The Rise of Rome (Penguin Classics)

by Plutarch

  69. Acron … punished: Livy (1.10) offers very different motives for the belligerence of all the Sabines in their conflicts with Rome at this time.

  70. Rome always annexes … the peoples whom she conquers: A similar sentiment is offered (at greater length) at Dion. Hal. 2.16–17.

  71. trophy: It was a Greek practice to dedicate a trophy (tropaeon), a suit of the enemy’s armour set up on a stake, on the field of battle after a victory. Apart from the very rare ritual of spolia opima (‘the first and finest of spoils’), trophies in Rome were mostly confined to triumphal art.

  72. a special garment: Cf. the regal and much resented garment worn by Romulus at ch. 26.

  73. Roman triumphs: On the triumph and on spolia opima, see Beard, Roman Triumph, especially pp. 72–4 (on Romulus’ triumph), and Introduction to Marcellus.

  74. Jupiter Feretrius: The temple of Jupiter Feretrius was located on the Capitoline. Plutarch offers further etymologies for Jupiter’s epithet at Marcellus 8.

  75. Cossus: Aulus Cornelius Cossus was probably consul in 428. He slew Lars Tolumnius, king of Veii (Livy 4.19).

  76. Marcellus … vanquished Britomartus: In 222 (Marcellus 6–8).

  77. Romulus employed a chariot: See Dion. Hal. 2.34.2.

  78. Tarquinius: Tarquinius Priscus, son of the Corinthian Demaratus, was the fifth king of Rome.

  79. triumph in a chariot: Plutarch accepts this opinion at Publicola 9.

  80. Fidenae … Antemnae: Each was a Latin city and none was destroyed so early in Roman history as Plutarch here indicates (though only Antemnae existed into the first century BC). Fidenae is modern Castel Giubileo (on which see ch. 23), Crustumerium was located at modern Marcigliana Vecchia, and Antemnae was where the River Anio flows into the Tiber.

  81. Tatius: This is Titus Tatius, who will share the Roman throne with Romulus.

  82. Antigonus: It is not obvious which Antigonus Plutarch has in mind here. Antigonus Monophthalmus (382–301) and Antigonus Gonatas (277–239) are perhaps the likeliest candidates.

  83. Rhoemetalces: A Thracian prince who in 31 BC betrayed Antony to support Octavian (the Caesar in this sentence); he was elevated to the Thracian throne in 22 BC.

  84. Galba: The historian Gaius Sulpicius Galba (HRR 2.41) lived during the first century BC and was the grandfather of the emperor Galba.

  85. Antigonus: Possibly Antigonus of Carystus, a writer and sculptor who flourished in the mid-second century BC. A collection of anecdotes by him survives, but he was best known for his biographies of philosophers and for works on sculpture and painting.

  86. Simylus: Not otherwise known.

  87. Celtic chief: Plutarch uses the terms Gaul and Celt interchangeably (Introduction to Camillus).

  88. King Tarquinius: The construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline was begun by Tarquinius Priscus and completed by Tarquinius Superbus (Publicola 14).

  89. Tarpeian Rock … evildoers: This practice was discontinued in AD 43. Ancient sources disagree over the exact location of the Tarpeian Rock but it was probably on the southwest side of the Capitoline.

  90. Lake of Curtius: The lacus Curtius (Plutarch here calls it by its Latin name) was a monument in the Roman Forum. There were several explanations of its origins, all of them fabulous (see Livy 1.12 and Dion. Hal. 2.42.2 for different versions of this tale).

  91. Hostilius … Numa: See ch. 14.

  92. temple of Jupiter Stator: Located at the foot of the Palatine near the Porta Mugonia.

  93. Regia … temple of Vesta: The Regia was a small building, just outside the Roman Forum and near the temple of Vesta. The construction of each was attributed to King Numa (Numa 11 and 14).

  94. service … spinning wool: See ch. 15.

  95. Quirites … Tatius: Cures was Titus Tatius’ native city and the birthplace of King Numa (Numa 3). It was located at modern Fosso Corese. The etymology of Quirites remains uncertain, though most scholars associate the word with curiae (note 57), seeing in the original Quirites the members of the curiae.

  96. Comitium: See note 32. Plutarch found this etymology in Varro, On the Latin Language 5.155.

  97. a hundred … patricians: According to Dion. Hal. (2.47.1–2), only fifty Sabines were added to the Roman senate, and at Numa 2 Plutarch states that, at the time of Romulus’ death, there were 150 senators.

  98. three tribes … lucus: Explanations of the three original tribes and their names proliferated in antiquity: see Cornell, Beginnings of Rome, pp. 114–18, and Smith, The Roman Clan, pp. 188–90.

