Scarcely any incident in ancient history savours more of the (164)
marvellous than the account above delivered respecting the first Roman
king; and amidst all the solemnity with which it is related, we may
perceive that the historian was not the dupe of credulity. There is more
implied than the author thought proper to avow, in the sentence, Fuisse
credo, etc. In whatever light this anecdote be viewed, it is involved in
perplexity. That Romulus affected a despotic power, is not only highly
probable, from his aspiring disposition, but seems to be confirmed by his
recent appointment of the Celeres, as a guard to his person. He might,
therefore, naturally incur the odium of the patricians, whose importance
was diminished, and their institution rendered abortive, by the increase
of his power. But that they should choose the opportunity of a military
review, for the purpose of removing the tyrant by a violent death, seems
not very consistent with the dictates even of common prudence; and it is
the more incredible, as the circumstance which favoured the execution of
the plot is represented to have been entirely a fortuitous occurrence.
The tempest which is said to have happened, is not easily reconcilable
with our knowledge of that phenomenon. Such a cloud, or mist, as could
have enveloped Romulus from the eyes of the assembly, is not a natural
concomitant of a thunder-storm. There is some reason to suspect that
both the noise and cloud, if they actually existed, were artificial; the
former intended to divert the attention of the spectators, and the latter
to conceal the transaction. The word fragor, a noise or crash, appears
to be an unnecessary addition where thunder is expressed, though
sometimes so used by the poets, and may therefore, perhaps, imply such a
noise from some other cause. If Romulus was killed by any pointed or
sharp-edged weapon, his blood might have been discovered on the spot; or,
if by other means, still the body was equally an object for public
observation. If the people suspected the patricians to be guilty of