The Rise of Rome (Penguin Classics)

by Plutarch

  ‘What terrible injury have we done you’, they said, ‘that we have had to suffer, and must continue to suffer, such cruel evils? Although we were carried off, violently and lawlessly, by the men to whom we now belong, nevertheless, after being carried off, we were neglected by our brothers and fathers and kinsmen for so long a time that we are now united, by the strongest of ties, with those whom we had previously hated. And so now we are fearful for these same men, who treated us violently and lawlessly, whenever they go out to battle, and we mourn for them if they are slain. For, while we were still maidens, you did not come to exact revenge against the men who wronged us, yet now you seek to force wives from their husbands and mothers from their children, a rescue of our wretched selves that is more deplorable than your previous neglect and abandonment. Such is the love shown us by these men! Such is the compassion shown us by you! Even if you had gone to war for another reason, it is only right that you halt for our sakes, for you are now fathers-in-law and grandfathers and kinsmen to one another. But if this war is being waged on our behalf, then lead us away together with your sons-in-law and your grandchildren and in this way restore to us our fathers and our kinsmen, but do not deprive us of our children and husbands. We beg you, do not make us captives a second time!’

  Hersilia made many such appeals as this and was joined in her entreaties by the rest of the women. Consequently, a truce was declared and the leaders from both sides convened a summit. During this time, the women introduced their husbands and children to their fathers and brothers. They also took food and drink to any who needed it, and carried the wounded to their houses, where they nursed them. It was soon obvious that they were indeed mistresses in their own homes, with husbands who were attentive and gladly showed them every honour. Accordingly, terms were agreed between the Romans and the Sabines, whereby any woman who wished to do so might continue living with her husband, although, as I remarked earlier, she must be exempt from every form of service to her husband except spinning wool.94 It was also agreed that the city should be the common property of Romans and Sabines, and should be called Rome, after Romulus, while all citizens of Rome should be called Quirites, after the native city of Tatius.95 Moreover, Romulus and Tatius should be joint kings and joint commanders of the army. The place where these agreements were made is even now called the Comitium,96 for in Latin the word comire means to meet.

  20. Thus the city of Rome was doubled in population, and a hundred of the Sabines were selected to become patricians,97 while the legions were expanded to 6,000 infantrymen and 600 cavalrymen each. The people were divided into three tribes, one of which was called Ramnes, after Romulus, the second Tities, after Tatius, and the third Luceres, from the sacred grove into which many had fled, during the time of asylum, after which they had become citizens (the Latin word for grove is lucus).98 That there were originally three tribes is demonstrated by their Latin designation, for even now they are called tribes99 and the chief of a tribe is called a tribune. Each tribe is divided into ten phratries,100 which some claim were named for the thirty Sabine women who were abducted. But this seems untrue, since many phratries have topographical names. However, the Romans did accord these women many concessions and honours, among which are the following: men must yield to them when they are walking in the street; men may not utter any indecency in the presence of a woman; no man may be seen naked by a woman, and if he is, he is liable to prosecution in the courts that try homicide.101 Furthermore, their children wear what the Romans call a bulla,102 a kind of necklace that takes its name from its shape since it looks like a bubble, and a robe bordered with purple.

  At first the two kings did not meet in a single council. Instead, each met separately with his own hundred senators and only subsequently did they join the two assemblies into a common body, as is still the case today. Tatius made his home where today stands the temple of Moneta,103 while Romulus made his beside the Steps of Cacus,104 which are near the descent from the Palatine to the Circus Maximus. This is where they say there once grew a sacred cornel tree, and the following legend is told about it. In order to test his strength, Romulus once hurled a spear, whose shaft was made of cornel wood, from the Aventine. Its head sank so deep into the ground that no one could pull it out, though many tried. Instead, the fertile earth supported and nourished the shaft of the spear, producing fresh shoots, until it became an immense cornel tree. The generations after Romulus preserved and venerated this tree as if it were the most sacred of objects, and they constructed a wall around it. If anyone noticed that the tree was not flourishing and green, but instead appeared withered or dying, he cried out in alarm to all whom he met, and everyone would shout ‘water! water!’, just as if there were a fire, and would rush to the tree from all sides, bringing buckets of water. But when Gaius Caesar,105 so they say, was repairing the steps around the enclosure, some of the workers dug too close to the tree, inadvertently injuring the roots, which caused the tree to wither away.

