Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
It is proposed to rehearse the lustrous story of Rome, from itsbeginning in the mists of myth and fable down to the mischievous timeswhen the republic came to its end, just before the brilliant period ofthe empire opened.
As one surveys this marvellous vista from the vantage-ground of thepresent, attention is fixed first upon a long succession of well-authenticated facts which are shaded off in the dim distance, andfinally lost in the obscurity of unlettered antiquity. The flesh andblood heroes of the more modern times regularly and slowly pass fromview, and in their places the unsubstantial worthies of dreamytradition start up. The transition is so gradual, however, that it isat times impossible to draw the line between history and legend.Fortunately for the purposes of this volume it is not always necessaryto make the effort. The early traditions of the Eternal City have solong been recounted as truth that the world is slow to give up even theleast jot or tittle of them, and when they are disproved as fact, theymust be told over and over again as story.
Roman history involves a narrative of social and political struggles,the importance of which is as wide as modern civilization, and theymust not be passed over without some attention, though in the presentvolume they cannot be treated with the thoroughness they deserve. Thestory has the advantage of being to a great extent a narrative of theexploits of heroes, and the attention can be held almost the whole timeto the deeds of particular actors who successively occupy the focus orplay the principal parts on the stage. In this way the element ofpersonal interest, which so greatly adds to the charm of a story, maybe infused into the narrative.
It is hoped to enter to some degree into the real life of the Romanpeople, to catch the true spirit of their actions, and to indicate thecurrent of the national life, while avoiding the presentation ofparticular episodes or periods with undue prominence. It is intended toset down the facts in their proper relation to each other as well as tothe facts of general history, without attempting an incursion into thedomain of philosophy.
CAMBRIDGE, September, 1885.
The old king at Troy—Paris, the wayward youth—Helen carried off—The
war of ten years—Æneas, son of Anchises, goes to Italy—His death—
Fact and fiction in early stories—How Milton wrote about early
England—How Æneas was connected with England—Virgil writes about
Æneas—How Livy wrote about Æneas—Was Æneas a son of Venus?—Italy, as
Æneas would have seen it—Greeks in Italy—How Evander came from
Arcadia—How Æneas died—Thirty cities rise—Twins and a she-wolf—
Trojan names in Italy—How the Romans named their children and
themselves.
Augury resorted to—Romulus and Remus on two hills—Vultures determinea question—Pales, god of the shepherds—Beginning the city—Celerkilled—An asylum—Bachelors want wives—A game of wife-snatching—Sabines wish their daughters back—Tarpeia on the hill—A duel betweentwo hills—Two men named Curtius—Women interfere for peace—Where didRomulus go?—Society divided by Romulus—Numa Pom