Augury:
Livius I 6
[1] At the beginning of the fray Numitor exclaimed that an enemy had invaded the city and attacked
the palace, and drew off the active men of the place to serve as an armed garrison for the defence of
the citadel; and when he saw the young men approaching, after they had dispatched the king, to
congratulate him, he at once summoned a council, and laid before it his brother's crimes against
himself, the parentage of his grandsons, and how they had been born, reared, and recognised. [2] He
then announced the tyrant's death, and declared himself to be responsible for it. The brothers
advanced with their band through the midst of the crowd, and hailed their grandfather king,
whereupon such a shout of assent arose from the entire throng as confirmed the new monarch's title
and authority.
[3] The Alban state being thus made over to Numitor, Romulus and Remus were seized with the
desire to found a city in the region where they had been exposed and brought up. And in fact the
population of Albans and Latins was too large; besides, there were the shepherds. All together, their
numbers might easily lead men to hope that Alba would be small, and Lavinium small, compared
with the city which they should build. [4] These considerations were interrupted by the curse of their
grandsires, the greed of kingly power, and by a shameful quarrel which grew out of it, upon an
occasion innocent enough. Since the brothers were twins, and respect for their age could not
determine between them, it was agreed that the gods who had those places in their protection
should choose by augury who should give the new city its name, who should govern it when built.
Romulus took the Palatine for his augural quarter, Remus the Aventine.
Livius I 7
7. Remus1 is said to have been the first to receive an augury, from the flight of six vultures. The omen
had been already reported when twice that number appeared to Romulus. Thereupon each was
saluted king by his own followers, the one party laying claim to the honour from priority, the other
from the number of the birds. [2] They then engaged in a battle of words and, angry taunts leading to
bloodshed, Remus was struck down in the affray. The commoner story is that Remus leaped over the
new walls in mockery of his brother, whereupon Romulus in great anger slew him, and in menacing
wise added these words withal, “So perish whoever else shall leap over my walls!”2 [3] Thus Romulus
acquired sole power, and the city, thus founded, was called by its founder's name.
His first act was to fortify the Palatine, on which3 he had himself been reared. To other gods he
sacrificed after the Alban custom, but employed the Greek for Hercules, according to the institution
of Evander. [4] The story is as follows: Hercules, after slaying Geryones, was driving off his
wondrously beautiful cattle, when, close to the river Tiber, where he had swum across it with the
herd before him, he found a green spot, where he could let the cattle rest and refresh themselves
with the abundant grass; and being tired from his journey he lay down himself. [5] When he had
there fallen into a deep sleep, for he was heavy with food and wine, a shepherd by the name of
Cacus, who dwelt hard by and was insolent by reason of his strength, was struck with the beauty of
the animals, and wished to drive them off as plunder. But if he had driven the herd into his cave,
their tracks would have been enough to guide their owner to the place in his search; he therefore
chose out those of the cattle that were most remarkable for their beauty, and turning them the other
way, dragged them into the cave by their tails. [6] At daybreak Hercules awoke. Glancing over the
herd, and perceiving that a part of their number was lacking, he proceeded to the nearest cave, in
case there might be foot-prints leading into it. When he saw that they were all turned outward and
yet did not lead to any other place, he was confused and bewildered, and made ready to drive his
herd away from that uncanny spot. [7] As the cattle were being driven off, some of them lowed, as
usually happens, missing those which had been left behind. They were answered with a low by the
cattle shut up in the cave, and this made Hercules turn back. When he came towards the [p. 29]cave,
Cacus would have prevented his approach with4 force, but received a blow from the hero's club, and
calling in vain upon the shepherds to protect him, gave up the ghost. [8] Evander, an exile from the
Peloponnese, controlled that region in those days, more through personal influence than sovereign
power. He was a man revered for his wonderful invention of letters,5 a new thing to men
unacquainted with the arts, and even more revered because of the divinity which men attributed to
his mother Carmenta, whom those tribes had admired as a prophetess before the Sibyl's coming into
Italy. [9] Now this Evander was then attracted by the concourse of shepherds, who, crowding
excitedly about the stranger, were accusing him as a murderer caught red-handed. When he had
been told about the deed and the reason for it, and had marked the bearing of the man and his
figure, which was somewhat ampler and more august than a mortal's, he inquired who lie was. [10]
Upon learning his name, his father, and his birth-place, he exclaimed, “Hail, Hercules, son of Jupiter!
