9.14. The stolen maidens were no more hopeful of their plight, nor less indignant. But Romulus himself went amongst them and explained that the pride of their parents had caused this deed, when they had refused their neighbours the right to intermarry; nevertheless the daughters should be wedded and become co-partners in all the possessions of the Romans, in their citizenship and, dearest privilege of all to the human race, in their children; only let them moderate their anger, and give their hearts to those to whom fortune had given their persons.
9.14. nec raptis aut spes de se melior aut indignatio est minor. sed ipse Romulus circumibat docebatque patrum id superbia factum qui conubium finitimis negassent; illas tamen in matrimonio, in societate fortunarum omnium ciuitatisque et quo nihil carius humano generi sit liberum fore;
9.15. A sense of injury had often given place to affection, and they would find their husbands the kinder for this reason, that every man would earnestly endeavour not only to be a good husband, but also to console his wife for the home and parents she had lost.
9.15. mollirent modo iras et, quibus fors corpora dedisset, darent animos; saepe ex iniuria postmodum gratiam ortam; eoque melioribus usuras uiris quod adnisurus pro se quisque sit ut, cum suam uicem functus officio sit, parentium etiam patriaeque expleat desiderium.
9.16. His arguments were seconded by the wooing of the men, who excused their act on the score of passion and love, the most moving of all pleas to a woman's heart.
9.16. accedebant blanditiae uirorum, factum purgantium cupiditate atque amore, quae maxime ad muliebre ingenium efficaces preces sunt.
10.1. The resentment of the brides was already much diminished at the very moment when their parents, in mourning garb and with tears and lamentations, were attempting to arouse their states to action. Nor did they confine their complaints to their home towns, but thronged from every side to the house of Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines; and thither, too, came official embassies, for the name of Tatius was the greatest in all that country.
10.1. iam admodum mitigati animi raptis erant; at raptarum parentes tum maxime sordida ueste lacrimisque et querellis ciuitates concitabant. nec domi tantum indignationes continebant sed congregabantur undique ad T. Tatium regem Sabinorum, et legationes eo quod maximum Tati nomen in iis regionibus erat conueniebant.
10.2. The men of Caenina, Crustumium, and Antemnae, were those who had had a share in the wrong. It seemed to them that Tatius and the Sabines were procrastinating, and without waiting for them these three tribes arranged for a joint campaign.
10.2. Caeninenses Crustuminique et Antemnates erant ad quos eius iniuriae pars pertinebat. lente agere his Tatius Sabinique uisi sunt: ipsi inter se tres populi communiter bellum parant.
10.3. But even the Crustuminians and Antemnates moved too slowly to satisfy the burning anger of the Caeninenses, and accordingly that nation invaded alone the Roman territory. But while they were dispersed and engaged in pillage, Romulus appeared with his troops and taught them, by an easy victory, how ineffectual is anger without strength.
10.3. ne Crustumini quidem atque Antemnates pro ardore iraque Caeninensium satis se impigre mouent; ita per se ipsum nomen Caeninum in agrum Romanum impetum facit.
10.4. Their army he broke and routed, and pursued it as it fled; their king he killed in battle and despoiled; their city, once their leader was slain, he captured at the first assault.
10.4. sed effuse uastantibus fit obuius cum exercitu Romulus leuique certamine docet uanam sine uiribus iram esse. exercitum fundit fugatque, fusum persequitur: regem in proelio obtruncat et spoliat:
10.5. He then led his victorious army back, and being not more splendid in his deeds than willing to display them, he arranged the spoils of the enemy's dead commander upon a fame, suitably fashioned for the purpose, and, carrying it himself, mounted the Capitol. Having there deposited his burden, by an oak which the shepherds held sacred, at the same time as he made his offering he marked out the limits of a temple to Jupiter, and bestowed a title upon him.
10.5. duce hostium occiso urbem primo impetu capit. inde exercitu uictore reducto, ipse cum factis uir magnificus tum factorum ostentator haud minor, spolia ducis hostium caesi suspensa fabricato ad id apte ferculo gerens in Capitolium escendit; ibique ea cum ad quercum pastoribus sacram deposuisset, simul cum dono designauit templo Iouis fines cognomenque addidit deo:
10.6. “Jupiter Feretrius,” he said, “to thee I, victorious Romulus, myself a king, bring the panoply of a king, and dedicate a sacred precinct within the bounds which I have even now marked off in my mind, to be a seat for the spoils of honour which men shall bear hither in time to come, following my example, when they have slain kings and commanders of the enemy.”
10.6. 'Iuppiter Feretri' inquit, 'haec tibi uictor Romulus rex regia arma fero, templumque his regionibus quas modo animo metatus sum dedico, sedem opimis spoliis quae regibus ducibusque hostium caesis me auctorem sequentes posteri ferent.'
10.7. This was the origin of the first temple that was consecrated in Rome. It pleased Heaven, in the sequel, that while the founder's words should not be in vain, when he declared that men should bring spoils thither in the after time, yet the glory of that gift should not be staled by a multitude of partakers. Twice only since then, in all these years with their many wars, have the spoils of honour been won; so rarely have men had the good fortune to attain to that distinction.
10.7. haec templi est origo quod primum omnium Romae sacratum est. ita deinde dis uisum nec inritam conditoris templi uocem esse qua laturos eo spolia posteros nuncupauit nec multitudine compotum eius doni uolgari laudem. bina postea, inter tot annos, tot bella, opima parta sunt spolia: adeo rara eius fortuna decoris fuit.
11.1. While the Romans were thus occupied in the City, the army of the Antemnates seized the opportunity afforded by their absence, and made an inroad upon their territory; but so swiftly was the Roman levy led against them that they, too, were taken off their guard while scattered about in the fields.
11.1. dum ea ibi Romani gerunt, Antemnatium exercitus per occasionem ac solitudinem hostiliter in fines Romanos incursionem facit. raptim et ad hos Romana legio ducta palatos in agris oppressit.