  99. tribes: The Latin word for tribe, tribus, derives from the same root as tres, the word for three; see Varro, On the Latin Language 5.55.

  100. phratries: Here Plutarch uses the Greek word phratry – which refers to subdivisions of Greek tribes – to refer to the curiae (ch. 14 and note 57).

  101. courts that try homicide: Standing courts were established in Rome only in the mid-second century BC, nor was there a single court assigned to deal with cases of homicide; see J. Harries, Law and Crime in the Roman World (2007).

  102. bulla: An apotropaic amulet worn by boys; Plutarch has more to say about the bulla at Moralia 287f–288b.

  103. temple of Moneta: The temple of Juno Moneta was on the Capitol (Camillus 36).

  104. made his beside the Steps of Cacus: On the Palatine, at the top of the Steps of Cacus, was the Hut of Romulus (Casa Romuli); the bottom of the Steps are not preserved but they emerged into the Forum Boarium (Rome’s earliest forum). Cacus was commonly portrayed as a monster slain by Hercules.

  105. Gaius Caesar: The emperor Caligula (ad 12–41).

  106. Roman calendar … Life of Numa: See Numa 9.

  107. Matronalia: One of Rome’s most popular festivals, it was celebrated on 1 March (matrona is the Latin word for a married woman).

  108. Carmentalia: An ancient festival celebrated on 11 and 15 January. Even in antiquity there was considerable speculation about the origins of the festival and the identity of the deity honoured by it. The temple of Carmenta was located at the base of the Capitoline Hill near the Porta Carmentalis (Moralia 278b–c).

  109. Evander the Arcadian: See ch. 13.

  110. carmina: The Latin word carmen also refers to hymns and magical spells. It is linguistically cognate with the name Carmenta.

  111. Nicostrate: Sometimes named as the wife, sometimes as the mother, of Evander.

  112. the Parilia: In ch. 12.

  113. Lupercalia … purification: The Lupercalia was celebrated on 15 February. Februarius, the Latin name for February, derived from februa, which referred to purification rituals. The origins and significance of the Lupercalia were debated in antiquity. See Numa 19 and Moralia 280b–c.

  114. Lycaea: Livy (1.5.1), among others, (erroneously) linked the Lupercalia to the festival of Zeus Lycaeus (the Zeus of Mt Lycaea in Arcadia), itself associated with wolves (lykos is the Greek word for wolf).

  115. legendary she-wolf: See ch. 4.

  116. Luperci: The priests who celebrate the festival through the ritual actions Plutarch describes here.

  117. poems … origins of Roman customs: This is Boutas, fr. 234 in H. Lloyd Jones and P. Parsons, Supplementum Hellenisticum (1983). This Boutas is (for no good reason) sometimes identified with the freedman Boutas mentioned at Younger Cato 70.

  118. Gaius Acilius: A senator who composed a history of Rome, in Greek, from its origins to his own day, which appeared around 142. He is also found in Elder Cato 22.

  119. Faunus: A rustic divinity, one of whose roles was protector of flocks.

  120. puppies: The Greek word for puppy is skylax. Plutarch also discusses puppy sacrifices in Rome at Moralia 280b–c.

  121. Vestals: The six Vestal Virgins observed the rites of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, who was essential to Rome’s security; tending Vesta’s fire, which was meant never to be extinguished, was the most conspicuous of their ritual tasks. At Numa 9 and Camillus 20 their introduction is attributed to Numa. In ch. 3 (above) Plutarch ex
plains that, in Alba, the priestess of Vesta was expected to remain a virgin.

  122. divination from … birds: Plutarch refers to the Roman practice of augury (ch. 9), a crucial element in Roman religion and in the Roman constitution: see Lintott, Constitution, pp. 185–6, and Moralia 286a–c.

  123. This staff … destroyed: See Camillus 32.

  124. legislation … parricide: Festus (247) preserves an alleged law of Numa which stipulated that ‘if someone knowingly and with malicious intention kills a free man, let him be a parricide’.

  125. after the war with Hannibal: The Second Punic War ended in 201.

  126. Lucius Hostius: Not mentioned elsewhere.

  127. Laurentum: There was certainly a people known as Laurentes (e.g. Polybius 3.22.11) but there was no city of Laurentum. The Laurentes are routinely regarded as inhabitants of the town of Lavinium (modern Pratica di Mare).

  128. Armilustrium: An open square on the Aventine where the festival called Armilustrium, marking the end of the campaigning season for the army, was celebrated on 19 October. Varro (On the Latin Language 6.22) and Festus (496) designate the Lauretum (or Loretum), also on the Aventine, Titus Tatius’ burial place.

