Then King Romulus (for he himself had been carried
away by the crowd of them that fled) held up his sword
and his spear to the heavens, and cried aloud, “O
Jupiter, here in the Palatine didst thou first, by
the tokens which thou sentest me, lay the foundations
of my city. And lo! the Sabines have taken the
citadel by wicked craft, and have crossed the valley,
and are come up even hither. But if thou sufferest
them so far, do thou at the least defend this place
against them, and stay this shameful flight of my
people. So will I build a temple for thee in
this place, even a temple of Jupiter the Stayer, that
may be a memorial to after generations of how thou
didst this day save this city.” And when
he had so spoken, even as though he knew that the
prayer had been heard, he cried, “Ye men of
Rome, Jupiter bids you stand fast in this place and
renew the battle.” And when the men of Rome
heard these words, it was as if a voice from heaven
had spoken to them, and they stood fast, and the king
himself went forward and stood among the foremost.
Now the leader of the Sabines was one Curtius.
This man, as he drave the Romans before him, cried
out to his comrades, “See, we have conquered
these men, false hosts and feeble foes that they are!
Surely now they know that it is one thing to carry
off maidens and another to fight with men.”
But whilst he boasted himself thus, King Romulus and
a company of the youth rushed upon him. Now Curtius
was fighting on horseback, and being thus assailed
he fled, plunging into a certain pool which lay between
the Palatine hill and the Capitol. Thus did he
barely escape with his life, and the lake was called
thereafter Curtius’ pool. And now the Sabines
began to give way to the Romans, when suddenly the
women for whose sake they fought, having their hair
loosened and their garments rent, ran in between them
that fought, crying out, “Shed ye not each other’s
blood, ye that are fathers-in-law and sons-in-law
to each other. But if ye break this bond that
is between you, slay us that are the cause of this
trouble. And surely it were better for us to
die than to live if we be bereaved of our fathers or
of our husbands.” With these words they
stirred the hearts both of the chiefs and of the people,
so that there was suddenly made a great silence.
And afterward the leaders came forth to make a covenant;
and these indeed so ordered matters that there was
not peace only, but one state where there had been
two. For the Sabines came to Rome and dwelt there;
and King Romulus and King Tatius reigned together.
Only, after a while, certain men of Lanuvium slew
King Tatius as he was sacrificing to the Gods at Lavinium;
and thereafter Romulus only was king as before.