A brief history of the nations and of their progress in civilization . — and even impossibilities — which prove them tobe the fruit of the imagination. They are the tales which inthe course of centuries were woven out of traditions, mold^dand recast from time to time, until they assumed the form inwhich they are recorded by the historian Livy, in the reign ofAugustus. The Roman legends, including dates, such as arerecorded in this chapter, are fabrications to fill up a void inregard to Avhich there was no trustworthy information and toaccount for beliefs and customs the origin of which no onek
A brief history of the nations and of their progress in civilization . — and even impossibilities — which prove them tobe the fruit of the imagination. They are the tales which inthe course of centuries were woven out of traditions, mold^dand recast from time to time, until they assumed the form inwhich they are recorded by the historian Livy, in the reign ofAugustus. The Roman legends, including dates, such as arerecorded in this chapter, are fabrications to fill up a void inregard to Avhich there was no trustworthy information and toaccount for beliefs and customs the origin of which no oneknew. Mingled in them are fragments of veritable history,and they are of some help in ascertaining the character of theRoman constitution in the prehistoric age. The Legendary Tales. — Romulus and Remus, so the legendruns, were sons of the god Mars, by Rhea Silvia, a priestess ofVesta, whose father, Numitor, had been driven from his throneby his wicked brother, Amulius, who thereby made himselfKing of Alba Longa. The twins, by his command, were put 117 118 ROME. Bronze Wolf Statue(Home) into a basket and thrown into the Tiber. The cradle wascaught by the roots of a fig trees; a she-wolf came out and suckled them, andFaustulus, a shep-herd, brought themup as his own chil-dren. E o m u 1 u sgrew up and slewthe usurper, Amu-lius. The two brothersfounded a city onthe banks of theTiber, where theyhad been rescued(753 ). In aquarrel the elder killed the younger, and called the city afterhimself, Roma. Romulus, to increase the number of the people,founded an asylum on the Capitoline Hill, which gave wel-come to robbers and fugitives of all kinds. There was a lackof Avomen; but, by a cunning trick, the Romans seized on alarge number of Sabine women, who had been decoyed toRome with their fathers and brothers to see the games. Theangry Sabines invaded Rome. Tarpeia, the daughter of theRoman captain, left open for them a gate into the Capitolinecitadel, and so they won the Capit
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyea
