753 - 509 BC
1. At the fall of Troy, according to generally accepted tradition, the Greeks exercised their fury against other Trojans but exempted Aeneas and Antenor from the rules of war because of ancient ties and because they had advocated restoring Helen and making peace. After various adventures Antenor attached to himself a crowd of Eneti who had lost their king Pylaemenes at Troy, had been ejected from Paphlagonia in a revolution, and were therefore seeking a home and a leader. Eneti and Trojans migrated to the inmost bay of the Adriatic, drove out the Euganei who lived between the sea and the Alps, and occupied the region. The spot where they landed is named Troy and the district is called Trojan; the people as a whole is called Venetian.
Aeneas was made a refugee by a similar disaster, but him the fates summoned to higher enterprises. First he reached Macedonia, then his search for a home carried him to Sicily, and from there he voyaged to the Laurentian country. That place too is called Troy. The Trojans who disembarked had nothing left but their weapons and their ships after their interminable wandering, and while they were collecting plunder from the countryside King Latinus and the Aborigines who occupied the area swarmed out under arms from city and field to repel the invading foreigners
After a battle, according to one tradition, or without one, according to another, the leaders made peace, and Aeneas married Latinus' daughter Lavinia, after whom the Trojans named the town they founded Lavinium. To Aeneas and Lavinia was born Ascanius, was intact who shared his father's wanderings, the one whom the Julian clan calls Iulus and claims as the founder of their line ; in matters so ancient who can be positive? Ascanius then, who was certainly Aeneas' son, whatever his birthplace and whoever his mother, left Lavinium, by now a populous and flourishing city by current standards, to his mother or stepmother, and himself founded a new city under the Alban Mount. Its site along a ridge gave it the name Alba Longa. From the founding of Lavinium to the planting of Alba Longa thirty years elapsed, but resources had so multiplied, especially after the rout of the Etruscans, that not even the death of Aeneas, the subsequent regency of a woman, nor the faltering rule of a boy tempted Mezentius and the Etruscans or any other natives to aggression. The boundary between Etruscans and Latins specified by treaty was the river Albula, now called Tiber. The successors of Ascanius were Silvius, Aeneas Silvius, Latinus Silvius, Alba, Atys, Capys, Capetus, Tiberinus, Agrippa, Romulus Silvius, Aventinus, Proca. Proca had two sons, Numitor and Amulius. To Numitor, because he was eldest, he bequeathed the ancient realm of the Silvian line. But force proved stronger than a father's wish or the respect due an elder. Amulius drove his brother out and ruled instead. Adding crime to crime, he destroyed Numitor's male issue, and deprived his daughter Rhea Silvia of the hope of children by the specious honor of appointing her a Vestal, which obliged her to perpetual virginity.
4. But the establishment of this great city, the inception of this empire next in might to heaven's, was determined, I hold, by the fates. The Vestal was ravished and produced twins; as the father of this doubtful issue she named Mars, whether she believed it was so or whether a god's responsibility gave the fault decency. But neither gods nor men screened mother or children from the king's cruelty. The priestess was manacled and thrown into prison, the boys he ordered flung into the river. Providentially the Tiber had overflowed its banks into stagnant pools, which made the regular channel inaccessible and led the messengers to expect the infants would be drowned even in still water. So, as if discharging the king's orders fully, they set the boys down in the nearest overflow, where the Ruminalis fig tree now stands; formerly, it was said, the name was Romularis. In those days the neighborhood was wild and desolate. The prevalent story is that, when the floating basket which carried the children was left on dry ground by the receding water, a thirsty she-wolf from the nearby hills was attracted by the infants' wails and very tenderly gave them her teats; the keeper of the king's herds—his name is said to have been Faustulus the story adds, carried them home to his wife Larentia to rear. Some hold that Larentia was called "She-wolf" by the shepherds because she was free of her body : hence the origin of the fabulous tale. Such being their birth and rearing, they grew up to be stout farmers and shepherds and ranged over the forests for game. And when they had grown stalwart in body and spirit they not only faced wild beasts but attacked robbers loaded with booty and distributed their takings among the shepherds. With these shepherds they shared their pursuits, serious and playful, and their band increased daily.
5. Once when they were known to be preoccupied with celebrating the Lupercalia they were ambushed by robbers who were incensed at the loss of their plunder. Romulus defended himself, but Remus was taken captive and delivered to King Amulius with the charge that they had raided Numitor's fields; they had collected a band of young fellows, it was alleged, and had pillaged like an invading enemy. Consequently Remus was handed over to Numitor to be punished. Even from the beginning Faustulus had suspected that the children he was bringing up were of the blood royal. He knew that the babes had been exposed at the king's order, and that the time when he had taken them up corresponded exactly; but he had resolved to avoid hasty disclosure unless opportunity offered or necessity compelled. Necessity came first: under the compulsion of fear he imparted the facts to Romulus.
As it happened Numitor too, when he had Remus in custody and heard that the brothers were twins, noticed their age and their far from servile character and was struck with the thought of their being his grandchildren. His inquiries led to the same conclusion, so that he was on the point of acknowledging Remus. From all sides, then, a plot was woven against the king. Romulus ordered his shepherds to come to the palace at an appointed time by diverse routes—he was not equal to open violence—and Remus supported him with another party procured in Numitor's house. And so they attacked and slew the king.
6. At the beginning of the tumult Numitor shouted that an enemy had invaded the city and attacked the palace, and so had drawn the Alban youth off to defend the citadel as an armed garrison. When he saw the young men approaching to congratulate him, after they had dispatched the king, he instantly convoked a council and set forth his brother's crimes against himself; the origin, rearing, and discovery of his grandchildren; the death of the usurper; and his own responsibility for the deed. The brothers marched through the crowd with their band and hailed their grandfather king, and the unanimous shout of approval from the entire multitude ratified the new king's title and authority.
When the Alban state was in the hands of Numitor, Romulus and Remus conceived a desire to build a city in the area where they had been exposed and reared. The population of Albans and Latins was excessive, and there were also the shepherds; their combined numbers made it likely that Alba and Lavinium would be eclipsed by the city which they would build. But these plans were interrupted by their hereditary curse, lust for rule, which resulted in shameful rivalry. The beginning was innocent enough. Since they were twins and consideration of age could give no priority, they agreed that the guardian gods of the place should choose which should give his name to the new city and rule it when it was built. For waiting the auguries Romulus took the Palatine and Remus the Aventine hill.
7. Remus is said to have received the first augury—a flight of six vultures. The omen had already been announced when double the number appeared in Romulus' quarter. Each was hailed king by his own followers, the one party claiming kingship on the basis of priority, the other on the number of the birds. The altercation proceeded from angry taunts to blows, and in the broil Remus was struck down. A commoner story is that in derision of his brother Remus jumped over the new walls, whereupon Romulus slew him in a rage, adding the imprecation: "Any other who leaps over my walls shall have the same!" Thus Romulus acquired sole power, and the city thus founded was called by its founder's name.
Romulus regularized the worship of Hercules which had been established by Evander in ancient times when Hercules stopped by the Tiber when he was driving cattle from Spain. 8. He also adopted, from the Etruscans, the use of the curule chair, the purple-bordered toga, and the official beadles called lictors; chose a hundred leading citizens to be designated Fathers; and established the Asylum for landless men from outside in order to increase the strength of the city.
9. Now the Roman state was strong enough to be a match for any neighboring nation in war, but from the scarcity of women its greatness could last for one generation only, for there was neither hope of progeny at home nor marriage rights with neighboring states. Upon the advice of the Senate, therefore, Romulus sent emissaries to the states round about to solicit alliances with the privilege of intermarriage for his new subjects. Nowhere did the envoys receive a favorable hearing. Men despised them and at the same time feared that a power growing great in their midst would endanger themselves and their posterity. Frequently they were dismissed with the query: "Are you welcoming female rabble too? That is the kind of marriage suitable for you." This the Roman youth resented bitterly, and the business pointed to inevitable violence. To provide a time and place appropriate for its exercise Romulus dissembled his resentment and set on foot ritual games to Equestrian Neptune which he called Consualia. Then he gave orders that the show should be advertised among the neighbors, and the Romans made the celebration as sumptuous as their taste and resources allowed so that it should engage attention and raise expectation. A view of the new city was an added attraction, and crowds gathered, especially from the nearest places, Caenina, Crustumium, and Antemnae.
The Sabines came en masse, with their wives and children. They were hospitably received in different houses, and when they had viewed the layout of the city with its walls and numerous structures they marveled that Roman power had increased so rapidly. The time came for the show, and when all eyes and minds were centered upon it, a preconcerted tumult arose and young Romans darted this way and that to carry the girls off. The performance broke off in a panic, and the parents of the girls fled in grief, charging that the laws of hospitality had been trampled upon and invoking the god to whose festival they had been lured by the pretense of religion and good faith. Nor were the kidnapped girls any more hopeful or less indignant. But Romulus wen about personally and explained that the fault was their fathers’ pride in refusing marriage rights to neighbors. "However, you shall be joined in wedlock," he said, "and all to share your husbands’ prosperity, citizenship, and dearest of all to the human heart, children. So soften your anger, and bestow your affections where chance has bestowed your persons. Often has injury made way for kindness; you will find your husbands the more considerate because each of us will endeavor not only to be a good husband but as far as he can to make up for the parents and country you have lost." This plea was seconded by the cajoling husbands who, excused their act on the ground of passion and love, the most efficacious of all pleas to a woman’s heart.
