CHAPTER I. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE ROMANS. Observe the youth who first appears in sight, But first in order sent to fill thy place. An Alban name, but mix'd with Dardan blood. Him fair Lavinia, thy surviving wife, Shall breed in groves, to lead a solitary life: 1. Æne'as, s. a Trojan prince. Ve'nus, s. the goddess of love and beauty, who is said, in Pagan fable, to have come down from heaven to enjoy the company of Anchi'ses. Anchi'ses, s. (pron. An-ki-ses) the son of Ca'pys, by The'mus, daugh ter of I'lus, king of Troy. 2. Ru'tuli, s. a people of Italy. Mezen'tius, s. king of the Tyrrhe'nians in Italy. 4. Usurpa'tion, s. the act of wrong- Ves'tal, s. a virgin priestess of DRYDEN'S VIRGIL, ÆN. VI. Poster'ity, s. succeeding genera tions. 5. Mars, s. the god of war. Sacerdo'tal, a. belonging to priesthood, priestly. Functions, s. acts of an office, employment. 12. Divulged, part. made known. Depo'sed, part. deprived of an office. 13. O'men, s. any sign or token by which a future event may be foretold. Tu'telar, a. having the guardianship and protection of any person or thing. 1. THE Romans were particularly desirous of being thought descendants of the gods; as if to hide the meanness of their real ancestry. Æneas, the son of Venus and Anchi ́ses, having escaped from the destruction of Troy, after many adventures and dangers, arrived in Italy (A.M. 2294), where he was kindly received by Latinus, king of the Latins, who promised him his daughter Lavin'ia in marriage. 2. Turnus, king of the Rutuli, was the first who opposed Æneas, he having long made pretensions to her himself. A war ensued, in which the Trojan hero was victorious, and Turnus slain. In consequence of this, Lavin'ia became the wife of Æne'as, who built a city to her honour, and called it Lavin'ium. Some time after, engaging in a war against Mezentius, one of the petty kings of the country, he was vanquished in turn, and died in battle, after a reign of four years. 3. Asca'nius, his son, succeeded to the kingdom; and to him Sil'vius', his second son, whom he had by Lavin'ia. It would be tedious and uninteresting to recite a dry catalogue of the kings that followed, of whom we know little more than the names; it will be sufficient to say, that the succession continued for nearly four hundred years in the same family; and that Nu'mitor, the fifteenth from Æne'as, was the last king of Alba. Nu'mitor, who took possession of the kingdom in consequence of his father's will, had a brother named Amu'lius, to whom were left the treasures which had been brought from Troy. 4. As riches too generally prevail against right, Amu'lius made use of his wealth to supplant his brother, and soon found means to possess himself of the kingdom. Not contented with the crime of usurpation, he added that of murder also. Nu'mitor's sons first fell a sacrifice to his suspicions; and to remove all apprehensions of being one day disturbed in his ill-gotten power, he caused Rhe'a Sil'via', his brother's only daughter, to become a vestal; which office obliging her to perpetual virginity, made him less uneasy as to the claims of posterity. 5. His precautions, however, were all frustrated in the event. Rhe'a Silvia was called to the performance of some religious service in the temple of Mars, near the town. A spring of water glided through the sacred wood, in which the temple was enclosed, and the priestess, in order to discharge one of her sacerdotal functions, went thither to take the necessary water for her sacrifice; where a man, disguised in a military habit like that in which Mars was commonly represented, surprised and forced the vestal. Others are of opinion that she met a young lover there by appointment. 6. When Rhe'a Sil'via, however, could no longer conceal her shame, she charged the god Mars with being the cause of it. The circumstances of the temple, the sacred wood, and the presence of that god, who was believed to make his residence in the sanctuary consecrated to him, gave a less odious colour to the affair; and whether it was her crime or her misfortune, the fact is certain, that in due time she brought forth two boys, who were no sooner born than devoted by the usurper to de 1 So called because born in a wood, whither his mother Lavin'ia is said to have fled for fear of Asca'nius. 2 By the poets she is usually named Il'ia. struction. 7. The mother was condemned to be buried alive, the usual punishment for vestals who had violated their chastity, and the twins were ordered to be flung into the river Tiber. 