11.2. They were therefore routed at the first charge and shout, and their town was taken. As Romulus was exulting in his double victory, his wife Hersilia, beset with entreaties by the captive women, begged him to forgive their parents and receive them into the state; which would, in that case, gain in strength by harmony.
11.2. fusi igitur primo impetu et clamore hostes, oppidum captum; duplicique uictoria ouantem Romulum Hersilia coniunx precibus raptarum fatigata orat ut parentibus earum det ueniam et in ciuitatem accipiat: ita rem coalescere concordia posse.
11.3. He readily granted her request. He then set out to meet the Crustuminians, who were marching to attack him. They offered even less resistance than their allies had done, for their ardour had been quenched by the defeats of the others.
11.3. facile impetratum. inde contra Crustuminos profectus bellum inferentes. ibi minus etiam quod alienis cladibus ceciderant animi certaminis fuit.
11.4. Colonies were sent out to both places, though most of the colonists preferred to enrol for Crustumium on account of the fertility of its soil.
11.4. utroque coloniae missae: plures inuenti qui propter ubertatem terrae in Crustuminum nomina darent. et Romam inde frequenter migratum est, a parentibus maxime ac propinquis raptarum.
11.5. On the other hand, many persons left Crustumium and came to live in Rome, chiefly parents and kinsmen of the captured women. The last to attack Rome were the Sabines, and this war was by far the gravest of all, for passion and greed were not their motives, nor did they parade war before they made it.
11.5. nouissimum ab Sabinis bellum ortum multoque id maximum fuit; nihil enim per iram aut cupiditatem actum est, nec ostenderunt bellum prius quam intulerunt.
11.6. To their prudence they even added deception. Spurius Tarpeius commanded the Roman citadel. This man's maiden daughter was bribed with gold by Tatius to admit armed men into the fortress: she happened at that time to have gone outside the walls to fetch water for a sacrifice.
11.6. consilio etiam additus dolus. Sp. Tarpeius Romanae praeerat arci. huius filiam uirginem auro corrumpit Tatius ut armatos in arcem accipiat; aquam forte ea tum sacris extra moenia petitum ierat.
11.7. Once within, they threw their shields upon her and killed her so, whether to make it appear that the citadel had been taken by assault, or to set an example, that no one might anywhere keep faith with a traitor.
11.7. accepti obrutam armis necauere, seu ut ui capta potius arx uideretur seu prodendi exempli causa ne quid usquam fidum proditori esset.
11.8. There is also a legend that because most of the Sabines wore heavy golden bracelets on their left arms and magnificent jewelled rings, she had stipulated for what they had on their left arms, and that they had therefore heaped their shields upon her, instead of gifts of gold.
11.8. additur fabula, quod uolgo Sabini aureas armillas magni ponderis brachio laeuo gemmatosque magna specie anulos habuerint, pepigisse eam quod in sinistris manibus haberent; eo scuta illi pro aureis donis congesta.
11.9. Some say that, in virtue of the compact that they should give her what they wore on their arms, she flatly demanded their shields and, her treachery being perceived, forfeited her life to the bargain she herself had struck.
11.9. sunt qui eam ex pacto tradendi quod in sinistris manibus esset derecto arma petisse dicant et fraude uisam agere sua ipsam peremptam mercede.
12.1. Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel. Next day the Roman army was drawn up, and covered the ground between the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline, but the Sabines would not come down till rage and eagerness to regain the citadel had goaded their enemy into marching up the slope against them.
12.1. tenuere tamen arcem Sabini; atque inde postero die, cum Romanus exercitus instructus quod inter Palatinum Capitolinumque collem campi est complesset, non prius descenderunt in aequum quam ira et cupiditate reciperandae arcis stimulante animos in aduersum Romani subiere.
12.2. Two champions led the fighting, the Sabine Mettius Curtius on the one side, and the Roman Hostius Hostilius on the other. Hostius held the Romans firm, despite their disadvantage of position, by the reckless courage he displayed in the thick of the fray.
12.2. principes utrimque pugnam ciebant ab Sabinis Mettius Curtius ab Romanis Hostius Hostilius. hic rem Romanam iniquo loco ad prima signa animo atque audacia sustinebat.
12.3. But when he fell, the Roman line gave way at once and fled towards the old gate of the Palatine. Romulus himself was swept along in the crowd of the fugitives, till lifting his sword and shield to heaven, he cried, “O Jupiter, it was thy omen that directed me when I laid here on the Palatine the first foundations of my City.
12.3. ut Hostius cecidit, confestim Romana inclinatur acies fusaque est. ad ueterem portam Palati Romulus et ipse turba fugientium actus, arma ad caelum tollens, 'Iuppiter, tuis' inquit 'iussus auibus hic in Palatio prima urbi fundamenta ieci.
12.4. The fortress is already bought by a crime and in the possession of the Sabines, whence they are come, sword in hand, across the valley to seek us here.”
12.4. arcem iam scelere emptam Sabini habent; inde huc armati superata media ualle tendunt;
12.5. “But do thou, father of gods and men, keep them back from this spot at least; deliver the Romans from their terror, and stay their shameful flight!”
12.5. at tu, pater deum hominumque, hinc saltem arce hostes;
12.6. “I here vow to thee, Jupiter the Stayer, a temple, to be a memorial to our descendants how the City was saved by thy present help.”
12.6. deme terrorem Romanis fugamque foedam siste. hic ego tibi templum Statori Ioui, quod monumentum sit posteris tua praesenti ope seruatam urbem esse, uoueo.'
12.7. Having uttered this prayer he exclaimed, as if he had perceived that it was heard, “Here, Romans, Jupiter Optimus Maximus commands us to stand and renew the fight!” The Romans did stand, as though directed by a voice from Heaven, Romulus himself rushing into the forefront of the battle.
12.7. haec precatus, ueluti sensisset auditas preces, 'hinc' inquit, 'Romani, Iuppiter optimus maximus resistere atque iterare pugnam iubet.' restitere Romani tamquam caelesti uoce iussi: ipse ad primores Romulus prouolat.
12.8. Mettius Curtius, on the Sabine side, had led the charge down from the citadel, and driven the Romans in disorder over all that ground which the Forum occupies. He was not now far from the gate of the Palatine, shouting, “We have beaten our faithless hosts, our cowardly enemies! They know now how great is the difference between carrying off maidens and fighting with men!” While he pronounced this boast a band of gallant youths, led on by Romulus, assailed him.
12.8. Mettius Curtius ab Sabinis princeps ab arce decucurrerat et effusos egerat Romanos toto quantum foro spatium est. nec procul iam a porta Palati erat, clamitans: 'uicimus perfidos hospites, imbelles hostes; iam sciunt longe aliud esse uirgines rapere, aliud pugnare cum uiris.'
12.9. It chanced that Mettius was fighting on horseback at the time, and was therefore the more easily put to flight. As he fled, the Romans followed; and the rest of their army, too, fired by the reckless daring of their king, drove the Sabines before them.
12.9. in eum haec gloriantem cum globo ferocissimorum iuuenum Romulus impetum facit. ex equo tum forte Mettius pugnabat; eo pelli facilius fuit. pulsum Romani persequuntur; et alia Romana acies, audacia regis accensa, fundit Sabinos.
12.10. Mettius plunged into a swamp, his horse becoming unmanageable in the din of the pursuit, and even the Sabines were drawn off from the general engagement by the danger to so great a man. As for Mettius, heartened by the gestures and shouts of his followers and the encouragement of the throng, he made his escape; and the Romans and the Sabines renewed their battle in the valley that lies between the two hills. But the advantage rested with the Romans.
12.10. Mettius in paludem sese strepitu sequentium trepidante equo coniecit; auerteratque ea res etiam Sabinos tanti periculo uiri. et ille quidem adnuentibus ac uocantibus suis fauore multorum addito animo euadit: Romani Sabinique in media conualle duorum montium redintegrant proelium; sed res Romana erat superior.
13.1. Then the Sabine women, whose wrong had given rise to the war, with loosened hair and torn garments, their woman's timidity lost in a sense of their misfortune, dared to go amongst the flying missiles, and rushing in from the side, to part the hostile forces and disarm them of their anger, beseeching their fathers on this side, on that their husbands, that fathers-in-law and sons-in-law should not stain themselves with impious bloodshed, nor pollute with parricide the suppliants' children, grandsons to one party and sons to the other.
13.1. tum Sabinae mulieres, quarum ex iniuria bellum ortum erat, crinibus passis scissaque ueste, uicto malis muliebri pauore, ausae se inter tela uolantia inferre, ex transuerso impetu facto dirimere infestas acies, dirimere iras, hinc patres, hinc uiros orantes, ne sanguine se nefando soceri generique respergerent, ne parricidio macularent partus suos, nepotum illi, hi liberum progeniem.
13.3. “If you regret,” they continued, “the relationship that unites you, if you regret the marriage-tie, turn your anger against us; we are the cause of war, the cause of wounds, and even death to both our husbands and our parents. It will be better for us to perish than to live, lacking either of you, as widows or as orphans.”
13.3. 'si adfinitatis inter uos, si conubii piget, in nos uertite iras; nos causa belli, nos uolnerum ac caedium uiris ac parentibus sumus; melius peribimus quam sine alteris uestrum uiduae aut orbae uiuemus.' mouet res cum multitudinem tum duces;
13.4. It was a touching plea, not only to the rank and file, but to their leaders as well. A stillness fell on them, and a sudden hush. Then the leaders came forward to make a truce, and not only did they agree on peace, but they made one people out of the two.
13.4. silentium et repentina fit quies; inde ad foedus faciendum duces prodeunt. nec pacem modo sed ciuitatem unam ex duabus faciunt. regnum consociant: imperium omne conferunt Romam.
13.5. They shared the sovereignty, but all authority was transferred to Rome. In this way the population was doubled, and that some concession might after all be granted the Sabines, the citizens were named Quirites, from the town of Cures.
13.5. ita geminata urbe ut Sabinis tamen aliquid daretur Quirites a Curibus appellati. monumentum eius pugnae, ubi primum ex profunda emersus palude equus Curtium in uado statuit, Curtium lacum appellarunt.
13.6. As a reminder of this battle they gave the name of Curtian Lake to the pool where the horse of Curtius first emerged from the deep swamp and brought his rider to safety. The sudden exchange of so unhappy a war for a joyful peace endeared the Sabine women even more to their husbands and parents, and above all to Romulus himself.
13.6. ex bello tam tristi laeta repente pax cariores Sabinas uiris ac parentibus et ante omnes Romulo ipsi fecit. itaque cum populum in curias triginta diuideret, nomina earum curiis imposuit.
13.7. And so, when he divided the people into thirty curiae, he named these wards after the women. Undoubtedly the number of the women was somewhat greater than this, but tradition does not tell whether it was their age, their own or their husbands' rank, or the casting of lots, that determined which of them should give their names to the wards.
13.7. id non traditur, cum haud dubie aliquanto numerus maior hoc mulierum fuerit, aetate an dignitatibus suis uirorumue an sorte lectae sint, quae nomina curiis darent.
13.8. At the same time there were formed three centuries of knights: the Ramnenses were named after Romulus; the Titienses after Titus Tatius; the name and origin of the Luceres are alike obscure. From this time forth the two kings ruled not only jointly but in harmony.
13.8. eodem tempore et centuriae tres equitum conscriptae sunt. Ramnenses ab Romulo, ab T. Tatio Titienses appellati: Lucerum nominis et originis causa incerta est. inde non modo commune sed concors etiam regnum duobus regibus fuit.
