rs to the king, was
composed of a hundred of the principal citizens of Rome, consisting of
men whose age, wisdom, or valour, gave them a natural authority over
their fellow-subjects. The king named the first senator, who was
called prince of the senate, and appointed him to the government of
the city, whenever war required his own absence.

3. The patricians, who composed the third part of the legislature,
assumed to themselves the power of authorising those laws which were
passed by the king, or the senate. All things relative to peace or
war, to the election of magistrates, and even to the choosing a king,
were confirmed by suffrages in their assemblies.

4. The plebeians were to till the fields, feed cattle, and follow
trades; but not to have any share in the government, to avoid the
inconveniences of a popular power.

5. The first care of the new-created king was, to attend to the
interests of religion. The precise form of their worship is unknown;
but the greatest part of the religion of that age consisted in a firm
reliance upon the credit of their soothsayers, who pretended, from
observation on the flight of birds, and the entrails of beasts, to
direct the present, and to dive into futurity. Rom'ulus, by an express
law, commanded that no election should be made, nor enterprise
undertaken, without first consulting them.

6. Wives were forbidden, upon any pretext whatsoever, to separate from
their husbands; while, on the contrary, the husband was empowered to
repudiate the wife, and even, in some cases, to put her to death. The
laws between children and their parents were still more severe; the
father had entire power over his offspring, both of fortune and life;
he could imprison and sell them at any time of their lives, or in any
stations to which they were arrived.

7. After endeavouring to regulate his subjects by law, Rom'ulus next
gave orders to ascertain their numbers. The whole amounted to no more
than three thousand foot, and about as many hundred horsemen, capable
of bearing arms. These, therefore, were divided equally into three
tribes, and to each he assigned a different part of the city. Each of
these tribes was subdivided into ten curiae, or companies, consisting of
a hundred men each, with a centurion to command it; a priest called
curio, to perform the sacrifices, and two of the principal inhabitants,
called duumviri, to distribute justice.

8. By these judicious regulations, each day added s