r, so that he came to be called
Domitius Ahenobarbus, or Brazen-beard. Then they disappeared, and the
next morning Posthumius' messenger brought the news. The Romans had no
doubt that these were indeed the glorious twins, and built their temple,
as Valerius had vowed.

[Illustration: ROMAN ENSIGNS, STANDARDS, TRUMPETS ETC.]

Tarquin had lost all his sons, and died in wretched exile at Cumae. And
here ends what is looked on as the legendary history of Rome, for though
most of these stories have dates, and some sound possible, there is so
much that is plainly untrue mixed up with them, that they can only be
looked on as the old stories which were handed down to account for the
Roman customs and copied by their historians.

CHAPTER VII.

THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT.

So far as true history can guess, the Romans really did have kings and
drove them out, but there are signs that, though Porsena was a real
king, the war was not so honorable to the Romans as they said, for he
took the city and made them give up all their weapons to him, leaving
them nothing but their tools for husbandry. But they liked to forget
their misfortunes.

The older Roman families were called patricians, or fathers, and thought
all rights to govern belonged to them. Settlers who came in later were
called plebeians, or the people, and at first had no rights at all, for
all the land belonged to the patricians, and the only way for the
plebeians to get anything done for them was to become hangers-on--or, as
they called it, clients--of some patrician who took care of their
interests. There was a council of patricians called the Senate, chosen
among themselves, and also containing by right all who had been chief
magistrates. The whole assembly of the patricians was called the
Comitia. They, as has been said before, fought on horseback, while the
plebeians fought on foot; but out of the rich plebeians a body was
formed called the knights, who also used horses, and wore gold rings
like the patricians.

[Illustration: HEAD OF JUPITER.]

But the plebeians were always trying not to be left out of everything.
By and by, they said under Servius Tullius, the city was divided into
six quarters, and all the families living in them into six tribes, each
of which had a tribune to watch over it, bring up the number of its men,
and lead them to battle. Another division of the citizens, both
patrician and plebeian, was made every five years. They were all coun