Final negotiations.
When all things were thus ready, the Sabines, before actually striking the blow for which they had been so long and so deliberately preparing, concluded to send one more final embassy to Romulus, to demand the surrender of the women. This was of course only a matter of form, as they must have known well from what had already passed that Romulus would not now yield to such a proposal. He did not yield. He sent back word in answer to their demand, that the Sabine women were all well settled in Rome, and were contented and happy there with their husbands and friends, and that he could not think now of disturbing them. This answer having been received, the Sabines prepared for the onset.
The Roman herdsmen.
Flocks and herds called in.
There was a certain tract of country surrounding Rome which belonged to the people of the city, and was cultivated by them. This land was used partly for tillage and partly for the pasturage of cattle, but principally for the latter, as the rearing of flocks and herds was, for various reasons, a more advantageous mode of procuring food for man in those ancient days than the culture of the ground. The rural population, therefore, of the Roman territory consisted chiefly of herdsmen; and when the approaching danger from the Sabines became imminent, Romulus called all these herdsmen in, and required the flocks of sheep and the herds of cattle to be driven to the rear of the city, and shut up in an inclosure there, where they could be more easily defended. Thus the Sabine army found, when they were ready to cross the frontier, that the Roman territory, on that side, was deserted and solitary; and that there was nothing to oppose them in advancing across it almost to the very gates of Rome.
The citadel.
Tarpeia.
They advanced accordingly, and when they came near to the city they found that Romulus had taken possession of two hills without the walls, where he had entrenched himself in great force. These two hills were named the Esquiline and Quirinal hills. The city itself included two other hills, namely, the Palatine and the Capitoline. The Capitoline hill was the one on which the asylum had formerly been built, and it was now the citadel. The citadel was surrounded on all parts with ramparts and towers which overlooked and commanded all the neighboring country. The command of this fortress was given to Tarpeius, a noble Roman. He had a daughter named Tarpeia, whose name afterward became greatly celebrated in history, on account of the part which she took in the events of this siege, as will presently appear.
The Campus Martius.
At the foot of the Capitoline hill, and on the western side of it, that is, the side away from the city, there was a spacious plain which was afterward included within the limits of the city, and used as a parade-ground, under the name of Campus Martius, which words mean the "War Field." This field was now, however, an open plain, and the Sabine army advancing to it, encamped upon it. The Sabine forces were much more numerous than those of the Romans, but the latter were so well guarded and protected by their walls and fortifications, that Titus Tatius saw no feasible way of attacking them with any prospect of success. At last, one day as some of his officers were walking around the Capitoline hill, looking at the walls of the citadel, Tarpeia came to one of the gates, which was in a retired and solitary position, and entered into a parley with the men. The story of what followed is variously related by different historians, and it is now difficult to ascertain the actual truth respecting it. The account generally received is this:—
