“I cite her as one of those who bear witness that there are wives who love their husbands; for of those who have been the cause of great benefits to the world, I could tell you of an endless number, and discourse to you of some so ancient that they almost seem fabulous, and of those who among men have been the inventors of such things, that they deserved to be esteemed as goddesses, like Pallas and Ceres; and of the Sibyls,[360] by whose mouth God has so often spoken and revealed to the world events that were to come; and of those who have instructed very great men, like Aspasia,[361] and like Diotima,[362] who furthermore by her sacrifices delayed for ten years the time of a pestilence that was to come upon Athens. I could tell you of Nicostrate,[363] Evander’s mother, who taught the Latins letters; and of still another woman,[364] who was preceptress to the lyric poet Pindar;[365] and of Corinna[366] and of Sappho,[367] who were excellent in poetry; but I do not wish to seek out matters so far afield. I tell you, however (leaving the rest apart), that women were perhaps not less the cause of Rome’s greatness than men.” “This,” said my lord Gaspar, “would be fine to hear.” 29.—The Magnifico replied: “Then listen to it. After the fall of Troy many Trojans fled who escaped that great disaster, some in one direction and some in another; of whom one part, who were buffeted by many storms, came to Italy at that place where the Tiber flows into the sea. Landing here in search of necessaries, they began to roam about the country: the women, who had remained in the ships, bethought themselves of a good plan that would put an end to their perilous and long wandering by sea and give them a new fatherland in place of that which they had lost; and after consulting together in the absence of the men, they burned the ships; and the first to begin the work bore the name Roma. Yet fearing the wrath of the men, who were returning, they went out to meet these; and embracing and kissing, some their husbands, some their kinsmen, with tokens of affection, they softened the first impulse of anger; then they quietly explained to the men the reason of their wise device. Whereupon the Trojans, either from necessity or from having been kindly received by the natives, were well pleased with what the women had done, and dwelt there with the Latins in the place where afterwards was Rome; and from this arose the ancient custom among the Romans that the women kissed their kinsfolk when they met.[368] Now you see how much these women helped to make a beginning of Rome.