The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic

The Story of Rome From the
Earliest Times to the End of the
Republic

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Rome From the Earliest
Times to the End of the Republic
by Arthur Gilman Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be
sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading
or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the
Republic
Author: Arthur Gilman

Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6427] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 11,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE
STORY OF ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END
OF THE REPUBLIC ***

Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team.

THE STORY OF ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE
END OF THE REPUBLIC
BY ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A.

PREFACE.

It is proposed to rehearse the lustrous story of Rome, from its
beginning in the mists of myth and fable down to the mischievous
times when the republic came to its end, just before the brilliant period
of the empire opened.
As one surveys this marvellous vista from the vantage-ground of the
present, attention is fixed first upon a long succession of well-
authenticated facts which are shaded off in the dim distance, and finally
lost in the obscurity of unlettered antiquity. The flesh and blood heroes
of the more modern times regularly and slowly pass from view, and in
their places the unsubstantial worthies of dreamy tradition start up. The
transition is so gradual, however, that it is at times impossible to draw
the line between history and legend. Fortunately for the purposes of this
volume it is not always necessary to make the effort. The early

traditions of the Eternal City have so long been recounted as truth that
the world is slow to give up even the least jot or tittle of them, and
when they are disproved as fact, they must be told over and over again
as story.
Roman history involves a narrative of social and political struggles, the
importance of which is as wide as modern civilization, and they must
not be passed over without some attention, though in the present
volume they cannot be treated with the thoroughness they deserve. The
story has the advantage of being to a great extent a narrative of the
exploits of heroes, and the attention can be held almost the whole time
to the deeds of particular actors who successively occupy the focus or
play the principal parts on the stage. In this way the element of personal
interest, which so greatly adds to the charm of a story, may be infused
into the narrative.
It is hoped to enter to some degree into the real life of the Roman
people, to catch the true spirit of their actions, and to indicate the
current of the national life, while avoiding the presentation of particular
episodes or periods with undue prominence. It is intended to set down
the facts in their proper relation to each other as well as to the facts of
general history, without attempting an incursion into the domain of
philosophy.
A.G.
CAMBRIDGE, September, 1885.

CONTENTS

I.
ONCE UPON A TIME
The old king at Troy--Paris, the wayward youth--Helen carried
off--The war of ten years--Æneas, son of Anchises, goes to Italy--His
death-- Fact and fiction in early stories--How Milton wrote about early
England--How Æneas was connected with England--Virgil writes about
Æneas--How Livy wrote about Æneas--Was Æneas a son of
Venus?--Italy, as Æneas would have seen it--Greeks in Italy--How
Evander came from Arcadia--How Æneas died--Thirty cities
rise--Twins and a she-wolf-- Trojan names in Italy--How the Romans
named their children and themselves.

II.
HOW THE SHEPHERDS BEGAN THE CITY
Augury resorted to--Romulus and Remus on two hills--Vultures
determine a question--Pales, god of the shepherds--Beginning the
city--Celer killed--An asylum--Bachelors want wives--A game of
wife-snatching-- Sabines wish their daughters back--Tarpeia on the
hill--A