y given in this work.]

[Footnote 2: The name "Bruttium," given to the country by modern writers
on ancient geography, is not found in any classical author.]

[Illustration: The Alban Hills.]

CHAPTER II.

THE FIRST FOUR KINGS OF ROME. B.C. 753-616.

The history of Rome is that of a city which originally had only a few
miles of territory, and gradually extended its dominions at first over
Italy and then over the civilized world. The city lay in the central
part of the peninsula, on the left bank of the Tiber, and about fifteen
miles from its mouth. Its situation was upon the borders of three of the
most powerful races in Italy, the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans. Though
originally a Latin town, it received at an early period a considerable
Sabine population, which left a permanent impression upon the sacred
rites and religious institutions of the people. The Etruscans exercised
less influence upon Rome, though it appears nearly certain that a part
of its population was of Etruscan origin, and that the two Tarquins
represent the establishment of an Etruscan dynasty at Rome. The
population of the city may therefore be regarded as one of mixed origin,
consisting of the three elements of Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans, but
the last in much smaller proportion than the other two. That the Latin
element predominated over the Sabine is also evident from the fact that
the language of the Romans was a Latin and not a Sabellian dialect.

The early history of Rome is given in an unbroken narrative by the Roman
writers, and was received by the Romans themselves as a faithful record
of facts. But it can no longer be regarded in that light. Not only is it
full of marvelous tales and poetical embellishments, of contradictions
and impossibilities, but it wants the very foundation upon which all
history must be based. The reader, therefore, must not receive the
history of the first four centuries of the city as a statement of
undoubted facts, though it has unquestionably preserved many
circumstances which did actually occur. It is not until we come to the
war with Pyrrhus that we can place full reliance upon the narrative as a
trustworthy statement of facts. With this caution we now proceed to
relate the celebrated legends of the foundation and early history of
Home.

* * * * *

AEneas, son of Anchises and Venus, fled after the fall of Troy to seek a
new home in a foreign land. He carried w