10. The brides were soon quite reconciled, but their parents donned mourning and kept agitating their communities with tears and lamentations
14. Such were Romulus’ immortal achievements. While he was conducting a review of the army in the Campus Martius near the marsh of Capra suddenly a storm of crashing thunder arose and enveloped the king in so thick a cloud that he could not be seen by the assemblage. Thereafter Romulus was not on earth. The panic of the Roman soldiery was allayed when the tempest gave way to clear and untroubled sunlight. The empty throne the senators who had stood near it explained by saying that Romulus had been rapt aloft by a blast; the soldiers believed the tale, but kept a gloomy silence, as if struck by fear of orphanhood. But then when a few had taken the initiative all hailed Romulus as god born of a god, king and father of Rome. They implored his favor and prayed t he would always preserve their progeny with gracious benevolence. Even at that date I believe there were some who secretly maintained that the king had been dismembered by the senators ; such a rumor has trickled down, but in very veiled terms. Admiration for the hero and active terror have legitimized the other version. Credit is also said to have been conferred upon it by the shrewdness of one man. When the city was distressed by the loss of their king and bitter against the senators, Proculus Julius, who is reported to have possessed sufficient prestige to carry any matter, stepped forward in the assembly and declared: "Fellow citizens, this day at dawn Romulus, the father of ) this city, glided down from heaven and presented himself before me. As I stood before him awestruck and abashed and prayed it might be lawful for me to look directly at him he said, 'Go proclaim to the Romans it is heaven's will that my Rome shall be capital of the world; accordingly they must cherish soldierliness, and they must be assured and transmit to posterity the assurance, that no human power can withstand Roman arms.' So saying," Proculus concluded, "he departed on high." It is remarkable how that gentleman's tale was credited and how longing for Romulus on the part of the commons and the army was allayed by the belief in his immortality.
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24. War was declared between Rome and its neighbor and rival, Alba, in the reign of Tullus. When the two armies were about to come to grips it was decided to settle the dispute in the manner described below. It happened that there was a set of triplet brothers in each army, the two sets being very nearly equal in age and strength. No event in ancient history is more famous, and there is general agreement that their names were Horatius and Curiatius; but widely known as the tradition is, there is still a point of uncertainty, for it is not clear whether it was the Horatii or the Curiatii who were Romans. Each view has its supporters, but I find that the majority of authors hold that the Horatii were the Romans, and so I am disposed to adopt this version.—It was proposed to these brothers by their respective kings that they fight, each set on behalf of its country, and that sovereignty would accrue to the country of the victors. They agreed readily, and time and place were decided upon. Before the contest took place a compact was made between Alba and Rome that the state whose champions proved victorious would receive unequivocal dominion over the other.
25. After the treaty was concluded, the three brothers on each side armed themselves as had been agreed. On either side their countrymen exhorted them to remember that the gods of their fathers, their fatherland, their parents, and all their fellow-citizens at home and in the army were spectators of their prowess. Filled with their native courage and aroused by the shouts of their countrymen, they stepped into the open space between the two lines of battle. The two armies were planted each in front of its own camp, free for the moment of danger, but not of apprehension, for upon the courage and fortune of these few men rested the decision of sovereignty. Anxious and intent, they gazed upon a spectacle anything but pleasing. The signal was given. With swords drawn the triplets rushed to the charge as if they were complete armies and displayed the courage of mighty hosts. Neither side considered its own danger; their sole anxiety was for the supremacy or subjugation destined for their people and for the future of their country which their own hands must forge. As the shields first rang and the swords glittered the spectators thrilled with horror; then, as the battle hung in uncertainty, they were seized with a breathless silence. As the fighting grew furious it became more than a spectacle of physical agility and of proficiency with sword and the shield; now there were wounds and blood for the onlookers to see. All three Albans were wounded, and two Romans fell dying one upon the other. is they fell the Alban army cried out with joy; the Roman legions abandoned all hope, but anxiously awaited the fate of their sole champion, now surrounded by the three Curiatii. As it happened he was unwounded, and though he was no match for all three, he was able to confront them individually with confidence. In order to separate them he took to his heels, thinking that each would follow at a different rate of speed, in the degree of their wounds.
After running some distance he looked back to see his three opponents following at long intervals, the nearest now quite near. He turned with a furious rush and cut him down; and while the Alban army cried to the others to aid their brother, Horatius was already rushing victoriously upon his second adversary. With the jubilation of men who applaud an unexpected success the Romans began cheering their champion on as he rushed to complete his victory. Before the third, who was not far away, was able to reach the scene, the Roman had killed the second Curiatius. In numbers the struggle was now even, but not so in morale and strength. One pressed forward confidently, flushed with double victory and still unwounded. The other, demoralized by the slaying of his brothers before his very eyes, could only drag his exhausted body to offer his victorious enemy. That was not a battle. "Two of you," said Horatius triumphantly, "I have sacrificed to the spirits of my brothers, the third I will offer to the cause of this battle—the sovereignty of the Roman over the Alban." With that he plunged his sword down into the throat of his opponent, who could scarcely still hold his shield, then stripped the body of its spoils where it lay on the ground. Horatius was welcomed by the Romans with joy; their previous despair made their exultation all the greater. Both armies then turned to burial of their dead, but with feelings very different; one was elated at its new sovereignty, the other subjected to foreign domination. The tombs are to be seen where each man fell; the two Romans are buried in one place nearer Alba, the three Albans nearer Rome, but at intervals, where they fell.
