INTRODUCTION

Illustration: Marcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curveMarcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curve.Frontispiece.THE CHILDHOODOF ROMEByL. LAMPREYWITH ILLUSTRATIONS BYEDNA F. HART-HUBONIllustration: Printer’s signBOSTONLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY1925Copyright, 1922,By Little, Brown, and Company.All rights reservedPrinted in the United States of AmericatoMaitland C. Lamprey[pg vii]INTRODUCTIONIt is scarcely necessary to say that these stories are not meant to be taken as history, even legendary history. The tales of the founding of Rome and of the early life of the Italian races are many and contradictory. It is quite possible that future discoveries may disprove half the theories now held on these subjects. There must have been, however, heroic semi-savage figures like the Romulus of the legends, and the aim of the author has been to re-create in some degree the atmosphere and the surroundings in which they may have lived.The various customs and events introduced here were not, probably, part of the history of one generation. It is possible, however, that as a tree grows from a seed, the laws of the future city were foreshadowed and suggested in the relations between the Romans as individuals and between the town on the Palatine and its neighbors.It will be observed that the forms of Latin and Italian names used in these stories do not[pg viii]follow the usual classic Latin style and end in“us.”It is said by some authors that the original immigrants from whose customs and traditions Roman civilization developed came from Greece, and in that case such Greek forms as“Vitalos”might have been preserved long after such clipped forms as“Marcus”and“Marcs”became current. Inasmuch as Italian peasant names hardly ever end in anything but a vowel it seems illogical to take it for granted that in a colony of farmers, such as the men who founded Rome, the names would all have taken the classical Latin form at first. They would have been much more likely to vary according to the ancestry, dialect and intelligence of the family. Later they would tend to a conventional form as certain families of distinction set a standard for others to follow and took pride in keeping their own speech correct.In short, the period described here is a transition stage, and like any age of the founding of a new civilization, contains incongruous elements. It has been stated that even in the great days of the Roman Empire the number of people who actually spoke correct classical Latin was extremely small in proportion to the whole population of any city.[pg ix]THE LIVING LANGUAGESing a song of little words, homely parts of speech,Phrases children use at play, songs that mothers teach,—Who would think when Rome was new, they used that language then—Table, chair and family, map and chart and pen?Sing a song of stately ways, camp and square and street,Consuls, tribunes, governors, the legion’s myriad feet,If those wise men so long ago had not known what to say,All they gave us readymade we should not have to-day.Clear and straight and brief their talk in country or in town.Lucid, vivid, accurate the thoughts that they set down.Still the world is using words that bear the Roman stamp—Coined in forum, villa, temple, market place or camp.Still our thoughts take day by day those shapes of long ago—If you read the dictionary you will find it’s so.[pg x][pg xi]CONTENTSCHAPTERPAGEI.The Mountain of Fire3II.Ten Families17III.The Sacred Year28IV.The Banditti40V.The Wolf Cub55VI.Boundary Lines68VII.Masterless Men81VIII.The Beehive Temple94IX.The Square Hill108X.The Kinsmen117XI.The Taking of Alba Longa130XII.The Ring Wall140XIII.The Soothsayers152XIV.Bread and Salt161XV.The Trumpery Man174XVI.The Great Dyke184XVII.The War Dance196XVIII.The Peace of the Women208XIX.The Priest of the Bridge224XX.The Three Tribes233XXI.Under the Yoke243XXII.The Goat’s Marsh251A Roman Road261[pg xii][pg xiii]ILLUSTRATIONSMarcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curveFrontispiecePAGEOther flocks of sheep and other men with oxen were hurrying to shelter12The patriarch looked at the fire on the altar21All the young voices took up the song33The people gathered in the public square45Whoever they were, it was proper at this time to offer food to strangers59“I have seen something like this before,”he said72The lad went straight down the mountainside with his wolf at his heels79The little maidens walked soberly together96The little creatures inside the basket were not cubs or lambs103“Victory! Vic-to-ry! Romulus forever!”132Then they blessed him and crowned him with the victor’s crown of laurel139A plan of Rome in classical times, showing the seven hills144The copper plow was drawn by a white bull and a white cow147They sat together that night and watched the moon sail grandly over the flood161Mamurius lifted her in his strong arms and carried her through the door170Toto spread out his gay cloth upon the ground178There was a gleam of bright metal in the hole they were digging203Emilia was allowed to sit with them and spin and sew216His mother molded for him men and animals235Far away, in a cavern on a mountain height, there lived for many years an old shepherd259

Illustration: Marcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curveMarcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curve.Frontispiece.

Marcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curve.Frontispiece.

THE CHILDHOODOF ROMEByL. LAMPREYWITH ILLUSTRATIONS BYEDNA F. HART-HUBONIllustration: Printer’s signBOSTONLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY1925

ByL. LAMPREY

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BYEDNA F. HART-HUBON

Illustration: Printer’s sign

Printed in the United States of America

toMaitland C. Lamprey

[pg vii]INTRODUCTIONIt is scarcely necessary to say that these stories are not meant to be taken as history, even legendary history. The tales of the founding of Rome and of the early life of the Italian races are many and contradictory. It is quite possible that future discoveries may disprove half the theories now held on these subjects. There must have been, however, heroic semi-savage figures like the Romulus of the legends, and the aim of the author has been to re-create in some degree the atmosphere and the surroundings in which they may have lived.The various customs and events introduced here were not, probably, part of the history of one generation. It is possible, however, that as a tree grows from a seed, the laws of the future city were foreshadowed and suggested in the relations between the Romans as individuals and between the town on the Palatine and its neighbors.It will be observed that the forms of Latin and Italian names used in these stories do not[pg viii]follow the usual classic Latin style and end in“us.”It is said by some authors that the original immigrants from whose customs and traditions Roman civilization developed came from Greece, and in that case such Greek forms as“Vitalos”might have been preserved long after such clipped forms as“Marcus”and“Marcs”became current. Inasmuch as Italian peasant names hardly ever end in anything but a vowel it seems illogical to take it for granted that in a colony of farmers, such as the men who founded Rome, the names would all have taken the classical Latin form at first. They would have been much more likely to vary according to the ancestry, dialect and intelligence of the family. Later they would tend to a conventional form as certain families of distinction set a standard for others to follow and took pride in keeping their own speech correct.In short, the period described here is a transition stage, and like any age of the founding of a new civilization, contains incongruous elements. It has been stated that even in the great days of the Roman Empire the number of people who actually spoke correct classical Latin was extremely small in proportion to the whole population of any city.

It is scarcely necessary to say that these stories are not meant to be taken as history, even legendary history. The tales of the founding of Rome and of the early life of the Italian races are many and contradictory. It is quite possible that future discoveries may disprove half the theories now held on these subjects. There must have been, however, heroic semi-savage figures like the Romulus of the legends, and the aim of the author has been to re-create in some degree the atmosphere and the surroundings in which they may have lived.

The various customs and events introduced here were not, probably, part of the history of one generation. It is possible, however, that as a tree grows from a seed, the laws of the future city were foreshadowed and suggested in the relations between the Romans as individuals and between the town on the Palatine and its neighbors.

It will be observed that the forms of Latin and Italian names used in these stories do not[pg viii]follow the usual classic Latin style and end in“us.”It is said by some authors that the original immigrants from whose customs and traditions Roman civilization developed came from Greece, and in that case such Greek forms as“Vitalos”might have been preserved long after such clipped forms as“Marcus”and“Marcs”became current. Inasmuch as Italian peasant names hardly ever end in anything but a vowel it seems illogical to take it for granted that in a colony of farmers, such as the men who founded Rome, the names would all have taken the classical Latin form at first. They would have been much more likely to vary according to the ancestry, dialect and intelligence of the family. Later they would tend to a conventional form as certain families of distinction set a standard for others to follow and took pride in keeping their own speech correct.