14.1. Some years later the kinsmen of King Tatius maltreated the envoys of the Laurentians, and when their fellow-citizens sought redress under the law of nations, Titus yielded to his partiality for his relations and to their entreaties.
14.1. post aliquot annos propinqui regis Tati legatos Laurentium pulsant; cumque Laurentes iure gentium agerent, apud Tatium gratia suorum et preces plus poterant.
14.2. In consequence of this he drew down their punishment upon himself, for at Lavinium, whither he had gone to the annual sacrifice, a mob came together and killed him.
14.2. igitur illorum poenam in se uertit; nam Lauinii cum ad sollemne sacrificium eo uenisset concursu facto interficitur.
14.3. This act is said to have awakened less resentment than was proper in Romulus, whether owing to the disloyalty that attends a divided rule, or because he thought Tatius had been not unjustly slain. He therefore declined to go to war; but yet, in order that he might atone for the insults to the envoys and the murder of the king, he caused the covenant between Rome and Lavinium to be renewed.
14.3. eam rem minus aegre quam dignum erat tulisse Romulum ferunt, seu ob infidam societatem regni seu quia haud iniuria caesum credebat. itaque bello quidem abstinuit; ut tamen expiarentur legatorum iniuriae regisque caedes, foedus inter Romam Lauiniumque urbes renouatum est.
14.4. Thus with the Laurentians peace was preserved against all expectation; but another war broke out, much nearer, and indeed almost at the city gates. The men of Fidenae, perceiving the growth of a power which they thought too near themselves for safety, did not wait till its promised strength should be realized, but began war themselves. Arming the young men, they sent them to ravage the land between the City and Fidenae.
14.4. et cum his quidem insperata pax erat: aliud multo propius atque in ipsis prope portis bellum ortum. Fidenates nimis uicinas prope se conualescere opes rati, priusquam tantum roboris esset quantum futurum apparebat, occupant bellum facere. iuuentute armata immissa uastatur agri quod inter urbem ac Fidenas est;
14.5. Thence they turned to the left —for the Tiber stopped them on the right —and by their devastations struck terror into the farmers, whose sudden stampede from the fields into the City brought the first tidings of war.
14.5. inde ad laeuam uersi quia dextra Tiberis arcebat, cum magna trepidatione agrestium populantur, tumultusque repens ex agris in urbem inlatus pro nuntio fuit.
14.6. Romulus led forth his army on the instant, for delay was impossible with the enemy so near, and pitched his camp a mile from Fidenae. Leaving there a small guard, he marched out with all his forces.
14.6. excitus Romulus—neque enim dilationem pati tam uicinum bellum poterat—exercitum educit, castra a Fidenis mille passuum locat.
14.7. A part of his men he ordered to lie in ambush, on this side and on that, where thick underbrush afforded cover; advancing with the greater part of the infantry and all the cavalry, and delivering a disorderly and provoking attack, in which the horsemen galloped almost up to the gates, he accomplished his purpose of drawing out the enemy. For the flight, too, which had next to be feigned, the cavalry engagement afforded a favourable pretext.
14.7. ibi modico praesidio relicto, egressus omnibus copiis partem militum locis circa densa obsita uirgulta obscuris subsidere in insidiis iussit: cum parte maiore atque omni equitatu profectus, id quod quaerebat, tumultuoso et minaci genere pugnae adequitando ipsis prope portis hostem exciuit. fugae quoque, quae simulanda erat, eadem equestris pugna causam minus mirabilem dedit.
14.8. And when not only the cavalry began to waver, as if undecided whether to fight or run, but the infantry also fell back, the city gates were quickly thronged by the enemy, who poured out and hurled themselves against the Roman line, and in the ardour of attack and pursuit were drawn on to the place of ambuscade.
14.8. et cum, uelut inter pugnae fugaeque consilium trepidante equitatu, pedes quoque referret gradum, plenis repente portis effusi hostes impulsa Romana acie studio instandi sequendique trahuntur ad locum insidiarum.
14.9. There the Romans suddenly sprang out and assailed the enemy's flanks, while, to add to their terror, the standards of the detachment which had been left on guard were seen advancing from the camp; thus threatened by so many dangers the men of Fidenae scarcely afforded time for Romulus and those whom they had seen riding off with him to wheel about, before they broke and ran, and in far greater disorder than that of the pretended fugitives whom they had just been chasing —for the flight was a real one this time — sought to regain the town.
14.9. inde subito exorti Romani transuersam inuadunt hostium aciem; addunt pauorem mota e castris signa eorum qui in praesidio relicti fuerant. ita multiplici terrore perculsi Fidenates prius paene, quam Romulus quique <auehi> cum eo uisi erant circumagerent frenis equos, terga uertunt; multoque effusius, quippe uera fuga, qui simulantes paulo ante secuti erant oppidum repetebant.
14.11. But the Fidenates did not escape their foes; the Romans followed close upon their heels, and before the gates could be shut burst into the city, as though they both formed but a single army.
14.11. non tamen eripuere se hosti: haerens in tergo Romanus, priusquam fores portarum obicerentur, uelut agmine uno inrumpit.
15.1. From Fidenae the war-spirit, by a kind of contagion, spread to the Veientes, whose hostility was aroused by their kinship with the Fidenates, Etruscans like themselves, and was intensified by the danger which lay in their very proximity to Rome, if her arms should be directed against all her neighbours.
15.1. belli Fidenatis contagione inritati Ueientium animi et consanguinitate—nam Fidenates quoque Etrusci fuerunt—et quod ipsa propinquitas loci, si Romana arma omnibus infesta finitimis essent, stimulabat. in fines Romanos excucurrerunt populabundi magis quam iusti more belli.
15.2. They made an incursion into Roman territory which more resembled a marauding expedition than a regular campaign; and so, without having entrenched a camp or waited for the enemy's army, they carried off their booty from the fields and brought it back to Veii. The Romans, on the contrary, not finding their enemy in the fields, crossed the Tiber, ready and eager for a decisive struggle.
