5 Aeneas the True Virg Aen passim.
6 “So stop upsetting yourself” Op. cit., 4 360–61.
7 Neither love nor compact Ibid., 4 624–29.
8 a memorial was still standing Dio of H 1 64 4–5.
9 Seven years had passed Ibid., 1 65 1.
2. Kings and Tyrants
The story of the birth and early days of Romulus and Remus is drawn from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, and Livy. The basic story is unchallenged, but the details vary and were hotly debated.
1 “Hercules, who was the greatest commander” Dio of H 1 41 1.
2 They were on friendly terms Plut Rom 6 3.
3 an ancient festival The appearance of the Lupercalia in the story is attributed to Cicero’s friend the historian Aelius Tubero. Dio of H 1 80 1.
4 “nothing bordering on legend” Dio of H 1 84 1.
5 A river enables the city Cic Rep 2 5 10.
6 Faustulus’s grave Dio of H 1 87 2.
7 Eteocles and Polynices See, for example, Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus.
8 Cain murdered Abel Genesis 4:9–16.
9 was conceived in his mother’s womb Plut Rom 12 2–6.
10 little more than three thousand Latins Dio of H 1 87 2.
11 Consus, the god of good advice Originally a god of the granary.
12 “I have chosen you” Dio 1 5 11.
13 He presented himself Ioann. Laur. Lyd., De magistr. rei publ. Rom. 1 7.
14 “the shrewd device” and “my Rome” Livy 1 16 5–7.
15 one of Rome’s earliest historians Fabius Pictor.
16 “great inclination to the invention” Cic Rep 2 10.
17 a new comet Suet Caes 88.
18 He wanted the proper performance Cic op. cit., 2 14.
19 a sacrifice was conducted thirty times Plut Cor 25 3.
20 “So perish all women” For the story of Horatius, see Livy 1 26
21 The timber is still to be seen Livy ibid.
22 “Every building, public and private” Op. cit., 1 29 6.
23 Pons Sublicius See Richardson under heading.
24 “Hear me, Jupiter” Livy 1 32 6.
3. Expulsion
Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus are the main literary sources, with useful commentary from Cicero’s Republic.
1 on a par with the name of Hecuba’s mother This was Theodor Mommsen’s view. See Mommsen 1 9, p. 121, referring to Suet Tib 70 3. Hecuba was the wife of King Priam of Troy.
2 “deeply learned as they were” Livy 5 1 6.
3 “rules concerning the founding” Festus 358 L.
4 Inside every ordinary object This paragraph is indebted to Heurgon, 224–25.
5 gold ornaments Heurgon, p. 152 (citing Raniero Mengarelli).
6 Theopompus, has left a frank Cited in Ath 12 14 517d. It is hard to know what weight to place on this testimony. It receives some confirmation from Posidonius via Diodorus Siculus 5 40. Posidonius puts this decadent behavior down to Etruscan weakness in the centuries following the Roman conquest. But sexual promiscuity is not in itself inconsistent with military prowess.
7 between about 620 and 610 The traditional date is 657 B.C., but recent scholarship has pushed the date of Cypselus’s accession further forward. See Cornell, p. 124.
8 the geographer Strabo Strabo 8 c. 378.
9 “It was indeed no little rivulet” Cic Rep 2 19 (34).
10 Genial, well-informed Ibid., 2 19 34.
11 “This statue remained” Dio of H 3 71.
12 “not a Roman, but some newcomer” Ibid., 3 72 5.
13 This was Servius Tullius The emperor Claudius (first century A.D.) was an Etruscan expert and tells a completely different and probably more historical story about Servius’s rise to power. According to him, Servius was an Etruscan adventurer who came to Rome at the head of an army. See a speech by Claudius preserved in an inscription. Table of Lyons ILS 212 1 8–27.
14 son of a slave woman Some ancient historians felt that for a Roman king to have been a slave’s offspring was infra dignitatem, and suggested that she had originally been a noblewoman before being captured in a war. See Livy 1 39.
15 Though he was brought up as a slave Cic Rep 2 21 (37).
16 “The king has been stunned” Livy 1 41 5.
17 believed devoutly in his luck For example, Sulla and Julius Caesar in the first century B.C.
18 special relationship with Fortuna See Cornell, p. 146.
19 “[The king] put into effect the principle” Cic Rep 2 22 39–40.
20 about 80,000 citizens Livy 1 44 2. The number given by Dio of H 4 22 2 is 84,700.
21 a population of about 35,000 On Rome’s population, see Cornell, pp. 204–08.
22 base-born himself Livy 1 47 11.
23 At the top of Cyprus Street Ibid., 1 47 6–7.
24 the Sibyl used to sit in a bottle. Pet 48.
25 discovered by a modern archaeologist Amedeo Mauri in 1932.
26 understand “the regular curving path” Cic Rep 2 25 45.
27 Tarquin was no delegator For this paragraph, see Dio 2 11 6.
28 “In the sweetness of private gain” Livy 1 54 10.
29 “through country which Roman feet” Ibid., 1 56 6.
30 “difficult even for an active man” Paus 10 5 5.
31 Bronze Charioteer Now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
32 The Pythia was a local woman In fact, there were three of them, two who alternated and the third being a reserve. The Delphic oracle was a cottage industry.
33 a sex scandal I follow Livy’s more composed, even theatrical version of events (1 57–59), rather than that of Dionysius, who moves the key personalities to and fro between Ardea and Rome, to no great purpose, except for a veneer of verisimilitude.
4. So What Really Happened?
Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Cicero are the main literary sources.
1 “old tales” Livy 1 Preface 6–7.
2 “a nation as truly Greek” Dio of H 1 61 1.
3 Romulus means “founder of Rome” Ogilvie 1 p. 32.
4 “the spirit of tranquillity” Cic Rep 2 14 27.
5 “religious ceremonial [and] laws” Ibid., 2 14 26.
5. The Land and Its People
The poets Virgil, Horace, and Propertius evoke Rome’s prehistory. For a more detailed account see Scullard, A History of the Roman World 753 to 146 B.C., Chapter 1.
1 a shower of stones Livy 1 31 1.
2 Laurel, myrtle, beech, and oak Theo 5 8 3.
3 “All Latium is blessed” Strabo 5 3 5.
4 “In general, Etruria” Dio Sic 5 40 5 (citing Posidonius).
5 [He] avoids the haughty portals Hor Ep 2 7–16.
6 This is what I prayed for Hor Sat 2 6 1–4.
7 The Curia, now standing high Prop 4 1 11–14.
8 Homer probably wrote his great epics Homer, of course, may have been one or more authors—even a woman. Samuel Butler argues that the writer of the Odyssey was a young Sicilian woman (see The Authoress of the Odyssey, 1897).
9 “We Romans got our culture” Cic Rep 2 15 29.
10 had no settled / Way of life Virg Aen 8 315–18.
11 “intractable folk” Ibid., 321.
12 The Capitol, “golden today” Ibid., 348.
13 “Cattle were everywhere” Ibid., 360–61.
14 an assemblage of wattle and daub Modern archaeologists have found postholes and cuttings for several huts, and more than one may have survived. A duplicate was maintained on the Capitol.
15 the foundations of a village See Stambaugh, pp. 11–12.
6. Free at Last
Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Cicero are the main sources, together with Cassius Dio. Plutarch’s life of Publicola describes the execution of Brutus’s sons.
1 quite possibly because of a sex scandal Ogilvie, pp. 94–96, 218–20. He argues that it is possible that Lucretia committed suicide, anticipating an unfavorable verdict by a court of family membe
rs headed by her plenipotentiary husband. (This was how adultery was then dealt with.)
2 two officials called consuls Their powers probably took some time to develop; I describe them at their complete extent. They were perhaps originally named as praetors. Some moderns have argued that there was an interim period after its birth when the Republic was governed by one official. But there is little evidence for this and the tradition of two consuls/praetors is strong.
3 took office in 509 This was the traditional date, and is probably (give or take a year or two) accurate. To what degree Brutus, one of the first pair of consuls, is a fully historical figure is moot.
4 invented the post of dictator Consuls convened elections for their successors, but in their absence a dictator could be appointed to fulfill this task.
5 ad hoc collection of patricians For the structure of the early Senate see Cornell, pp. 248–49.
6 auctoritas “was more than advice” Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht, vol. 3, chap. 2 (1887).
7 lower their rods Cic Rep 2 31 54.
