§2.23.1ταῦτα περὶ τῶν θρησκευόντων τοὺς θεοὺς καταστησάμενος διῄρει πάλιν, ὡς ἔφην, κατʼ ἐπιτηδειότητα ταῖς φράτραις τὰ ἱερά, θεοὺς ἀποδεικνὺς ἑκάστοις καὶ δαίμονας, οὓς ἔμελλον ἀεὶ σέβειν, καὶ τὰς εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ δαπάνας ἔταξεν, ἃς ἐχρῆν αὐτοῖς ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου δίδοσθαι.
Having established these regulations concerning those who worship the gods, he again, as I have said, distributed the sacred rites to the phratries according to their suitability, assigning to each the gods and genii whom they were always to worship, and he appointed the expenses for the sacrifices, which were to be defrayed for them out of the public treasury.
§2.23.2συνέθυόν τε τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν οἱ φρατριεῖς τὰς ἀπομερισθείσας αὐτοῖς θυσίας καὶ συνειστιῶντο κατὰ τὰς ἑορτὰς ἐπὶ τῆς φρατριακῆς ἑστίας· ἑστιατόριον γὰρ ἦν κατεσκευασμένον ἑκάστῃ φράτρᾳ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ καθωσίωτό τις, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς πρυτανείοις, ἑστία κοινὴ τῶν φρατριῶν.
And the members of each phratry performed with the priests the sacrifices assigned to them, and feasted together during the festivals at the hearth of the phratry; for a banqueting hall was prepared for each phratry, and in it there was consecrated, just as in the Greek prytaneia, a common hearth of the phratries.
ὄνομα δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἑστιατορίοις ἦν, ὅπερ ταῖς φράτραις, κουρίαι καὶ μέχρις ἡμῶν οὕτω καλοῦνται.
These banqueting halls also had the same name as the phratries, namely curiae, and are called so to our day.
§2.23.3τοῦτο τὸ πολίτευμα δοκεῖ μοι λαβεῖν ἐκ τῆς Λακεδαιμονίων ἀγωγῆς τῆς περὶ τὰ φιδίτια κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ἐπιχωριαζούσης, ἣν Λυκοῦργος εἰσηγήσασθαι δοκεῖ παρὰ Κρητῶν μαθών, καὶ μεγάλα τὴν πόλιν ὠφελῆσαι ἐν εἰρήνῃ μὲν εἰς εὐτέλειαν ἄγων τοὺς βίους καὶ σωφροσύνην τῆς καθʼ ἡμέραν διαίτης, ἐν πολέμῳ δʼ εἰς αἰδῶ καὶ πρόνοιαν καταστήσας ἕκαστον τοῦ μὴ καταλιπεῖν τὸν παραστάτην, ᾧ καὶ συνέσπεισε καὶ §2.23.4συνέθυσε καὶ κοινῶν ἱερῶν μετέσχεν.
This institution he seems to me to have taken from the Lacedaemonian custom of the phiditia, which was in use at that time, and which Lycurgus seems to have introduced, having learned it from the Cretans, and to have greatly benefited the state—in peace, by leading their lives to frugality and the moderation of daily living, and in war, by establishing each man in shame and foresight not to abandon his comrade, with whom he had poured libations, sacrificed, and shared common sacred rites.
καὶ οὐ μόνον τῆς περὶ ταῦτα σοφίας χάριν ἄξιος ἐπαινεῖσθαι ὁ ἀνήρ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς εὐτελείας τῶν θυσιῶν, αἷς γεραίρεσθαι τοὺς θεοὺς ἐνομοθέτησεν, ὧν αἱ πλεῖσται διέμενον ἕως τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἡλικίας, εἰ μὴ καὶ πᾶσαι κατὰ τὸν ἀρχαῖον ἐπιτελούμεναι τρόπον.
And the man is worthy of praise not only for his wisdom in these matters, but also for the frugality of the sacrifices with which he ordained that the gods should be honored, most of which have remained until our time, if not indeed all, being performed in the ancient manner.
§2.23.5ἐγὼ γοῦν ἐθεασάμην ἐν ἱεραῖς οἰκίαις δεῖπνα προκείμενα θεοῖς ἐπὶ τραπέζαις ξυλίναις ἀρχαϊκαῖς ἐν κάνησι καὶ πινακίσκοις κεραμεοῖς, ἀλφίτων μάζας καὶ πόπανα καὶ ζέας καὶ καρπῶν τινων ἀπαρχὰς καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα λιτὰ καὶ εὐδάπανα καὶ πάσης ἀπειροκαλίας ἀπηλλαγμένα· καὶ σπονδὰς εἶδον ἐγκεκραμένας οὐκ ἐν ἀργυροῖς καὶ χρυσοῖς ἄγγεσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐν ὀστρακίναις κυλίσκαις καὶ πρόχοις, καὶ πάνυ ἠγάσθην τῶν ἀνδρῶν ὅτι διαμένουσιν ἐν τοῖς πατρίοις ἔθεσιν οὐδὲν ἐξαλλάττοντες τῶν ἀρχαίων ἱερῶν εἰς τὴν ἀλαζόνα πολυτέλειαν.
I, at least, have seen in the sacred houses dinners set before the gods on ancient wooden tables in baskets and earthen plates, consisting of barley cakes, flat loaves, spelt, the first-fruits of certain crops, and other such simple and inexpensive offerings, free from all vulgarity; and I saw libations mixed not in silver and gold vessels, but in earthen cups and pitchers, and I greatly admired these men because they remain true to their ancestral customs, changing nothing of the ancient rites into arrogant luxury.
§2.23.6ἔστι μὲν οὖν ἃ καὶ Νόμας Πομπίλιος ὁ μετὰ Ῥωμύλον ἄρξας τῆς πόλεως κατεστήσατο μνήμης ἄξια καὶ λόγου, περιττὸς τὴν γνώμην ἀνὴρ καὶ τὰ θεῖα ἐξηγήσασθαι σοφὸς ἐν ὀλίγοις, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὕστερον ἐρῶ, καὶ Τύλλος Ὁστίλιος ὁ τρίτος ἀπὸ Ῥωμύλου βασιλεύσας καὶ πάντες οἱ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον γενόμενοι βασιλεῖς· ἀλλʼ ὁ τὰ σπέρματα καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς αὐτοῖς παρασχὼν καὶ τὰ κυριώτατα καταστησάμενος τῶν περὶ τὰ θεῖα νομίμων Ῥωμύλος ἦν.
To be sure, there are things also which Numa Pompilius, who ruled the city after Romulus, established that are worthy of memory and report—a man of extraordinary intellect and wise in interpreting divine matters as few others, about whom I shall speak later—and Tullus Hostilius, who reigned as the third king from Romulus, and all the kings who came after him; but Romulus was the one who provided them with the seeds and beginnings, and who established the most essential parts of the laws concerning divine matters.