The reign of Numa was devoted to the consolidation
of the power which Romulus had acquired, to the civilization
of his subjects, and the improvement of the city.
He fixed his residence between the Roman and the Sabine
city, and erected adjoining to the Regia a temple to
Vesta, which was probably only an oedes sacra.
It was probably along with these buildings that the
Sacra Via came into existence. The Regia became
in after times the residence of the Pontifex Maximus.
Numa established on the Palatine the Curia Saliorum,
and built on the Quirinal a temple of Romulus, afterwards
rebuilt by Augustus. He also erected on the Quirinal
a citadel connected with a temple of Jupiter, with
cells of Juno and Minerva. He converted the gate
which formed the entrance of the Sabine city into
a temple of Janus, and laid the foundation upon the
Capitoline of a large temple to Fides Publica, the
public faith.
[Sidenote: The reign of Tullus Hostilius.]
[Sidenote: Improvement of the city made by Tullus.]
Under the reign of Tullus Hostilius was the capture
of Alba Longa, the old capital of Latium, where Numa
had reigned, and the transfer of its inhabitants to
Rome, which thus became the chief city of the Latin
league. They were located on the Caelian, which
also became the residence of the king. He built
the Curia Hostilia, a senate chamber, to accommodate
the noble Alban families, in which the Roman Senate
assembled, at the northwest corner of the Forum, to
the latest times of the republic. It was a templum,
but not dedicated for divine services, adjoining the
eastern side of the Vulcanal. Out of the spoils
of Alba Longa, Tullus improved the Comitium, a space
at the northwest end of the Forum, fronting the Curia,
the common meeting place of the Romans and Sabines.
On the Quirinal Hill he erected a Curia Saliorum in
imitation of that of Numa on the Palatine, devoted
to the worship of Quirinus.
[Sidenote: Growth of Rome during the reign of
Ancus Martius.]
Ancus Martius, a grandson of Numa, succeeded Tullus
after a reign of thirty-two years. Under him
the city was greatly augmented by the inhabitants
of various Latin cities which he subdued. These
settled on the Aventine, and in the valley which separated
it from the Palatine, supposed by Niebuhr to be the
origin of the Roman Plebs, though it is maintained
by Lewis that the Plebeian order was coaeval with the
foundation of the city. Ancus fortified Mons Janiculus,
the hill on the western bank of the Tiber, for the
protection of the city. He connected it with
Rome by the Pons Sublicius, the earliest of the Roman
bridges, built on piles. The Janiculum was not
much occupied by residences until the time of Augustus.
Ancus founded Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, which
became the port of Rome. It was this king who
built the famous Mamertine Prison, near the Forum,
below the northern height of the Capitoline.
[Sidenote: Tarquinius Priscus.]
