new city, and govern it when built. Romulus chose
the Palatine and Remus the Aventine, as points of observation for
taking the auguries.

It is said that an omen came to Remus first, six vultures; and
when, after the omen had been declared, twice that number presented
themselves to Romulus, each was hailed king by his own party, the
former claiming sovereign power on the ground of priority of time, the
latter on account of the number of birds. Thereupon, having met and
exchanged angry words, from the strife of angry feelings they turned
to bloodshed: there Remus fell from a blow received in the crowd. A
more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped
over the newly-erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in
a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect:"
So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls." Thus
Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The
city, when built, was called after the name of its founder.[5] He
first proceeded to fortify the Palatine Hill, on which he himself had
been brought up. He offered sacrifices to Hercules, according to the
Grecian rite, as they had been instituted by Evander; to the other
gods, according to the Alban rite. There is a tradition that Hercules,
having slain Geryon, drove off his oxen, which were of surpassing
beauty,[6] to that spot: and that he lay down in a grassy spot on the
banks of the river Tiber, where he had swam across, driving the cattle
before him, to refresh them with rest and luxuriant pasture, being
also himself fatigued with journeying. There, when sleep had
overpowered him, heavy as he was with food and wine, a shepherd who
dwelt in the neighbourhood, by name Cacus, priding himself on his
strength, and charmed with the beauty of the cattle, desired to carry
them off as booty; but because, if he had driven the herd in front of
him to the cave, their tracks must have conducted their owner thither
in his search, he dragged the most beautiful of them by their tails
backward into a cave. Hercules, aroused from sleep at dawn, having
looked over his herd and observed that some of their number were
missing, went straight to the nearest cave, to see whether perchance
their tracks led thither. When he saw that they were all turned away
from it and led in no other direction, troubled and not knowing what
to make up his mind to do, he commenced to drive off his herd from so
dangerous a sp