to keep out evil habits than even to keep the plague from coming into the city.
XXVII. In all these acts of Lykurgus, we cannot find any traces of the injustice and unfairness which some complain of in his laws, which they say are excellent to produce courage, but less so for justice. And the institution called Krypteia, if indeed it is one of the laws of Lykurgus, as Aristotle tells us, would agree with the idea which Plato conceived about him and his system. The Krypteia was this: the leaders of the young men used at intervals to send the most discreet of them into different parts of the country, equipped with daggers and necessary food; in the daytime these men used to conceal themselves in unfrequented spots, and take their rest, but at night they would come down into the roads and murder any Helots they found. And often they would range about the fields, and make away with the strongest and bravest Helots they could find. Also, as Thucydides mentions in his History of the Peloponnesian War, those Helots who were especially honoured by the Spartans for their valour were crowned as free men, and taken to the temples with rejoicings; but in a short time they all disappeared, to the number of more than two thousand, and in such a way that no man, either then or afterwards, could tell how they perished.
Aristotle says that the Ephors, when they first take office, declare war against the Helots, in order that it may be lawful to destroy them. And much other harsh treatment used to be inflicted upon them; and they were compelled to drink much unmixed wine, and then were brought into the public dining-halls, to show the young what drunkenness is.
They were also forced to sing low songs, and to dance low dances, and not to meddle with those of a higher character. It is said that when the Thebans made their celebrated campaign in Lacedaemon, they ordered the Helots whom they captured to sing them the songs of Terpander, and Alkman, and Spendon the Laconian; but they begged to be excused, for, they said, "the masters do not like it." So it seems to have been well said that in Lacedaemon, the free man was more free, and the slave more a slave than anywhere else. This harsh treatment, I imagine, began in later times, especially after the great earthquake, when they relate that the Helots joined the Messenians, ravaged the country, and almost conquered it. I cannot impute this wicked act of the Krypteia to Lykurgus, when I consider the gentleness and justice of his general behaviour, which also we know was inspired by Heaven.
XXVIII. When the leading men of the city were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his institutions, and the newly constituted state was able to walk by itself without leading-strings, and bear its own weight alone, then, as Plato says of God, that he was pleased with the world that he had created, when it first began to live and move, so was it with Lykurgus. He admired the spectacle of his laws in operation, and, as far as was possible by human prudence, he desired to leave it eternal and unchangeable. He assembled all the citizens, and told them that the city was now fairly well provided with materials for happiness and virtue, but that he would not bestow upon them the most valuable gift of all, until he had taken counsel with Heaven. It was therefore their duty to abide by the already established laws, and to change and alter nothing till he returned from Delphi; on his return, he would do whatever the god commanded. They all assented, and bade him depart, and he, after making first the kings and elders, and then the rest of the citizens, swear that they would keep their existing constitution till Lykurgus came back, set out for Delphi. Upon reaching the temple he sacrificed to the god, and inquired whether his laws were good, and sufficient for the prosperity and happiness of his country. Receiving answer from the oracle that his laws were indeed good, and that the city would become famous if it kept the constitution of Lykurgus, he wrote down this prophecy and sent it to Sparta. But he himself, after offering a second sacrifice to the god, and having embraced his friends and his son, determined not to release his countrymen from their oath, but to put an end to his own life, being at an age when, though life was still pleasant, it seemed time to go to his rest, after having excellently arranged all his people's affairs. He departed by starvation, as he thought that a true statesman ought to make even his death of service to the state, and not like that of a private person, the useless end of an idle life. His death came in the fulness of time, after he had done an excellent work, and it was left as the guardian of all the good that he had done, because the citizens had sworn that they would abide by his constitution until he returned to them. Nor was he deceived in his expectations; for the state was by far the most celebrated in Greece, for good government at home and renown abroad, during a period of five hundred years, under his constitution, which was kept unaltered by fourteen kings, counting from himself down to Agis the son of Archidamus. For the institution of Ephors was not a relaxation, but a strengthening of the original scheme, and while it seemed popular it really confirmed the power of the oligarchy.
