Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [77.1] The fourth year after this, Ilia, upon going to a grove consecrated to Mars to fetch pure water for use in the sacrifices, was ravished by somebody or other in the sacred precinct. Some say that the author of the deed was one of the maiden’s suitors, who was carried away by his passion for the girl; others say that it was Amulius himself, and that, since his purpose was to destroy her quite as much as to satisfy his passion, he had arrayed himself in such armour as would render him most terrible to behold and that he also kept his features disguised as effectively as possible. [2] But most writers relate a fabulous story to the effect that it was a spectre of the divinity to whom the place was consecrated; and they add that the advantageous was attended by many supernatural signs, including a sudden disappearance of the sun and a darkness that spread over the sky, and that the appearance of the spectre was far more marvellous than that of a man both in stature and in beauty. And they say that the ravisher, to comfort the maiden (by which it became clear that it was a god), commanded her not to grieve at all at what had happened, since she had been united in marriage to the divinity of the place and as a result of her violation should bear two sons who would far excel all men in valour and warlike achievements. And having said this, he was wrapped in a cloud and, being lifted from the earth, was borne upwards through the air. [3] This is not a proper place to consider what opinion we ought to entertain of such tales, whether we should scorn them as instances of human frailty attributed to the gods, — since God is incapable of any action that is unworthy of his incorruptible and blessed nature, — or whether we should admit even these stories, upon the supposition that all the substance of the universe is mixed, and that between the race of gods and that of men some third order of being exists which is that of the daemons, who, uniting sometimes with human beings and sometimes with the gods, beget, it is said, the fabled race of heroes. This, I say, is not a proper place to consider these things, and, moreover, what the philosophers have said concerning them is sufficient. [4] But, be that as it may, the maid after her violation feigned illness (for this her mother advised out of regard both for her own safety and for the sacred services of the gods) and no longer attended the sacrifices, but her duties were performed by the other virgins who were joined with her in the same ministry.

  [78.1] But Amulius, moved either by his own knowledge of what had happened or by a natural suspicion of the truth, began to inquire into her long absence from the sacrifices, in order to discover the real reason. To this end he kept sending in to her some physicians in whom he had the greatest confidence; and then, since the women alleged that her ailment was one that must be kept secret from others, he left his wife to watch her. [2] She, having by a woman’s marking of the signs discovered what was a secret to the others, informed him of it, and he, lest the girl should be delivered in secret, for she was now near her time, caused her to be guarded by armed men. And summoning his brother to the council, he not only announced the deflowering of the girl, of which the rest knew naught, but even accused her parents of being her accomplices; and he ordered Numitor not to hide the guilty man, but to expose him. [3] Numitor said he was amazed at what he heard, and protesting his innocence of everything that was alleged, desired time to test the truth of it. Having with difficulty obtained this delay, and being informed by his wife of the affair as his daughter had related it in the beginning, he acquainted the council with the rape committed by the god and also related what the god had said concerning the twins, and asked that his story should be believed only if the fruit of her travail should prove to be such as the god had foretold; for the time of her delivery was near at hand, so that it would not be long, if he were playing the rogue, before the fact would come to light. Moreover, he offered to put at their disposal for examination the women who were watching his daughter, and he was ready to submit to any and every test. [4] As he spoke thus the majority of the councilors were persuaded, but Amulius declared that his demands were altogether insincere, and was bent on destroying the girl by every means. While this was taking place, those who had been appointed to keep guard over Ilia at the time of her delivery came to announce that she had given birth to male twins. And at once Numitor began to urge at length the same arguments, showing the deed to be the work of the god and demanding that they take no unlawful action against his daughter, who was innocent of her condition. On the other hand, Amulius thought that even in connexion with her delivery there had been some human trickery and that the women had provided another child, either unknown to the guards or with their connivance, and he said much more to the same purport. [5] When the councilors found that the king’s decision was inspired by implacable anger, they, too, voted, as he demanded, that the law should be carried out which provided that a Vestal who suffered herself to be defiled should be scourged with rods and put to death and her offspring thrown into the current of the river. To-day, however, the sacred law ordains that such offenders shall be buried alive.

