as if the god knew that he was coming and rejoiced at it.

There is a also a legend that Pan loved Pindar and his verses; and for the Muse's sake, IIesiod and Archilochus were honoured after their deaths; while Sophokles during his life is said, by a legend which remains current at the present day, to have become the friend of Esculapins, and on his death to have had the rites of burial supplied by the care of another god.

If, then, we believe the legends which are told about these persons, why should we doubt that Zaleukus, Minos, Zoroaster, Numa, and Lykurgus were inspired by Heaven, when they governed their kingdoms and gave them laws? We may suppose that the gods, when in an carnest mood, would hold converse with such men as these, the best of their kind, to talk with and encourage them, just as they visit the poets, if they do at all, when inclined for pleasure. However, if any one thinks differently, as Bacchylides says, The way is broad.”

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The other view, which some take about Lykurgus and Numa and such men, seems very plausible, that they, having to deal with an obstinate and unmanageablo people when introducing great political changes, invented the idea of their own divine mission as a means of safety for themselves.

V. It was in Numa's fortieth year that the envoys came from Rome to ask him to be king. Their spokes men were Proculus and Velesius, one of whom had very nearly been elected king, for tho Romulus people inclined much to Proculus, and those of Tatius were equally in favour of Velesius. These men made a short speech, imagining that Numa would be delighted with his fortane; but it appears that it took much hard pleading to induce a man who had lived all his life in peace to take the command of a city which owed its origin and its increase alike to war. IIo said, in the presence of his father and of Marcius, one of his relations, "Every change in a man's life is dangerous; and when a man is not in want of anything needful, and has no cause for being dissatisfied with his lot, it is sheer madness for him to change his habits and way of life; for these, at any ratq

have the advantage of security, whilo in the new stato all is uncertain. Not oven uncertain are the perils of royalty, judging from Romulus himself, who was suspected of having plotted against his partner Tatius, and whose peers were suspected of having assassinated him. Yet these men call Romulus the child of the gods, and tell how he had a divinely sent nurse, and was preserved by a miraclo while yet a child; while I was born of mortal parents, and brought up by people whom you all know: even the points which you praise in my character aro far from those which make a good king, being love of leisure and of unprofitable speculation, and also a great fondness for peace and unwarlike matters, and for men who meet together for the glory of the gods or for cheerful converse with one another, and who at other times plough their fields and feed their cattle at home. But you Romans have very likely many wars left upon your hands by Romulus, for the conduct of which tho stato requires a vigorous warrior in the primo of life. The people too, from their successes, aro accustomed to and cager for war, and are known to be longing for fresh conquests and possessions; so that they would ridiculo me when I told them to honour the gods and act justly, and if I tried to instil a hatred of wars and of brute forco into a city which wants a general more than a king."

VI. As he refused the offered crown in such terms, tho Romans used every kind of entreaty to induco him to accept it, begging him not to plunge the stato again into civil war, because there was no other man whom the two parties would agree to receive as their king. In thoir absence, his father and Marcius begged him not to refuso so great and marvellous an offer. "If," they said, "you do not desire wealth, because of your simple life, and do not care for the glory of royalty, because you derive more glory from your own virtue, yet think that to be king is to serve God, who gives you this office and will not allow your righteousness to lio idle, useful only to yourself. Do not therefore shrink from assuming this office, which gives you an opportunity to conduct tho solemn ceremonials of religion with duc pomp, and to civilise tho people and turn their hearts, which can be effected more

easily by a king than by any or e clsc. This people loved Tatius, though he was a foreigner, and they respect tho memory of Romulus as if he was a god. And who knows,

