ient tradition, Rome was at war with the Latin
towns, and carried it on successfully. How many of the particular events
which are recorded may be historical I am unable to say; but that there
was a war is credible enough. Ancus, it is said, carried away after this
war many thousands of Latins, and gave them settlements on the Aventine.
The ancients express various opinions about him; sometimes he is
described as a _captator aurae popularis_; sometimes he is called _bonus
Ancus_. Like the first three kings, he is said to have been a
legislator, a fact which is not mentioned in reference to the later
kings. He is moreover stated to have established the colony of Ostia,
and thus his kingdom must have extended as far as the mouth of the
Tiber.

Ancus and Tullus seem to me to be historical personages; but we can
scarcely suppose that the latter was succeeded by the former, and that
the events assigned to their reigns actually occurred in them. These
events must be conceived in the following manner: Toward the end of the
fourth reign, when, after a feud which lasted many years, the Romans
came to an understanding with the Latins about the renewal of the
long-neglected alliance, Rome gave up its claims to the supremacy which
it could not maintain, and indemnified itself by extending its dominion
in another and safer direction. The eastern colonies joined the Latin
towns which still existed: this is evident, though it is nowhere
expressly mentioned; and a portion of the Latin country was ceded to
Rome, with which the rest of the Latins formed a connection of
friendship, perhaps of isopolity. Rome here acted as wisely as England
did when she recognized the independence of North America.

In this manner Rome obtained a territory. The many thousand settlers
whom Ancus is said to have led to the Aventine were the population of
the Latin towns which became subject to Rome, and they were far more
numerous than the two ancient tribes, even after the latter had been
increased by their union with the third tribe. In these country
districts lay the power of Rome, and from them she raised the armies
with which she carried on her wars. It would have been natural to admit
this population as a fourth tribe, but such a measure was not agreeable
to the Romans: the constitution of the state was completed and was
looked upon as a sacred trust in which no change ought to be introduced.
It was with the Greeks and Romans as it was with our own anc