8 final court of appeal A right of appeal existed under the kings and probably did not have to be conceded.
9 “though the People were free” Cic Rep 2 31 (57).
10 The conspirators decided they should swear The story of the unmasking of the traitors bears an uncanny resemblance to Cicero’s exposure of the Catilinarian conspiracy in the first century B.C.
11 “Come, Titus, come Tiberius” Plut Popl 6 1.
12 “cruel and incredible” Dio of Hal 5 8 1.
13 “performed an act” Plut Popl 6 3–4.
14 swam back to the Roman shore Polybius 6 55 ends the story differently. Horatius drowns.
15 A statue of Horatius was erected Aul Gell 4 5.
16 its presence is attested Pliny Nat Hist 16 236.
17 Porsenna settled down For the siege, see Livy 2 12 1.
18 an Athenian king Codrus, last of the semi-mythical kings of Athens, who was succeeded by the new post of archon.
19 “Porsenna, when the city gave itself up” The great historian is Tacitus in Tac Hist 3 72.
20 “In a treaty granted by Porsenna” Pliny Nat Hist 34 139.
21 named after them, vicus Tuscus Dio of H 5 36 2–4. Of course, it could well be that the story was invented to explain the street name.
22 an old custom at public sales Livy 2 14 1–4.
7. General Strike
Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus are the main sources, and Plutarch’s Life of Coriolanus. The Coriolanus episode is almost certainly fictional; Cicero in Brutus 41–43 observes: “Coriolanus is obviously a second Themistocles.” Themistocles was the savior of Athens during the Persian invasion; he was exiled and then plotted against his native country.
1 climbed a sparsely populated hill Some ancient sources, e.g. Plut Cor 6 1, identify the hill as the Sacred Mount three miles from the city beside the river Anio. But the Aventine, a place closely associated with popular politics, seems a more likely candidate.
2 This was a mass protest The consensus of contemporary opinion is that this secession was a historical event, caused indeed by a debt crisis.
3 “Once upon a time” Livy 2 32 9 12.
4 a Temple of Mercury See Ogilvie, pp. 22–33.
5 “The People, freed from the domination” Cic Rep 2 33.
6 the story of a victim Livy 2 23 (and for the quotation that follows). This incident may or may not have occurred. It resembles the kind of rhetorical exercise that would-be orators used for training. But it was certainly typical.
7 Appius Claudius Appius was a first name, or praenomen, that was exclusive to the Claudians.
8 members of a gathering called the plebs I follow Cornell, pp. 256–58.
9 a state within a state A phrase from Mommsen 3 145, who himself followed Livy 2 44 9.
10 first tribunes to take office Dionysius gives these perhaps fictitious details about the first two tribunes—Dio of H 6 70. Brutus may have really been Lucius Albinius, according to Asc, p. 117.
11 “lynch law disguised as divine justice” Cornell, p. 260.
12 it was not for another two decades In 471 B.C.
13 the right to “intercede” Valerio–Horatian Laws in 449.
14 No reports of their proceedings Livy 3 55 13.
15 “so that nothing that was transacted” Zon 7 15.
16 “Unless you stop disturbing the Republic” Dio of H 7 25 4.
17 “Any such measure on our part” Plut Cor 16 4.
18 The stalemate was broken Volumnia’s meeting with Coriolanus can be found in Plut Cor 33–36.
19 “You were elected as Tribunes of the plebs” Livy 3 9 11.
20 A leading statesman, three times a consul This was Spurius Cassius, consul in 502, 493, and 486. Some modern scholars do not believe the story of his ambition and fall.
21 its text could still be seen Cic Balb 53.
22 once his father had given evidence Our sources may be confused. Spurius Cassius could have been condemned by a family court of his own relatives, with his father, the all-powerful paterfamilias, presiding.
23 a spirited resistance It is said that in 454 a delegation of three was sent to Athens to study the laws of Solon (638–558). This is most unlikely to have taken place; Pericles was in power and would hardly have shown the visitors such old-fashioned and outmoded legislation. However, it is credible that consideration was given to the laws and constitutions of Greek cities in Italy. An alternative tradition has a Greek philosopher in exile advise the decemvirs.