15.2. itaque non castris positis, non exspectato hostium exercitu, raptam ex agris praedam portantes Ueios rediere. Romanus contra postquam hostem in agris non inuenit, dimicationi ultimae instructus intentusque Tiberim transit.
15.3. When the Veientes heard that they were making a camp, and would be advancing against their city, they went out to meet them, preferring to settle the quarrel in the field of battle rather than to be shut up and compelled to fight for their homes and their town.
15.3. quem postquam castra ponere et ad urbem accessurum Ueientes audiuere, obuiam egressi ut potius acie decernerent quam inclusi de tectis moenibusque dimicarent.
15.4. Without employing strategy to aid his forces, the Roman king won the battle by the sheer strength of his seasoned army, and routing his enemies, pursued them to their walls. But the city was strongly fortified, besides the protection afforded by its site, and he refrained from attacking it.
15.4. ibi uiribus nulla arte adiutis, tantum ueterani robore exercitus rex Romanus uicit; persecutusque fusos ad moenia hostes, urbe ualida muris ac situ ipso munita abstinuit, agros rediens uastat, ulciscendi magis quam praedae studio;
15.5. Their fields, indeed, he laid waste as he returned, more in revenge than from a desire for booty, and this disaster, following upon their defeat, induced the Veientes to send envoys to Rome and sue for peace. They were deprived of a part of their land, and a truce was granted them for a hundred years.
15.5. eaque clade haud minus quam aduersa pugna subacti Ueientes pacem petitum oratores Romam mittunt. agri parte multatis in centum annos indutiae datae.
15.6. Such were the principal achievements of the reign of Romulus, at home and in the field, nor is any of them incompatible with the belief in his divine origin and the divinity which was ascribed to the king after his death, whether one considers his spirit in recovering the kingdom of his ancestors, or his wisdom in founding the City and in strengthening it by warlike and peaceful measures.
15.6. haec ferme Romulo regnante domi militiaeque gesta, quorum nihil absonum fidei diuinae originis diuinitatisque post mortem creditae fuit, non animus in regno auito reciperando, non condendae urbis consilium, non bello ac pace firmandae.
15.7. For it was to him, assuredly, that Rome owed the vigour which enabled her to enjoy an untroubled peace for the next forty years.
15.7. ab illo enim profecto uiribus datis tantum ualuit ut in quadraginta deinde annos tutam pacem haberet.
15.8. Nevertheless, he was more liked by the commons than by the senate, and was preeminently dear to the hearts of his soldiers. Of these he had three hundred for a bodyguard, to whom he gave the name of Celeres, and kept them by him, not only in war, but also in time of peace.
15.8. multitudini tamen gratior fuit quam patribus, longe ante alios acceptissimus militum animis; trecentosque armatos ad custodiam corporis quos Celeres appellauit non in bello solum sed etiam in pace habuit.
16.1. When these deathless deeds had been done, as the king was holding a muster in the Campus Martius, near the swamp of Capra, for the purpose of reviewing the army, suddenly a storm came up, with loud claps of thunder, and enveloped him in a cloud so thick as to hide him from the sight of the assembly; and from that moment Romulus was no more on earth.
16.1. his immortalibus editis operibus cum ad exercitum recensendum contionem in campo ad Caprae paludem haberet, subito coorta tempestas cum magno fragore tonitribusque tam denso regem operuit nimbo ut conspectum eius contioni abstulerit; nec deinde in terris Romulus fuit.
16.2. The Roman soldiers at length recovered from their panic, when this hour of wild confusion had been succeeded by a sunny calm; but when they saw that the royal seat was empty, although they readily believed the assertion of the senators, who had been standing next to Romulus, that he had been caught up on high in the blast, they nevertheless remained for some time sorrowful and silent, as if filled with the fear of orphanhood.
16.2. Romana pubes sedato tandem pauore postquam ex tam turbido die serena et tranquilla lux rediit, ubi uacuam sedem regiam uidit, etsi satis credebat patribus qui proximi steterant sublimem raptum procella, tamen uelut orbitatis metu icta maestum aliquamdiu silentium obtinuit.
16.3. Then, when a few men had taken the initiative, they all with one accord hailed Romulus as a god and a god's son, the King and Father of the Roman City, and with prayers besought his favour that he would graciously be pleased forever to protect his children.
16.3. deinde a paucis initio facto, deum deo natum, regem parentemque urbis Romanae saluere uniuersi Romulum iubent; pacem precibus exposcunt, uti uolens propitius suam semper sospitet progeniem.
16.4. There were some, I believe, even then who secretly asserted that the king had been rent in pieces by the hands of the senators, for this rumour, too, got abroad, but in very obscure terms; the other version obtained currency, owing to men's admiration for the hero and the intensity of their panic.
16.4. fuisse credo tum quoque aliquos qui discerptum regem patrum manibus taciti arguerent; manauit enim haec quoque sed perobscura fama; illam alteram admiratio uiri et pauor praesens nobilitauit.
16.5. And the shrewd device of one man is also said to have gained new credit for the story. This was Proculus Julius, who, when the people were distracted with the loss of their king and in no friendly mood towards the senate, being, as tradition tells, weighty in council, were the matter never so important, addressed the assembly as follows: “Quirites, the Father of this City, Romulus, descended suddenly from the sky at dawn this morning and appeared to me. Covered with confusion, I stood reverently before him, praying that it might be vouchsafed me to look upon his face without sin.”