XXIX. But in the reign of Agis money found its way into Sparta, and, after money, selfishness and greed for gain came in, on account of Lysander, who, though himself incorruptible, yet filled his country with luxury and love of gold, as he brought back gold and silver from the wars, and disregarded the laws of Lykurgus. Before this, when those laws were in force, Sparta was like a wise and practised warrior more than a city, or rather, she with her simple staff and cloak, like Herakles with his lion-skin and club, ruled over a willing Greece, deposed bad kings or factions, decided wars, and crushed revolutions; and that, too, often without moving a single soldier, but merely by sending a commissioner, who was at once obeyed, even as bees collect and rank themselves in order when their queen appears. Sparta then had so much order and justice as to be able to supply her neighbours; and I cannot understand those who say that the Lacedaemonians "knew how to obey, but not how to rule;" nor that story of some one who said to king Theopompus that the safety of Sparta lay in her kings knowing how to rule. "Rather," he answered, "in her citizens knowing how to obey."
They would not brook an incapable commander: their very obedience is a lesson in the art of command; for a good leader makes good followers, and just as it is the object of the horse-breaker to turn out a gentle and tractable horse, so it is the object of rulers to implant in men the spirit of obedience. But the Lacedaemonians produced a desire in other states to be ruled by them and to obey them; for they used to send embassies and ask not for ships or money or troops, but for one Spartan for a leader; and when they obtained him, they respected him and feared him, as, for instance, the Sicilians had Gylippus as a general, the people of Chalkidike had Brasidas, while Lysander and Kallikratidas and Agesilaus were made use of by all the Greeks in Asia Minor. These men were called Regulators and Pacificators in each several state, and the whole city of Sparta was regarded as a school and example of orderly public life and of settled political institutions. This was alluded to by Stratonikus when he said in jest that the Athenians ought to conduct mysteries and shows, the Eleans to be stewards at the games, and the Lacedaemonians to be beaten if the others did not do right. This was not spoken seriously; but Antisthenes, the Sokratic philosopher, was serious when he said of the Thebans, who were in high spirits after their victory at Leuktra, that they were as pleased as schoolboys who had beaten their master.
XXXI. Not that this was Lykurgus's main object, that his country should dominate over as many other states as possible; but seeing that, in states as in individuals, happiness is derived from virtue and single-mindedness, he directed all his efforts to implant in his countrymen feelings of honour, self-reliance, and self-control. These were also taken as the basis of their constitution by Plato, Diogenes, Zeno, and all who have written with any success upon this subject. But they have left mere dissertations; Lykurgus produced an inimitable constitution, confuted those who complained of the unreality of the 'Essay on the True Philosopher,' by showing them the spectacle of an entire city acting like philosophers, and thereby obtained for himself a greater reputation than that of any other Greek legislator at any period. For this reason Aristotle says that he has less honour in Lacedaemon than he deserves, although his memory is greatly respected; for he has a temple, and they sacrifice to him every year as if he was a god. It is also said that after his remains were carried home, his tomb was struck by lightning. This distinction befell scarcely any other man of note except Euripides, who died long after him, and was buried at Arethusa in Macedonia. It was considered a great proof and token of his fame by the admirers of Euripides, that this should happen to him after his death which happened before to the especial favourite of Heaven.
Some say that Lykurgus died at Kirrha, but Apollothemis says that he was taken to Elis and died there, and Timaeus and Aristoxenus say that he ended his days in Crete. Aristoxenus even says that the Cretans show his tomb in what is called the Strangers' Road in Pergamia. He is said to have left one son, Antiorus, who died childless, and so ended the family. His companions and relatives and their descendants kept up the practice of meeting together for a long period; and the days when they met were called Lykurgids. Aristokrates the son of Hipparchus says that when Lykurgus died in Crete, his friends burned his body and threw the ashes into the sea, at his own request, as he feared that if any remains of him should be brought back to Lacedaemon, they would think themselves absolved from their oath, and change the constitution. This is the story of Lykurgus.