26. Horatius marched at the head of the army displaying the spoils of the three brothers. Before the Porta Capena he was met by his sister, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii. Recognizing a cloak draped over her brother's shoulders as one she had made for her betrothed, she loosened her hair and tearfully called upon her lover by name. Horatius was outraged at the sight of his sister's mourning at a time of such great public jubilation and his own triumph; drawing his sword, he plunged it into her breast. "Go," he cried, "to your lover with your ill-timed love, since you are so unconcerned for your dead brothers, by the one who lives, and for your country. Thus may any Roman woman die who laments the death of an enemy." Although his recent service was thought to compensate for his guilt, both the patricians and the plebs were appalled at this monstrous atrocity, and Horatius was taken to the king for judgment.
Horatius was duly condemned, and appealed his case to the people. In making their decision the people were most influenced by the father, Publius Horatius; he proclaimed that in his opinion his daughter had been killed justifiably. If that were not the case, said he, he would have exercised his paternal authority to punish his son. He then begged them not to leave him childless, a man recently blessed with such a noble progeny. With these words he embraced his son, and pointing toward the spoils of the Curiatii, which were hung at the spot now called the Pila Horatia, he said; "A little while ago, Roman citizens, you saw this man marching in triumph, arrayed with the spoils of his foes. Can you now bear to see him whipped and tortured while bound to a yoke? Not even the Albans could bear so grotesque a spectacle. Go, lictor, and bind these hands—hands which just now brought sovereignty to the Roman people. Go, veil the head—of the liberator of this city. Hang him to an accursed tree. Scourge him within the city —so that you do it in the midst of the weapons and spoils of the enemy; or outside the city—so that it be among their tombs. To what place can you take him which will not testify his glory and redeem him from such a shameful punishment?" The people were proof against neither the tears of the father nor the unwavering courage of the prisoner himself. They freed him more out of respect for his courage than because of the righteousness of his cause. In order that the guilt for such a flagrant murder might be expiated by some means, the father was ordered to make atonement for his son, but at public expense. After first performing certain expiatory sacrifices, which thereafter were traditionally maintained by the Horatian family, he erected a beam across the street. As a token of abasement and absolution the young man was made to pass, as it were, under the yoke, with his head covered. This beam, called the "Sister's Beam," still stands today, kept under repair at public expense. A tomb of hewn stone was built for Horatius' sister at the spot where she fell.
27. The peace with Alba was not of long duration. The Albans grumbled at the dictator for staking the future of their state on three soldiers, and their dissatisfaction subverted his already unstable character. Since honest devices had proven unprofitable, he resorted to deceitful schemes to reconcile the people. In time of war he had been anxious for peace, but now in peace he yearned for war. Since he saw that his people had more daring than power, he provoked other states openly to declare war on Rome; he allotted to his countrymen the task of betrayal while ostensibly remaining allies of Rome. With were called for consultation from Etruria. This encouraged the king to spend even more, so that the money from the booty of Suessa Pometia, which had been intended to complete the whole work, was scarcely sufficient even for the foundations. Because of this (aside from the fact that he is the earlier authority) I prefer to believe Fabius rather than Piso. The former states that the original sum was only forty talents, while the latter says forty pounds of silver—an amount which could never be expected from the booty of a single city of that time, and which would be excessive for the foundations of any building even today.
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56. Among Tarquinius Superbus' accomplishments was the building of the temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, of seats in the Circus, and of the Cloaca Maxima, the main artery of the sewage system of Rome. In the midst of these operations a terrible portent was seen. A snake slid out from a wooden column, creating a great panic and disturbance in the palace. This did not so terrify the king as it filled him with anxious premonitions. Only Etruscan soothsayers were consulted to interpret prodigies for the state, being thoroughly frightened by this portent, which seemed to concern him only, he decided to consult the oracle at Delphi, the most renowned in the world. Since he dared trust no one else with the oracle's answers, he sent into Greece his two sons, through lands little known at that time and seas stranger still. Titus and Arruns set out, and with them as a companion went the son of the king's sister, Lucius Junius Brutus, a young man of an intelligence far greater than that which he feigned. He had heard how the leading men of the state, among them his brother, had been put to death by Tarquin, and he resolved to give the king nothing to fear in his own temper nor to covet in his fortune; since the laws offered no protection he would find security in contempt. Therefore he deliberately accustomed himself to feign stupidity, and allowed the king to do what he wished with himself and his fortune.
