But on rode these strange horsemen, With slow and lordly pace; And none who saw their bearing Durst ask their name or race. On rode they to the Forum, While laurel boughs and flowers, From housetops and from windows, Fell on their crests in showers. When they drew nigh to Vesta, They vaulted down amain, And washed their horses in the well That springs by Vesta's fane. And straight again they mounted, And rode to Vesta's door; Then, like a blast, away they passed, And no man saw them more.... And Sergius the High Pontiff Alone found voice to speak: "The gods who live forever Have fought for Rome to-day! These be the Great Twin Brethren To whom the Dorians pray. Back comes the chief in triumph Who, in the hour of fight, Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren In harness on his right. Safe comes the ship to haven, Through billows and through gales If once the Great Twin Brethren Sit shining on the sails.... Here, hard by Vesta's temple, Build we a stately dome Unto the Great Twin Brethren Who fought so well for Rome!"[255] [Illustration: FIG. 137. CASTOR AND POLLUX CAPTURING THE GIANT TALUS (Right portion)] For many a year the procession, in which the knights, olive-wreathed and purple-robed, marched in honor of the Twin Brethren, continued to be held; and still there stand three columns of their temple above the pool of Juturna and Vesta's ruined shrine. FOOTNOTES: [244] Ovid, Metam. 8, 260-546. [245] § 170. [246] § 180. [247] Chapter XXI. [248] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon. [249] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon. [250] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon. [251] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon. [252] Hyginus, Fab. 184; Apollodorus, 2, 8; Pausanias, 2, 18; 4, 3, etc.; Aristotle, Poetics, 14, 9. [253] Apollonius Rhodius, 4, 1629 (Broome's translation). See also Apollodorus, 1; 9, 26. [254] Hyginus, Fab. 80; Ovid, Fasti, 100. Theocritus, Idyl XXII, gives a different version. [255] Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome, The Battle of Lake Regillus. CHAPTER XVII THE HOUSE OF MINOS