LIFE OF NUMA.
I. There is a considerable conflict of opinion about the time of King Numa's reign, although several pedigrees seem to be accurately traced to him. One Clodius, in a book on the verification of dates, insists that all these old records were destroyed during the Gaulish troubles, and that those which are now extant were composed by interested persons, by whose means men who had no right to such honours claimed descent from the noblest families. Though Numa is said to have been a friend of Pythagoras, yet some deny that he had any tincture of Greek learning, arguing that either he was born with a natural capacity for sound learning, or that he was taught by some barbarian.[A] Others say that Pythagoras was born much later, some five generations after the times of Numa, but that Pythagoras the Spartan, who won the Stadium race at Olympia on the thirteenth Olympiad, wandered into Italy, and there meeting Numa, assisted him in the establishment of his constitution; and that from this cause, the Roman constitution in many points resembles the Laconian. The Olympic games were instituted in the third year of Numa's reign. Another story is that Numa was a Sabine by birth, and the Sabines consider themselves to be of Lacedaemonian origin. It is hard to reconcile the dates, especially those which refer to Olympiads, the table of which is said to have been made out by Hippias of Elis, on no trustworthy basis. However, what things I have heard about Numa that are worthy of mention I shall proceed to relate, beginning from a starting-point of my own.
[Footnote A: That is, by some one who was not a Greek.]
II. Rome had been founded, and Romulus had reigned, for thirty-seven years, when upon the fifth day of the month of July, which day is now called _nonae caprotinae_, he was performing a public sacrifice outside the gates, at a place called the Goat's Marsh, in the presence of the Senate and most of the people. Suddenly a great commotion began in the air, thick clouds covered the earth, with violent gusts and showers. The people fled in terror, and Romulus disappeared. His body could never be found, but suspicion fell upon the patricians, and a report was current among the populace that they had long been jealous of his power as king, and had determined to get it into their own hands. Indeed, he had dealt with them very harshly and tyrannically. Fearing this suspicion, they gave out that he was not dead, but had been caught up into heaven; and Proclus, a man of mark, swore that he saw Romulus ascend into heaven in his armour as he was, and that he heard a voice ordering that he should be called Quirinus. Another disturbance took place in Rome about the election of the next king, because the new citizens were not yet thoroughly amalgamated with the old ones, the people were unquiet, and the patricians suspicious of one another. Nevertheless they all determined that they would have a king, but they disagreed not merely about who, but of what race he should be.
Romulus's original colonists thought it a monstrous thing that the Sabines, because they had been admitted to a share of the city and the country, should propose to rule over it; while the Sabines not unreasonably urged that because, after the death of Tatius, they had acquiesced in Romulus reigning alone, now in their turn they ought to furnish a king of their own nation. They had not, they said, been adopted by a more powerful race than themselves, but had, by their combination with the Romans, greatly raised the power and renown of their city.
The two races were at issue on these points. The patricians, fearing that confusion might arise if the state were left without a head, made one of their own number every day assume the insignia of royalty, perform the usual sacrifices to the gods, and transact business for six hours by day, and six by night. This equal division of their periods of rule was not only just for those in office, but prevented any jealousy of them being felt by the populace, each day and night, because they saw one who had been a king become a private person. This form of government the Romans call an interregnum.
III. But, although they appeared to manage things so smoothly, suspicions and threatenings of disturbance arose, for men said that they meditated altering the form of government to an oligarchy, in order to keep all political power in their own hands, and would not therefore elect a king. Hereupon the two factions agreed that one should select a king from the ranks of the other. This, they thought, would both put an end to their quarrels for the present, and also ensure the candidate who should be chosen being impartial, because he would be friendly to the one party because it had chosen him, and to the other because he belonged to it by birth. The Sabines gave the Romans their choice which they would do; and they decided that it would be better to choose a Sabine king themselves, than to be ruled by a Roman chosen by the Sabines. After deliberation amongst themselves, they chose Numa Pompilius, a man who was not one of those Sabines who had settled in Rome, but whose excellence was so well-known to all, that the Sabines, as soon as they heard his name, were even more eager for him than the Romans who had chosen him. When they had informed the people of their decision, they sent an embassy to Numa, composed of the leading men of both parties, to beg of him to come to Rome and assume the crown.
