DEATH OF ROMULUS

Romulus reigned thirty-seven years. Though good at first, he grew proud and cruel, caring only for himself. He had no real friends. One day during an assembly on the plain, a sudden storm drove people to flee. When it ended, Romulus had disappeared. A senator claimed to have seen him carried up to heaven. Romulus supposedly said he wanted to be worshiped as the god Quirinus. The ignorant Romans believed this and built a temple on the Quirinal Hill. Later Romans suspected the senators had murdered the tyrant during the storm, cut up his body, and hidden the pieces under their long mantles.