105
The Forum was the center of
everyday life in ancient Rome. Among
other shrines, it contained the Temple
of Vesta—one of its oldest shrines,
dating back to the 7th century bce.in the god’s honor. He invited the
Sabines to the festival but, while
the Sabine men watched the
chariot races, Romulus gave a
signal, throwing his cloak over his
shoulders, and with this, his men
took up arms. They seized the
Sabine women, carrying them over
the thresholds of their houses and
claiming them as their wives.War and reconciliation
Hoodwinked and humiliated, the
Sabine men resolved to wage war
against the Romans. After Romulus
killed the Sabine king, Acron, the
Sabines united under Titus Tatius
and laid siege to Rome. Tarpeia,
the daughter of the commander of
Rome’s citadel, betrayed the city:
in exchange for the Sabine’s gold
armlets, she opened the gates
and let in the foreign army.During the bloody fight that
followed, Romulus was knocked
down by a stone thrown at his
head. The Romans began to retreat,
rallying only when Romulus rose
and prayed to Jupiter Stator (“the
stayer”) for help. The battle was
halted by the Sabine women, who
ran between the two armies and
begged their Sabine fathers and
Roman husbands not to kill each
other. Peace was made between
the two sides under the joint
leadership of Romulus and Tatius.
Romulus ruled Rome for 40
years, establishing it as a mighty
city. Many stories were told of his
superior strength. In one display
of power, Romulus stood on the
Aventine Hill and hurled his spear
into the earth. It sank so deep that
no man could pull it out. The shaft
was made of hard cornel wood,
and the tree that grew from it
was treated with great reverence.
In the time of Gaius Caesar,
who reigned from 27 bce–14 ce,
the roots of Romulus’s cornel tree
were inadvertently cut by workmen
repairing some nearby steps,
and the tree withered and died.ANCIENT ROME
The rape of the Sabine women
has been depicted by many artists.
This detail is from a vast fresco by
Luca Cambiaso (ca. 1565) for a salon
at the Villa Imperiale in Genoa, Italy.The city of Rome grew in power
and prestige, but not without
conflict. When ambassadors from
the city of Laurentum were
murdered by Tatius’s kinsmen,
Tatius was slain in revenge.
A plague afflicted both Rome and
Laurentum, as both sides were
seen to be at fault in not pursuing
justice for their murderers. Taking
advantage of the plague, the people
of Cameria attacked Rome, but
Romulus defeated them, taking
their city and half of its inhabitants.Ascension
One day, when Romulus was
mustering his troops in the Field of
Mars, a storm arose. The air rang
with peals of thunder, and Romulus
was wrapped in a cloud and carried
up to heaven in the chariot of his
father, Mars, to become a god
himself. Thereafter, Romulus was
worshipped under the name of
Quirinus, the Sabine god of war.
The next king after Romulus, Numa
Pompilius, was a Sabine, showing
that the union of the two peoples
lasted beyond the reigns of
Romulus and Tatius. ■US_102-105_Founding_of_Rome.indd 105 01/12/17 4:22 pm