You are he, of whom my mother, truthful interpreter of Heaven, foretold to me that you should be
added to the number of the gods, and that an altar should be dedicated to you here which the nation
one day to [11] be the most powerful on earth should call the Greatest Altar, and should serve
according to your rite.” [12] Hercules gave him his hand, and declared that he accepted the omen,
and would fulfil the prophecy by establishing and dedicating an altar. Then and there men took a
choice victim from the herd, and for the first time made sacrifice to Hercules. [13] For the ministry
and the banquet they employed the Potitii and the Pinarii, being the families [p. 31]of most
distinction then living in that region. It so6 fell out that the Potitii were there at the appointed time,
and to them were served the inwards; the Pinarii came after the inwards had been eaten, in season
for the remainder of the feast. [14] Thence came the custom, which persisted as long as the Pinarian
family endured, that they should not partake of the inwards at that sacrifice. The Potitii, instructed
by Evander, were priests of this cult for many generations, until, having delegated to public slaves the
solemn function of their family, the entire stock of the Potitii died out. [15] This was the only sacred
observance, of all those of foreign origin, which Romulus then adopted, honouring even then the
immortality won by worth to which his own destiny was leading him.7
Augury:
Livius I 17
17. The senators meanwhile were engaged in a struggle for the coveted kingship. So far it had not
come to a question of any one person, for nobody stood out with special prominence in the new
nation; instead, a strife of factions was waging between the two stocks. [2] Those of Sabine origin,
having had no king on their side since the death of Tatius, feared that despite their equal rights they
might lose their hold upon the sovereign power, and hence desired that the king should be chosen
from their own body. [3] The original Romans spurned the idea of an alien king. Various, however, as
were men's inclinations, to be ruled by a king was their universal wish, for they had not yet tasted
the sweetness of liberty. [4] Then the senators became alarmed, lest the state wanting a ruler and
the army a leader, and many neighbouring states being disaffected, some violence might be offered
from without. [5] All therefore were agreed that there should be some head, but nobody could make
up his mind to yield to his fellow. And so the hundred senators shared the power among themselves,
establishing ten decuries and appointing one man for each decury to preside over the administration.
[6] Ten men exercised authority; only one had its insignia and lictors. Five days was the period of his
power, which passed in rotation to all; and for a year the monarchy lapsed. This interval was called,
as it was, an interregnum, a name which even yet obtains. [7] Murmurs then arose among the plebs
that their servitude had been multiplied; that a hundred masters had been given them instead of [p.
63]one. No longer, it seemed, would they endure1 anything short of a king, and a king, too, of their
own choosing. [8] Perceiving that such ideas were in the wind, the senators thought it would be well
to proffer spontaneously a thing which they were on the verge of losing, and obtained the favour of
the people by granting them supreme power on such terms as to part with no greater prerogative
than they retained. [9] For they decreed that when the people should have named a king, their act
should only be valid in case the senators ratified it. Even now, in voting for laws and magistrates, the
same right is exercised, but is robbed of its significance; before the people can begin to vote, and
when the result of the election is undetermined, the Fathers ratify it. [10] On the present occasion
the interrex summoned the assembly and spoke as follows: “May prosperity, favour, and fortune
attend our action! Quirites, choose your king. Such is the pleasure of the Fathers, who, in their turn,
if your choice fall upon one worthy to be called Romulus' successor, will confirm your election.” [11]
This so pleased the plebs, that, unwilling to appear outdone in generosity, they merely resolved and
ordered that the senate should decree who should be king in Rome.
Livius I 18
18. A great reputation for justice and piety was enjoyed in those days by Numa Pompilius. Cures, a
town of the Sabines, was his home, and he was deeply versed, so far as anyone could be in that age,
in all law, divine and human. [2] The teacher to whom he owed his learning was not, as men say, in
default of another name, the Samian Pythagoras; for it is well established that Servius Tullius was
king at Rome, more than a hundred years after this [p. 65]time, when Pythagoras gathered about
him, on the1 farthest coasts of Italy, in the neighbourhood of Metapontum, Heraclea, and Croton,
young men eager to share his studies.2 [3] And from that country, even if he had been
contemporary, how could his fame have reached the Sabines? Again, in what common language
could he have induced anyone to seek instruction of him? Or under whose protection could a solitary
man have made his way through so many nations differing in speech and customs? [4] It was Numa's
native disposition, then, as I incline to believe, that tempered his soul with noble qualities, and his
training was not in foreign studies, but in the stern and austere discipline of the ancient Sabines, a
race incorruptible as any race of the olden time. [5] When Numa's name had been proposed, the
Roman senators perceived that the Sabines would gain the ascendancy if a king were to be chosen
from that nation; yet nobody ventured to urge his own claims in preference to those of such a man,
nor the claim of any other of his faction, nor those, in short, of any of the senators or citizens. [6] And
so they unanimously voted to offer the sovereignty to Numa Pompilius. Being summoned to Rome
he commanded that, just as Romulus had obeyed the augural omens in building his city and assuming
regal power, so too in his own case the gods should be consulted. Accordingly an augur (who
thereafter, as a mark of honour, was made a priest of the state in permanent charge of that function)
conducted him to the citadel and caused him to sit down on a stone, facing the south. [7] The augur
seated himself on Numa's left, having his head covered, and holding his in right hand the crooked
staff without a knot [p. 67]which they call a lituus. [8] Then, looking out over the3 City and the
country beyond, he prayed to the gods, and marked off the heavens by a line from east to west,
designating as ' right' the regions to the south, as 'left' those to the north, and fixing in his mind a
landmark opposite to him and as far away as the eye could reach; [9] next shifting the crook to his
left hand and, laying his right hand on Numa's head, he uttered the following prayer: “Father Jupiter,
if it is Heaven's will that this man Numa Pompilius, whose head I am touching, be king in Rome, do
thou exhibit to us unmistakable signs within those limits which I have set.” [10] He then specified the
auspices which he desired should be sent, and upon their appearance Numa was declared king, and
so descended from the augural station.