  129. Fidenae … near Rome: See ch. 17.

  130. Ides of April: This is 13 April. Different accounts of this campaign are provided by Livy 1.14 and Dion. Hal. 2.53.

  131. Ferentine Gate: Rome had no Ferentine Gate. A neat and long-standing emendation proposes that an original hylē (forest) was corrupted into pylē (gate) and that Plutarch refers here to Silva Ferentina (the Ferentine forest) at the base of Mt Alba.

  132. Camerians: People of Cameria (or Camerium), the location of which is unknown.

  133. temple of Vulcan: The Vulcanal was located on the lower slopes of the Capitoline Hill overlooking the Roman Forum. According to Dion. Hal. (2.54.1–2), Romulus celebrated a triumph after this victory.

  134. Veii: Modern Isola Farnese; see Introduction to Camillus.

  135. Aristomenes: A Messenian hero of legendary proportions, usually assigned to the Second Messenian War against Sparta during the seventh century BC. See Moralia 159e and 660f, and Pausanias 4.19.2–3. In sacrificing each hecatomb Aristomenes signalled that he had slain a hundred Spartans (a hecatomb is the sacrifice of one hundred cattle).

  136. the Seven Districts: A region located along the western bank of the Tiber.

  137. Ides of October: 15 October. According to Dion. Hal. (2.55.3), this was Romulus’ third triumph.

  138. Veientes: The people of Veii.

  139. Sardis … Etruscan city: Sardis was the capital of Lydia, and according to one ancient account of the Etruscans, they originated in Lydia (Herodotus 1.94). A similar account of this custom, linked to the Capitoline Games, appears at Moralia 277c–d. There was, however, a Roman proverb, ‘Sardinians for sale, each worse than the other!’, associated with the victories in Sardinia (Sardi is Latin for Sardinians) of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 177): Plutarch’s aetiology here may involve confusion with that saying. Still, Festus (428) preserves an antiquarian explanation of the practice at the Capitoline Games that is very similar to Plutarch’s.

  140. apparel … purple: At Livy 1.8 Romulus puts on majestic trappings in order to overawe the public and instil obedience to the laws.

  141. Celeres: See ch. 10 and Numa 7. According to Dion. Hal. (2.13), the Celeres were established very early in Romulus’ reign (and there is no suggestion that this action was offensive).

  142. Latin … lictores: Plutarch repeats this etymology at Moralia 280a–b; see also Gellius 12.3 and Festus 103.

  143. bacila: Actually in Latin they are bacula.

  144. rods: Plutarch here uses the word rhabdos for a staff, which was lighter than a rod, for which he uses the word baktēria, itself cognate with Latin baculum – all intended to explain the perhaps unexpected name for a lictor’s staff.

  145. plausible explanation … laos: See also Moralia 280b. In Plutarch’s day, the word leitourgos was pronounced litourgos and leïton was pronounced liton, so this (misleading) resemblance with litor was obvious enough.

  146. suspicion … over the patricians: Romulus’ (alleged) assassination is often, as here, modelled on accounts of Caesar’s assassination, which was motivated by senatorial indignation (see also Dion. Hal. 2.56.5, Valerius Maximus 5.3.1). Plutarch also describes the end of Romulus at Numa 2.

  147. Nones of July: 7 July.

  148. Quintilis, as it was called then: Until 153 the Roman year began in March and therefore Quintilis (meaning fifth) was the fifth month of the year. After Caesar’s death, the month was re-named Julius (i.e. July) in his honour.

  149. ceremonies … took place then: See ch. 29; these festivals are the Flight of the People (Poplifugia) and the Capratine Nones (Nonae Capratinae), though in fact the former was celebrated on 5 July and not on 7 July (Plutarch conflates them here as well as at Numa 2 and Camillus 33).

  150. Scipio Africanus: This is Scipio Aemilianus, the son of Aemilius Paullus whose Life is included in this volume (see Introduction to that Life). His death, in 129, remained controversial along the very lines put forth here by Plutarch.

  151. temple of Vulcan: The Vulcanal (note 133).

  152. Goat’s Marsh: (Caprae Palus) In the Campus Martius, near the site of the Pantheon.

  153. Proculus … forum: More commonly, Julius Proculus is simply a farmer from Alba who happens to journey to Rome for the day (Cicero, The Republic 2.20; Dion. Hal. 2.63.3; Ovid, Fasti 2.499), but in this version (see also Numa 2) he is a representative of the patrician Julii, the ancestors of Caesar. In most accounts, however, the patrician Julii came to Rome from Alba during the reign of Tullius Hostilius (Livy 1.30.2).