Not even at the sobriquet "Brutus" (Dullard) did he take offense; under the veil of this name the mind which was to free Rome might bide its time in secret. This man, then, was taken to Delphi by Tarquin's sons, more as a butt for their amusement than as a companion. It is said that he carried with him and offered to Apollo a golden staff enclosed in a shaft of cornel wood as a symbolic representation of his own character. After they had arrived and had carried out their father's mission the young men conceived a desire to learn who would succeed to the throne. It is said that a voice answered from the innermost depth of the cave: "Whichever of you shall be first to kiss his mother shall receive the sovereignty of Rome." The Tarquins gave strict orders that this prophecy be kept secret in order that Sextus, who had been left at home, might not learn of it and might thus be deprived of a share of the throne. They drew lots to decide which one first should kiss his mother when they returned. But Brutus thought the oracle had a different significance; he pretended to trip, and as he fell he touched his lips to the earth, which is the common mother of all mankind.
57. [During the siege of Ardea] the young princes passed their idle hours dining and drinking together. Once when they were drinking at the quarters of Sextus Tarquinius [son of Tarquinius Superbus] where Collatinus Tarquinius too was dining, they fell to talking of their wives. Each praised his own in extravagant terms, and when rivalry grew warm Collatinus declared there was no need for words when a few hours would show them how far his own Lucretia surpassed the others. "Why don't we take horse, if we have energy and enterprise, and inspect our wives' characters in person? The best proof is what a man sees when he comes unexpected." They were all flushed with wine. "Come on, then," they cried, and galloped off to Rome, where they arrived as darkness was beginning to fall. From Rome they went to Collatia, where they found Lucretia very differently employed from the princes' wives. These they had seen whiling their time away in luxurious banqueting with their friends, but Lucretia was sitting in her parlor, late in the evening, busy with her wool, surrounded by maids working by lamplight. The award for womanliness went to Lucretia. She received the Tarquins and her husband graciously, and the victorious husband courteously invited the princes into his home. It was then that Sextus Tarquin conceived a villainous desire to force Lucretia's virtue; not her beauty alone but her proven chastity pricked him on. But for the present they concluded their nocturnal escapade by returning to the camp.
58. A few days later, unbeknownst to Collatinus, Sextus Tarquin went to Collatia with a single attendant. His design was not suspected, and he was graciously received and after dinner brought to a guest room. When everything seemed safe and everyone asleep, fired with passion and with sword drawn he approached sleeping Lucretia. Holding her down with his left hand on her bosom, he said: "Silence, Lucretia! I am Sextus Tarquin. My sword is in my hand. You will die if you utter a sound." Frightened out of her sleep, the woman saw there was no help but only imminent death. Then Tarquin declared his love, begged, mingled threats with prayers, brought to ear all the arguments that could sway a woman. When e saw she was obdurate, that not even fear of death would move her, he compounded that fear with scandal: her corpse, he declared, he would place the dead body of a slave he would murder, so that it would be said he had been killed for foul adultery. With this awful prospect victorious lust downed stubborn modesty as if by violence, and Tarquin departed, exulting in his ruthless assault on a woman's honor. Downcast at her disaster, Lucretia sent the same message to her father at Rome and her husband at Ardea: "Come with a single trusted friend; you must do this and do it quickly; a horrible thing has happened."
Lucretius brought Valerius, Volesus' son, and Collatinus brought Junius Brutus, with whom he chanced to be going to Rome when his wife's messenger encountered him. Lucretia they found sitting downcast in her room, and when her husband asked, "Is all well?" she answered, "All ill. What can be well for a woman when she has lost her chastity? The print of a strange man is on your bed, Collatinus. But only my body has been violated. My spirit is guiltless. Death shall be my witness. But pledge our honor with your right hands that the adulterer shall not go unpunished. Sextus Tarquin is the man who last night returned hostility for hospitality and by force of arms won the pleasure that is my bane, and his too if you are men." They took the pledge in due order, they consoled the sickhearted woman by turning the guilt from the helpless victim to the sinning agent: "It is the mind that sins, not the body; where there is no intention, there is no blame." "What he must pay," said she, "is for you to determine; as for me, though I absolve myself of sin, I do not free myself of punishment. Never shall unchaste woman cite Lucretia's example as a plea for life." She had hidden a razor under her dress; this she plunged into heart, and fell dying upon her wound.
59. The others were paralyzed with grief, but Brutus drew the dagger from the wound and held it before him, dripping with blood. "I swear by this blood," he said, "so chaste before tyrannical brutality—and I call you, gods, to witness: By fire, by sword, by whatever force I can command I will banish Tarquin the Proud with his accursed wife and all his children; never will I allow him or anyone else to rule over Rome." He then handed the knife to Collatinus, then to Lucretius and Valerius as they stared in amazement at the miraculous change in Brutus’ character. As he directed they took an oath; their grief began to change to anger, and together they followed Brutus’ lead as he called upon them to overthrow the tyranny at once. As soon as they [Brutus and his men] arrived [at the Forum] a herald summoned the people to hear the Tribune of the Celeres, an office which Brutus happened at the time to be holding. The speech which he gave revealed none of the character which he had previously feigned. He spoke of the lust and violence of Sextus Tarquinius, of the unspeakable violation of Lucretia and her miserable death.. Of these and of more outrageous incidents, which the present grievance suggested but which it is difficult for the historian to enumerate, he reminded his listeners as he inspired the enraged multitude to depose the king and to banish Tarquin, his wife and children. Then, collecting a force of young men who gave their names as volunteers, he set out for the camp at Ardea to stir the army against the king. The city he left in charge of Lucretius, the prefect of the city appointed by the king. During the disturbance Tullia fled from her house pursued wherever she went by the curses of men and women appealing to the Furies, the avengers of parents.