24 ingenious speculations For example, Ogilvie p. 452 says firmly that “the second college is fictitious from start to finish.” 103 “The Decemvirate, after a flourishing start” Livy 3 33 2.
25 “ten Tarquins” Ibid., 3 39 3.
26 As with the fall of the kings Modern scholars look on the approximate “rhyme” with the rape of Lucretia with suspicion. Perhaps rightly so, but Cornell p. 275 argues that the story of Appius Claudius and Verginia may be very old and that its main elements could have a basis in fact.
27 “I have incontrovertible evidence” Livy 3 48 1–3. This speech is drawn from Livy’s imaginative reconstruction.
28 encamped on the Aventine Livy 3 52 2 says that they moved on to the Sacred Mount, probably an unnecessary elaboration of the story.
29 “I know well enough what is coming to us” Ibid., 3 54 3–4.
30 “wisely favored popular measures” Cic Rep 2 31 54.
31 haughty manner of a Claudian It is odd that, for centuries, the Claudian gens produced generation after generation of impossible men. Some assert that this was all made up by hostile Roman historians. Maybe, but (for example) we have reliable evidence of bad behavior by Claudians in the late Republic (witness Cicero’s relations with Clodius Pulcher and Appius Claudius, as set out in his correspondence). Genetics are less likely to be responsible than the not entirely unwelcome obligation to live up to other people’s expectations.
32 killed himself Dio of H 9 54 3–6. Another imaginative reconstruction, no doubt.
33 The consuls had three important laws passed The ancient sources give differing accounts of the Valerio-Horatian legislation. The difficulty is that real constitutional changes did take place, but it is not at all clear exactly when. I follow mainstream modern opinion. Those wishing to delve more deeply into this dry earth may do so at CAH, pp. 227–35.
34 “still today the fountainhead” Livy 3 34 6.
35 “A man might gather up fruit” Table 7 10 (according to the traditional tabulation).
36 “Let them keep the road in order” Table 7 1.
37 “Where a party is delivered up” Table 3 10.
8. The Fall of Rome
Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus are the main sources, with contributions by Cicero and Polybius.
1 fifteenth of July in the year 496 This is the date given by Livy 2 42 5.
2 the spring that rose just by the Temple of Vesta The Pool of Juturna.
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sp; 3 Castor and Pollux Castor and Polydeuces, in their Greek incarnation. 112 “It made a fine sight” Dio of H 6 13 5.
4 Livy’s “great astonishment” Livy 6 12 2.
5 The Carthaginians shall do no injury Polyb 3 22 11–13. This treaty is historical. The reliable Polybius reports what he surely saw for himself, that the treaty was preserved in bronze in the treasury of the aediles beside the Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest. He confesses to having some trouble translating the archaic Latin, but the text as he gives it is plausible and rational.
6 boundaries of Latium at this epoch Latium Vetus, Old Latium.
7 still there in Cicero’s time Cic Balb 53.
8 Let there be peace between the Romans Dio of H 6 95 2.
9 Etruscan ruling class of Capua Livy 4 37 1–2.
10 Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus Livy 3 26–29.
11 “most opulent of all Etruria’s cities” Ibid., 5 22.
12 its forces reached Rome The First Veientine War, 483–74.
13 As you know, gentlemen Livy 2 48 8. A Livian reconstruction.
14 replaced their kings with elected officials Briquel, p. 44.
15 Aulus Cornelius Cossus Livy 4 19. A vivid account.
16 a linen corselet The inscription and corselet had probably been restored in 222, when the third winner of spolia opima made his dedication at the temple. See Ogilvie Livy 1–5, pp. 558–65.
17 expanded from four thousand to six thousand men Keppie, p. 18.
18 priestess straightforwardly suggested According to Livy 5 16 9–11.
19 designed to prevent seepage See Ogilvie 1, pp. 658–59.
20 This work was now begun Livy 5 19 10–11.
21 archaic wooden statue Dio of H 13.3. A xoanon, or carved wooden image. A contemporary sculpture would have been made of terra-cotta.
22 “leave this town where you now dwell” Livy 5 21 3.
23 “too much like a romantic stage play” Ibid., 5 21 8–9.
24 the only civic status available, Roman citizenship For this plausible speculation, see CAH 7 2, pp. 312–13.
The Rise of Rome Page 45
