dare I say: inasmuch as I observe, that it
is both an old and hackneyed practice,[2] later authors always supposing
that they will either adduce something more authentic in the facts, or,
that they will excel the less polished ancients in their style of
writing. Be that as it may, it will, at all events, be a satisfaction to
me, that I too have contributed my share[3] to perpetuate the
achievements of a people, the lords of the world; and if, amidst so
great a number of historians,[4] my reputation should remain in
obscurity, I may console myself with the celebrity and lustre of those
who shall stand in the way of my fame. Moreover, the subject is both of
immense labour, as being one which must be traced back for more than
seven hundred years, and which, having set out from small beginnings,
has increased to such a degree that it is now distressed by its own
magnitude. And, to most readers, I doubt not but that the first origin
and the events immediately succeeding, will afford but little pleasure,
while they will be hastening to these later times,[5] in which the
strength of this overgrown people has for a long period been working its
own destruction. I, on the contrary, shall seek this, as a reward of my
labour, viz. to withdraw myself from the view of the calamities, which
our age has witnessed for so many years, so long as I am reviewing with
my whole attention these ancient times, being free from every care[6]
that may distract a writer's mind, though it cannot warp it from the
truth. The traditions which have come down to us of what happened before
the building of the city, or before its building was contemplated, as
being suitable rather to the fictions of poetry than to the genuine
records of history, I have no intention either to affirm or refute. This
indulgence is conceded to antiquity, that by blending things human with
divine, it may make the origin of cities appear more venerable: and if
any people might be allowed to consecrate their origin, and to ascribe
it to the gods as its authors, such is the renown of the Roman people in
war, that when they represent Mars, in particular, as their own parent
and that of their founder, the nations of the world may submit to this
as patiently as they submit to their sovereignty.--But in whatever way
these and such like matters shall be attended to, or judged of, I shall
not deem of great importance. I would have every man apply his mind
seriously to consider these point