Selections from Viri Romae Part 4

Deinde Romulus et Remus urbem in iisdem locis, ubi expositi ubique educati erant, condiderunt; sed orta inter eos contentione, uter nomen novae urbi daret eamque imperio regeret, auspicia decreverunt adhibere.

Remus prior s.e.x vultures, Romulus postea duodecim vidit. Sic Romulus, victor augurio, urbem Romam vocavit. Ad novae urbis tutelam sufficere vallum videbatur. Cuius angustias inridens c.u.m Remus saltu id traiecisset, eum iratus Romulus interfecit, his increpans verbis: "Sic deinde, quic.u.mque alius transiliet moenia mea!" Ita solus pot.i.tus est imperio Romulus.

[[1]]

#I. Romani imperii exordium# [[as printed]]

Proca,[1] rex Albanorum, Numitorem et Amulium filios habuit.

Numitori, qui natu[2] maior erat, regnum reliquit;[3] sed Amulius, pulso[4] fratre, regnavit et, ut[5] eum subole[6] privaret,[5] Rheam [[2]]

Silviam, eius filiam, Vestae[1] sacerdotem fecit, quae[2] tamen {4} Romulum et Remum geminos edidit.[3] Ea[4] re cognita Amulius ipsam[5]

in vincula coniecit,[6] parvulos alveo[7] impositos[8] abiecit in Tiberim, qui tunc forte super ripas erat effusus[9]; sed, relabente flumine, eos aqua in sicco {10} reliquit. Vastae tum in iis locis solitudines erant. Lupa, ut fama[10] traditum est, ad vagitum[11] accurrit, infantes lingua[10] lambit, ubera eorum ori[7]

matremque[12] se gessit. {15}

[Ill.u.s.tration: TEMPLE OF VESTA / _From a coin_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A VESTAL]

c.u.m[13] lupa saepius[14] ad parvulos veluti ad catulos reverteretur,[13] Faustulus, pastor regius,[15] re[16] animadversa eos tulit in casam et {18} Accae Larentiae coniugi dedit[17] educandos.[18] Adulti[19] deinde hi inter pastores primo ludicris[20] certaminibus vires auxere,[21]

deinde venando[22] saltus peragrare et latrones a rapina[23] pecorum arcere coeperunt. Quare c.u.m[13] iis insidiati essent[13] latrones, Remus captus est, Romulus[24] vi se defendit. Tum Faustulus, {23} [[3]]

necessitate compulsus,[1] indicavit Romulo quis esset[2] eorum avus, quae mater. Romulus statim armatis[3] pastoribus Albam[4] {25} properavit.

Interea Remum latrones ad Amulium regem perduxerunt,[5]

eum accusantes, quasi[6] Numitoris agros infestare solitus[7] esset; itaque Remus a rege Numitori ad[8] supplicium traditus est; at c.u.m Numitor, {30} adulescentis vultum considerans, aetatem[9]

minimeque servilem indolem compararet, haud[10] procul erat quin nepotem agnosceret.

Nam Remus oris lineamentis[11] erat matri[12]

simillimus[13] aetasque expositionis temporibus {35} congruebat. Ea res dum Numitoris animum anxium tenet,[14]

repente Romulus supervenit,[15] fratrem liberat,[15] interempto Amulio avum Numitorem in regnum rest.i.tuit.[15]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CASA]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TIBER STATUE / _Paris_]

[Sidenote: B.C. 754.]

Deinde Romulus et Remus urbem in iisdem locis, ubi expositi[16]

ubique educati erant, condiderunt[17]; sed orta[18] inter eos {40} contentione, uter nomen novae urbi daret[19] eamque imperio regeret, auspicia[20] decreverunt[21] adhibere. Remus prior[22] s.e.x [[4]]

vultures, Romulus postea duodecim vidit. Sic Romulus, victor augurio,[1] urbem Romam vocavit. Ad[2] novae urbis tutelam sufficere vallum videbatur. Cuius[3] angustias inridens c.u.m Remus {45} saltu id traiecisset, eum iratus[4] Romulus interfecit, his increpans verbis: "Sic[5] deinde, quic.u.mque alius transiliet moenia mea!"

Ita solus pot.i.tus est imperio[6] Romulus.

Among the few Trojans who escaped after the fall of Troy was Aeneas, the son of Venus and the hero Anchises. After many wanderings Aeneas reached Italy, married there Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus, king of the Latins, and founded a town called Lavinium, from the name of his wife. He was succeeded by his son Ascanius, who founded a second city, called Alba Longa, and transferred thither the seat of government. The date traditionally a.s.signed to the capture of Troy was 1184 B.C. Hence it is clear that Alba Longa was settled more than 400 years before the foundation of Rome in 754 B.C. To fill this gap a list of fourteen Alban kings, all descendants of Aeneas, was given by the Roman writers. How Rome itself was founded from Alba Longa is described in the text. It should be kept constantly in mind that little faith is to be put in these traditional accounts of Rome's early history, at least as far as details are concerned. Latin writers tell us that the oldest records of the city perished in the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 388 B.C. The first historical work written by a Roman was published about 215 B.C., more than 500 years after the foundation of the city. Many of the stories were obviously invented to account for inst.i.tutions which existed in the later times, and the traditional narrative is full of inconsistencies and contradictions.

