The Kings of Rome
Post mortem Romuli populus Numae imperium dedit. Numa Sabinus erat, et sacra curavit. Aedificavit templa, unum quorum erat templum Iani. Portae huius templi apertae sunt in tempore belli, et clausae sunt in tempore pacis.
Tertius rex erat Tullus Hostilius. Bellum cum Albanis gessit. In bello Albano tres fratres Romani, nominibus Horatii, patriam defenderunt. Cum tribus fratribus Albanis, nominibus Curiatiis, pugnaverunt. Cives Romani Albanique pugnam spectaverunt. Diu pugnatum est. Tres Curiatii vulnerati erant. Unus ex Horatiis vivus relictus est, sed Curiatios vicit et necavit. Cives surrexerunt et Horatium in urbem magno cum gaudio duxerunt. Albani urbem Albam Longam Tullo Hostilio tradiderunt. Rex Romanus Albam vastavit.
Quartus rex erat Ancus Marcius. Ancus multa urbi (pontes, viae, et cetera) aedificavit. Ille tradidit urbem meliorem quam invenerat. Post mortem Anci, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus regnum occupavit. Tarquinius erat Etruscus, non Romanus, sed uxor sua Tanaquil erat vates. In via Romam, aquila petasum Tarquini raptavit, deinde posuit in capite suo iterum. Tanaquil dixit id accidere quod futurum esse regem Romae. Itaque, Tarquinius et Tanaquil regnum occupaverunt. Multa bella gessit et Servio Tullio sexto regi plurem agrum tradidit.
Servius populum bene rexit et urbi Romae multum dedit. Post mortem Servi, filius Tarquini Prisci, Tarquinius Superbus, regnum obtinuit. Bene appellatus est. Malus superbusque erat, et pessimus rex Romanus. Brutus, pater patriae, Tarquinium Superbum ab urbe regnoque egit. Sed illa est fabula pro altero die.
Names in this Passage:
Romulus - founder and first king of Rome
Numa Pompilius - second king of Rome
Janus - Roman god of crossroads, doorways, beginnings
Tullus Hostilius - third king of Rome
Alba Longa - the city founded by Aeneas, now an enemy of growing Rome
Horatii - triplets fighting for Rome
Curiatii - triplets fighting for Alba Longa
Ancus Marcius - fourth king of Rome
Tarquinius Priscus - fifth king of Rome
Tanaquil - Etruscan noblewoman, wife of Tarquinius Priscus
Servius Tullius - sixth king of Rome
Tarquinius Superbus - seventh king of Rome
Lucius Junius Brutus - father of his country
Grammar Aids:
Vocabulary:
bellum + gerere - wage war
Palatio - Palatine Hill
Etruscus - Etruscan
Sabinis - Sabine
Albanis - Albans
vivus - alive
surgo, surgere, surrexi, surrectum - lift
gaudio - joy
accidere - happen
vates, vatis - prophet, seer
aquila - eagle
petasus - hat
vastavit - destroyed
obtinuit - got hold of
appellatus est - he was named
superbus, -a, -um - proud, arrogant
Where does this story come from?
This information is what the Romans believed about their early history, but nobody wrote it down at the time. We think a lot of this is probably made up or at least freely exaggerated.
For example, scholars think Romulus may not have been real at all (his name does mean "Little Rome," so how does that work?) and that Tarquinius Superbus might not have been so bad, except later Romans wanted to justify kicking out their kings in favor of a new form of government.
All that said, we don't have a better version, so we're going to stick with this until someone invents a time machine.
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Supposedly rescued and raised by a wolf.
The brothers on a later Roman coin.
Lucius Junius Brutus overthrows Tarquinius Superbus but does not declare himself king, establishing a new Roman ideal.
Supposedly rescued and raised by a wolf.