idenates also were Etrurians, and because the very proximity of
situation, in case the Roman arms should be turned against all their
neighbours, urged them on, they made an incursion on the Roman
territories, more to commit depredations than after the manner of a
regular war. Accordingly, without pitching a camp, or awaiting the
approach of the enemy's army, they returned to Veii, carrying with them
the booty collected from the lands; the Roman army on the other side,
when they did not find the enemy in the country, being prepared for and
determined on a decisive action, cross the Tiber. And when the Veientes
heard that they were pitching a camp, and intended to advance to the
city, they came out to meet them, that they might rather decide the
matter in the open field, than be shut up and fight from their houses
and walls. Here the Roman king obtained the victory, his power not being
aided by any stratagem, merely by the strength of his veteran army: and
having pursued the routed enemies to their walls, he made no attempt on
the city, strong as it was by its fortifications, and well defended by
its situation: on his return he lays waste their lands, rather from a
desire of revenge than booty. And the Veientes, being humbled by that
loss no less than by the unsuccessful battle, send ambassadors to Rome
to sue for peace. A truce for one hundred years was granted them after
they were fined a part of their land. These are the principal
transactions which occurred during the reign of Romulus, in peace and
war, none of which seem inconsistent with the belief of his divine
original, or of the deification attributed to him after death, neither
his spirit in recovering his grandfather's kingdom, nor his project of
building a city, nor that of strengthening it by the arts of war and
peace. For by the strength attained from that outset under him, it
became so powerful, that for forty years after it enjoyed a profound
peace. He was, however, dearer to the people than to the fathers; but
above all others he was most beloved by the soldiers. And he kept three
hundred of them armed as a body-guard not only in war but in peace, whom
he called Celeres.

16. After performing these immortal achievements, while he was holding
an assembly of the people for reviewing his army, in the plain near the
lake of Capra, on a sudden a storm having arisen, with great thunder and
lightning, enveloped the king in so dense a mist, that it took all sight