[Footnotes: I (pages 1-4)

1.1: #Proca# was the twelfth king of Alba Longa.

1.2: #natu maior#: 'greater by birth' = 'elder.'

1.3: from _relinquo_.

1.4: #pulso# (_pello_) #fratre#: abl. abs.; 'his brother having been driven out' (pa.s.s.) = 'having driven out,' _or_ 'when he had driven out his brother' (act.): H 489 (431): M 638: A 255: G 409: B 227.

1.5: #ut privaret#: purpose: H 568 (497, II): M 893: A 317, 1: G 545: B 282.

1.6: abl. of separation: H 462 (414, I): M 601: A 243, _a_: G 405: B 214, 1, c.

2.1: See Voc., _Vesta_.

2.2: #quae# = _sed ea_.

2.3: _edo_.

2.4: #ea re cognita# (_cognosco_): cf. p. 1, n. 4.

2.5: i.e. Rhea Silvia.

2.6: _conicio_.

2.7: dat. with compound verb: H 429 (386): M 534: A 228: G 347: B 187, III.

2.8: #impositos# (_impono_) #abiecit# (_abicio_) = _imposuit et abiecit_. English is fond of coordination of clauses; Latin prefers to subordinate clause to clause. Hence, in general, Latin avoids two coordinated verbs. See p. xxiv, L 5, and H 639 (549, 5): A 292, R.: G 664, R. 1, 2: B 337, 2.

2.9: _effundo_.

2.10: abl. of means: H 476 (420): M 645: A 248, c, 1: G 401: B 218.

2.11: #ad vagitum#: 'to (their) squalling,' i.e. to them as they were crying.

2.12: #matrem se gessit# (_gero_): 'conducted herself, acted like a mother.'

2.13: not only '_when_,' but also '_because_ the wolf kept coming back.' See p. xxii, J.

2.14: 'very often.' The comparative often has this intensive force.

2.15: adj. = the genitive of _rex_.

2.16: #re . . . tulit# (_fero_) = _rem animadvert.i.t et eos tulit_; cf. p. xxiii, K 10.

2.17: _do_.

2.18: = _ut educarentur_. The gerundive expresses purpose here, as often. See p. xviii, E 4, H 622 (544, N. 2): M 994: A 294, _d_: G 430: B 337, 7, 2.

2.19: #adulti# (_adolesco_): 'having grown' = 'when grown.'

2.20: #ludicris certaminibus#: 'with playful contests,'--such as running, wrestling, and boxing. For the case, cf. n. 10.

2.21: = _auxerunt_ (_augeo_).

2.22: The abl. of the gerund here denotes manner.

2.23: 'from the seizure of' = 'from stealing.'

2.24: = '_but_ Romulus.'

3.1: _compello_.

3.2: indir. quest.: H 649, II (529, I): M 810: A 334: G 467: B 300.

3.3: See p. 1, n. 4.

3.4: acc. of limit without preposition: H 418 (380, II): M 515: A 258, _b_: G 337: B 182, 1, _a_; cf. English 'to go _home_.'

3.5: _perduco_.

3.6: 'because, as they said'; _quasi_ often denotes a statement or thought of some person other than the writer himself. See p. xxi, H 5.

3.7: _soleo_.

3.8: #ad supplicium#: 'to be punished'; _ad_ with its noun often denotes purpose.

3.9: #aetatem . . . compararet#: 'compared his age with his nature, (which was) by no means that of a slave'; i.e. his appearance and demeanor indicated that he belonged to a higher station than the shepherds.

3.10: #haud . . . agnosceret#: 'he came very near to recognizing him'; how literally? In this construction _quin_ = _ut non_, and the subjunctive is one of result: H 595 (504): M 913: A 319, _d_: G 555: B 284, 3.

3.11: abl. of specification: H 480 (424): M 650: A 253: G 397: B 226, 1.

3.12: _similis_ is construed with both gen. and dat.

3.13: 'very like'; cf. a similar use of the comparative in l. 16.

3.14: _dum_, 'while,' regularly takes the pres. indic. where English uses the imperfect: H 533, 4 (467, 4): M 917: A 276, _e_: G 570, R.: B 293.

3.15: historical presents: H 532, 3 (467, III): M 734: A 276, _d_: G 229: B 259, 3.

3.16: _expono_.

3.17: _condo_.

3.18: #orta# (_orior_) . . . #contentione# = '_because_ a strife arose'; see p. xxiii, K 4.

3.19: indir. quest. depending on _contentione_; cf. n. 2. The strife centered in the question, "Which of us shall rule?"

3.20: Romulus stood on the Palatine Hill, and Remus on the Aventine.

3.21: _decerno_.

3.22: 'first.'

4.1: 'by virtue of the augury'; abl. of cause: H 475 (416): M 612: A 245: G 408: B 219.

4.2: #Ad . . . tutelam#: 'to guard the new city.' Cf. p. 3, n. 8.

4.3: Render 'its.' Latin is fond of closely connecting successive clauses, and for this purpose often employs a relative p.r.o.noun, where English uses a simple demonstrative, or a demonstrative or personal p.r.o.noun with a conjunction,--generally _and_, often _but_ or _for_: cf. p. 2, n. 2.