  [79.1] Up to this point the greater part of the historians give the same account or differ but slightly, some in the direction of what is legendary, others of what is more probable; but they disagree in what follows. [2] Some say that the girl was put to death immediately; others that she remained in a secret prison under a guard, which caused the people to believe that she had been put to death secretly. The latter authors say that Amulius was moved to do this when his daughter begged him to grant her the life of her cousin; for, having been brought up together and being of the same age, they loved each other like sisters. Amulius, accordingly, to please her, — for she was his only daughter, — saved Ilia from death, but kept her confined in a secret prison; and she was at length set at liberty after the death of Amulius. [3] Thus do the accounts of the ancient authors vary concerning Ilia, and yet both opinions carry with them an appearance of truth; for this reason I, also, have mentioned them both, but each of my readers will decide for himself which to believe.

  [4] But concerning the babes born of Ilia, Quintus Fabius, called Pictor, whom Lucius Cincius, Porcius Cato, Calpurnius Piso and most of the other historians have followed, writes thus: By the order of Amulius some of his servants took the babes in an ark and carried them to the river, distant about a hundred and twenty stades from the city, with the intention of throwing them into it. [5] But when they drew near and perceived that the Tiber, swollen by continual rains, had left its natural bed and overflowed the plains, they came down from the top of the Palatine hill to that part of the water that lay nearest (for they could no longer advance any farther) and set down the ark upon the flood where it washed the foot of the hill. The ark floated for some time, and then, as the waters retired by degrees from their extreme limits, it struck against a stone and, overturning, threw out the babes, who lay whimpering and wallowing in the mud. [6] Upon this, a she-wolf that had just whelped appeared and, her udder being distended with milk, gave them her paps to suck and with her tongue licked off the mud with which they were besmeared. In the meantime the herdsmen happened to be driving their flocks forth to pasture (for the place was now become passable) and one of them, seeing the wolf thus fondling the babes, was for some time struck dumb with astonishment and disbelief of what he saw. Then going away and getting together as many as he could of his fellows who kept their herds near at hand (for they would not believe what he said), he led them to see the sight themselves. [7] When these also drew near and saw the wolf caring for the babes as if they had been her young and the babes clinging to her as to their mother, they thought they were beholding a supernatural sight and advanced in a body, shouting to terrify the creature. The wolf, however, far from being provoked at the approach of the men, but as if she had been tame, withdrew gently from the babes and went away, paying little heed to the rabble of shepherds. [8] Now there was not far off a holy place, arched over by a dense wood, and a hollow rock from which springs issued; the wood was said to be consecrated to Pan, and there was an altar there to that god. To this place, then, the wolf came and hid herself. The grov
e, to be sure, no longer remains, but the cave from which the spring flows is still pointed out, built up against the side of the Palatine hill on the road which leads to the Circus, and near it is a sacred precinct in which there is a statue commemorating the incident; it represents a she-wolf suckling two infants, the figures being in bronze and of ancient workmanship. This spot is said to have been a holy place of the Arcadians who formerly settled there with Evander.

  [9] As soon as the beast was gone the herdsmen took up the babes, and believing that the god desired their preservation, were eager to bring them up. There was among them the keeper of the royal herds of swine, whose name was Faustulus, an upright man, who had been in town upon some necessary business at the time when the deflowering of Ilia and her delivery were made public. And afterwards, when the babes were being carried to the river, he had by some providential chance taken the same road to the Palatine hill and gone along with those who were carrying them. This man, without giving the least intimation to the others that he knew anything of the affair, asked that the babes might be delivered to him, and having received them by general consent, he carried them home to his wife. [10] And finding that she had just given birth to a child and was grieving because it was still-born, he comforted her and gave her these children to substitute in its place, informing her of every circumstance of their fortune from the beginning. And as they grew older he gave to one the name of Romulus and to the other that of Remus. When they came to be men, they showed themselves both in dignity of aspect and elevation of mind not like swineherds and neatherds, but such as we might expect those to be who are born of royal race and are looked upon as the offspring of the gods; and as such they are still celebrated by the Romans in the hymns of their country. [11] But their life was that of herdsmen, and they lived by their own labour, generally upon the mountains in huts which they built, roofs and all, out of sticks and reeds. One of these, called the hut of Romulus, remained even to my day on the flank of the Palatine hill which faces towards the Circus, and it is preserved holy by those who have charge of these matters; they add nothing to it to render it more stately, but if any part of it is injured, either by storms or by the lapse of time, they repair the damage and restore the hut as nearly as possible to its former condition.

