Πάλιν δ ̓ εἴ τις εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν παρελθὼν τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἄλλην ἐξ ἄλλης ἴδοι παραβεβλημένην ταύτῃ καὶ βασιλικὰς στοὰς καὶ ναούς, ἴδοι δὲ καὶ τὸ Καπιτώλιον καὶ τὰ ἐνταῦθα ἔργα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ Παλατίῳ καὶ τῷ τῆς Λιβίας περιπάτῳ, ῥᾳδίως ἐκλάθοιτ ̓ ἂν τῶν ἔξωθεν. Strabo v. 3, 8. Proinde Romam ingressus, imperii virtutumque omnium larem, cum venisset ad rostra, perspectissimum priscae potentiae forum, obstipuit, perque omne latus quo se oculi contulissent, miraculorum densitate praestrictus, adlocutus nobilitatem in curia, populumque a tribunali, in palatium receptus favore multiplici, laetitia fruebatur optata. Ammian. Marcel. xvi. 10, 13. Indici deinde finitimis spectaculum iubet, quantoque apparatu tum sciebant aut poterant, concelebrant, ut rem claram expectatamque facerent. Multi mortales convenere maxime proximi quique . . Etiam Sabinorum omnis multitudo cum liberis ac coniugibus venit. .. Ubi spectaculi tempus venit deditaeque eo mentes cum oculis erant, tum ex composito orta vis, signoque dato iuventus Romana ad rapiendas virgines discurrit. . Turbato per metum ludicro maesti parentes virginum profugiunt, incusantes violati hospiti scelus deumque invocantes, cuius ad sollemne ludosque per fas ac fidem decepti venissent. Liv. i. 9, 7. 1 Augustus built a very beautiful portico in honor of his wife, Livia. After those on the Campus Martius, it was the most frequented of any in Rome. This was dedicated in 7 B. C. The building was not in the Forum, however, but on the Esquiline Hill. 2 The emperor Constantius the Second visits Rome in 357 A. D. 3 This famous incident known as the rape of the Sabine women took place, according to legend, in the days of Romulus who by this stratagem was able to provide wives for his Roman youths. Livy, in a later chapter (13), gives a graphic account of how the Sabine women intervened to stop the battle when their kinsmen came to avenge their wrongs, and of the truce which was made, providing not only for peace but also for the union of the two peoples. A Striking Sight If from hence you proceed to visit the ancient forumwhich is equally filled with basilicas, porticoes, and temples, you will there behold the Capitol, the Palatium, with the noble works which adorn them, and the portico of Livia,' each successive place causing you speedily to forget what you have before seen. H. C. HAMILTON The Emperor Constantius the Second is Astounded As he went on, having entered Rome, that home of sovereignty and of all virtues, when he arrived at the rostra, he gazed with an amazed awe on the Forum, the most renowned monument of ancient power, and being bewildered with the number of wonders on every side to which he turned his eyes, having addressed the nobles in the senate-house and harangued the people from the tribune, he retired with the good will of all into the palace where he enjoyed the luxury he had wished for. C. D. YONGE Romulus Provides Wives for the Young Men of Rome3 He then bade proclaim the spectacle to the surrounding peoples, and his subjects prepared to celebrate it with all the resources within their knowledge and power, that they might cause the occasion to be noised abroad and eagerly expected. Many people gathered for the fes . The tival, especially those who lived nearest. Sabines, too, came with all their people, including their children and wives. When the time came for the show, and people's thoughts and eyes were busy with it, the preconcerted attack began. At a given signal, the young Romans darted this way and that, to seize and carry off the maidens. The sports broke up in a panic and the parents of the maidens fled sorrowing. They charged the Romans with the crime of violating hospitality, and invoked the god to whose solemn games they had come, deceived in violation of religion and hon our. B. O. FOSTER Ὁ δὲ Βροῦτος ὀνομαστὶ τῶν υἱῶν ἑκάτερον προσειπὼν “Αγε, ὦ Τίτε” εἶπεν “ἄγε, ὦ Τιβέριε, τί οὐκ ἀπολογεῖσθε πρὸς τὴν κατηγορίαν;” Ὡς δ ̓ οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίναντο τρὶς ἐρωτηθέντες, οὕτως πρὸς τοὺς ὑπηρέτας ἀποστρέψας τὸ πρόσωπον, “Υμέτερον ἤδη” εἶπε, “τὸ λοιπὸν ἔργον.” Οἱ δὲ εὐθὺς συλλαβόντες τοὺς νεανίσκους περιερρήγνυον τὰ ἱμάτια, τὰς χεῖρας ἀπῆγον ὀπίσω, ῥάβδοις ἔξαινον τὰ σώματα, τῶν μέν ἄλλων οὐ δυναμένων προσορᾶν οὐδὲ καρτερούντων, ἐκεῖνον δὲ λέγεται μήτε τὰς ὄψεις ἀπαγαγεῖν ἀλλαχόσε μήτ' οἴκτῳ τι τρέψαι τῆς περὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ὀργῆς καὶ βαρύτητος, ἀλλὰ δεινὸν ἐνορᾶν κολαζομένοις τοῖς παισὶν ἄχρι οὗ κατατείναντες αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοὔδαφος πελέκει τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀπέκοψαν. Οὕτω δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐπὶ τῷ συνάρχοντι ποιησάμενος ᾤχετ ̓ ἐξαναστάς. Plut. Publicol. vi. Romam sed occidione occisum cum duciallatum fuerat. Numquam bus exercitum salva urbe tantum pavoris tumultusque intra moenia Romana fuit. Itaque succumbam oneri neque adgrediar narrare, quae edissertando minora vero faciam. summotaque foro per magistratus turba patres diversi ad sedandos tumultus discessissent. . . . . Tum privatae quoque per domos clades vulgatae sunt, adeoque totam urbem opplevit luctus, ut sacrum anniversarium Cereris intermissum sit, quia nec lugentibus id facere est fas nec ulla in illa tempestate matrona expers luctus fuerat. Liv. xxii. 54, 7-8; 56, 1; 56, 4. In the early days of the Republic, the sons of the consul Brutus were convicted of having conspired to bring back the kings. The father's stern sense of duty led him to have them killed as traitors. 5 In 216 B. C. A Roman Father Allows His Sons to be Killed1 But Brutus, calling each of his sons by name, said: "Come, Titus, come, Tiberius, why do ye not defend yourselves against this denunciation?" But when they made no answer, though he put his question to them thrice, he turned to the lictors, and said: "It is yours now to do the rest." These straightway seized the young men, tore off their togas, bound their hands behind their backs, and scourged their bodies with their rods. The rest could not endure to look upon the sight, but it is said that the father neither turned his gaze away, nor allowed any pity to soften the stern wrath that sat upon his countenance, but watched the dreadful punishment of his sons until the lictors threw them on the ground and cut off their heads with the axe. Then he rose and went away, after committing the other culprits to the judgment of his colleague. Bernadotte Perrin How Rome Received the News of Hannibal's Victory at Cannae5 At Rome accounts were received that armies with the consuls were utterly cut off. both Never while the city itself was in safety, did such a degree of dismay and confusion prevail within the walls of Rome. I therefore shrink from the task and will not undertake to describe a scene, of which any representation that I could give would fall short of the reality. The crowd being removed out of the Forum by the magistrates, the senators dispersed themselves on all sides to quiet the commotions. Then the losses of private families were made known through their several houses; and so entirely was the whole city filled with grief, that the anniversary festival of Ceres was omitted, because it is not allowable persons in mourning to celebrate it, and there was not, at the time, one matron who was not so habited. GEORGE BAKER |