this number of kings, and deduct a whole century from the period of their reigns; and especially that this latter computation is adopted by Virgil, who assigns a term of only 300 years for the reigns of the Alban kings after the death of Ascanius.

The reigns of Amulius and Numitor, the last two kings, bring us to the well-known legend respecting the foundation of Rome, which our subject requires us briefly to recall to the memory of the reader. Amulius, younger son of Procas, having usurped the crown which rightfully belonged to Numitor, his elder brother, caused Ægestus, the son of Numitor, to be put to death, and his daughter, Rea Silvia, to become a Vestal virgin; thus obliging her, by the perpetual vow of chastity imposed upon the priestesses of Vesta, to renounce all hope of marriage, and consequently of giving a legitimate heir to the throne which Amulius had usurped. But Rea was robbed of her chastity either by a mortal lover, or by the god Mars in mortal form; and, having become pregnant, in due time gave birth to two male twins, who were ordered by Amulius and his council to be thrown into the river Tiber, at some distance apparently from the royal residence; while the mother was subjected to the punishment incurred by the breach of her vows. The servants of Amulius, proceeding towards the upper part of the stream, crossed the Palatine Hill, in order to carry into execution the sentence upon the children, where, finding their further progress arrested by the flooding of the river, they deposited on the water the little cradle or skiff which contained the twins, and abandoned them to their fate. The receding waters having left the infants ashore on the western declivity of the Palatine, they were there discovered by a she-wolf, who gave them suck. A woodpecker also brought them food; when certain shepherds, struck by the marvel,

1 Æn. i. 272 sqq.

and inferring from it the divine origin of the children, carried them to Faustulus, a herdsman of Amulius, residing on the Palatine, who gave them to his wife, Acca Larentia, to nurse. According to some authors, Acca Larentia, from her unchaste life, was called Lupa, and thus is explained the fable of the wolf.

In process of time, the twins, under the names of Romulus and Remus, grew up to manhood on the Palatine, whence all trace of Evander's settlement appears to have vanished. A quarrel between the herdsmen of Numitor and Amulius, in consequence of which Remus was carried off to Alba Longa, induced Faustulus to explain to Romulus the story of his infancy.1 At Alba Longa, Remus is recognised by his grandfather, Numitor, and undertakes, in conjunction with his brother Romulus, who has also an interview with Numitor, to dethrone and punish the usurper Amulius. The arrival of Faustulus at Alba Longa, at this juncture, with the cradle, or ark, in which the twins had been exposed, confirms the truth of the recognition. By the aid of Romulus and Remus, Amulius is seized and put to death, and Numitor recovers his rightful inheritance. Romulus and Remus are soon after seized with a desire to erect a new and independent city, an enterprise in which they are joined by many of the inhabitants of Alba, especially the Trojan families; and Numitor supplies them with money, arms, provisions, and other necessaries, to carry out their design. But a dispute arises between the brothers as to the site of the new city. Romulus chooses the Palatine Hill, the scene of his marvellous escape and early education, while Remus prefers a spot called Remoria, which appears to have formed a portion of the Aventine. It having been agreed

1 Another version of the legend represents Numitor as having substituted two other babes for the children of Rea Silvia; that the in

fants were put to death by Amulius, and that the genuine twins were secretly intrusted by Numitor to Faustulus for education.

to decide the matter by augury, Remus, taking his station on the Aventine, first sees a flight of six vultures; a little after, a flight of twelve appears to Romulus;1 a quarrel arises, whether the greater number of the birds, or the priority of their appearance, should decide the point in question, and in a fight which ensues Remus is slain. Romulus now proceeds to build his city, after burying Remus on the Aventine, and atoning for his death by certain expiatory rites.

Such is briefly the chief and most widely accepted legend respecting the foundation of Rome; but, as in a history of that famous city it might perhaps be reasonably expected that all the principal accounts of its origin should be enumerated, we shall here shortly state them.

It is recorded, then, by some authors that Rome was founded before the epoch of the Trojan war, either by the Pelasgians, or by some Athenian emigrants, who, from their long wanderings, obtained the name of Aberrigines.2

Others place its foundation soon after the capture of Troy. Of those who take this view, some regard a son of Ulysses, by Circe, as the founder of Rome; either Latinus, who named the city after a defunct sister, or a son named Romus or Romanus.3 Another legend makes Latinus a son of Telemachus and Circe, and consequently a grandson of Ulysses, and ascribes Rome to Romulus and Romus, Latinus' children by Romé.

