Goldsmith's Roman history. Abridged by himself, for the use of schools

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CHAPTER I Of the Origin of the Romans

1. THE Romans were particularly desirous of being thought descended from the gods, as if to hide the meanness of their real ancestry. iEneas, the son of Venus and Anchises, 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 gave him his daughter Lavinia in marriage. Turnus, king of the Rutuli, was the first who opposed iEneas, he having long made pretensions to Lavinia himself. A war ensued in which the Trojan hero was victorious, and Turnus slain. In consequence of this iEneas built a city which was called Lavinium, in honour of his wife : and some time after, engaging in another 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.

2. Numitor, the fifteenth king in a direct line from iEneas, who took possession of the kingdom in consequence of his father's will, had a brother named Amulius, to whom he left the treasures which had been brought from Troy. As riches but too generally

8 THE HISTORV OF THE

prevail against right, Amulius made use of his wealth to supplant his* brother, and soon found means to possess himself of the kingdom.

3. Not content with the crime of usurpation, he added that of murder also. Numhor's sons first fell a sacrifice to his suspicions ; and to remove all apprehensions of being one day disturbed in his ill got power, he caused Rhea Silvia, his brother's only daughter, to become a vestal virgin ; which office obliging her to perpetual celibacy, made him less uneasy as to the claims of posterity.

4. His precautions, however, were all frustrated in the event : for Rhea Silvia, going to fetch water from a neighbouring grove, was met and ravished by a man, whom, perhaps to palliate her offence, she averred to be Mars, the god of war. From this congress she was brought to bed of two bo3 r s, who were no sooner born than devoted by the usurper to destruction.

5. The mother was condemned tc be buried alive, the usual punishment for vestals who had violated their chastity, and the twins were ordered to be flung into the river Tyber. It happened at the time this rigorous sentence was put into execution, that the river had more than usually overflowed its banks, so that the place where the children were thrown being at a distance from the main current, the water was too shallow to drown them.

6. In this situation, therefore, they continued without harm; and, that no part of their preservation might want its wonders, we are told that they were for some time suckled by a wolf, until Faustulus, the king's herdsman, finding them thus exposed, brought them home to Aca Laurentia his wife, who brought them up as his own.

7. Romulus and Remus, the twins thus strangely preserved, seemed early to discover abilities and desires above the meanness of their supposed original. The shepherd's life began to displease them •, and from tending flocks, or hunting wild beasts, they soon turned their strength against the robbers round the country, whom they often stript of their plunder to share it among their fellow shepherds.

8. In one of these excursions Remus was taken prisoner by Numitor's herdsman, who brought him before the king, and accused him of being a plunderer. Romulus, however, being informed by F^ustulus of his real birth, was not remiss in assembling a number of his fellow shepherds, who beset the usurper on all sides, who, during his amazement and distraction, was taken and slain, while Numitor, who had been deposed forty-two years, recognised his grandsons, and was once more restored to the throne.

9. Numitor being thus in quiet possession of the kingdom, his grandsons resolved to build a city upon those hills where they had formerly lived as shepherds. Many of the neighbouring shepherds also, and such as w r ere fond of change, repaired to the intended city, and prepared to raise it. In order to proceed in this undertaking with all possible solemnity, the two brothers were advised by the king to take an omen from the flight of birds, and that he whose omen should be most favourable should in all respects direct the other.

10. In compliance with this advice they both took their stations upon different hills. To Remus appeared six vultures ; to Romulus twice that number : so that each party thought itself victorious : the one having the first omen, the other the most complete This produced a contest, which ended in a battle, wherein Remus was slain , and it is even said that he was killed by his brother, who being provoked at his leaping ovsr tbe city wall, struck him dead upon the spot.

11. Romulus, 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

A 2 built upon the Palatine hill, on which he had taken his successful omen [A. M. 3252. ante c. 752.] This city was at first almost square, containing about a thousand houses.

12. It was near a mile in compass, and commanded a small territory round it of about eight miles over. However small as it appears, it was notwithstanding worse inhabited; and the first method made use of to increase its numbers, was the opening a sancutary for all malefactors, slaves, and such as were desirous of novelty ; and these came in great multitudes, and con tributed to increase the number of our legislator's new subjects.

Chapter II

From the building of Rome to the death of Romulus.

1. SCARCE was the city raised above its foundation, when its rude inhabitants began to think of giving some form to their constitution. Romulus, by an act of great generosity, left them at liberty to choose whom they would for their king ; and they in gratitude concurred to elect their founder ; he was accordingly acknowledged as chief of their religion, sovereign magistrate of Rome, and general of the army.

