ing on their side since the death
of Tatius, they might lose their claim to the crown[21] according to the
compact of equal participation. The old Romans spurned the idea of a
foreign prince. Amid this diversity of views, however, all were anxious
that there should be a king, they not having yet tasted the sweets of
liberty. Fear then seized the senators, lest the minds of the
surrounding states being incensed against them, some foreign power
should attack the state, now without a government, and the army without
a leader. It was therefore their wish that there should be some head,
but no one could bring himself to give way to another. Thus the hundred
senators divide the government among them, ten decuries being formed,
and one selected from each decury, who was to have the chief direction
of affairs. Ten governed; one only was attended with the insignia of
authority and the lictors: their power was limited to the space of five
days, and it passed through all in rotation, and the interval between a
kingly government lasted a year. From the circumstance it was called an
Interregnum, a term which holds good even now. But the people began to
murmur, that their slavery was multiplied, and that they had got a
hundred sovereigns instead of one, and they seemed determined to bear no
authority but that of a king, and that one of their own choosing. When
the fathers perceived that such schemes were in agitation, thinking it
advisable to offer them, of their own accord, what they were sure to
lose; they thus conciliate the favour of the people by yielding to them
the supreme power, yet in such a manner as to grant them no greater
privilege than they reserved to themselves. For they decreed, that when
the people should choose a king, the election should be valid, if the
senate approved. And[22] the same forms are observed at this day in
passing laws and electing magistrates, though their efficacy has been
taken away; for before the people begin to vote, the senators declare
their approbation, whilst the result of the elections is still
uncertain. Then the interrex, having called an assembly of the people,
addressed them in this manner: "Do you, Romans, choose yourselves a
king, and may it prove fortunate, happy, and auspicious to you; so the
fathers have determined. Then, if you choose a prince worthy to succeed
Romulus, the fathers will confirm your choice." This concession was so
pleasing to the people, that, not to be outdone in