  21. Now the Sabines adopted the Roman calendar, a topic I have discussed extensively in my Life of Numa.106 For his part, Romulus began to employ the Sabines’ long, oblong shields. Furthermore, he changed his own armour and the armour of all the Romans, who previously had used round shields like those of the Argives. The two peoples shared in one another’s festivals and sacrifices, abolishing none of them and instituting new ones as well. One of these is the Matronalia,107 founded in honour of the women who put a stop to the war. Another is the Carmentalia.108 In the opinion of some, Carmenta is the Fate who presides over the birth of children and for this reason is honoured by mothers. Others, however, claim that she was the wife of Evander the Arcadian109 and that she was a prophetess who, when inspired by Phoebus, uttered oracles in verse. Thus she came to be known as Carmenta, for in Latin verses are called carmina.110 Her actual name was Nicostrate,111 and on that point there is no disagreement. Nevertheless, there are also authorities who offer a more plausible explanation of the name Carmenta, which they interpret as meaning demented, or out of one’s mind, a reference to her prophetic raptures, since carere is Latin for be deprived and mens for mind.

  I have already discussed the Parilia.112 As for the Lupercalia, judging from the time of its celebration, it seems to be a festival of purification, because it is observed during the inauspicious days of February, and the name of that month can be interpreted to mean purification.113 And, in ancient times, the very day of the festival was called Febrata. The name of this festival, however, evokes the Greek Lycaea,114 or Feast of the Wolves, which suggests that its origins are very early and go back to the Arcadian followers of Evander. This is at least a common opinion, though the name of this festival could derive from the legendary she-wolf,115 and in fact we see that the Luperci116 begin their run around the city at the place where Romulus is said to have been exposed. Still, the actual ceremonies of this festival make its origins difficult to deduce. Goats are sacrificed, after which two young men of noble birth are brought forward. Certain men are assigned to touch the forehead of each with a bloody knife, and at once others wipe away the stain with wool that has been dipped in milk. After their foreheads are wiped, the youths must laugh out loud. They then cut the goats’ skins into strips and, after that, they run around, naked except for a loincloth, lashing everyone they meet with the strips of goatskin. Young brides make an effort to receive this lashing, for they believe it renders them fertile and will make their labour an easy one. An oddity of this festival is that the Luperci also sacrifice a dog.

  A certain Boutas has composed poems in elegiac verse about the legendary origins of Roman customs.117 He says that after their victory over Amulius the followers of Romulus ran joyfully to the place where the she-wolf had suckled the twins when they were babies and that this festival is conducted in imitation of this event. Thus the two noble youths run

  Striking all whom they meet, as once Romulus and Remus

  Came down from Alba Longa, swords in hand.

  Boutas goes on to say that t
he bloody knife applied to their foreheads commemorates the slaughter and peril of that day, while the cleansing of their foreheads with milk recalls their nourishment by the she-wolf. Gaius Acilius118 offers a different explanation. According to him, before the founding of the city, Romulus and his followers once lost their flocks. And so, after offering prayers to Faunus,119 they rushed forth in search of them. They ran naked so as not to be troubled by sweating, and this is why the Luperci ran around the city naked.

  As for the dog, if the sacrifice is carried out for the purpose of purification, then one may say that it is a suitable victim for rituals of this nature, for the Greeks too, in their ceremonies of purification, offer up puppies, and in many places they employ rites that are called periskylakismoi, a name which refers to carrying around and sacrificing puppies.120 On the other hand, if these ceremonies commemorate the she-wolf who nourished and saved Romulus, it is perfectly reasonable that a dog is sacrificed, since a dog is a natural enemy to wolves – unless of course the creature is sacrificed as a punishment for obstructing the Luperci as they run their course.