2. Beside a guard to attend his person, it was agreed, that he should be preceded wherever he went by twelve men, armed with axes tied up in abundle of rods, who were to serve as executioners of the law, and to impress his new subjects with an idea of his authority.

3. The senate, which was to act as counsellors to the king, was composed of an hundred of the principal citizens of Rome, consisting of men whose age, wisdom, or valour, gave them a natural authority over their fellow subjects ; and the king named the first senator, and appointed him to the govern ment of the city, whenever war required his own absence.

4. The Plebeians, who composed the third part of the legislature, assumed to themselves the power of authorizing those laws which were passed by the king or the senate. All things relative to peace or war, to the election of magistrates, and even to the choosing a king, were confirmed by suffrages in their assemblies.

5. The first care of the new created king was to attend to the interests of religion : but the precise form of their worship is unknown. The greatest part of the religion of that age consisted in firm reliance upon the credit of their soothsayers, who pretended, from observation on the flight of birds and the entrails of beasts, to direct the present, and to dive into futurity. Romulus, by an express law, commanded that no election should be made, no en terprize undertaken, without first consulting them.

6. Wives were forbid, upon any pretext whatsoever, to separate from their husbands ; while, on the contrary, the husband was empowered to repudiate his wife, and even in some cases to put her to death* His laws between children and their parents were yet still more severe; the father had entire power over his offspring, both of fortune and life ; he could sell them or imprison them at any time of their lives, or ** any stations to which they were arrived.

/• After his endeavours by laws to regulate his subjects he next gave orders to ascertain their numbers. The whole amounted but to three thousand foot, and about as many hundred horsemen, capable of bearing arms. These therefore were divided equally into three tribes, and to each he assigned a different part of the city.

8. Each of these tribes was subdivided into ten curiae, or companies, consisting of an hundredmen each, with a centurion to command it ; a priest, called curio, to perform the sacrifices ; and two of the principal inhabitants, called duumviri, to distribute justice.

9. By these wise regulations, each day added strength to the new city ; multitudes flocked in from all the adjacent towns, and it only seemed to want women to ascertain its duration. In this exigence, Romulus, by the advice of the senate, sent deputies among the Sabines, his neighbours, entreating their alliance, and upon these terms offering to cement the most strict confederacy with them.

10. The Sabines, who were then considered as the most warlike people of Italy, rejected the proposal with disdain ; Romulus therefore proclaimed a feast in honor of Neptune throughout all the neighbouring villages, and made the most magnificent preparations for it. These feasts w r ere generally preceded by sacrifices, and ended in shews of wrestlers, gladiators, and chariot courses.

11. The Sabines as he had expected, were among the foremost who came to be spectators, bringing their wives and daughters with them to share the pleasure of the sight. In the mean time the games began, and while the strangers were most intent upon the spectacle, a number of the Roman youth rushed in among them with drawn swords, seized the 3'oungest and most beautiful women, and carried them off by violence.

12. In vain the parents protested against this breach of hospitality ; in vain the virgins themselves at first opposed the attempts of their ravishers; perseverance and caresses obtained those favours which timidity at first denied ; so vhat the betrayers, from being objects of aversion, soon became the partners of their dearest affections.

13. A bloody war ensued. The cities of Cenina, Antemna, and Crustumium, were the first who resolved to revenge the common cause, which the Sabines seemed too dilatory in pursuing. But all these i by making separate inroads, became a more easy conquest to Romulus, who made the most merciful use of his victory ; instead of destroying their towns, or lessening their numbers, he only placed colonies of Romans in them, to serve as a frontier to repress more distant invasions.

14. Tatius, king of Cures, a Sabine city, was the last although the most formidable, who undertook to revenge the disgrace his country had suffered. He entered the Roman territories at the head of twentyfive thousand men, and not content with a superiority of forces, he added stratagem also. Tarpeia, who was daughter to the commander of the Capitoline hill, happened to fall into his hands as she went without the walls of the city to fetch water.

15. Upon her he prevailed, by means of large promises, to betray one of the gates to his army. The reward she engaged for, was what the soldiers wore on their arms, by which she meant their bracelets. They, however, either mistaking her meaning or willing to punish her perfidy, threw their bucklers upon her as they entered, and crushed her to death.

16. The Sabines being thus possessed of the Capitoline, after some time a general engagement ensued, which was renewed for several days with almost equal success, and neither could think of submitting : it was in the valley between the Capitoline and Quirinal hills, that the last engagement was fought between the Romans and Sabines.