60. When news of this reached the camp the king
was alarmed at the uprising and set out at once for Rome to quell the disturbance.
Brutus, however, was informed of the king's approach and took a different
route in order to avoid meeting him; he arrived in Ardea at almost the
same time as Tarquin reached Rome. There Tarquin found the gates closed
and a decree published ordering his exile. Brutus was received as a liberator
in the jubilant camp and the sons of the king were expelled. Two of them
followed their father, who went into exile at Caere in Etruria. Sextus
departed for Gabii, considering it almost as his own kingdom; but there
he was murdered in revenge for old hatreds which he had inspired by murder
and rapacity. Lucius Tarquinius ruled for twenty-five years [534-510 B.C.];
the Roman monarchy, from the founding of the city to its liberation, lasted
244 years. Then, in accordance with the regulations of Servius Tullius,
two consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata with the prefect
of the city presiding. They were Lucius Junius Brutus and- Lucius Tarquinius
Collatinus.
Book 2
509 - 468 BC
1. From this point my subject will be the history of a free people—its deeds in peace and war, its magistrates now elected annually, and the rule of laws more powerful than men. The despotism of the last king added to the general enthusiasm for this freedom. The prior kings had so ruled that they might well be counted founders of the city, at least of parts of it; for each added new sections to house the population which their efforts had made larger. Brutus earned much glory from the expulsion of the tyrant; but undoubtedly even he would have acted very much to the detriment of the people if he had ambitiously wrested the throne from any of the prior kings before the time was ripe for liberty. The plebeians were a miscellany of shepherds and vagabonds, fugitives from their own countries, who had obtained liberty, or rather escape from punishment, under the protection of the sanctuary at Rome. What would have happened if such men had been freed from the threat of royal power? What if they had been stirred by the violent harangues of tribunes and had begun to pick quarrels with the patricians while they were still strangers to the city? A sense of common responsibility comes only with family ties and a slowly maturing love of the soil; the young state would have been destroyed by dissension. Actually, the moderate guidance and domination of the kings nurtured the state until it matured and was able to produce a rich harvest of Liberty. The origin of this new liberty should not be attributed to any reduction in the authority possessed by the kings but to the limitation of the consular term of office to a single year.
The earliest consuls retained all the prerogatives of kings and all the symbols of their authority; but in order to prevent the impression that one tyrant had simply been exchanged for two, one consul only was allowed, the fasces (the symbols of absolute power). Brutus, with the consent of his colleague, was the first to hold the fasces. He was as zealous in guarding liberty as he had been in obtaining it. First of all he feared that entreaties and bribes of a king might later win over the people; so while: they were still jealous of their new liberty he bound them by an oath to allow no man to assume royal power. Then, since many of the senatorial order had been killed during Tarquin's reign of terror, he increased the power of the senate by filling the vacancies. Selecting some of their leading men of equestrian rank, he increased the number of senators to three hundred; from this it is said the custom arose of calling the senators "Patres Conscripti"—or "The Fathers and the Enrolled." This measure did much to promote harmony among the citizens and sympathy between the patricians and the plebs.
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3. No one doubted that war with the Tarquins was imminent, but it came later than anyone expected. Moreover, liberty was almost lost through subversion and treason, which the Romans least expected. There were certain young men of high birth in Rome who were contemporaries and friends of the younger Tarquins and had been accustomed to living like princes. Under the monarchy they had been free to do as they pleased, and now that all were equal before the law, they wished to recover that license. They complained among themselves that the liberty of the others had been bought by their own servitude. The king, they said, was human and from him favors could be obtained, whether justified or otherwise; with him favoritism and partiality had their place; he could be severe, but could also be lenient, and he could distinguish between friends and enemies. The law, on the other hand, was an inanimate thing, deaf and inexorable, more advantageous to the weak than the powerful; it knew neither indulgence nor leniency for those who transgressed; and in view of human error, it was dangerous to rely upon innocence alone for security. Such reflections had already made them discontented when ambassadors arrived in Rome from the royal party. The ambassadors were ostensibly seeking the return of the king's property but they secretly undertook a plot for the restoration of the monarchy. While pretending to solicit favor of the young nobles for their official requests, they were sounding their inclinations toward the monarchy. To those who seemed favorably disposed toward them they gave written messages from the Tarquins and with them made plans to admit the royal party secretly into the city by night.
