knowledge. During the reign of Romulus the months had been in a state of great disorder, some not containing twenty days, some five-and-thirty, and some even more, because the Romans could not reconcile the discrepancies which arise from reckoning by the sun and the moon, and only insisted upon one thing, that the year should consist of three hundred and sixty days.

Numa reckoned the variation to consist of eleven days, as the lunar year contains three hundred and fifty-four days, and the solar year three hundred and sixty-five. Ile doubled these eleven days and introduced them every other year, after February, as an intercalary month, twentytwo days in duration, which was called by the Romans Mercedinus. This was a remedy for the irregularities of the calendar which itself required more extensive remedies.

He also altered the order of the months, putting March, which used to be the first month, third, and making January the first, which in the time of Romulus had been the eleventh, and February the second, which then had been the twelfth. There are many writers who say that these months, January and February, were added to the calendar by Numa, and that originally there had only been ten months in the year, just as some barbarians havo three, and in Greece the Arcadians have four, and tho Acarnanians six. The Egyptians originally had but one month in their year, and afterwards are said to have divided it into four months; wherefore, though they live. in the newest of all countries, they appear to be the most ancient of all nations, and in their genealogies reckon an incredible number of years, because they count their months as years.

XIX. One proof that the Romans used to reckon ten months and not twelvo in the year is the name of the last month; for up to the present day it is called December, the tenth, and the order of the months shows that March was the first, for the fifth month from it they called Quintilis, the fifth; and the sixth month Sextilis, and so on for the others, although, by their putting January and February before March, it resulted that the month which they number fifth is really seventh in order. Moreover, there is a legend that the month of March, being the first,

was dedicated by Romulus to Mars, and the second, April, to Aphrodité (Venus); in which month they sacrifice to this goddess, and the women bathe on the first day of it crowned with myrtle. Some, however, say that April is not named after Aphrodité, because the word April docs not contain the letter h, and that it comes from the Latin word aperio, and means the month in which the springtime opens the buds of plants; for that is what the word signifies. Of the following months, May is named after Maia, the mother of Hermes or Mercury, for it is dedicated to her, and June from Juno. Some say that these names signify old age and youth, for old men are called by the Latins majores, and young men juniores. The remaining months they named, from the order in which they came, the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth: Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December. Then Quintilis was called Julius after Julius Cæsar, who conquered Pompeius; and Sextilis was called Augustus, after the second of the Roman Emperors. The next two months Domitian altered to his own titles, but not for any long time, as after his death they resumed their old names of September and October. The last two alone have preserved their original names without change. Of the months, added or altered by Numa, Februarius means the month of purification, for that is as nearly as possible the meaning of the word, and during it they sacrifice to the dead, and hold the festival of the Lupercalia, which resembles a ceremony of purification. The first month, Januarius, is named after Janus. My opinion is, that Numna moved the month named after Mars from its precedence, wishing the art of good government to be honoured before that of war. For Janus in very ancient times was either a deity or a king, who established a social polity, and made men cease from a savage life like that of wild beasts. And for this reason his statues are made with a double face, because he turned men's way of life from one form to another.

XX. There is a temple to him in Rome, which has two doors, and which they call the gate of war. It is the custom to open the temple in time of war, and to close it during peace. This scarcely ever took place, as the empire

was almost always at war with some state, being by its very greatness continually brought into collision with the neighbouring tribes. Only in the time of Cæsar Augustus, after he had conquered Antonius, it was closed; and before that, during the consulship of Marcus Atilius and Titus Manlius, for a short time, and then was almost immediately reopened, as a new war broke out. But during Numa's reign no one saw it open for a single day, and it remained closed for forty-three years continuously, so utterly had he made wars to cease on all sides. Not only was the spirit of the Romans subdued and pacified by the gentle and just character of their king, but even the neighbouring cities, as if some soothing healthful air was breathed over them from Rome, altered their habits and longed to live quiet and well-governed, cultivating the earth, bringing up their families in peaco, and worshipping the gods. And gay festivals and entertainments, during which the people of the various states fearlessly mixed with one another, prevailed throughout Italy, for Numa's knowledgo of all that was good and noble was shed abroad like water from a fountain, and the atmosphere of holy calm by which he was surrounded spread over all men. The very poets when they wrote of that peaceful time were unable to find adequate expressions for it, as one writes

"Across the shields are cobwebs laid,

Rust eats the lance and keen edged blado;

No more we hear the trumpets bray,

And from our eyes no more is sluinber chased away."