Numa belonged to a celebrated Sabine city, Cures, from which the united Romans and Sabines called themselves Quirites. He was the son of Pomponius, an honourable citizen, and was the youngest of four brothers.
By a miraculous coincidence he was born on the very day on which Romulus founded Rome; that is, the tenth day before the Calends of May. His naturally good disposition had been so educated by sorrow and philosophic pursuits, that he rose superior not merely to commonplace vices, but even to the worship of brute force, so common among barbarians, and considered true courage to consist in the conquest of his own passions. Accordingly he banished all luxury and extravagance from his house, and was known as a trusty friend and counsellor, both by his countrymen and by strangers. When at leisure, he disregarded sensual enjoyments and money-getting, but devoted himself to the service of the gods and to speculations about their nature and power, so that he obtained great celebrity. Indeed Tatius, when he was acting as joint-king with Romulus, chose him for the husband of his only daughter Tatia. But Numa was not elated by his marriage, and did not remove to the town where his father-in-law was king, but stayed where he was in Cures, among the Sabines, tending his aged father; while Tatia also preferred the quiet of a private citizen's life to the pomp which she might have enjoyed in Rome. She is said to have died in the thirteenth year after her marriage.
IV. Now Numa was in the habit of leaving the city and passing much of his time in the country, wandering alone in the sacred groves and dwelling in desert places. Hence the story first arose that it was not from any derangement of intellect that he shunned human society, but because he held converse with higher beings, and had been admitted to marriage with the gods, and that, by passing his time in converse with the nymph Egeria, who loved him, he became blessed, and learned heavenly wisdom. It is evident that this is the same as many ancient myths; such as that told by the Phrygians about Attis, that of the Bithynians about Herodotus, that of the Arcadians about Endymion, and many others. Yet it seems probable that a god, who loves man better than bird or beast, should take pleasure in conversing with those men who are remarkable for goodness, and not despise nor disdain to hold communion with the wise and righteous. But it is hard to believe that a god or deity could feel the passion of love for a human form; although the Egyptians not unreasonably say, that a woman may be impregnated by the spirit of a god, but that a man can have no material union with a god. However it is very right to believe that a god can feel friendship for a man, and from this may spring a love which watches over him and guides him in the path of virtue. There is truth in the myths of Phorbas, of Hyacinthus, and of Admetus, who were all loved by Apollo, as was also Hippolytus of Sicyon.
It is said that whenever he set sail from Sikyon to Kirrha on the opposite coast, the Pythia would recite the verse, "Now goes our dear Hippolytus to sea," as if the god knew that he was coming and rejoiced at it.
There is also a legend that Pan loved Pindar and his verses; and for the Muse's sake, Hesiod and Archilochus were honoured after their deaths; while Sophokles during his life is said, by a legend which remains current at the present day, to have become the friend of Aesculapius, and on his death to have had the rites of burial supplied by the care of another god.
If, then, we believe the legends which are told about these persons, why should we doubt that Zaleukus, Minos, Zoroaster, Numa, and Lykurgus were inspired by Heaven, when they governed their kingdoms and gave them laws? We may suppose that the gods, when in an earnest mood, would hold converse with such men as these, the best of their kind, to talk with and encourage them, just as they visit the poets, if they do at all, when inclined for pleasure. However, if any one thinks differently, as Bacchylides says, "The way is broad."