Fetiales
Livius I 32
32. On the death of Tullus, the government1 reverted, in accordance with the custom established in
the beginning, to the senators, who named an interrex. This official called together the comitia, and
the people elected Ancus Marcius king, a choice which the Fathers ratified. Ancus Marcius was a
grandson, on the mother's side, of King Numa Pompilius. [2] When he began to rule he was mindful
of his grandfather's glory, and considered that the last reign, excellent in all else, had failed to
prosper in one respect, owing to neglect or misconduct of religious observances. Deeming it
therefore a matter of the utmost consequence to perform the state sacrifices as Numa had
established them, he bade the pontifex copy out all these from the commentaries of the king and
display them in public on a whitened table. This act led the citizens, who were eager for peace, [p.
115]and also the neighbouring nations, to hope that he2 would adopt the character and institutions
of his grandfather. [3] Hence the Latins, with whom a treaty had been made in the time of Tullus,
plucked up courage, and raided Roman territory, and when called on by the Romans to make
restitution, returned an arrogant answer, persuaded that the Roman king would spend his reign in
inactivity amid shrines and altars. But the character of Ancus was well balanced, and he honoured
the memory of Romulus, as well as Numa. [4] And besides having a conviction that peace had been
more necessary to his grandfather's reign, when the nation had been both young and mettlesome,
he also believed that the tranquillity, so free of attack, which had fallen to the lot of Numa would be
no easy thing for himself to compass; his patience was being tried, and when proved would be
regarded with contempt, and in short the times were better suited to the rule of a Tullus than a
Numa. [5] In order however that, as Numa had instituted religious practices in time of peace, he
might himself give out a ceremonial of war, and that wars might not only be waged but also declared
with some sort of formality, he copied from the ancient tribe of the Aequicoli the law, which the
fetials now have,3 by which redress is demanded.
[6] When the envoy has arrived at the frontiers of the people from whom satisfaction is sought, he
covers his head with a bonnet —the covering is of wool —and says: “Hear, Jupiter; hear, ye
boundaries of” —naming whatever nation they belong to; —“let righteousness hear! [7] I am the
public herald of the Roman People; I come duly and religiously commissioned; let my words be
credited,” Then he [p. 117]recites his demands, after which he takes Jupiter to4 witness: “If I demand
unduly and against religion that these men and these things be surrendered to me, then let me never
enjoy my native land.” [8] These words he rehearses when he crosses the boundary line, the same to
what man soever first meets him, the same when he enters the city gates, the same when he has
come into the market-place, with only a few changes in the form and wording of the oath. [9] If those
whom he demands are not surrendered, at the end of three and thirty days —for such is the
conventional number —he declares war thus: “Hear, Jupiter, and thou, Janus Quirinus, and hear all
heavenly gods, and ye, gods of earth, and ye of the lower world; I call you to witness that this
people” —naming whatever people it is —“is unjust, and does not make just reparation. [10] But of
these matters we will take counsel of the elders in our country, how we may obtain our right.” Then
the messenger returns to Rome for the consultation. [11] Immediately the king would consult the
Fathers, in some such words as these: “Touching the things, the suits, the causes, concerning which
the pater patratus of the Roman People of the Quirites has made demands on the pater patratus of
the Ancient Latins, and upon the men of the Ancient Latins, which things they have not delivered, nor
fulfilled, nor satisfied, being things which ought to have been delivered, fulfilled, and satisfied,
speak,” —turning to the man whose opinion he was wont to ask first, — “what think you?” Then the
other would reply: “I hold that those things ought to be sought in warfare just and righteous; and so I
consent and vote.” [12] The others were then asked the question, in their order, and when the
majority [p. 119]of those present went over to the same opinion, war5 had been agreed upon. [13] It
was customary for the fetial to carry to the bounds of the other nation a cornet-wood spear, ironpointed
or hardened in the fire, and in the presence of not less than three grown men to say:
“Whereas the tribes of the Ancient Latins and men of the Ancient Latins have been guilty of acts and
offences against the Roman People of the Quirites; and whereas the Roman People of the Quirites
has commanded that war be made on the Ancient Latins, and the Senate of the Roman People has
approved, agreed, and voted a war with the Ancient Latins; I therefore and the Roman People
declare and make war on the tribes of the Ancient Latins and the men of the Ancient Latins.” [14]
Having said this, he would hurl his spear into their territory. This is the manner in which at that time
redress was sought from the Latins and war was declared, and the custom has been received by later
generations.