hich Romulus originally celebrated them.
The Lemurial ceremonies extended through three days, or rather
nights, although, for some curious reason or other, they were
alternate and not consecutive nights. They were the nights of the
ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth of May. The ceremonies were performed
in the night, for the reason that it was in the dark hours that ghosts
and goblins were accustomed, as was supposed, to roam about the world
to haunt and terrify men.

The ceremonies performed on these occasions are thus described. They
commenced at midnight. The father of the family would rise at that
hour and go out at the door of the house, making certain
gesticulations and signals with his hands, which were supposed to have
the effect of keeping the specters away. He then washed his hands
three times in pure spring water. Then he filled his mouth with a
certain kind of black beans for which ghosts were supposed to have
some particular fondness. Being thus provided he would walk along,
taking the beans out of his mouth as he walked, and throwing them
behind him. The specters were supposed to gather up these beans as he
threw them down. He must, however, by no means look round to see them.
He then, after speaking certain mysterious and cabalistic words,
washed his hands again, and then making a frightful noise by striking
brass basins together, he shouted out nine times, "Ghosts of this
house begone!" This was supposed effectually to drive the specters
away--an opinion which was always abundantly confirmed by the fact;
for on looking round after this vociferated adjuration, the man always
found that the specters were gone!

When by these ceremonies, or ceremonies such as these, Romulus had
appeased the spirit of his brother, and those of the guardians of his
childhood, his mind became more composed, and he turned his attention
once more toward the building of the city. The party of Remus now, of
course, since it was deprived of its head, no longer maintained
itself, but was gradually broken up and merged in the general mass.
Romulus became the sole leader of the enterprise, and immediately
turned his attention to the measures to be adopted for a more complete
and effectual organization of the community over which he found
himself presiding.

In respect to Remus, it ought perhaps to be added, that after his
death a story was circulated in Rome that it was a man named Celer,
and not Romulus, that killed him. This story