ss for him to change his habits and way of life; for
these, at any rate, have the advantage of security, while in the new
state all is uncertain. Not even uncertain are the perils of royalty,
judging from Romulus himself, who was suspected of having plotted
against his partner Tatius, and whose peers were suspected of having
assassinated him. Yet these men call Romulus the child of the gods, and
tell how he had a divinely sent nurse, and was preserved by a miracle
while yet a child; while I was born of mortal parents, and brought up by
people whom you all know: even the points which you praise in my
character are far from those which make a good king, being love of
leisure and of unprofitable speculation, and also a great fondness for
peace and unwarlike matters, and for men who meet together for the glory
of the gods or for cheerful converse with one another, and who at other
times plough their fields and feed their cattle at home. But you Romans
have very likely many wars left upon your hands by Romulus, for the
conduct of which the state requires a vigorous warrior in the prime of
life. The people too, from their successes, are accustomed to and eager
for war, and are known to be longing for fresh conquests and
possessions; so that they would ridicule me when I told them to honour
the gods and act justly, and if I tried to instil a hatred of wars and
of brute force into a city which wants a general more than a king."

VI. As he refused the offered crown in such terms, the Romans used every
kind of entreaty to induce him to accept it, begging him not to plunge
the state again into civil war, because there was no other man whom the
two parties would agree to receive as their king. In their absence, his
father and Marcius begged him not to refuse so great and marvellous an
offer. "If," they said, "you do not desire wealth, because of your
simple life, and do not care for the glory of royalty, because you
derive more glory from your own virtue, yet think that to be king is to
serve God, who gives you this office and will not allow your
righteousness to lie idle, useful only to yourself. Do not therefore
shrink from assuming this office, which gives you an opportunity to
conduct the solemn ceremonials of religion with due pomp, and to
civilise the people and turn their hearts, which can be effected more
easily by a king than by any one else. This people loved Tatius, though
he was a foreigner, and they respect the memory o