  [12] When Romulus and Remus were about eighteen years of age, they had some dispute about the pasture with Numitor’s herdsmen, whose herds were quartered on the Aventine hill, which is over against the Palatine. They frequently accused one another either of grazing the meadow-land that did not belong to them or of monopolizing that which belonged to both in common, or of whatever the matter chanced to be. From this wrangling they had recourse sometimes to blows and then to arms. [13] Finally Numitor’s men, having received many wounds at the hands of the youths and lost some of their number and being at last driven by force from the places in dispute, devised a stratagem against them. They place an ambuscade in the hidden part of the ravine and having concerted the time of the attack with those who lay in wait for the youths, the rest in a body attacked the others’ folds by night. No wit happened that Romulus, together with the chief men of the village, had gone at the time to a place called Caenina to offer sacrifices for the community according to the custom of the country; [14] but Remus, being informed of the foe’s attack, hastily armed himself and with a few of the villagers who had already got together went out to oppose them. And they, instead of awaiting him, retired, in order to draw him to the place where they intended to face above and attack him to advantage. Remus, being unaware of their stratagem, pursued them for a long distance, till he passed the place where the rest lay in ambush; thereupon these men rose up and at the same time the others who had been fleeing faced about. And having surrounded Remus and his men, they overwhelmed them with a shower of stones and took them prisoners; for they had received orders from their masters to bring the youths to them alive. Thus Remus was captured and led away.

  [80.1] But Aelius Tubero, a shrewd man and careful in collecting the historical data, writes that Numitor’s people, knowing beforehand that the youths were going to celebrate in honour of Pan the Lupercalia, the Arcadian festival as instituted by Evander, set an ambush for that moment in the celebration when the youths living near the Palatine were, after offering sacrifice, to proceed from the Lupercal and run round the village naked, their loins girt with the skins of the victims just sacrificed. This ceremony signified a sort of traditional purification of the villagers, and is still performed even to this day. [2] On this occasion, then, the herdsmen lay in wait in the narrow part of the road for the youths who were taking part in the ceremony, and when the first band with Remus came abreast of them, that with Romulus and the rest being behind (for they were divided into three bands and ran at a distance from one another), without waiting for the others they set up a shout and all rushed upon the first group, and, surrounding them, some threw darts at them, others stones, and others whatever they could lay their hands on. And the youths, startled by the unexpected attack and at a loss how to act, fighting unarmed as they were against armed men, were easily overpowered. [3] Remus, therefore, having fallen into the hands of the enemy in this manner or in the way Fabius relates, was being led away, bound, to Alba. When Romulus heard of his brother’s fate, he thought he ought to follow immediately with the stoutest of the herdsmen in the hope of overtaking Remus while he was still on the road, but he was dissuaded by Faustulus. For seeing that his haste was too frenzied, this man, who was looked upon as the father of the youths and who had hitherto kept everything a secret from them, lest they should venture upon some hazardous enterprise before they were in their prime, now at last, compelled by necessity, took Romulus aside and told him everything. [4] When the youth heard every circumstance of their fortune from the beginning, he was touched both with compassion for his mother and with solicitude for Numitor. And after taking much counsel with Faustulus, he decided to give up his plan for an immediate attack, but to get ready a larger force, in order to free his whole family from the lawlessness of Amulius, and he resolved to risk the direst peril for the sake of the greatest rewards, but to act in concert with his grandfather in whatever the other should see fit to do.