16.5. et consilio etiam unius hominis addita rei dicitur fides. namque Proculus Iulius, sollicita ciuitate desiderio regis et infensa patribus, grauis, ut traditur, quamuis magnae rei auctor in contionem prodit. 'Romulus' inquit, 'Quirites, parens urbis huius, prima hodierna luce caelo repente delapsus se mihi obuium dedit. cum perfusus horrore uenerabundusque adstitissem petens precibus ut contra intueri fas esset, "abi, nuntia" inquit "Romanis, caelestes ita uelle ut mea Roma caput orbis terrarum sit;
16.7. 'Go,' said he, 'and declare to the Romans the will of Heaven that my Rome shall be the capital of the world; so let them cherish the art of war, and let them know and teach their children that no human strength can resist Roman arms.'
16.7. proinde rem militarem colant sciantque et ita posteris tradant nullas opes humanas armis Romanis resistere posse.
16.8. “So saying,” he concluded, “Romulus departed on high.” It is wonderful what credence the people placed in that man's tale, and how the grief for the loss of Romulus, which the plebeians and the army felt, was quieted by the assurance of his immortality.
16.8. 'haec' inquit 'locutus sublimis abiit.'" mirum quantum illi uiro nuntianti haec fidei fuerit, quamque desiderium Romuli apud plebem exercitumque facta fide immortalitatis lenitum sit.
17.1. The senators meanwhile were engaged in a struggle for the coveted kingship. So far it had not come to a question of any one person, for nobody stood out with special prominence in the new nation; instead, a strife of factions was waging between the two stocks.
17.1. patrum interim animos certamen regni ac cupido uersabat; necdum †a singulis, quia nemo magno opere eminebat in nouo populo, peruenerat: factionibus inter ordines certabatur†.
17.2. Those of Sabine origin, having had no king on their side since the death of Tatius, feared that despite their equal rights they might lose their hold upon the sovereign power, and hence desired that the king should be chosen from their own body.
17.2. oriundi ab Sabinis, ne quia post Tati mortem ab sua parte non erat regnatum, in societate aequa possessionem imperii amitterent, sui corporis creari regem uolebant: Romani ueteres peregrinum regem aspernabantur.
17.3. The original Romans spurned the idea of an alien king. Various, however, as were men's inclinations, to be ruled by a king was their universal wish, for they had not yet tasted the sweetness of liberty.
17.3. in uariis uoluntatibus regnari tamen omnes uolebant, libertatis dulcedine nondum experta.
17.4. Then the senators became alarmed, lest the state wanting a ruler and the army a leader, and many neighbouring states being disaffected, some violence might be offered from without.
17.4. timor deinde patres incessit ne ciuitatem sine imperio, exercitum sine duce, multarum circa ciuitatium inritatis animis, uis aliqua externa adoriretur. et esse igitur aliquod caput placebat, et nemo alteri concedere in animum inducebat.
17.5. All therefore were agreed that there should be some head, but nobody could make up his mind to yield to his fellow. And so the hundred senators shared the power among themselves, establishing ten decuries and appointing one man for each decury to preside over the administration.
17.5. ita rem inter se centum patres, decem decuriis factis singulisque in singulas decurias creatis qui summae rerum praeessent consociant.
17.6. Ten men exercised authority; only one had its insignia and lictors. Five days was the period of his power, which passed in rotation to all; and for a year the monarchy lapsed. This interval was called, as it was, an interregnum, a name which even yet obtains.
17.6. decem imperitabant: unus cum insignibus imperii et lictoribus erat: quinque dierum spatio finiebatur imperium ac per omnes in orbem ibat, annuumque interuallum regni fuit. id ab re quod nunc quoque tenet nomen interregnum appellatum.
17.7. Murmurs then arose among the plebs that their servitude had been multiplied; that a hundred masters had been given them instead of one. No longer, it seemed, would they endure anything short of a king, and a king, too, of their own choosing.
17.7. fremere deinde plebs multiplicatam seruitutem, centum pro uno dominos factos; nec ultra nisi regem et ab ipsis creatum uidebantur passuri.
17.8. Perceiving that such ideas were in the wind, the senators thought it would be well to proffer spontaneously a thing which they were on the verge of losing, and obtained the favour of the people by granting them supreme power on such terms as to part with no greater prerogative than they retained.
17.8. cum sensissent ea moueri patres, offerendum ultro rati quod amissuri erant, ita gratiam ineunt summa potestate populo permissa ut non plus darent iuris quam detinerent.
17.9. For they decreed that when the people should have named a king, their act should only be valid in case the senators ratified it. Even now, in voting for laws and magistrates, the same right is exercised, but is robbed of its significance; before the people can begin to vote, and when the result of the election is undetermined, the Fathers ratify it.
17.9. decreuerunt enim ut cum populus regem iussisset, id sic ratum esset si patres auctores fierent. hodie quoque in legibus magistratibusque rogandis usurpatur idem ius, ui adempta: priusquam populus suffragium ineat, in incertum comitiorum euentum patres auctores fiunt.
17.10. On the present occasion the interrex summoned the assembly and spoke as follows: “May prosperity, favour, and fortune attend our action! Quirites, choose your king. Such is the pleasure of the Fathers, who, in their turn, if your choice fall upon one worthy to be called Romulus' successor, will confirm your election.”
17.10. tum interrex contione aduocata, 'quod bonum, faustum felixque sit' inquit, 'Quirites, regem create: ita patribus uisum est. patres deinde, si dignum qui secundus ab Romulo numeretur crearitis, auctores fient.'
17.11. This so pleased the plebs, that, unwilling to appear outdone in generosity, they merely resolved and ordered that the senate should decree who should be king in Rome.
17.11. adeo id gratum plebi fuit ut, ne uicti beneficio uiderentur, id modo sciscerent iuberentque ut senatus decerneret qui Romae regnaret.
18.1. A great reputation for justice and piety was enjoyed in those days by Numa Pompilius. Cures, a town of the Sabines, was his home, and he was deeply versed, so far as anyone could be in that age, in all law, divine and human.
18.1. inclita iustitia religioque ea tempestate Numae Pompili erat. Curibus Sabinis habitabat, consultissimus uir, ut in illa quisquam esse aetate poterat, omnis diuini atque humani iuris.
