TEMPLE OF VESTA
From a coin
A VESTAL in vincula coniēcit,[6] parvulōs
alveō[7] impositōs[8] abiēcit in
Tiberim, quī tunc forte super
rīpās erat effūsus[9]; sed, relābente
[10] flūmine, eōs aqua in siccō
relīquit. Vāstae tum in iīs
locīs sōlitūdinēs erant. Lupa,
ut fāmā[10] trāditum est, ad vāgītum[11] accurrit,
īnfantēs linguā[10] lambit, ūbera eōrum ōrī[7]
[15] mātremque[12] sē gessit.
Cum[13] lupa saepius[14] ad
parvulōs velutī ad catulōs reverterētur,[13] Faustulus, pāstor
rēgius,[15] rē[16] animadversā eōs tulit in casam et
Accae Lārentiae coniugī dedit[17] ēducandōs.[18] Adultī[19] deinde
[20] hī inter pāstōrēs prīmō lūdicrīs[20] certāminibus vīrēs auxēre,[21]
deinde vēnandō[22] saltūs peragrāre et latrōnēs ā rapīnā[23] pecorum
arcēre coepērunt. Quārē cum[13] iīs īnsidiātī essent[13] latrōnēs,
Remus captus est, Rōmulus[24] vī sē dēfendit. Tum Faustulus,
necessitāte compulsus,[1] indicāvit Rōmulō quis esset[2] eōrum
[25] avus, quae māter. Rōmulus statim armātīs[3] pāstōribus Albam[4]
properāvit.
Intereā Remum latrōnēs ad Amūlium rēgem perdūxērunt,[5]
eum accūsantēs, quasi[6] Numitōris agrōs īnfēstāre solitus[7] esset;
CASA itaque Remus ā rēge Numitōrī ad[8] supplicium
[30] trāditus est; at cum Numitor,
adulēscentis vultum cōnsīderāns, aetātem[9]
minimēque servīlem indolem comparāret,
haud[10] procul erat quīn nepōtem āgnōsceret.
Nam Remus ōris līneāmentīs[11] erat mātrī[12]
[35] simillimus[13]
aetāsque expositiōnis temporibus
congruēbat. Ea rēs dum Numitōris animum anxium tenet,[14]
repente Rōmulus supervenit,[15] frātrem līberat,[15] interēmptō Amūliō
avum Numitōrem in rēgnum restituit.[15]
Deinde Rōmulus et Remus urbem in iīsdem locīs, ubi expositī[16]
[40] ubique ēducātī erant, condidērunt[17]; sed ortā[18] inter eōs
contentiōne, uter nōmen novae urbī daret[19] eamque imperiō
regeret, auspicia[20] dēcrēvērunt[21] adhibēre. Remus prior[22] sex
vulturēs, Rōmulus posteā duodecim vīdit. Sīc Rōmulus, victor
auguriō,[1] urbem Rōmam vocāvit. Ad[2] novae urbis tūtēlam sufficere
[45] vāllum vidēbātur. Cūius[3] angustiās inrīdēns cum Remus
saltū id trāiēcisset, eum īrātus[4] Rōmulus interfēcit, hīs increpāns
verbīs: “Sīc[5] deinde, quīcumque alius trānsiliet moenia mea!”
Ita sōlus potītus est imperiō[6] Rōmulus.
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 assigned 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 institutions which existed in the later times, and the traditional narrative is full of inconsistencies and contradictions.