Anthony Everitt: The Rise of Rome

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.

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, Römisches 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.

18 an Athenian king Codrus, last of the semi-mythical kings of Athens, who was succeeded by the new post of archon.

19 “Porsenna, when the city gave itself up” The great historian is Tacitus in Tac Hist 3 72.

20 “In a treaty granted by Porsenna” Pliny Nat Hist 34 139.

21 named after them , vicus Tuscus Dio of H 5 36 2–4. Of course, it could well be that the story was invented to explain the street name.

22 an old custom at public sales Livy 2 14 1–4.

Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus are the main sources, and Plutarch’s Life of Coriolanus . The Coriolanus episode is almost certainly fictional; Cicero in Brutus 41–43 observes: “Coriolanus is obviously a second Themistocles.” Themistocles was the savior of Athens during the Persian invasion; he was exiled and then plotted against his native country.

1 climbed a sparsely populated hill Some ancient sources, e.g. Plut Cor 6 1, identify the hill as the Sacred Mount three miles from the city beside the river Anio. But the Aventine, a place closely associated with popular politics, seems a more likely candidate.

2 This was a mass protest The consensus of contemporary opinion is that this secession was a historical event, caused indeed by a debt crisis.

3 “Once upon a time” Livy 2 32 9 12.

4 a Temple of Mercury See Ogilvie, pp. 22–33.

5 “The People, freed from the domination” Cic Rep 2 33.

6 the story of a victim Livy 2 23 (and for the quotation that follows). This incident may or may not have occurred. It resembles the kind of rhetorical exercise that would-be orators used for training. But it was certainly typical.

7 Appius Claudius Appius was a first name, or praenomen, that was exclusive to the Claudians.

8 members of a gathering called the plebs I follow Cornell, pp. 256–58.

9 a state within a state A phrase from Mommsen 3 145, who himself followed Livy 2 44 9.

10 first tribunes to take office Dionysius gives these perhaps fictitious details about the first two tribunes—Dio of H 6 70. Brutus may have really been Lucius Albinius, according to Asc, p. 117.

11 “lynch law disguised as divine justice” Cornell, p. 260.

12 it was not for another two decades In 471 B.C.

13 the right to “intercede” Valerio–Horatian Laws in 449.

14 No reports of their proceedings Livy 3 55 13.

15 “so that nothing that was transacted” Zon 7 15.

16 “Unless you stop disturbing the Republic” Dio of H 7 25 4.

17 “Any such measure on our part” Plut Cor 16 4.

18 The stalemate was broken Volumnia’s meeting with Coriolanus can be found in Plut Cor 33–36.

19 “You were elected as Tribunes of the plebs” Livy 3 9 11.

20 A leading statesman, three times a consul This was Spurius Cassius, consul in 502, 493, and 486. Some modern scholars do not believe the story of his ambition and fall.

21 its text could still be seen Cic Balb 53.

22 once his father had given evidence Our sources may be confused. Spurius Cassius could have been condemned by a family court of his own relatives, with his father, the all-powerful paterfamilias, presiding.