2 – Numa Pompilius (715? – 673 BC?)
Plutarch claimed that Numa was born on the day of Rome’s founding and he banished all thoughts of leading a luxurious life. The disciplined Numa married Tatius’ only daughter, but when she died, he retreated to the countryside. There was an interregnum of a year after the death of Romulus, but eventually, Numa was nominated as king. The Sabine monarch was apparently a cunning and calculated individual, and he enjoyed a relatively peaceful reign.
One of his first acts as king was to disband the 300 Celeres (Romulus’ personal guard) in what was either a sign of humility or a clever maneuver to remove any threat from within. According to tradition, Numa brought the order of the Vestal Virgins to Rome from Alba Longa. He also founded the Temple of Janus and created colleges for priests which included the fetiales, a group with the power to make peace or declare war. It is also claimed that he reformed the calendar by adding the months of January and February to increase the number of days in a year to 360.
Numa ruled Rome for 43 years, and the kingdom enjoyed a peaceful period of growth and prosperity. Legend has it that he chose the prophetess and nymph Egeria as his lover once his wife died and she provided him with wise counsel. The Romans viewed Numa as the father of their culture, a man who turned a group of thieves, bandits, and peasants into something resembling a civilization.
Although there is a lot of interesting information relating to Numa, quite a lot of it is completely inaccurate. For example, several of the priesthoods he allegedly created predated his reign. The reform of the calendar may have happened many years later. Amusingly, there was a suggestion that he was friends with Pythagoras; an impossibility since the Greek philosopher wasn’t born until 570 BC. In 181 BC, 14 books attributed to Numa were found, but further, inspection revealed that they were forgeries. Rome’s Sabine King died in 673 BC.