No war, revolution, or political disturbance of any kind is recorded during Numa's reign, neither was there any envy or hatred of him or any attempt by others to obtain the crown; but either fear of the gods who visibly protected him, or reverence for his virtucs, or the special grace of IIcaven, made men's lives innocent and untainted with evil, and formed a striking proof of the truth of what Plato said many years afterwards, that the only escape from misery for men is when by Divine Providenco philosophy is combined with royal power, and used to exalt virtuo over vice. Blessed indeed is the truly wise

man, and blessed are they who hear the words of his mouth. Indeed his people require no restraints or punishments, but seeing a plain example of virtue in the life of their chief, they themselves of their own accord reform their lives, and model them upon that gentle and blessed rule of love and just dealing one with another which it is the noblest work of politicians to establish. He is most truly a king who can teach such lessons as these to his subjects, and Numa beyond all others seems to have clearly discerned this truth.

XXI. Historians differ in their accounts of his wives and children. Some say that he married Tatia alone, and was the father of ono daughter only, named Pompilia; but others, besides her, assign to him four sons, named Pompo, l'inus, Calpus, and Mamercus, from whom descended the four noble families of the Pomponii, Pinarii, Calphurnii, and Mamerci, which for this reason took the title of Rex, that is, king. Others again say that theso pedigrees were invented to flatter these families, and stato that the Pompilian family descends not from Tatia, but from Lucretia, whom he married after he became king. All, however, agree that Pompilia married Marcius, the son of that Marcius who encouraged Numa to accept the crown. This man accompanied Numa to Rome, was made a member of the Senate, and after Numa's death laid claim to the crown, but was worsted by Tullus Hostilius and mado away with himself. His son Marcius, who married Pompilia, remained in Rome, and became the father of Ancus Marcius, who was king after Tullus Hostilius, and who was only five years old when Numa died.

We are told by Piso that Numa died, not by a sudden death, but by slow decay from sheer old age, having lived a little more than eighty years.

XXII. He was enviable even in death, for all the friendly and allied nations assembled at his funeral with national offerings. The senators bore his bier, which was attended by the chief priests, while the crowd of men, women and children who were present, followed with such weeping and wailing, that one would have thought that, instead of an aged king, each man was about to bury

his own dearest friend, who had died in the prime of life. At his own wish, it is said, the body was not burned, but placed in two stone coffins and buried on the Janiculum ilill. One of these contained his body, and the other the sacred books which he himself had written, as Greek legislators write their laws upon tablets. During his life he had taught the priests the contents of these books, and their meaning and spirit, and ordered them to bo buried with his corpse, because it was right that holy mysteries should be contained, not in soulless writings, but in the minds of living men. For the same reason they say that the Pythagoreans never reduced their maxims to writing, but implanted them in the memories of worthy men; and when some of their difficult processes in geometry were divulged to some unworthy men, they said that Heaven would mark its sense of the wickedness which had been committed by some great public calamity; so that, as Numa's system so greatly resembled that of Pythagoras, we can easily pardon those who endeavour to establish a connection between them.

Valerius of Antium says that twelve sacred books and twelve books of Greek philosophy were placed in the coffin. Four hundred years afterwards, when Publius Cornelius and Marcus Barbius were consuls, a great fall of rain took place, and the torrent washed away the earth and exposed the coffins. When the lids were removed, one of the coffins was seen by all men to be empty, and without any trace of a corpse in it; the other contained the books, which were read by Petilius the prætor, who reported to the Senate that in his opinion it was not right that their contents should be made known to the people, and they were therefore carried to the Comitium and burned there.

All good and just men receive most praise after their death, because their unpopularity dies with them or even before them; but Numa's glory was enhanced by tho unhappy reigns of his successors. Of five kings who succeeded him, the last was expelled and died an exile, and of the other four, not one died a natural death, but three were murdered by conspirators, and Tullus Hostilius, who was king next after Numa, and who derided and