amono; the sods. He was deified under the name of Quirinus. 



A year after the death of Romulus, the people elected a king, Kuma 

 Pompilius (716-673 B.C.), a wise and peace-loving prince, to whom Rome 

 owed many beneficial institutions and regulations. He was followed 

 by the w^arlike Tullus Hostilius (673-640 B.C.), who vanquished the 

 Albans, levelled Alba Longa to the ground, and transferred its citizens to 

 Rome, where he made them settle on the Coelian hill. 



His successor, Aucus Martins (640-617), was more pacific. He enacted 

 laws favorable to agriculture, and reinstated the religious ceremonies which 

 had fallen into neglect. The Latins revolted against his government, but he 

 quickly subdued them, demolished several of their cities, and made a 

 number of their inhabitants cultivate the Aventine hill. He extended the 

 Roman possessions to the sea, and founded the town and port of Ostia at the 

 mouth of the Tiber, thus laying the foundation of Roman commerce and 

 navigation. He was succeeded by Tarquinius Priscus (617-578), a Greek, 

 and an ardent lover of the fine arts, w^ho adorned and beautified the city 

 with great taste. During his reign, Rome increased in power by successful 

 wars against the Sabines, Latins, and Etruscans. The sons of Ancus Martius 

 at last murdered him for havingrobbed them of the succession. The murderers, 

 however, did not succeed him, for Servius Tullius, son-in-law of Tarquinius, 

 ascended the throne (578-534). This king enlarged Rome by annexing to it 

 the Quirinal, Yiminal, and Esquilinal hills ; he revised the Roman constitution, 

 and made treaties with the unconquered Latin towns, Gabii, Ardea, and 

 others. At the instigation of his unnatural and imperious daughter, Tullia, 

 he was murdered by his own son-in-law, Tarquinius Superbus, who suc- 

 ceeded him on the throne, reigning from 534-510, with arbitrary power and 

 great cruelty. He raised Rome to be the first in the confederacy of the 

 Latin provinces, made peace with the neighboring tribes, and improved the 

 city. By a stratagem he also brought the city of Gabii into the possession of 

 Rome. He forfeited the throne by his despotic acts, for a people so 

 conscious of freedom could not long endure the arbitrary will of any indi- 

 vidual. On ascending the throne he had caused some of the most influ- 

 ential Patricians to be put to death. Lucius Junius, a relative of Tarquin, 

 and son of one of the murdered Patricians, had himself escaped death only 

 by feigning idiocy, whence he received the name of Brutus. He had long 

 planned the downfall of tyranny. When, therefore, Sextus, the son of Tarquin, 



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