The other view, which some take about Lykurgus and Numa and such men, seems very plausible, that they, having to deal with an obstinate and unmanageable people when introducing great political changes, invented the idea of their own divine mission as a means of safety for themselves.
V. It was in Numa's fortieth year that the envoys came from Rome to ask him to be king. Their spokesmen were Proculus and Velesius, one of whom had very nearly been elected king, for the Romulus people inclined much to Proculus, and those of Tatius were equally in favour of Velesius.
These men made a short speech, imagining that Numa would be delighted with his fortune; but it appears that it took much hard pleading to induce a man who had lived all his life in peace to take the command of a city which owed its origin and its increase alike to war. He said, in the presence of his father and of Marcius, one of his relations, "Every change in a man's life is dangerous; and when a man is not in want of anything needful, and has no cause for being dissatisfied with his lot, it is sheer madness for him to change his habits and way of life; for these, at any rate, have the advantage of security, while in the new state all is uncertain. Not even uncertain are the perils of royalty, judging from Romulus himself, who was suspected of having plotted against his partner Tatius, and whose peers were suspected of having assassinated him. Yet these men call Romulus the child of the gods, and tell how he had a divinely sent nurse, and was preserved by a miracle while yet a child; while I was born of mortal parents, and brought up by people whom you all know: even the points which you praise in my character are far from those which make a good king, being love of leisure and of unprofitable speculation, and also a great fondness for peace and unwarlike matters, and for men who meet together for the glory of the gods or for cheerful converse with one another, and who at other times plough their fields and feed their cattle at home. But you Romans have very likely many wars left upon your hands by Romulus, for the conduct of which the state requires a vigorous warrior in the prime of life. The people too, from their successes, are accustomed to and eager for war, and are known to be longing for fresh conquests and possessions; so that they would ridicule me when I told them to honour the gods and act justly, and if I tried to instil a hatred of wars and of brute force into a city which wants a general more than a king."
VI. As he refused the offered crown in such terms, the Romans used every kind of entreaty to induce him to accept it, begging him not to plunge the state again into civil war, because there was no other man whom the two parties would agree to receive as their king. In their absence, his father and Marcius begged him not to refuse so great and marvellous an offer. "If," they said, "you do not desire wealth, because of your simple life, and do not care for the glory of royalty, because you derive more glory from your own virtue, yet think that to be king is to serve God, who gives you this office and will not allow your righteousness to lie idle, useful only to yourself. Do not therefore shrink from assuming this office, which gives you an opportunity to conduct the solemn ceremonials of religion with due pomp, and to civilise the people and turn their hearts, which can be effected more easily by a king than by any one else. This people loved Tatius, though he was a foreigner, and they respect the memory of Romulus as if he was a god. And who knows, if the people, although victorious, may not have had enough of wars, and, sated with triumphs and spoils, may not be desirous of a gentle and just ruler under whom they may enjoy rest and peace. If, however, they are madly bent upon war, is it not better that you should hold the reins, and direct their fury elsewhere, becoming yourself a bond of union and friendship between the Sabine nation and this powerful and flourishing city?" Besides these arguments, it is said that the omens were favourable, and that the people of the city, as soon as they heard of the embassy, came and besought him to go and become king, and thus unite and combine the two races.
VII. When he had made up his mind, he sacrificed to the gods, and started for Rome. The Senate and people met him and showed great affection for him; the matrons also greeted him, and there were sacrifices in the temples, and every one was as joyous as if he had received a kingdom instead of a king. When they came into the Forum, the _interrex_ or temporary king, Spurius Vettius, put it to the vote, and all the people voted for Numa. When they offered him the insignia of royalty, he bade them stop, saying that he wished to have his crown confirmed to him by God as well as by man. Taking the prophets and priests he ascended the Capitol, which the Romans at that time called the Tarpeian Hill. There the chief of the prophets made him turn towards the south, covered his head, and then standing behind him with his hand laid upon his head, he prayed, and looked for a sign or omen sent from the gods in every quarter of the heavens. A strange silence prevailed among the people in the Forum, as they watched him eagerly, until a prosperous omen was observed. Then Numa received the royal robes and came down from the hill among the people. They received him with cheers and congratulations, as the most pious of men, and as beloved of Heaven.
