on be kept with
a betrayer. The following addition is made to the story: that, as the
Sabines usually wore golden bracelets of great weight on their left
arm and rings of great beauty set with precious stones, she bargained
with them for what they had on their left hands; and that therefore
shields were heaped upon her instead of presents of gold. Some say
that, in accordance with the agreement that they should deliver up
what was on their left hands, she expressly demanded their shields,
and that, as she seemed to be acting treacherously, she herself was
slain by the reward she had chosen for herself.

Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel, and on the next day,
when the Roman army, drawn up in order of battle, had occupied all the
valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, they did not descend
from thence into the plain until the Romans, stimulated by resentment
and the desire of recovering the citadel, advanced up hill to meet
them. The chiefs on both sides encouraged the fight, on the side
of the Sabines Mettius Curtius, on the side of the Romans Hostius
Hostilius. The latter, in the front of the battle, on unfavourable
ground, supported the fortunes of the Romans by his courage and
boldness. When Hostius fell, the Roman line immediately gave way,
and, being routed, was driven as far as the old gate of the Palatium.
Romulus himself also, carried away by the crowd of fugitives, cried,
uplifting his arms to heaven: "O Jupiter, it was at the bidding of thy
omens, that here on the Palatine I laid the first foundations for the
city. The citadel, purchased by crime, is now in possession of the
Sabines: thence they are advancing hither in arms, having passed the
valley between. But do thou, O father of gods and men, keep back the
enemy from hence at least, dispel the terror of the Romans, and check
their disgraceful flight. On this spot I vow to build a temple to thee
as Jupiter Stator, to be a monument to posterity that the city has
been preserved by thy ready aid." Having offered up these prayers,
as if he had felt that they had been heard, he cried: "From this
position, O Romans, Jupiter, greatest and best, bids you halt and
renew the fight." The Romans halted as if ordered by a voice from
heaven. Romulus himself hastened to the front. Mettius Curtius, on the
side of the Sabines, had rushed down from the citadel at the head of
his troops and driven the Romans in disordered array over the whole
space of