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.
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 members 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, Romisches 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.