if the people, although victorious, may not havo had enough of wars, and, sated with triumphs and spoils, may not be desirous of a gentle and just ruler under whom they may enjoy rest and peace. If, however, they aro madly bent upon war, is it not better that you should hold the reins, and direct their fury elsewhere, becoming yourself a bond of union and friendship between the Sabino nation and this powerful and flourishing city?" Besides these arguments, it is said that the omens wero favourable, and that the people of the city, as soon as they heard of the embassy, came and besought him to go and become king, and thus unite and combine the two races. VII. When he had made up his mind, he sacrificed to the gods, and started for Rome. The Senato and people met him and showed great affection for him; the matrons also greeted him, and thero were sacrifices in the temples, and every one was as joyous as if he had received a kingdom instead of a king. When they came into the Forum, the interres or temporary king, Spurius Vettius, put it to the vote, and all the people voted for Numa. When they offered him the insignia of royalty, he bado them stop, saying that he wished to have his crown confirmed to himn by God as well as by man. Taking the prophets and priests he ascended the Capitol, which the Romans at that timo called the Tarpeian Hill. There the chief of the prophets made him turn towards the south, covered his head, and then standing behind him with his hand laid upon his head, he prayed, and looked for a sign or omen rent from the gods in every quarter of the heavens. A strange silence prevailed among the people in the Forum, as they watched him eagerly, until a prosperous omen was observed. Then Numa received the royal robes and came down from the hill among the people. They received him with cheers and congratulations, as tho most pious of men, and as beloved of Heaven. When he bocame king, his first act was to disband the body-guard of three hundred men, whom Romulus always had kept about his person, who were called Celeres, that is, swift; for

Numa would not distrust a loyal people nor reign over a disloyal one. Next he instituted a third high priest, in addition to the existing priests of Jupiter and Mars, whom, in honour of Romulus, he called the Flamen Quirinalis. The elder priests are called Flamens from the skull-caps which they wear, and the word is derived from the Greek word for felt; for at that time Greek words were mingled with Latin ones more than now. For instance, the lerna worn by the priests is said by Juba to be the Greek chlaina, and the boy, whose parents must be both alive, who is servant to the priest of Jupiter, is called Camillus, just as the Greeks sometimes call Hermes (Mercury) Čadmilus, from his being the servant of the gods.

VIII. Numa, after confirming his popularity by those measures, proceeded at once to attempt to convert the city from the practice of war and the strong hand, to that of right and justice, just as a man tries to soften and mould a mass of iron. The city at that time was indeed what Plato calls "inflamed and angry," for it owed its very existence to the reckless daring by which it had thrust aside the most warlike races of the country, and had recruited its strength by many campaigns and ceaseless war, and, as carpent: y becomes more fixed in its place by blows, so the city seemed to gain fresh power from its dangers. Thinking that it would be a very diflicult task to change the habits of this excited and savage people, and to teach them the arts of peace, ho looked to the gods for help, and by sacrifices, processions, and choral dances, which he himself organised and arranged, he awed, interested, and softened the manners of the Romans, artfully beguiling them out of their warlike ferocity. Sometimes he spoke of supernatural terrors, evil omens, and unpropitions voices, so as to influence them by means of superstition. These measures proved his wisdom, and showed him a true disciple of Pythagoras, for the worship of tho gods was an important part of his state policy, as it is of Pythagoras's system of philosophy. His love of outward show and stratagem was also said to be derived from Pythagoras, for as the latter tamed an eagle and made it alight upon him, and when walking through the crowd

at Olympia showed his golden thigh, and did all the other surprising devices which made Timon of Phlius write the epigram—

"Pythagoras by magic arts,

And mystic talk deludes men's hearts,"

so did Numa invent the story of his amour with a woodnymph and his secret converse with her, and of his enjoying the society of the Muses. He referred most of his prophetic utterances to the Muses, and taught the Romans to worship one of them especially, whom he called Tacita, which means silent or dumb. This seems to have been done in imitation of Pythagoras, who especially revered silence. His legislation about images was also connected with the Pythagoroan doctrine, which says that first principles cannot bo touched or scen, but are invisiblo spiritual essences; for Numa forbade the Romans to wor ship any likenesses of men or of beasts. Among them there was no imago of a god, either carved or moulded, in the early times. For a hundred and seventy years they built temples, and placed shrines in them, but mado no image of any living thing, considering that it was wrong to make the worso like the better, and that God cannot be comprehended otherwise than by thought. Their sacrifices also were connected with the Pythagorean doctrine; they were for tho most part bloodless, and performed with flour, libations of wine, and all the commonest things. But besides these, there are other distinct proofs of the connection of these two men with ono another. Ono of theso is that the Romans enrolled Pythagoras as a citizen, as we are told by Epicharmus the comic poet, in a letter which he wroto to Antenor. He was a man who lived in old times and underwent the Pythagorean training. Another proof is that of his four sons, King Numa named ono Mamercus after the son of Pythagoras; from whom sprung the ancient patrician houso of tho milii. This name was originally given him in sport by the king, who used to call him aimulos or wily. I myself have heard many Romans narrato that an oraclo once bado tho Romans establish the wisest and the bravest of the Greeks in their own city, and that in