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5. The plot was discovered and reported by a slave, and the conspirators, among whom were the two sons of Brutus, were apprehended. After the property of the royal family had been plundered by the people the traitors were condemned and executed. This sentence was especially dramatic, since the office of consul imposed upon a father the duty of inflicting punishment upon his own children; the one man who should have been spared the sight of the execution had been appointed by fate to carry it out. The young men who stood tied to the stake were all of high birth, but the others were ignored as if they were unknown, and the eyes of all were upon the sons of the consul. Men did not pity them more for their punishment than for the crime which made it necessary. For in that year above all, they had persuaded themselves to betray their newly liberated country, their father its deliverer, the consulship which had its origin with their own family, the patricians, the plebs, all the men and gods of Rome, to a once tyrannical king who now was exiled as a public enemy. The consuls took their seats upon the tribunal, and the lictors were ordered to carry out the sentence: The culprits were stripped and scourged, then beheaded. All the while the natural anguish of a father was apparent on Brutus' face as he performed his duty as public executioner
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After the Etruscan cities of Veii and Tarquinii had taken up the cause of the Tarquins and had been defeated by Rome, the former king appealed to King Porsinna of Clusium for aid. Porsinna marched upon Rome and he would have taken the city without a siege but for the heroism of Horatius Cocles. at the bridge.
The story of Horatius Cocles can be found on pp. 2-3 in your text: As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History by Jo-Ann Shelton (Oxford, 1988).
9. Porsinna believed it would promote Etruscan security for Rome to be ruled by a king, and Etruscan dignity for that king to be an Etruscan, and so marched to war against Rome. Never before was the senate so terrified; Clusium was very powerful, and Porsinna's reputation formidable. They feared not only the enemy but also their own citizenry; the plebs might receive kings into the city in a panic, and accept servitude as the price of peace. Many concessions were therefore granted to the plebeians by the senate at this time. The food supply received special attention, and agents were dispatched to the Volscii and to Cumae to buy grain. The monopoly of salt, which was very dear, was taken from private individuals and assumed by the government. The plebeians were relieved of imposts and taxes, and the burden shifted to the deputation from the senate,
Book 3
467 - 446 B C
In 458 B.C. when a Roman army was surrounded by the Aequi (an Italic tribe) and held under siege, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was appointed dictator. While the incident itself in view of late Roman history, seems an unimportant one Cincinnatus was enlarged by tradition into the Roman version of the homespun hero.
26. For those who are disdainful of all human values except riches and who think that high position and excellence are impossible without great wealth, it is worthwhile to listen to the following story. The one hope of the people and the empire of Rome, Lucius Quinctius, cultivated a farm of four acres on the other side of the Tiber. It was directly across from the spot where the dockyard now is situated and to this day is called the Quinctian meadows. There he was found by the deputation from the senate, either bent over his spade as he dug a ditch or plowing—at any rate, as historians agree, occupied with the work of his farm. After greetings had been exchanged, they expressed the wish that "it might turn out well for both him and his country" and requested that he put on his toga and hear the mandate of the senate. Crying out in surprise, "Is everything all right?" he called to his wife to hurry and bring the toga from the cottage. There, after wiping off the dust and sweat, he put it on and came forward to the deputation, who hailed him dictator and summoned him into the city. When they had explained the army's alarming situation he crossed over the Tiber in a boat provided by the state. On the other side he was greeted by his three sons, who had come out to meet him, followed by other friends and relatives, and by most of the senators. Accompanied by this gathering he was conducted to his house by the lictors. A great crowd of plebeians also collected, not at all overjoyed to see Cincinnatus' selection; they considered the office too powerful and the man himself even more relentless and uncompromising. For that night no precautions were taken, aside from posting a watch in the city.
The next morning Cincinnatus arose and went into the Forum before daybreak, where he named Lucius Tarquitius as master of horse. This man was a patrician by birth, although he had been forced by poverty to serve in the infantry, and was considered the finest soldier in Rome. Accompanied by Tarquitius, the dictator went into the assembly of the people, where he proclaimed a suspension of all civic affairs, ordered shops to be closed throughout the city, and forbade the transaction of all private business. He then issued an order that everyone of military age should report in arms at the Campus Martius before sunset, carrying rations for five days and twelve stakes for palisades. Those too old for military duty he ordered to prepare rations for their neighbors serving in the army while these were preparing their arms and looking for stakes. Immediately the young men ran to collect stakes, taking the first they came to, with no one stopping them, since everyone was eager to carry out the orders of the dictator. At the appointed time the line was drawn up in an order adapted for battle as well as marching, in the event that the occasion should arise; the dictator led the infantry in person, with Tarquitius at the head of the cavalry. Cincinnatus surprised the enemy at night and the Aequi soon were reduced from besiegers into besieged. Beset by a double attack, the Aequi abandoned their assistance for supplication, begging first the commander of one army, then the other, not to make their victory a slaughter. The consul ordered them to go to the dictator. Cincinnatus, wishing to humiliate them in defeat, angrily ordered that their general Gracchus Cloelius and their other officers be brought to him in chains, and the town of Corbio be evacuated. He did not want the blood of the Aequi, he said; they could go if they would confess that they were conquered and pass under the yoke. A yoke was made of three spears and under it were marched the Aequi .