17. The engagement was now become general, and the slaughter prodigious, when the attention of both sides was suddenly turned from the scene of horror before them, to another; till at length the Sabine women, who had been carried off by the Romans, with their hair loose, and their ornaments neglected, flew in between the combatants, regardless of their own danger, and with loud outcries implored their husbands and their children to desist.

18. Upon this, the combatants, as if by mutual impulse, let fall their weapons; an accommodation ensued, by which it was agreed that Romulus and Tatius should reign jointly in Rome, with equal power and prerogative, that an hundred Sabines should be admitted into the Senate, that the city should still retain its former name, but that the citizens should be called Quirites, after Curies, the principal town of the Sabines, and that both nations being thus united, such of the Sabines as chose it, should be admitted to live in and enjoy all the privileges of citizens in Rome.

19. Tatius was killed about five years alter by the Lavinians, for having protected some servants of his, who had plundered them and slain their ambassadors; so that by this accident Romulus once more saw himself sole monarch of Rome.

20. Successes like these produced an equal share of pride in the conqueror. From being contented with those limits which had been wisely assigned to his power, he began to affect absolute sway, and to govern those laws to which he had himself formerly professed implicit obedience.

21. The senate was particularly displeased at his conduct, as they found themselves only used as instruments to ratify the rigor of his commands. We are not told the precise manner which they employed to get rid of the tyrant; some say that he was torn iv pieces in the senate house; others, that he disappear ed while reviewing his army.

22. Certain it is, that from the secrecy of the fact, and the concealment of the body, they took occasion to persuade the multitude that he was taken up into heaven; thus him whom they could not bear as a king, they were contented to worship as a god. Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, and after hi» death had a temple built to him under the name of Quirinus.

Chapter III

From the death of Romulus, to the death of Numa Pompilius > the second king of Rome.

1. UPON the death of Romulus, the city seemed greatly divided in the choice of a successor. The Sabines were for having a king chosen from their body, but the Romans could not bear the thoughts of advancing a stranger to the throne. In this per plexity the senators undertook to supply the place of the king, by taking the government, each of them in turn, for five days, and during that time enjoying all the honours and all the privileges of royalty.

2. This new form of government continued for a year, but the Plebeians, who saw that this method of transferring power was only multiplying their masters, insisted upon altering that mode of government. The senate being thus driven to an election, at length pitched upon Numa Pompilius, a Sabine; and their choice was received with universal approbation by the people.

3. Numa Pompilius, who was now about forty, had long been eminent for his piety, his justice, moderation, and exemplary life. He was skilled in all the learning and philosophy of the Sabines, and lived at home at Cures, contented with a private fortune, unambitious of higher honours. It was not therefore, without reluctance, that he accepted the dignity, which, when he did, it produced such joy, that the people seemed not so much to receive a king as a kingdom.

4. No monarch could be more proper for them than Numa at a conjuncture when the government was composed of various petty states lately subdued, and but ill united among each other: they wanted a master who could by his laws and precepts soften their fierce dispositions, and by his example induce them to a love of religion, and every milder virtue.

5. Numa's whole time therefore w T as spent in inspiring his subjects with a love of piety, and a veneration for the gods. He built many new temples, instituted sacred offices and feasts, and the sanctity of his life gave him credit enough to persuade his people that he had a particular correspondence with the goddess Egeria. By her advice he built the temple of Janus, which was to be shut in time of peace, and open in war ; he ordained vestal virgins, who, being four in number, had very great privileges allowed them.

6. For the encouragement of agriculture he divided those lands which Romulus had gained in war among the poorer part of the people ; he regulated the calendar, and abolished the distinction between Romans and Sabines, by dividing the people according to their several trades, and compelling them to live together.

7. Thus, having arrived at the age of fourscore years, and having reigned forty-three in profound peace, he died, ordering his body to be buried in a stone coffin, contrary to the custom of the times, and his boohs of ceremonies, which consisted of twelve in Latin, and as many in Greek, to be buried by his side in another.

Chapter IV

Prom the death of Numa, to the death of Tullu$ Hostilius, the third king of Rome.

1. UPON the death of Numa, the government once more devolved upon the senate, and continued till the people elected Tullus Hostilius for their king, which choice had also the concurrence of the other part of the constitution. This monarch, who was grandson to a noble Roman who had formerly sig « nalixed himself against the Sabines, was every way unlike his predecessor, being entirely devoted to war, and more fond of enterprise, than even the founder of the empire himself had been; so that he only sought a pretext for leading his forces into the field.

