Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1914-01-26
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MYSTERIES OF ANTIQUITY.
When Was Rome Built?

ably this arose from the circumstano,
that according to ancient authors &
was so: at any rate, the varroniar
reckoning, which is followed by mos
substantial writer's. places it's date OF
April 81, in the third yeareof the sixth
Olympiad, or 756 B. c. Other writers
attempt to fix the date as four years
later, B. C. 1852.
Authentic Roman history may be
said to commence with the wal
against Phyrrhus, in the varronian
year of Rome, 474, corresponding 10
the year 3. c. ESQ, which was the frs,
of the 125th Olympiad. The complete
list of the Roman consuls from that
time until the death of the Emperor
Augustus, in A. d. IA, will be found
in Clinton's Fast Helenici."
The legendary dates of the founding
OF Rome vary considerably over two
hundred years, or between 756 and 500
B. c. One Roman legend has 1t that
the city was founded in 1853 B. c. by
settlement from Alba Tonga, led by
Romulus. No doubt Romulus was the
founder Of the political and military
institutions OF the Romans, as his sue
cessor, Numa Pompilus, was the or.
ganizer Of the religious institutions.
The earliest historians OF Rome
wrote in the time OF the Punic wars.
and had to depend almost entirely on
oral tradition, since the greater part
OF the records of the city had been
burned when Rome was taken by the
Gauls in 800 B. c. Moreover, the lie.
gendary narrative contains many in.
consistencies, much that would appear
improbable even if supported by the
best evidence, and much that is OBJ.
viously the result OF invention.
From recent discoveries it is very
evident that the site of Rome was in.
habited at very early period. Flint
implements and remains of the bronze
age have been found on the Aventine
and elsewhere; and from the early
iron age onward we have a continuous
archaeological record, owing to the dis
covery Of ancient burial places.
There is no doubt that the earliest
settlement bearing the name of Rome
was on the Palatine Hill, which was
both easy of defense and possessed the
means of communication with its
neighbors in the proximity of the I'll.
Der.
An attempt has been made to estab-
lish the date OF the founding of Rome
through the astronomers. but they
seem so much at variance that it is
hard to determine which one to cre,~.
About the only authority experts on
the subject have to work with are the
Grecian Olympiads. each of which
measured, respectively. four years in
length. Each period of four years was
called an Olympiad, and any particu.
lar date was denoted by the number
of the Olympiad, and the number of
the year in it; such as the third year
of the first Dlympiad, etc.
The Greeks, like the Romans, made
in ancient times their civil year
little longer or little shorter than
the true year, and were, like them.
forced to reform their calendar occa.
sionally.
According to one authority, which
seems the most possible of all, the
following quoted passage may serve
to show how impossible il is to get
at the exact date as to the founding
of the most historical of all cities:
According to the myth OF Romulus,
Rome was an offshoot from Alba
Tonga, but the most rational view of
the city's origin is that which is sug-
gested by the consideration of it's site.
1t derived its name from "rumon," an
old word for river-the River City,
and it probably sprang into existence
as a frontier defense against the
Etruscans, and as an emporium for
the river traffic of the country, but
it was founded by a Latin
confederacy or by an individual chief
Is beyond the reach of conjecture.
The date fixed upon for the COM !
mencement of the city by the forma- |
ton of 'Pomoerium.' April 81, 753 B. |
G.. is perfectly valueless. The three |
tribes, Ramnes, Titles and Luceres.
which appear in the Romuleian legend
as the constituent parts of the print
i've commonwealth, suggest the idea
hat Rome arose out of an amalgama-
ion of three separate cantons. The
existence of a Sabine element. repre-
iented by the Titles. is indeed ad-
nitted, but its introduction is thrown
Jack to a period long anterior to the
foundation of the city, when the Ro-
nan clans were still living in their
mon villauac and pOthipU 0f Pnpna