have you
left us so suddenly? and especially why did you leave us at such a
time, and in such a way, as to bring suspicion and reproach on the
Roman senators?' 'I left you,' said he, 'because it pleased the gods
to call me back again to heaven, whence I originally came. It was no
longer necessary for me to remain on earth, for Rome is now
established, and her future greatness and glory are sure. Go back to
Rome and communicate this to the people. Tell them that if they
continue industrious, virtuous, and brave, the time will come when
their city will be the mistress of the world; and that I, no longer
its king, am henceforth to be its tutelar divinity.'"

The people of Rome were overjoyed to hear this communication. Their
doubts and suspicions were now all removed; the senators at once
recovered their good standing in the public regard, and all was once
more peace and harmony. Altars were immediately erected to Romulus,
and the whole population of the city joined in making sacrifices and
in paying other divine honors to his memory.

The declaration of Proculus that he had seen the spirit of Romulus,
and his report of the conversation which the spirit had addressed to
him, constituted proof of the highest kind, according to the ideas
which prevailed in those ancient days. In modern times, however, there
is no faith in such a story, and the truth in respect to the end of
Romulus can now never be known.

After the death of Romulus the senators undertook to govern the State
themselves, holding the supreme power one by one, in regular rotation.
This plan was, however, not found to succeed, and after an interregnum
of about a year, the people elected another king.

THE END.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to
ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.

2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as
banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the
chapter for the reader's convenience.

3. In the chart on page 46, detailing the original Greek alphabet, the
typesetter's appear to have missed the 7th letter, kappa. The
correction has been made, based on the discussion in "History of the
Greek Alphabet," by E. A. Sophocles, published in 1848, by George
Nichols, Boston.

End of Project Gutenberg's Romulus,