2. The Albans were the first people who gave him an opportunity of indulging his favourite inclinations. The forces of these two states met about five miles from Rome, prepared to decide the fate of their respective kingdoms; for almost every battle in these times was decisive. The two armies were for some time drawn out in array, awaiting the signal to begin, both chiding the length of that dreadful suspense, when an unexpected proposal from the Alban general put a stop to the onset.

3. Stepping in between both armies, he offered the Romans a choice of deciding the dispute by single combat ; adding that the side whose champion was overcome should submit to the conqueror. A proposal like this, suited the impetuous temper of the Roman king, and was embraced with joy by his subjects, each of which hoped that he himself should be chosen to fight the cause of his country.

4. There were at this time three twin brothers in each army ; those of the Romans were called Horatii, and those of the Albans, Curiatii, all six remarkable for their courage, strength, and activity, and to these it was resolved to commit the management ot the combat. At length the champions met in comba* together ; and each, totally regardless of his own safety, only sought the destruction of his opponent.

5. The spectators, in horrid silence, trembled at every blow, and wished to share the danger, till fortune seemed to decide the glory of the field. Victory, that had hitherto been doubtful, appeared to declare against the Romans; they beheld two of their champions lying dead upon the plain, and the three Curiatii, who were wounded, slowly endeavouring to pursue the survivor, who seemed by flight to beg for mercy.

6. Soon however, they perceived that his flight was only pretended, in order to separate his antagonists, whom he was unable to oppose united; for quickly after, stopping his course, and turning upon him who followed most closely behind, he laid him dead at his feet; the second brother, who came on to assist him who was fallen, only shared the same fate; and now there remained but the last Curiatius to conquer, who fatigued and quite disabled with his wounds, slowly came up to offer mi easy victory He was killed, almost unresisting, while the conqueror exclaiming, offered him as a victim to the superiority of the Romans, whom now the Alban army consented to obey.

7. But none of the virtues of that age were without alloy ; the very hand that in the morning was exerted to save his country, was before night embrued in the blood of his sister. For returning triumphant from the field, it raised his indignation to behold hei bathed in tears, and lamenting the loss of her lover, one of the Curiatii, to whom she was betrothed.

This provoked him beyond the power of sufferance, so that he slew her in a rage.

8. This action greatly displeased the senate, and drew on the condemnation of the magistrates, but he was pardoned by making his appeal to the people.

9. Hostilius died, after a reign of thirty-two years ; some say by lightning, others, with more probability, by treason.

Chapter V

From the death of Tullus Hostilius, to the death of Ancus Martins, the fourth king of Rome.

1. AFTER an interregnum, as in the former case, Ancus Martius, the grandson of Numa, was elected king by the people, and the choice afterwards was confirmed by the senate. As this monarch was a lineal descendant from Numa, so he seemed to make him the great object of his imitation. He instituted the sacred ceremonies which were to precede a declaration of war; he took every occasion to advise his subjects to return to the arts of agriculture, and to lay aside the less useful stratagems of war.

2. These institutions and precepts were considered by the neighbouring powers rather as marks of cowardice than of wisdom. The Latins therefore began to make incursions upon his territories, but their success was equal to their justice. — Ancus conquered the Latins, destroyed their cities, removed their inhabitants to Rome, and increased his territories by the addition of part of theirs. He quelled also an insurrection of the Veii, the Fidenates, and the Volsci ; and over the Sabines he obtained a second triumph.

3. But his victories over the enemy were by no

26 THE HISTORY OF TH£

means comparable to his works at home, in raising temples, fortifying the city, making a prison for malefactors, and building a sea-port at the mouth of the Tyber, called Ostia, by which he secured to his subjects the trade of that river and that of the salt pits adjacent. Thus having enriched his subjects, and beautified the city, he died after a reign of twenty-four years.

Chapter VI

From the death of Ancus Martins, to the death of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth b*ng of Rome

1. LUCIUS TARQUINIUS ,>RISCUS, whose original name was Lucumon, and who was appointed guardian to the sons of the late king, took the surname of Tarquinius from the city of Tarquinio, from whence he last came. His father was a merchant of Corinth, who had acquired considerable wealth by trade and had settled in Italy upon account of some troubles at home.

2. His son Lucumon, who inherited his fortune, married a woman of family in the city of Tarquinio ; and as his birth, profession, and country were contemptible to the nobles of the place, by his wife's persuasion he came to settle at Rome, where merit only made distinction.

3. On his way thither, say the historians, as he approached the city gate, an eagle, stooping from above, took off his hat, and flying round his chariot for some time, with much noise, put it on again. This, his wife Tanaquil, who it seems was skilled in augury, interpreted as a presage that he should one day wear the crown ; and perhaps it was this which first fired his ambition to pursue it.

