---------
Hence, and on this double testimony (which the Westerns are quite
welcome to reject if so pleased) it is affirmed that, owing to the great
amalgamation of various sub-races, such as the Iapygian, Etruscan,
Pelasgic, and later--the strong admixture of the Hellenic and
Kelto-Gaulic element in the veins of the primitive Itali of
Latium--there remained in the tribes gathered by Romulus on the banks of
the Tiber about as much Latinism as there is now in the Romanic people
of Wallachia. Of course if the historical foundation of the fable of
the twins of the Vestal Silvia is entirely rejected, together with that
of the foundation of Alba Longa by the son of Aeneas, then it stands to
reason that the whole of the statements made must be likewise a modern
invention built upon the utterly worthless fables of the "legendary
mythical age." For those who now give these statements, however, there
is more of actual truth in such fables than there is in the alleged
historical Regal period of the earliest Romans. It is to be deplored
that the present statement should clash with the authoritative
conclusion of Mommsen and others.
Pages:
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452