10. What was the character and conduct of Romulus and Remus? 11. In what manner were they surprised? 12. How was the birth of Romulus and Remus discovered, and what consequences followed? 13. What caused a difference between the brothers? 14. Relate the circumstances which followed? 15. By whom was Rome built, and what was then its situation? 16. By what means was the new city peopled? * * * * * CHAPTER II. FROM THE BUILDING OF ROME TO THE DEATH OF ROMULUS. See Romulus the great, born to restore The crown that once his injured grandsire wore. This prince a priestess of our blood shall bear; And like his sire in arms he shall appear.--_Dryden_. 1. Scarcely was the city raised above its foundation, when its rude inhabitants began to think of giving some form to their constitution. Rom'ulus, by an act of great generosity, left them at liberty to choose whom they would for their king; and they, in gratitude, concurred to elect him for their founder. He, accordingly, was acknowledged as chief of their religion, sovereign magistrate of Rome, and general of the army. Beside a guard to attend his person, it was agreed, that he should be preceded wherever he went, by twelve lictors, each armed with an axe tied up in a bundle of rods;[1] these were to serve as executioners of the law, and to impress his new subjects with an idea of his authority. 2. The senate, who were to act as counsellors to the king, was composed of a hundred of the principal citizens of Rome, consisting of men whose age, wisdom, or valour, gave them a natural authority over their fellow-subjects. The king named the first senator, who was called prince of the senate, and appointed him to the government of the city, whenever war required his own absence. 3. The patricians, who composed the third part of the legislature, assumed to themselves the power of authorising those laws which were passed by the king, or the senate. All things relative to peace or war, to the election of magistrates, and even to the choosing a king, were confirmed by suffrages in their assemblies. 4. The plebeians were to till the fields, feed cattle, and follow trades; but not to have any share in the government, to avoid the inconveniences of a popular power. 5. The first care of the new-created king was, to attend to the interests of religion. The precise form of their worship is unknown; but the greatest part of the religion of that age consisted in a firm reliance upon the credit of their soothsayers, who pretended, from observation on the flight of birds, and the entrails of beasts, to direct the present, and to dive into futurity. Rom'ulus, by an express law, commanded that no election should be made, nor enterprise undertaken, without first consulting them.