18.2. The teacher to whom he owed his learning was not, as men say, in default of another name, the Samian Pythagoras; for it is well established that Servius Tullius was king at Rome, more than a hundred years after this time, when Pythagoras gathered about him, on the farthest coasts of Italy, in the neighbourhood of Metapontum, Heraclea, and Croton, young men eager to share his studies.
18.2. auctorem doctrinae eius, quia non exstat alius, falso Samium Pythagoram edunt, quem Seruio Tullio regnante Romae centum amplius post annos in ultima Italiae ora circa Metapontum Heracleamque et Crotona iuuenum aemulantium studia coetus habuisse constat.
18.3. And from that country, even if he had been contemporary, how could his fame have reached the Sabines? Again, in what common language could he have induced anyone to seek instruction of him? Or under whose protection could a solitary man have made his way through so many nations differing in speech and customs?
18.3. ex quibus locis, etsi eiusdem aetatis fuisset, quae fama in Sabinos? aut quo linguae commercio quemquam ad cupiditatem discendi exciuisset? quoue praesidio unus per tot gentes dissonas sermone moribusque peruenisset?
18.4. It was Numa's native disposition, then, as I incline to believe, that tempered his soul with noble qualities, and his training was not in foreign studies, but in the stern and austere discipline of the ancient Sabines, a race incorruptible as any race of the olden time.
18.4. suopte igitur ingenio temperatum animum uirtutibus fuisse opinor magis instructumque non tam peregrinis artibus quam disciplina tetrica ac tristi ueterum Sabinorum, quo genere nullum quondam incorruptius fuit.
18.5. When Numa's name had been proposed, the Roman senators perceived that the Sabines would gain the ascendancy if a king were to be chosen from that nation; yet nobody ventured to urge his own claims in preference to those of such a man, nor the claim of any other of his faction, nor those, in short, of any of the senators or citizens.
18.5. audito nomine Numae patres Romani, quamquam inclinari opes ad Sabinos rege inde sumpto uidebantur, tamen neque se quisquam nec factionis suae alium nec denique patrum aut ciuium quemquam praeferre illi uiro ausi, ad unum omnes Numae Pompilio regnum deferendum decernunt.
18.6. And so they unanimously voted to offer the sovereignty to Numa Pompilius. Being summoned to Rome he commanded that, just as Romulus had obeyed the augural omens in building his city and assuming regal power, so too in his own case the gods should be consulted. Accordingly an augur (who thereafter, as a mark of honour, was made a priest of the state in permanent charge of that function) conducted him to the citadel and caused him to sit down on a stone, facing the south.
18.6. accitus, sicut Romulus augurato urbe condenda regnum adeptus est, de se quoque deos consuli iussit. inde ab augure, cui deinde honoris ergo publicum id perpetuumque sacerdotium fuit, deductus in arcem, in lapide ad meridiem uersus consedit.
18.7. The augur seated himself on Numa's left, having his head covered, and holding his in right hand the crooked staff without a knot which they call a lituus. Then, looking out over the City and the country beyond, he prayed to the gods, and marked off the heavens by a line from east to west, designating as ' right' the regions to the south, as 'left' those to the north, and fixing in his mind a landmark opposite to him and as far away as the eye could reach;
18.7. augur ad laeuam eius capite uelato sedem cepit, dextra manu baculum sine nodo aduncum tenens, quem lituum appellarunt. inde ubi prospectu in urbem agrumque capto deos precatus regiones ab oriente ad occasum determinauit, dextras ad meridiem partes, laeuas ad septentrionem esse dixit; signum contra quo longissime conspectum oculi ferebant animo finiuit; tum lituo in laeuam manum translato, dextra in caput Numae imposita, ita precatus est:
18.9. next shifting the crook to his left hand and, laying his right hand on Numa's head, he uttered the following prayer: “Father Jupiter, if it is Heaven's will that this man Numa Pompilius, whose head I am touching, be king in Rome, do thou exhibit to us unmistakable signs within those limits which I have set.”
18.9. Iuppiter pater, si est fas hunc Numam Pompilium cuius ego caput teneo regem Romae esse, ut tu signa nobis certa adclarassis inter eos fines quos feci.'
18.10. He then specified the auspices which he desired should be sent, and upon their appearance Numa was declared king, and so descended from the augural station.
18.10. tum peregit uerbis auspicia quae mitti uellet. quibus missis declaratus rex Numa de templo descendit.
19.1. When he had thus obtained the kingship, he prepared to give the new City, founded by force of arms, a new foundation in law, statutes, and observances.
19.1. qui regno ita potitus urbem nouam conditam ui et armis, iure eam legibusque ac moribus de integro condere parat.
19.2. And perceiving that men could not grow used to these things in the midst of wars, since their natures grew wild and savage through warfare, he thought it needful that his warlike people should be softened by the disuse of arms, and built the temple of Janus at the bottom of the Argiletum, as an index of peace and war, that when open it might signify that the nation was in arms, when closed that all the peoples round about were pacified.
19.2. quibus cum inter bella adsuescere uideret non posse—quippe efferari militia animos—, mitigandum ferocem populum armorum desuetudine ratus, Ianum ad infimum Argiletum indicem pacis bellique fecit, apertus ut in armis esse ciuitatem, clausus pacatos circa omnes populos significaret.—bis deinde post Numae regnum clausus fuit, semel T.
19.3. Twice since Numa's reign has it been closed: once in the consulship of Titus Manlius, after the conclusion of the First Punic War; the second time, which the gods permitted our own generation to witness, was after the battle of Actium, when the emperor Caesar Augustus had brought about peace on land and sea. Numa closed the temple after first securing the good will of all the neighbouring tribes by alliances and treaties. And fearing lest relief from anxiety on the score of foreign perils might lead men who had hitherto been held back by fear of their enemies and by military discipline into extravagance and idleness, he thought the very first thing to do, as being the most efficacious with a populace which was ignorant and, in those early days, uncivilized, was to imbue them with the fear of Heaven.