When he became king, his first act was to disband the body-guard of three hundred men, whom Romulus always had kept about his person, who were called _Celeres_, that is, swift; for Numa would not distrust a loyal people nor reign over a disloyal one. Next he instituted a third high priest, in addition to the existing priests of Jupiter and Mars, whom, in honour of Romulus, he called the Flamen Quirinalis. The elder priests are called Flamens from the skull-caps which they wear, and the word is derived from the Greek word for felt; for at that time Greek words were mingled with Latin ones more than now. For instance, the _laena_ worn by the priests is said by Juba to be the Greek _chlaina_, and the boy, whose parents must be both alive, who is servant to the priest of Jupiter, is called _Camillus_, just as the Greeks sometimes call Hermes (Mercury) _Cadmilus_, from his being the servant of the gods.
VIII. Numa, after confirming his popularity by these measures, proceeded at once to attempt to convert the city from the practice of war and the strong hand, to that of right and justice, just as a man tries to soften and mould a mass of iron. The city at that time was indeed what Plato calls "inflamed and angry," for it owed its very existence to the reckless daring by which it had thrust aside the most warlike races of the country, and had recruited its strength by many campaigns and ceaseless war, and, as carpentry becomes more fixed in its place by blows, so the city seemed to gain fresh power from its dangers. Thinking that it would be a very difficult task to change the habits of this excited and savage people, and to teach them the arts of peace, he looked to the gods for help, and by sacrifices, processions, and choral dances, which he himself organised and arranged, he awed, interested, and softened the manners of the Romans, artfully beguiling them out of their warlike ferocity. Sometimes he spoke of supernatural terrors, evil omens, and unpropitious voices, so as to influence them by means of superstition. These measures proved his wisdom, and showed him a true disciple of Pythagoras, for the worship of the gods was an important part of his state policy, as it is of Pythagoras's system of philosophy.
His love of outward show and stratagem was also said to be derived from Pythagoras, for as the latter tamed an eagle and made it alight upon him, and when walking through the crowd at Olympia showed his golden thigh, and did all the other surprising devices which made Timon of Phlius write the epigram-- "Pythagoras by magic arts, And mystic talk deludes men's hearts," so did Numa invent the story of his amour with a wood-nymph and his secret converse with her, and of his enjoying the society of the Muses.
He referred most of his prophetic utterances to the Muses, and taught the Romans to worship one of them especially, whom he called Tacita, which means silent or dumb. This seems to have been done in imitation of Pythagoras, who especially revered silence. His legislation about images was also connected with the Pythagorean doctrine, which says that first principles cannot be touched or seen, but are invisible spiritual essences; for Numa forbade the Romans to worship any likenesses of men or of beasts. Among them there was no image of a god, either carved or moulded, in the early times. For a hundred and seventy years they built temples, and placed shrines in them, but made no image of any living thing, considering that it was wrong to make the worse like the better, and that God cannot be comprehended otherwise than by thought. Their sacrifices also were connected with the Pythagorean doctrine; they were for the most part bloodless, and performed with flour, libations of wine, and all the commonest things. But besides these, there are other distinct proofs of the connection of these two men with one another. One of these is that the Romans enrolled Pythagoras as a citizen, as we are told by Epicharmus the comic poet, in a letter which he wrote to Antenor. He was a man who lived in old times and underwent the Pythagorean training. Another proof is that of his four sons, King Numa named one Mamercus after the son of Pythagoras; from whom sprung the ancient patrician house of the Aemilii. This name was originally given him in sport by the king, who used to call him _aimulos_ or wily. I myself have heard many Romans narrate that an oracle once bade the Romans establish the wisest and the bravest of the Greeks in their own city, and that in consequence of it they set up two brazen statues in the Forum, one of Alkibiades and one of Pythagoras. But all this can be so easily disputed that it is not worth while to pursue it farther or to put any trust in it.
