Young Folks History of Rome | Page 7

it,
since the story of Romulus was quite as much a fable as that of Æneas;
only it must be remembered as the Romans themselves believed it.
They worshipped Romulus under the name of Quirinus, and called their
chief families Quirites, both words coming from ger (a spear); and the
she-wolf and twins were the favorite badge of the empire. The
Capitoline Hill, the Palatine, and the Forum all still bear the same
names.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV.
NUMA AND TULLUS.
B.C.It was understood between the Romans and the Sabines that they
should have by turns a king from each nation, and, on the
disappearance of Romulus, a Sabine was chosen, named Numa
Pompilius, who had been married to Tatia, the daughter of the Sabine
king Tatius, but she was dead, and had left one daughter. Numa had,
ever since her death, been going about from one grove or fountain
sacred to the gods to another offering up sacrifices, and he was much
beloved for his gentleness and wisdom. There was a grove near Rome,
in a valley, where a fountain gushed forth from the rock; and here
Egeria, the nymph of the stream, in the shade of the trees, counselled
Numa on his government, which was so wise that he lived at peace
with all his neighbors. When the Romans doubted whether it was really
a goddess who inspired him, Egeria convinced them, for the next time
he had any guests in his house, the earthenware plates with homely fare
on them were changed before their eyes into golden dishes with dainty
food. Moreover, there was brought from heaven a bronze shield, which
was to be carefully kept, since Rome would never fall while it was safe.
Numa had eleven other shields like it made and hung in the temple of
Mars, and, yearly, a set of men dedicated to the office bore them

through the city with songs and dances. Just as all warlike customs
were said to have been invented by Romulus, all peaceful and religious
ones were held to have sprung from Numa and his Egeria. He was said
to have fixed the calendar and invented the names of the months, and to
have built an altar to Good Faith to teach the Romans to keep their
word to one another and to all nations, and to have dedicated the
bounds of each estate to the Dii Termini, or Landmark Gods, in whose
honor there was a feast yearly. He also was said to have had such
power with Jupiter as to have persuaded him to be content without
receiving sacrifices of men and women. In short, all the better things in
the Roman system were supposed to be due to the gentle Numa.
At the gate called Janiculum stood a temple to the watchman god Janus,
whose figure had two faces, and held the keys, and after whom was
named the month January. His temple was always open in time of war,
and closed in time of peace. Numa's reign was counted as the first out
of only three times in Roman history that it was shut.
[Illustration: JANUS.]
Numa was said to have reigned thirty-eight years, and then he gradually
faded away, and was buried in a stone coffin outside the Janicular gate,
all the books he had written being, by his desire, buried with him.
Egeria wept till she became a fountain in her own valley; and so ended
what in Roman faith answered to the golden age of Greece.
The next king was of Roman birth, and was named Tullus Hostilius. He
was a great warrior, and had a war with the Albans until it was agreed
that the two cities should join together in one, as the Romans and
Sabines had done before; but there was a dispute which should be the
greater city in the league and it was determined to settle it by a combat.
In each city there was a family where three sons had been born at a
birth, and their mothers were sisters. Both sets were of the same
age--fine young men, skilled in weapons; and it was agreed that the six
should fight together, the three whose family name was Horatius on the
Roman side, the three called Curiatius on the Alban side, and
whichever set gained the mastery was to give it to his city.

They fought in the plain between the camps, and very hard was the
strife until two of the Horatii were killed and all the three Curiatii were
wounded, but the last Horatius was entirely untouched. He began to run,
and his cousins pursued him, but at different distances, as one was less
hindered by his wound than the others. As soon as the first came up.
Horatius slew him, and so the