  [81.1] This plan having been decided upon as the best, Romulus called together all the inhabitants of the village and after asking them to hasten into Alba immediately, but not all by the same gates nor in a body, lest the suspicions of the citizens should be aroused, and then to stay in the market-place and be ready to do whatever should be ordered, he himself set out first for the city. [2] In the meantime those who had carried off Remus brought him before the king and complained of all the outrageous treatment they had received from the youths, producing their wounded, and threatening, if they found no redress, to desert their herds. And Amulius, desiring to please both the countrymen, who had come in great numbers, and Numitor (for he happened to be present and share the exasperation of his retainers), and longing to see peace throughout the country, and at the same time suspecting the boldness of the youth, so fearless was in his answers, gave judgment against him; but he left his punishment to Numitor, saying that the one who had done an injury could be punished by none so justly as by the one who had suffered it. [3] While Numitor’s herdsmen were leading Remus away with his hands bound behind him and mocking him, Numitor followed and not only admired his grace of body, so much was there that was kingly in his bearing, but also observed his nobility of spirit, which he preserved even in distress, not turning to lamentations and entreaties, as all do under such afflictions, but with a becoming silence going away to his fate. [4] As soon as they were arrived at his house he ordered all the rest to withdraw, and Remus being left alone, he asked him who he was and of what parents; for he did not believe such a man could be meanly born. Remus answered that he knew this much only from the account he had received from the man who brought him up, that he with his twin brother had been exposed in a wood as soon as they were born and had then been taken up by the herdsmen and reared b
y them. Upon which Numitor, after a short pause, either because he suspected something of the truth or because Heaven was bringing the matter to light, said to him: [5] “I need not inform you, Remus, that you are in my power to be punished in whatever way I may see fit, and that those who brought you here, having suffered many grievous wrongs at your hands, would give much to have you put to death. All this you know. But if I should free you from death and every other punishment, would you show your gratitude and serve me when I desire your assistance in an affair that will conduce to the advantage of us both?” [6] The youth, having in answer said everything which the hope of life prompts those who are in despair of it to say and promise to those on whom their fate depends, Numitor ordered him to be unbound. And commanding everybody to leave the place, he acquainted him with his own misfortunes — how Amulius, though his brother, had deprived him of his kingdom and bereft him of his children, having secretly slain his son while he was hunting and keeping his daughter bound in prison, and in all other respects continued to treat him as a master would treat his slave.

  [82.1] Having spoken thus and accompanied ship words with many lamentations, he entreated Remus to avenge the wrongs of his house. And when the youth gladly embraced the proposal and begged him to set him at the task immediately, Numitor commended his eagerness and said: “I myself will determine the proper time for the enterprise; but do you meanwhile send a message privately to your brother, informing him that you are safe and asking him to come here in all haste.” [2] Thereupon a man who seemed likely to serve their purpose was found and sent; and he, meeting Romulus not far from the city, delivered his message. Romulus was greatly rejoiced at this and went in haste to Numitor; and having embraced them both, he first spoke words of greeting and then related how he and his brother had been exposed and brought up and all the other circumstances he had learned from Faustulus. The others, who wished his story might be true and needed few proofs in order to believe it, heard what he said with pleasure. And as soon as they knew one another they proceeded to consult together and consider the proper method and occasion for making their attack. [3] While they were thus employed, Faustulus was brought before Amulius. For, fearing lest the information given by Romulus might not be credited by Numitor, in an affair of so great moment, without manifest proofs, he soon afterwards followed him to town, taking the ark with him as evidence of the exposing of the babes. [4] But as he was entering the gates in great confusion, taking all possible pains to conceal what he carried, one of the guards observed him (for there was fear of an incursion of the enemy and the gates were being guarded by those who were most fully trusted by the king) and laid hold of him; and insisting upon knowing what the concealed object was, he forcibly threw back his garment. As soon as he saw the ark and found the man embarrassed, he demanded to know the cause of his confusion and what he meant by not carrying openly an article that required no secrecy. [5] In the meantime more of the guards flocked to them and one of them recognized the ark, having himself carried the children in it to the river; and he so informed those who were present. Upon this they seized Faustulus, and carrying him to the king himself, acquainted him with all that had passed. [6] Amulius, having terrified the man by the threat of torture if he did not willingly tell the truth, first asked him if the children were alive; and learning that they were, he desired to know in what manner they had been preserved. And when the other had given him a full account of everything as it had happened, the king said: “Well then, since you have spoken the truth about these matters, say where they may now be found; for it is not right that they who are my relations should any longer live ingloriously among herdsmen, particularly since it is due to the providence of the gods that they have been preserved.”