LIFE WITHOUT ROMULUS

With Romulus gone, there was much uproar in Rome.

To calm the masses, the Roman senate came up with an idea.

Instead of having a king, the senate decided to divide themselves into ten groups of ten men.

Each group of 10 men ruled for 50 days, with one man having complete power for 5 days and then it was handed to another man for 5 days.

The senate thought that this would solve the problem.

The people, however, did not like this idea, complaining that instead of one master, they now had 100.

To calm the people, the senate chose a Sabine man named Numa to be the next king.

Numa was a very well-respected man who was known for his justice and piety.

Everyone thought that Numa would be a great man to replace Romulus. But was he?!!

Numa: The Next King of Rome

Following the disappearance of Romulus, Numa Pompilius became the next king.

One of the first things which Numa did was build a temple to the god Janus.

Janus was the Roman god believed to have two faces (back and front) and was the god of doorways, luck and peace.

The temple doors were always to remain open, signifying that Rome was at war and to be closed in times of peace (only twice in Roman history were they ever closed).

Numa then revised the Roman calendar to twelve lunar months from the old system (which only had ten months).

He added the months of January and February to the calendar.

Because the Roman calendar was off by a few days, Numa “inserted” intercalary months every few years to balance out the calendar.

Numa, however, was concerned that Rome’s military history might influence its future.

Therefore, he devised a plan which turned Rome into a city of peace.

PEACE WITH NUMA

Numa realized that Rome had been founded as a city of war, so he sought to change this.

He wished for Rome to be known as a city of peace, so he sought to inspire them with the fear of the gods.

He created a story which said that he was in the habit of meeting a goddess named Egeria at night who gave him religious advice.

Numa established the cult of Vesta with its twelve Vestal Virgins whose chief duty was to protect the eternal flame of Rome.

Numa believed that as long as the flame was kept alive, then Rome would remain.

Numa also established the Salii, the leaping priests of Mars.

These male priests would leap through the streets carrying the sacred shields believed to have fallen from heaven.

Rome began to change and became known as a city of peace.

When Numa died, the story spread that the goddess Egeria had turned him into a well.

With Numa gone, the people once again panicked.

The 3rd King of Rome

Following the death of Numa, Tullus Hostilius became the next king.

Unlike Numa, whose reign was typified by peace, Tullus Hostilius was known for his military power.

He had felt that Numa had turned Rome into a “wimpy” city and sought to change that.

One of Rome’s hostile neighbors was the region of Alba Longa.

A long-running dispute over cattle between Rome and Alba led to war.

It was decided that the dispute would be settled in a fight between two sets of triplets: the Horatii would fight for the Romans...

and the Curiatii would fight for the Albans.

Finally, only one of the Romans was left alive, but he heroically defeated the other three Albans by himself.

As a result, Rome gained the Alban regions and increased its borders.

Eventually, Tullus became ill from a plague and turned to religion, giving up his very pugnacious nature.

According to legend, because Tullus was starting to plan a military campaign against his neighbors, Jupiter struck him with a lightning bolt and killed him.

Roman Kings # 4 and #5

Following the death of Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius became the 4th king.

Like Numa (supposedly his grandfather), Ancus was a very good and religious king.

His major accomplishment during his reign was to build a bridge across the Tiber River.

The Latin word for bridge-builder is PONTIFEX

Because Ancus was such a religious man and a bridge builder, the word “pontifex” became associated with religion.

Following the death of Ancus, Tarquinius Priscus became the next king by “deception”.

Priscus was married to a Greek prophetess named Tanaquil.

Priscus estabished the Circus Maximus (site of chariot racing).

Priscus also established the Roman sewer system (called cloacae).

Priscus was eventually assassinated by the sons of Ancus Marcius.

But since Tanaquil was a prophetess, she saw to it that her son- in-law Servius Tullius would be the next king.

SCANDAL!!

The 6 th King of Rome

Following the death of Priscus, Servius Tullius became the 6 th king of Rome.

According to legend, he was the son of a slave-woman and a god.

He married the daughter of Priscus and became the new king when Priscus died.

Servius was responsible for settling Rome on seven hills or the “Septimontium”.

He also reorganized the Roman class system according to wealth. Prior to this, family name determined one’s status.

This move angered the upper class Romans very much.

Servius ruled for over 40 years and would have reigned longer, except that he had a wicked daughter, Tullia...

Tullia…the Bad Seed

Tullia was jealous of her sister’s marriage to a man named Tarquin Superbus,

so she convinced her brother-in-law to murder her sister...

and she married Tarquin Superbus.

Tarquin then threw Servius Tullius, the king, from the roof of the Curia (Senate House), killing him.

When it was announced that Tarquin was the new king, Tullia then rode through the street over her dead father’s body to greet her husband.

This street became known as the Via Scelerata (the Wicked Way).

Tullia then used her father’s blood in a religious ceremony to the gods.

The actions of Tullia and Tarquin Superbus outraged the Roman people.

The Roman people needed a hero who would save them from them from these two.

Tarquinius Superbus and the Sibylline Books

Having murdered Servius Tullius, Tarquinius Superbus was now the new king.

Tarquinius, however, was not the smartest man.

One day, an old woman came to Tarquinius, carrying nine Books.

She told him that these nine books foretold the future and that the books were for sale.

When asked how much the books were, the old woman demanded a huge price.

Tarquinius refused; the old woman then threw three of the nine books into the fire.

The old woman then offered the remaining six books for the same price as the nine. Show me the money!!

Once again, when he refused, she threw three more books into the fire.

The old woman then revealed herself as the Sibyl, a famous prophetess.

Tarquinius finally realized the importance of these books and bought them for the price of the nine books.

When he asked her to rewrite what was in the lost six books, she refused.

These books became known as the Sibylline Books and were buried under the Capitoline Hill.

The Romans consulted these books in times of war and natural disasters to find out the answers.

What did these books have to say about Tarquinius? STAY TUNED!!

Tarquin Superbus

The seventh and last king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus (the Proud One), the husband of Tullia.

Tarquinius had a son also named Tarquinius Superbus.

There was a very virtuous woman named Lucretia.

One night, Lucretia and her husband had the Superbus family over for dinner.

When they left, Tarquinius Superbus, Jr. returned and raped Lucretia.

Rather than endure the shame of being raped, Lucretia killed herself.

This event angered the Roman people.

The Romans needed a hero who would save them from the Superbus family; they were led by a man named Brutus.

Brutus and the rest of the Roman people chased Tarquinius and his family out of Rome.

Brutus then changed the form of government from a monarchy to a republic.

Would Tarquinius return? TO BE CONTINUED