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Posted by:
Carl
on
3/1/2010 11:29:24 PM
As Rome grew, it was settled and built out. Five of the seven hills now have people and houses on them and since nearly all of the immigrants are men, Rome finds itself without enough marriageable women. This in itself is no surprise. Most bandits, outlaws and others of that ilk are male being generally more agressive than their XX chromosome counterparts. Traditionally when this happens, the tribe short on women goes and finds some. This can go one of a few ways. They either merge with another tribe, steal some women and go back where they came from or they die in the process of executing on one of those plans. Here's how Romulus handled it.
Romulus' grandfather, Numitor, the ruler of Alba Longa, suggests they throw a party in honor of Neptune and invite the Sabines and some other Latins. These were neighboring tribes with "extra" females. 683 female "virgins" to be exact, and all of which the Romans manage to kidnap, take back to Rome and force into marriage. I put virgins in quotes because I seriously doubt all of them were without sexual experience of any kind, given the nature of homo sapiens. They were more likely women who hadn't borne children yet, or perhaps they were just young. No matter, the virgin-thing makes for a good story.
As you can imagine the Sabines and Latins were pretty mad and demanded the return of their sisters and daughters. Some Latins raised up troops and went after the Romans singly. They were each beaten. In a strange turn of events, Romulus didn't enslave them, surprising everyone. He does take most of their land, though, and gives it to his people.
The Sabines then mount their attack and manage to force Rome into a retreat, but it's shortlived. The Romans mount a counterattack, but in the process, their new wives intervene and demand they cease hosilities. A peace is reached and for a few years, the Roman king, Romulus, and the Sabine king, Tatius rule both peoples jointly. 100 Sabine elders and clan leaders are added to the Senate. The Sabines adopt the Roman calendar and the Romans adopt the Sabine armor and oblong shields, and the legions double in size. The Romans and Sabines are now one people, after a fashion.
Once Tatius is dead (and this is an interesting story, but not one that I'm going to tell today), Romulus rules all again and he does so for about 20 years. He organizes the tribes into the Luceres, the Ramnes, and the Titites. Each of these tribes elects a representative, a Tribune, which is sort of a judge, priest and general all rolled into one. He wages war, he conquers, he wins territory and takes hostages from influential families to keep opposing tribes in check. His grandfather dies and he inherits the rule of Alba Longa, which he restructures to run like Rome.
During this progression, Romulus grows more and more autocratic. He always showed these tendencies, but his success has brought them out in full. Or maybe as he got older he tired of wading through the bullshit of the multiple nobles and officials he'd appointed in order to get things done. Whatever the cause, the Senate doesn't like it. Romulus is ruling by edict and handing out land directly to his soldiers without even consulting the Senate. The Senate is quickly being reduced to a purely ceremonial body. They begin to hate Romulus. This wasn't the deal they signed on for and they felt they had a right to have some say in things.
And then, one fateful day in the 38th year of his reign, Romulus disappears. All of the people had gone to the Campus Martius (a 500 acre chunk of ground used for training the military, and pasturing sheep and horses), possibly to attend a religious festival or celebrate a triumph. Suddenly, a fierce storm arose and the sky turned black. Everyone ran. It was probably a hail storm that happened during a solar eclipse. Regardless, when the storm was over and the light returned, they all came back and Romulus was gone. The crowd began to turn ugly, suspecting that the Senate had "taken care of" Romulus due to his increasingly autocratic rule and their resentment of it. Rome was a small town then. You couldn't hide shit like that.
At this moment, one Julius Proculus stood up and addressed everyone. As Livy tells it, he said, "Romulus, the father of our city descended from heaven at dawn this morning and appeared to me. In awe and reverence I stood before him, praying for permission to look upon his face without sin. 'Go', he said, 'and tell the Romans that by heaven's will my Rome shall be capital of the world. Let them learn to be soldiers. Let them know, and teach their children, that no power on earth can stand against Roman arms.' Having spoken these words, he was taken up again into the sky." Divine ascension. Son of a god. Also it seems that there was a Christian translator in the mix somewhere, as the Romans don't have a concept of sin, per se. Nor do they have a concept of an afterlife at this point in their development. Regardless of any of this, from here on out he'd be known as Quirinus, although he wouldn't be formally worshiped and recieve a Flamen Maior (high priest) until several hundred years later.
Of course, a dispute arises shortly after the Senators dispose of the body, or Romulus divinely ascends or both -- that doesn't matter. What does matter is who is going to be king now? Should he be Roman or Sabine? They debate this for a year. Meanwhile, the most distinguished Senators pass the rulership around in five-day increments calling each other interreges. After this one year period, they elect a man named Numa Pompilius, a very smart, well-educated, thoughtful, and pious man. Numa Pompilius ruled Rome as its second king for 44 years. He died of old age.
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