  22. According to some authorities, it was Romulus who first consecrated fire and appointed the sacred virgins, who are called Vestals.121 Others, however, attribute this institution to Numa, though they concede that in all respects Romulus was decidedly religious. Furthermore, historians record that he was adept in divination, and for this purpose carried with him what the Romans call a lituus, a crooked staff employed in marking out the precincts of the sky whenever one engages in divination from the flight of birds.122 This staff was later preserved on the Palatine, but is said to have disappeared when the city was sacked by the Celts. Afterwards, however, when the barbarians had been driven from Rome, it was discovered beneath a deep layer of ash. It was unharmed by the fire, although everything around it had been utterly destroyed.123

  Romulus also enacted several laws, one of which was severe. It forbade a woman’s divorcing her husband, but permitted a husband to divorce his wife if she was found to have poisoned her children or counterfeited his keys or committed adultery. If, however, a man divorced his wife on any other grounds but these, the law stipulated that half his property should be given to his wife, while the other half should be consecrated to Ceres. Furthermore, any man who divorced his wife was required to make a sacrifice to the gods of the underworld. A peculiarity of Romulus’ legislation is that it established no specific penalty for parricide. Instead, any homicide was denominated parricide,124 and while the former was deemed an abomination, the latter was considered unimaginable. And for much of Rome’s history Romulus seemed quite correct in not having prescribed a specific form of indictment for this crime, for no one committed such an act for almost 600 years. It was after the war with Hannibal,125 according to historians, that Lucius Hostius126 became Rome’s first parricide. This, however, is a sufficient discussion of these matters.

  23. In the fifth year of Tatius’ reign it happened that, when some friends and relations of his encountered ambassadors from Laurentum who were on their way to Rome, they attempted to rob them and, when they met with stout resistance, killed them. This was an act at once terrible and brazen, and Romulus believed it was essential to punish the wrongdoers immediately. Tatius, however, resorted to delay, protracting matters. Only on this one occasion was there open disagreement between the two monarchs. Otherwise they had always conducted themselves in such a way as to exhibit complete unity and concord in their administration of public affairs. The slain ambassadors’ kinsmen, after they had been blocked by Tatius from pursuing any legal action, fell upon him as he and Romulus were performing a sacrifice in Lavinium.127 They killed Tatius, but Romulus they escorted on his way, praising him as a just man. Romulus had the body of Tatius brought to Rome, where he was buried with full honours on the Aventine near the place called Armilustrium.128 Romulus did nothing, however, to exact justice from Tatius’ murderers. Several historians tell us that the city of Laurentum, seized by fear, actually handed the assassins of Tatius over to Romulus, whereupon he released them, saying that murder had been paid for with murder. This action led some to suspect and even to suggest that Romulus was not at all displeased to be rid of his colleague. Still, this episode led to no disruption of public business, nor did it incite the Sabines to any seditious actions. Quite the contrary, all continued to venerate their king, some on account of affection, others because they stood in fear of his power, and still others because they saw in him a benefactor who was favoured by the gods. Many foreign peoples also paid their respects to Romulus. Indeed, the Latins of those early times sent ambassadors to him in order to establish friendship and alliance.

  Romulus captured Fidenae, a city near Rome.129 According to some, he attacked the city without provocation, ordering a sudden charge by his cavalry, who cut away the hinges of the city’s gate, after which he unexpectedly made his appearance. Others, however, maintain that it was the men of Fidenae who first invaded Roman territory, despoiling and devastating the countryside as far as the outskirts of Rome itself. Romulus then ambushed these men, killed many and took their city. He did not, however, destroy the city or raze it to the ground. Instead, he made it into a Roman colony, where, on the Ides of April,130 he settled 2,500 colonists,