Still more frequent are the legends which refer the origin of Rome to Trojans, and especially to Æneas and his immediate descendants. In one of these, a party of

1 Superstition has connected the twelve vultures seen by Romulus with the twelve centuries during which Rome remained an independent city, viz. from B.C. 753 to A.D. 476, when she fell under a prince bearing the same name as her founder, Romulus Augustulus.

2 Plut. Rom. 9; Festus, p. 266. The legends respecting the foundation of Rome have been diligently collected by Sir G. C. Lewis, Credibility &c. vol. i. p. 394 sqq.

3 Serv. Æn. i. 273; Dionys. Hal. i. 72; Plut. Rom. 2.

4 Festus, p. 269.

Trojans, being compelled to remain in Latium by the stratagem of Romé, one of their women, are represented as making a settlement on the Palatine Hill, and naming it after her.1 In another version of this story, Romé marries Latinus, King of the Aborigines, and Rome is founded by their sons, Romulus and Romus.2 The tenor of a very ancient legend is, that Eneas came to Italy with Ulysses, founded Rome, and named it after Romé, a Trojan woman who had taken the lead in burning the ships. Sallust also ascribes the foundation of Rome to the Trojans, conjointly with the Aborigines. Sometimes Romus, a son of Eneas by Lavinia, is said to be the founder of Rome; 5 sometimes Romulus and Remus are represented as his sons by Dexithea. In another form of the legend, though Romus is described as originally founding Rome, yet it is made to undergo a second foundation, by Romulus and Remus from Alba, fifteen generations, or about four and a half centuries later, in consequence of its original inhabitants having been exhausted. We also find Romulus and Remus represented as the grandsons of Æneas by a daughter, or by his son Ascanius.8 In some versions, Romus, who founds Rome, is his grandson by Ascanius, and sometimes he is said to be the son of Alba, granddaughter of Æneas by Romulus, who was his son by Tyrrhenia. We also find Romulus, the founder of Rome, represented as the son of Mars by Emylia, daughter of Æneas and Lavinia.10 We need only further mention that the name of Rome is in some versions ascribed to a daughter of Ascanius, and consequently granddaughter of Æneas, who, before the building of Rome, had dedicated

1 Festus, p. 269; Solinus, i. 2; Serv. ad Æn. i. 273; Plut. Rom. 1, Quæst. Rom. 6. The story is traced to Heraclides Lembus.

2 Dionys. Hal. i. 72.

3 Ibid. 79.

4 B. Cat. 6.

5 Festus, p. 266; Dionys. H. i. 72. • Plut. Rom. 2; Dion. Hal. i. 73. 7 Dionys. loc. cit.

8 Serv. En. i. 273; Dionys. H. loc. cit.

9 Festus, p. 266. 10 Plut. Rom. 2.

a temple to Faith on the Palatine Hill; and, lastly, that the twins who were exposed are sometimes said to be the miraculously conceived offspring of a maid in the service of Tarchetius, King of Alba.2

It may be observed that, although these legends vary with regard to the name of the founder of Rome and the time of its foundation, yet they all point to the Palatine Hill as the original site of the city. We shall adopt the legend most commonly received by classical authors, that Rome was founded by Romulus, son of Rea Silvia and grandson of Numitor, and proceed to trace the progress of the city under the auspices of that founder.

Tacitus, in a well-known passage, which we subjoin at the foot of the page, gives the most precise account of the foundation of Rome and the circuit of its walls. From this passage it appears that the furrow which marked the line of the pomoerium was begun to be drawn from a spot in the Forum Boarium, marked in that author's time by the bronze image of a bull, as typical of the animal which drew the plough. The line was so drawn as to include the altar of Hercules, known by the name of Magna Ara. From this spot boundary stones were laid down at certain regular distances round the base of the Palatine. These stones ran first to the altar of Consus, from that to the Curiæ Veteres, and then to the Sacellum Larum; but the Forum and Capitol were not added to the city till the time of Titus Tatius.3

The furrow here mentioned does not describe the actual line of wall, but that of the pomarium, or sacred space

1 Festus, p. 269.

2 Plut. loc. cit.

3 Sed initium condendi, et quod pomarium Romulus posuerit, noscere haud absurdum reor. Igitur a foro Boario ubi æreum tauri simulacrum adspicimus, quia id genus animalium aratro subditur, sulcus designandi oppidi coeptus, ut magnam

Herculis aram amplecteretur. Inde certis spatiis interjecti lapides, per ima montis Palatini ad aram Consi, mox ad Curias Veteres, tum ad sacellum Larum; forumque Romanum et Capitolium non a Romulo sed a Tito Tatio additum urbi credidere.'-Ann. xii. 24.