  154. tell the Romans … human power: Plutarch’s Romulus urges the Romans to practise self-restraint (sophrosyne), a key Greek virtue. Similarly, at Dion. Hal. 2.18.1 it is stressed that Romulus strove to exhibit sophrosyne and in his account moderation was a hallmark of the reign (Dion. Hal. 2.53.3, 44.3 and 60.2). By contrast, Livy’s Romulus tells Proculus simply to ‘let the Romans cultivate the art of war’ (1.15.7).

  155. Quirinus: The origins of this god, who in his functions resembled Mars, remain vague. His presence in Rome was ancient, and his name is clearly associated with the collective designation Quirites (note 95) as well as with the Quirinal Hill (ch. 29). He was eventually (as here) assimilated to the deified Romulus.

  156. Aristaeus: A legendary poet and wonder-worker from Proconnesus (the modern Turkish island of Marmara); his apparent death and several resurrections are rehearsed by Herodotus (4.13–14).

  157. Cleomedes: An Olympic boxer who, after killing his opponent during a match, was denied the prize on account of his foul play; he then destroyed a school, killing many children, and took refuge in a temple of Athena, where he vanished (as Plutarch reports here). He was honoured as a hero by the Astypalaeans. See the more detailed account of Pausanias (6.9.6–8).

  158. oracle at Delphi: Plutarch does not report the second line of the oracle, which was: ‘Honour him with sacrifices, for he is no longer mortal.’

  159. Alcmene: The mother of Heracles. In some versions of her story, after her death she is whisked to the Isle of the Dead to be the wife of Rhadamanthys, while a stone is substituted for her corpse. A stone said to be this very one was venerated in a shrine in Thebes according to Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 84).

  160. ‘The body … from the gods’: A fragment of a lost threnody (fr. 132 in W. H. Race, Pindar, vol. 2 (1997)), also quoted (at greater length and with slight variation) at Moralia 120c.

  161. ‘a dry soul is best’: An excerpt from Heracleitus (fr. 118 DK), itself frequently and variously cited by ancient authors. C. H. Kahn, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus (1979), pp. 245–54, provides a full account of its context and philosophical significance.

  162. Enyalius: Meaning Warlike, either an epithet of Ares or indicating a distinct Greek god of war. According to Dion. Hal. (2.50.3), Tatius established the worship of E
nyalius at Rome. By the third century BC, Quirinus was identified with Enyalius (Polybius 3.25.6, cf. Dion. Hal. 2.48).

  163. curis: The Sabine word for a spearhead. The derivation of Quirinus from curis originated with Varro (Dion. Hal. 2.48).

  164. Juno Curitis: Her temple was in the Campus Martius. Her origins were perhaps Sabine (Festus 55).

  165. Regia … Mars: On the Regia, see note 93. Within was a shrine to Mars that contained the Spear of Mars (Hasta Martis).

  166. Quirinalis: The Romans believed, probably correctly, that there had been a temple to Quirinus on the Quirinal since very ancient times (Cicero, The Republic 2.20; On the Laws 1.3; Livy 4.21.9; Pliny, Natural History 15.120), but the earliest recorded temple was dedicated by the consul Lucius Papirius Cursor in 293 (Livy 10.46.7) and later rebuilt by Augustus into one of the largest temples in Rome.

  167. Flight of the People: On 5 July the Flight of the People (Poplifugia) commemorated the day on which Romulus vanished or, by way of a muddle with the Capratine Nones (see below), a victory by the people of Rome over Fidenae in the aftermath of the Gallic sack (in another version preserved at Macrobius, Saturnalia 3.2.11, the invaders are Etruscans). The festival seems to have been largely forgotten by the first century BC (Varro, On the Latin Language 6.18).

  168. Capratine Nones: Also called the Festival for Slave Women (Ancillarum Feriae), celebrated on 7 July.

  169. captured Rome: Rome was sacked by the Gauls in 390.

  170. Philotis: Plutarch recurs, at greater length, to the aetiological tale of Philotis at Camillus 33.

  171. commemoration … time: Plutarch reveals his fascination with chronological coincidences of this kind at Camillus 19. In that same Life, at ch. 33, he dismisses the story of Philotis as ‘fabulous’.

  Notes to the Comparison of Theseus and Romulus

  1. Troezen: A city near Argos (modern Trizina). Here Theseus was reared by his mother, Aethra, and her father, Pittheus, king of Troezen; see Plutarch, Theseus 3–6.

  2. ‘brave on account of his fear’: Plutarch quotes (imprecisely and presumably from memory) Plato, Phaedrus 68d, which describes courage that is uninformed by philosophical reason.