IX. To Numa also is referred the institution of the Pontifices, or high priests; and he himself is said to have been one of the first. The Pontifices are so called, according to some authorities, because they worship the gods, who are powerful and almighty; for powerful in Latin is _potens_. Others say that it refers to an exception made in favour of possibilities, meaning that the legislator ordered the priests to perform what services lay in their power, and did not deny that there are some which they cannot. But the most usually received and most absurd derivation is that the word means nothing more than bridge builders, and that they were so named from the sacrifices which are offered upon the sacred bridge, which are of great sanctity and antiquity. The Latins call a bridge _pontem_. This bridge is intrusted to the care of the priests, like any other immovable holy relic; for the Romans think that the removal of the wooden bridge would call down the wrath of Heaven. It is said to be entirely composed of wood, in accordance with some oracle, without any iron whatever.
The stone bridge was built many years afterwards, when Aemilius was Quaestor. However, it is said that the wooden bridge itself does not date from the time of Numa, but that it was finished by Marcius, the grandson of Numa, when he was king.
The chief priest, or Pontifex Maximus, is an interpreter and prophet or rather expounder of the will of Heaven. He not only sees that the public sacrifices are properly conducted, but even watches those who offer private sacrifices, opposes all departure from established custom, and points out to each man how to honour the gods and how to pray to them.
He also presides over the holy maidens called vestals.
The consecration of the vestal virgins, and the worship and watching of the eternal flame by them, are entirely attributed to Numa, and explained either by the pure and uncorruptible essence of fire being intrusted to the keeping of those who are stainless and undefiled, or by that which is barren and without fruit being associated with maidens.
Indeed, in Greece, wherever an eternal fire is kept up, as at Delphi and Athens, it is not maidens, but widows, past the age to wed, that tend it. When any of these fires chance to go out, as, for instance, the sacred lamp went out at Athens when Aristion was despot, and the fire went out at Delphi when the temple was burned by the Persians, and at Rome in the revolutions during the time of the wars with King Mithridates the fire, and even the altar upon which it burned, was swept away; then they say that it must not be lighted from another fire, but that an entirely new fire must be made, lighted by a pure and undefiled ray from the sun. They usually light it with mirrors made by hollowing the surface of an isosceles right-angled triangle, which conducts all the rays of light into one point. Now when it is placed opposite to the sun, so that all the rays coming from all quarters are collected together into that point, the ray thus formed passes through the thin air, and at once lights the dryest and lightest of the objects against which it strikes, for that ray has the strength and force of fire itself.
Some say that the only duty of the vestal virgins is to watch that eternal fire, but others say they perform certain secret rites, about which we have written as much as it is lawful to divulge, in the Life of Camillus.
X. The first maidens who were consecrated by Numa were named Gegania and Verenia; and afterwards Canuleia and Tarpeia were added. Servius subsequently added two more to their number, which has remained six ever since his reign. Numa ordained that the maidens should observe celibacy for thirty years, during the first ten years of which they were to learn their duties, during the next perform them, and during the last to teach others. After this period any of them who wished might marry and cease to be priestesses; but it is said that very few availed themselves of this privilege, and that those few were not happy, but, by their regrets and sorrow for the life they had left, made the others scruple to leave it, prefer to remain virgins till their death. They had great privileges, such as that of disposing of their property by will when their fathers were still alive, like women who have borne three children. When they walk abroad they are escorted by lictors with the fasces; and if they happen to meet any criminal who is being taken to execution, he is not put to death; but the vestal must swear that she met him accidentally, and not on purpose. When they use a litter, no one may pass under it on pain of death. The vestals are corrected by stripes for any faults which they commit, sometimes by the Pontifex Maximus, who flogs the culprit without her clothes, but with a curtain drawn before her. She that breaks her vow of celibacy is buried alive at the Colline