8. It happened, however, at the time this rigorous sentence was put into execution, that the river had, more than usual, overflowed its banks, so that the place where the children were thrown, being distant from the main current, the water was too shallow to drown them. It is said by some, that they were exposed in a cradle, which after floating for a time, was, by the waters retiring, left on dry ground; that a wolf, descending from the mountains to drink, ran, at the cry of the children, and gave them suck under a fig-tree, caressing and licking them as if they had been her own young, the infants hanging on her dugs as if she had been their mother, until Faus'tulus, the king's shepherd, struck with so surprising a sight, conveyed them home, and delivered them to his wife, Ac'ca Lauren'tia, to nurse, who brought them up as her own. 9. Others, however, assert, that from the vicious life of this woman, the shepherds had given her the nickname of Lupa', or wolf, which they suppose might possibly be the occasion of this marvellous story. But though this account must be regarded as fabulous, it was one of the most popular subjects for painting and sculpture in ancient Rome. Indeed, one of the most ancient pieces of statuary is a representation of Romulus and Remus suckled by the wolf. It is also frequently depicted on the Roman coins and medals, joined with the head of personified Rome, the features of which are supposed by some to represent Rhea Silvia. 10. Rom'ulus and Re'mus, the twins, in whatever manner preserved, seemed early to discover abilities and desires above the meanness of their supposed origin. From their very infancy, an air of superiority and grandeur seemed to discover their rank. They led, however, the shepherd's life like the rest; worked for their livelihood, and built their own huts. But pastoral idleness displeased them, and from tending their flocks, they betook themselves to the chase. Then, no longer content with hunting wild beasts, they turned their strength against the robbers of their country, whom they often stript of their plunder, and divided it among the shepherds. 11. The youths who continually joined them so increased in number as to enable them to hold assemblies, and celebrate games. one of their excursions, the two brothers were surprised. Re'mus was taken prisoner, carried before the king, and accused of being a plunderer and robber on Nu'mitor's lands. Rom'ulus had escaped; but Re'mus, the king sent to Nu'mitor, that he might do himself justice. In 12. From many circumstances Faus'tulus suspected the twins under his care to be the same that Amulius had exposed in the Ti'ber, and at length divulged his suspicions to Rom'ulus. Nu'mitor made the same discovery to Re'mus. From that time nothing was thought of but the tyrant's destruction. He was beset on all sides; and during the amazement and distraction that ensued was taken and slain: while Nu'mitor, who had been deposed for 1 Lu'pa literally signifies a harlot as well as a she-wolf. forty years, recognized his grandsons, and was once more placed on the throne 1. 13. The two brothers, leaving Nu'mitor the kingdom of Alba, determined to build a city upon the spot where they had been exposed and preserved. But a fatal desire of reigning seized them both, and created a difference between these noble youths, which terminated tragically. Birth-right in the case of twins could claim no precedence; they therefore were advised by the king to take an omen from the flight of birds, to know to which of them the tutelar gods would decree the honour of governing the rising city, and consequently, of being the director of the other. 14. In compliance with this advice, each took his station on a different hill. To Re'mus appeared six vultures; in the moment after, Rom'ulus saw twelve. Two parties had been formed for this purpose; the one declared for Re'mus, who first saw the vultures; the other for Rom'ulus, who saw the greater number 2. Each party called itself victorious; the one having the first omen, the other that which was most complete. This produced a contest, which ended in a battle, wherein Re'mus was slain. It is even said that he was killed by his brother, who being provoked at his leaping contemptuously over the city wall, struck him dead upon the spot. 15. Rom'ulus being now sole commander, and eighteen years of age, began the foundation of a city that was one day to give laws to the world. It was called Rome, after the name of the founder, and built upon the Palatine hill, on which he had taken his successful omen (A.M. 3252, ANTE C. 752). The city was at first nearly square, containing about a thousand houses. It was almost a mile in circumference, and commanded a small territory round it of eight miles over. 16. However, small as it appears, it was yet worse inhabited; and the first method made use of to increase its numbers, was the opening of a sanctuary for all malefactors and slaves, and such as were 1 The troops, if they deserve the name, with which Romulus invested the palace, and at length slew the king, were merely a tumultuary rabble from the country, whose ensigns were bundles of hay suspended from long poles; these were called manipuli, and hence came the name of manipulares, afterwards given to the troops. 2 Niebuhr is of opinion that the augury of the twelve birds is a poetical way of expressing an old Etruscan prophecy, that Rome was destined to endure twelve secles: a secle being with that people a period of 110 years. |