  24. Soon after this a plague broke out that caused men to expire suddenly although they had not previously been ill. It afflicted the crops, which became unfruitful, and the cattle, which became barren. Drops of blood rained down in the city, and this added superstitious terror to the people’s unrelieved suffering. When similar horrors befell the inhabitants of Laurentum, everyone soon recognized that both cities were being visited by divine wrath owing to their neglect of justice in the case of Tatius’ murder as well as that of the slain ambassadors. The murderers from both cities were therefore delivered up and punished, after which the pestilence abated. Romulus then purified the cities with expiatory rituals that, even today, according to historical authorities, are performed at the Ferentine Gate.131 Before the plague had ceased, the Camerians132 attacked the Romans and overran their lands, for they were convinced that, owing to their misfortunes, the Romans were powerless to defend themselves. At once, however, Romulus marched out and defeated them in a battle in which 6,000 Camerians fell. He also captured their city, and of the remaining survivors he settled half in Rome. From Rome he sent as colonists to Cameria twice as many men as he had left there. This took place on the first of August. One can see in this how great the population of Rome had become after not quite sixteen years of existence. Among the spoils of this war Romulus brought home from Cameria a bronze four-horse chariot, which he dedicated in the temple of Vulcan.133 He had already placed there a statue of himself being crowned by Victory.

  25. Thus did Rome wax ever stronger, a reality conceded by her weaker neighbours, who were pleased simply to find themselves unmolested. Fear and jealousy, however, led the stronger ones to conclude that they could no longer remain mere spectators but must stand up to Romulus and put a stop to his growing power. The people of Veii134 were the foremost of the Etruscans. Their territories were extensive and they inhabited a great city. It was they who took the initiative in waging war against the Romans, using as their pretext a claim that Fidenae should belong to them. This was not only unjust, it was ridiculous, for Veii had not assisted Fidenae when that city undertook to hazard war against the Romans, but instead had allowed the men of Fidenae to perish. Now, however, Veii was demanding that the Romans surrender the houses and lands of Fidenae, which they had taken after their conquest. When Romulus contemptuously dismissed these claims, the men of Veii divided their forces into two armies, one of which attacked the garrison at Fidenae, the other of which moved against Romulus. Although they were victorious at Fidenae, where they slew the 2,000 Romans who fought against them, they were defeated by Romulus with a loss of 8,000 men. Another battle was fought near Fidenae, and it is universally agreed that Rome’s victory in this engagement was due almost entirely to Romulus himse
lf, for he exhibited consummate skill and boldness and appeared to fight with superhuman strength and speed. A few writers, however, advance a claim that is wholly fabulous, or, put better, simply unbelievable, namely, that of the 14,000 who fell in this battle more than half were struck down by Romulus himself. After all, it is obvious that even the Messenians were making an inflated boast when they claimed that Aristomenes135 three times sacrificed a hecatomb in commemoration of the number of Lacedaemonians he had slain.

  After routing the enemy, Romulus allowed the survivors to escape and advanced against the city, which, after so serious a reverse, could not hold out against him but instead sought and obtained a treaty of friendship for a hundred years. Veii surrendered a large parcel of its territory, which is called Septem Pagi, meaning the Seven Districts.136 They likewise abandoned their salt-works along the river and supplied fifty of their leading citizens as hostages. Romulus celebrated a triumph for this victory on the Ides of October.137 Among the captives led by him was the general of the Veientes,138 an old man who seemed to have conducted his campaign foolishly and without the prudence expected from a man of his age and experience. It is for this reason that the Romans, down to this very day, whenever they offer sacrifice for victory, lead an old man through the forum to the Capitol. He wears the purple-bordered toga of a boy, along with a child’s bulla, while a herald cries ‘Sardians for sale!’. For the Etruscans are believed to be colonists from Sardis, and Veii was an Etruscan city.139

  26. This was the final war waged by Romulus. Thereafter, like most men, or, more precisely, like nearly all men who have risen to power and importance by way of striking and unexpected good fortune, he, too, was deeply affected by the experience. His accomplishments increased his boldness and he became haughty, abandoning his popular manner and taking on in its place the airs of an autocrat, and this change was made odious and offensive from the start on account of the apparel he donned. For he dressed in a scarlet tunic, over which he wore a toga bordered in purple,140 and he gave audiences while seated on a reclining throne. He was always attended by young men, who were called Celeres141 owing to their swiftness in serving him. There were other attendants who walked ahead of him and were equipped with staffs, which they employed in holding back the crowd. They also wore leather straps so that they could bind on the spot anyone he commanded to be bound.