When then Jupiter said "With
living"--"Sprats," said Numa, answering as Egeria had taught him. The
god went away appeased, and the place was in consequence called Ilicius.
This was how the charm was discovered.
These ridiculous legends show the way in which the people had become
accustomed to regard the gods. Indeed Numa is said to have placed all
his hopes in religion, to such an extent that even when a message was
brought him, saying, "The enemy are approaching," he smiled and said,
"And I am sacrificing."
XVI. The first temples that he founded are said to have been those of
Fides or Faith, and Terminus. Fides is said to have revealed to the
Romans the greatest of all oaths, which they even now make use of; while
Terminus is the god of boundaries, to whom they sacrifice publicly, and
also privately at the divisions of men's estates; at the present time
with living victims, but in old days this was a bloodless sacrifice, for
Numa argued that the god of boundaries must be a lover of peace, and a
witness of righteousness, and therefore averse to bloodshed.
Indeed Numa was the first king who defined the boundaries of the
country, since Romulus was unwilling, by measuring what was really his
own, to show how much he had taken from other states: for boundaries, if
preserved, are barriers against violence; if disregarded, they become
standing proofs of lawless injustice.
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