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44. In the city a second atrocity took place--this one inspired by lust. Its outcome was equally as disgraceful as the violation and death of Lucretia, which had caused the expulsion of the Tarquins; thus the decemvirate suffered not only the same end as the monarchy, but for the same reason...
46. So Verginia was freed on the security of her relatives. Appius waited awhile in order to avoid the impression that he had convened his court for that case only. Soon, however, he found that concern was so great for this one case that no other plaintiffs were interested in appearing. Therefore he hurried home and wrote to his colleagues in the camp not to grant Verginius a furlough, but to arrest him instead. This shameful message arrived too late, as it deserved. Verginius obtained leave and set out at about the first watch, but the orders for his detention were not delivered until the next morning.
47. At dawn the next day the citizens excitedly gathered in the Forum. Verginius and his daughter, who was attended by several matrons, entered the Forum followed by a large crowd of supporters. Both were dressed in mourning. Verginius immediately began to go about taking people by the hand, begging them to help him not only as a favor but as a debt they owed him. Daily, he said, he stood in the battle line defending their wives and children, and no other man could boast of such heroic deeds in war. Yet what good did it do if with the city still safe, their children had to endure the worst calamities that could follow its capture? To one person after another he pleaded in this way. Icilius did the same, but the silent weeping of the women moved men more than any words. Appius—who was smitten rather with madness than with love—was unmoved by all this. He mounted the tribunal complaining that the decemvir's desire for popularity had deprived him of his rights the day before. But before he finished and before Verginius had a chance to answer Appius interrupted. Perhaps the words with which he justified his decision have been authentically transmitted by some of the ancient authorities. But since I can find nothing which might justify such a perverse judgment, it seems best to relate only the naked fact, of which there is no doubt: He decreed that the girl was a slave. Silence fell. The crowd stood aghast with wonder and disbelief. Then, as M. Claudius went to take the girl, the women around her began to wail. Verginius pointed at Appius and cried, "I have betrothed my daughter to Icilius, not to you, and I have trained her for marriage, not harlotry. Do you wish to satisfy your lusts at your whim as do cattle or wild beasts? I do not know whether the men present will tolerate this, but I hope that those who are armed will not." The claimant was pushed away by the circle of women and the girl's supporters, and finally a herald commanded silence.
48. The decemvir was beside himself with lust. "You yourselves," he told the crowd, "have witnessed Icilius' insolence yesterday and the violent behavior of Verginius today. Not only from these actions but from definite evidence which has been discovered I have ascertained that secret meetings were held throughout the night, plotting to foment an uprising. Being aware of the impending danger I have brought with me a band of armed men, not to harm any peaceable person, but to restrain those who wish to disturb the peace. It behooves you, therefore, to remain quiet," he said. "Go, lictor, disperse the mob and make way for the master to take possession of his slave." When he wrathfully thundered these words the crowd separated spontaneously and the girl stood deserted and helpless. Verginius saw that there was no help left and he cried out, "I beg you, Appius, make allowance for a father's grief if I have been abusive. Let me question the girl and her nurse in order to find out the truth about this matter. If I am really not her father I can leave her with more peace of mind." When he was given permission to do this he led his daughter and the nurse aside, to the shops near the shrine of Venus Cloacina, now called the New Shops. There he suddenly seized a knife from a butcher and cried, "In this one way only can I set you free, my daughter." Plunging the knife in her breast and looking up toward the tribunal, "With this blood, Appius," he cried, "I consecrate your head to perdition!" Appius, frightened by the clamor which arose at this awful deed, ordered the lictors to arrest Verginius; but by clearing a path before him with the knife he succeeded in reaching the city gate under the protection of the crowd of people following. Icilius and Numitorius picked up the lifeless body and showed it to the people, lamenting Appius' brutality, the girl's unhappy beauty, and the necessity forced upon her father. Behind them followed the women who had attended her, weeping and crying words of the kind which arise out of woman's great sensitivity and make her grief more pitiful. "Must we bear children under these conditions?" they pleaded. But the men talked only of the loss of the tribunician power, the loss of the right of appeal to the public assembly, and of the wrongs suffered by the people.
Verginius returned to the army on Mount Vecilius and aroused the soldiers, who returned to Rome and encamped on the Aventine, and later on the Mons Sacer (Sacred Mountain). Encouraged by their example, the plebeian civilians also seceded for a second time and joined them, demanding restoration of the office of tribune and the right of appeal. These demands were granted and a series of measures (the Valerian-Horatian laws) were passed which greatly increased plebeian power (449 B.C.)