In short, the period described here is a transition stage, and like any age of the founding of a new civilization, contains incongruous elements. It has been stated that even in the great days of the Roman Empire the number of people who actually spoke correct classical Latin was extremely small in proportion to the whole population of any city.

[pg ix]THE LIVING LANGUAGESing a song of little words, homely parts of speech,Phrases children use at play, songs that mothers teach,—Who would think when Rome was new, they used that language then—Table, chair and family, map and chart and pen?Sing a song of stately ways, camp and square and street,Consuls, tribunes, governors, the legion’s myriad feet,If those wise men so long ago had not known what to say,All they gave us readymade we should not have to-day.Clear and straight and brief their talk in country or in town.Lucid, vivid, accurate the thoughts that they set down.Still the world is using words that bear the Roman stamp—Coined in forum, villa, temple, market place or camp.Still our thoughts take day by day those shapes of long ago—If you read the dictionary you will find it’s so.[pg x]

Sing a song of little words, homely parts of speech,Phrases children use at play, songs that mothers teach,—Who would think when Rome was new, they used that language then—Table, chair and family, map and chart and pen?

Sing a song of little words, homely parts of speech,

Phrases children use at play, songs that mothers teach,—

Who would think when Rome was new, they used that language then—

Table, chair and family, map and chart and pen?

Sing a song of stately ways, camp and square and street,Consuls, tribunes, governors, the legion’s myriad feet,If those wise men so long ago had not known what to say,All they gave us readymade we should not have to-day.

Sing a song of stately ways, camp and square and street,

Consuls, tribunes, governors, the legion’s myriad feet,

If those wise men so long ago had not known what to say,

All they gave us readymade we should not have to-day.

Clear and straight and brief their talk in country or in town.Lucid, vivid, accurate the thoughts that they set down.Still the world is using words that bear the Roman stamp—Coined in forum, villa, temple, market place or camp.Still our thoughts take day by day those shapes of long ago—If you read the dictionary you will find it’s so.

Clear and straight and brief their talk in country or in town.

Lucid, vivid, accurate the thoughts that they set down.

Still the world is using words that bear the Roman stamp—

Coined in forum, villa, temple, market place or camp.

Still our thoughts take day by day those shapes of long ago—

If you read the dictionary you will find it’s so.

[pg xi]CONTENTSCHAPTERPAGEI.The Mountain of Fire3II.Ten Families17III.The Sacred Year28IV.The Banditti40V.The Wolf Cub55VI.Boundary Lines68VII.Masterless Men81VIII.The Beehive Temple94IX.The Square Hill108X.The Kinsmen117XI.The Taking of Alba Longa130XII.The Ring Wall140XIII.The Soothsayers152XIV.Bread and Salt161XV.The Trumpery Man174XVI.The Great Dyke184XVII.The War Dance196XVIII.The Peace of the Women208XIX.The Priest of the Bridge224XX.The Three Tribes233XXI.Under the Yoke243XXII.The Goat’s Marsh251A Roman Road261[pg xii]

[pg xiii]ILLUSTRATIONSMarcia wove her basket, putting a band of red around the curveFrontispiecePAGEOther flocks of sheep and other men with oxen were hurrying to shelter12The patriarch looked at the fire on the altar21All the young voices took up the song33The people gathered in the public square45Whoever they were, it was proper at this time to offer food to strangers59“I have seen something like this before,”he said72The lad went straight down the mountainside with his wolf at his heels79The little maidens walked soberly together96The little creatures inside the basket were not cubs or lambs103“Victory! Vic-to-ry! Romulus forever!”132Then they blessed him and crowned him with the victor’s crown of laurel139A plan of Rome in classical times, showing the seven hills144The copper plow was drawn by a white bull and a white cow147They sat together that night and watched the moon sail grandly over the flood161Mamurius lifted her in his strong arms and carried her through the door170Toto spread out his gay cloth upon the ground178There was a gleam of bright metal in the hole they were digging203Emilia was allowed to sit with them and spin and sew216His mother molded for him men and animals235Far away, in a cavern on a mountain height, there lived for many years an old shepherd259

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