19.3. Manlio consule post Punicum primum perfectum bellum, iterum, quod nostrae aetati di dederunt ut uideremus, post bellum Actiacum ab imperatore Caesare Augusto pace terra marique parta.— clauso eo cum omnium circa finitimorum societate ac foederibus iunxisset animos, positis externorum periculorum curis, ne luxuriarent otio animi quos metus hostium disciplinaque militaris continuerat, omnium primum, rem ad multitudinem imperitam et illis saeculis rudem efficacissimam, deorum metum iniciendum ratus est.
19.5. As he could not instil this into their hearts without inventing some marvellous story, he pretended to have nocturnal meetings with the goddess Egeria, and that hers was the advice which guided him in the establishment of rites most approved by the gods, and in the appointment of special priests for the service of each.
19.5. qui cum descendere ad animos sine aliquo commento miraculi non posset, simulat sibi cum dea Egeria congressus nocturnos esse; eius se monitu quae acceptissima dis essent sacra instituere, sacerdotes suos cuique deorum praeficere.
19.6. And first of all he divided the year into twelve months, according to the revolutions of the moon. But since the moon does not give months of quite thirty days each, and eleven days are wanting to the full complement of a year as marked by the sun's revolution, he inserted intercalary months in such a way that in the twentieth year the days should fall in with the same position of the sun from which they had started, and the period of twenty years be rounded out.
19.6. atque omnium primum ad cursus lunae in duodecim menses discribit annum; quem quia tricenos dies singulis mensibus luna non explet desuntque sex dies solido anno qui solstitiali circumagitur orbe, intercalariis mensibus interponendis ita dispensauit, ut uicesimo anno ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent, plenis omnium annorum spatiis dies congruerent.
19.7. He also appointed days when public business might not be carried on, and others when it might, since it would sometimes be desirable that nothing should be brought before the people.
19.7. idem nefastos dies fastosque fecit quia aliquando nihil cum populo agi utile futurum erat.
20.1. He then turned his attention to the appointment of priests, although lie performed very many priestly duties himself, especially those which now belong to the Flamen Dialis.
20.1. tum sacerdotibus creandis animum adiecit, quamquam ipse plurima sacra obibat, ea maxime quae nunc ad Dialem flaminem pertinent.
20.2. But inasmuch as he thought that in a warlike nation there would be more kings like Romulus than like Numa, and that they would take the field in person, he did not wish the sacrificial duties of the kingly office to be neglected, and so appointed a flamen for Jupiter, as his perpetual priest, and provided him with a conspicuous dress and the royal curule chair. To him he added two other flamens, one for Mars, the other for Quirinus.
20.2. sed quia in ciuitate bellicosa plures Romuli quam Numae similes reges putabat fore iturosque ipsos ad bella, ne sacra regiae uicis desererentur flaminem Ioui adsiduum sacerdotem creauit insignique eum ueste et curuli regia sella adornauit. huic duos flamines adiecit, Marti unum, alterum Quirino, uirginesque Uestae legit, Alba oriundum sacerdotium et genti conditoris haud alienum.
20.3. In like manner he designated virgins for Vesta's service —a priesthood, this, that derived from Alba and so was not unsuited to the founder's stock. That they might be perpetual priestesses of the temple, he assigned them a stipend from the public treasury, and by the rule of virginity and other observances invested them with awe and sanctity.
20.3. his ut adsiduae templi antistites essent stipendium de publico statuit; uirginitate aliisque caerimoniis uenerabiles ac sanctas fecit.
20.4. He likewise chose twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus, and granted them the distinction of wearing the embroidered tunic and over it a bronze breastplate, and of bearing the divine shields which men call ancilia, while they proceeded through the City, chanting their hymns to the triple beat of their solemn dance.
20.4. Salios item duodecim Marti Gradiuo legit, tunicaeque pictae insigne dedit et super tunicam aeneum pectori tegumen; caelestiaque arma, quae ancilia appellantur, ferre ac per urbem ire canentes carmina cum tripudiis sollemnique saltatu iussit.
20.5. He next chose as pontifex Numa Marcius, son of Marcus, one of the senators, and to him he intrusted written directions, full and accurate, for performing the rites of worship; with what victims, on what days, in what temple, sacrifices should be offered, and from what sources money was to be disbursed to pay their costs.
20.5. pontificem deinde Numam Marcium Marci filium ex patribus legit eique sacra omnia exscripta exsignataque attribuit, quibus hostiis, quibus diebus, ad quae templa sacra fierent, atque unde in eos sumptus pecunia erogaretur.
20.6. All other public and private sacrifices lie likewise made subject to the decrees of the pontifex, that there might be someone to whom the commons could come for advice, lest any confusion should arise in the religious law through the neglect of ancestral rites and the adoption of strange ones.
20.6. cetera quoque omnia publica priuataque sacra pontificis scitis subiecit, ut esset quo consultum plebes ueniret, ne quid diuini iuris neglegendo patrios ritus peregrinosque adsciscendo turbaretur;
20.7. And not merely ceremonies relating to the gods above, but also proper funeral observances and the propitiation of the spirits of the dead were to be taught by the pontifex as well, and also what prodigies manifested by lightning or other visible sign were to be taken in hand and averted. With the purpose of eliciting this knowledge from the minds of the gods, Numa dedicated an altar on the Aventine to Jupiter Elicius, and consulted the god by augury, that he might learn what portents were to be regarded.
20.7. nec caelestes modo caerimonias, sed iusta quoque funebria placandosque manes ut idem pontifex edoceret, quaeque prodigia fulminibus alioue quo uisu missa susciperentur atque curarentur. ad ea elicienda ex mentibus diuinis Ioui Elicio aram in Auentino dicauit deumque consuluit auguriis, quae suscipienda essent.