4. Ancus being dead, and the kingdom, as usual devolving upon the senate, Tarquin used all his power and arts to set aside the children of the late king, and to get himself elected in their stead. For this purpose, upon the day appointed for election, he contrived to have them sent out of the city : and in a set speech to the people, in which he urged his friendship for them, the fortune he had spent among them, and his knowledge of their government, he offered himself for their king.

5. As there was nothing in this harangue that could be contested, it had the desired effect, and the people, with one consent, elected him as their sovereign.

6. A kingdom, thus got by intrigue, was, notwithstanding, governed with equity. In the beginning of bis reign, in order to recompense his friends, he added an hundred members more to the senate, which made them in all three hundred.

7. But his peaceful endeavours weie soon interrupted by the inroads of his restless neighbours, particularly the Latins, over whom he triumphed, and whom he forced to beg a peace.

8. He then turned his arms against the Sabines, who had risen once more, and had passed over the river Tyber ; but Tarquin, attacking them with vigour, routed their army ; so that many who escaped the sword, were drowned in attempting to cross over, while their bodies and armour, floating down to Rome, brought news of the victory even before the messengers could arrive that were sent with the tidings. — These conquests were followed by several advantages over the Latins, from whom he took many towns, though without gaining any decisive victory.

9. Tarquin having thus forced his enemies into submission, was resolved not to let his subjects corrupt in indolence, but undertook and perfected several public works for the convenience and embellishment of the city.

10. In his time also, the augurs came into a great increase of reputation, and he found it his interest to promote the superstition of the people, as this was in fact but to increase their obedience. Tanaquil, his wife, was a great pretender to this art ; but Accius Naevius was the most celebrated adept of the kind that was ever known in Rome. Upon a certain occasion, Tarquin, being resolved to try the augur's skill, asked him whether what he was then pondering in his mind could be effected ?

11. Nsevius having examined his auguries, boldly affirmed that it might : " Why then," cries the king, with an insulting smile, " I had thoughts of cutting tills whetstone with a razor." " Cut boldly," replied the augur ; and the king cut it through accordingly. Thence forward nothing was undertaken in Rome without consulting the augurs, and obtaining their advice and approbation.

12. Tarquin was not content with a kingdom, without also the ensigns of royalty. In imitation of the Lydian kings he assumed a crown of gold, an ivory throne, a sceptre with an eagle on the top, and robes of purple. It was, perhaps, the splendor of these royalties that first raised the envy of the late king's sons, who had now for above thirty-seven years quietly submitted to his government.

13. His design also of adopting Servius Tullius, his son-in-law for his successor, might have contributed to inflame their resentment. Whatever was the cause of their tardy vengeance, they resolved to destroy him ; and at last found means to effect their purpose, by hiring two ruffians, who demanding to soeak with the king, pretending that they came for justice, struck him dead in his palace with the blow of an axe.

14. The lictors, however, who waited upon the person of the king, seized the murderers, who were attempting to escape : they were put to death; but the sons of Ancus, who were the instigators, found safety by flight.

15. Thus fell Lucius Tarquinius, surnamed Priscus, to distinguish him from one of his successors of the same name, aged fifty-six years, of which he had reigned thirty-eight.

Chapter VII

From the death of Tarquinius Prisons, to the death of Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome.

1. THE report of the murder of Tarquin, filled all his subjects with complaint and indignation, while the citizens ran from every quarter of the palace to learn the truth of the account, or to take vengeance on the assassins. In this tumult, Tanaquil, widow of the late king, considering the danger she must incur in case the conspirators should succeed to the crown, and desirous of having her son-in-law for his successor, with great art dissembled her sorrows as well as the king's death.

2. She assured the people from one of the windows of the palace, that he was not killed but stunned by the blow ; that he would shortly recover ; and that, in the mean time, he had deputed his power to Servius Tullius, his son-in-law. Servius accordingly, as it had been agreed upon between them, issued from the palace* adorned with the ensigns of royalty, and preceded by his lictors, went to despatch some affairs, that related to the public safety, still pretending that he took all his instructions from the king.

3. This scene of dissimulation continued for some days, till he had made his party good among the nobles ; when the death of Tarquin being publicly ascertained, Servius came to the crown, solely at the senate's appointment, and without attempting to gain the suffrages of the people.

4. Servius was the son of a bondwoman, who had been taken at the sacking of a town belonging to the Latins, and was born whilst his mother w T as a slave. While yet an infant in his cradle, a lambent flame is said to have played round his head, which Tanaquil converted into an omen of his future greatness.