Plutarch's Life of Numa, Part I

Important points from Plutarch's biography of Numa Pompilius, an early king of Rome:

1. Numa's character: "His naturally good disposition had been so educated by sorrow and philosophic pursuits, that he rose superior not merely to commonplace vices, but even to the worship of brute force, so common among barbarians, and considered true courage to consist in the conquest of his own passions."

2. How Numa spent his free time: "When at leisure, he disregarded sensual enjoyments and money-getting, but devoted himself to the service of the gods and to speculations about their nature and power, so that he obtained great celebrity."

3. Numa and the nymph: "...[T]he story first arose that it was not from any derangement of intellect that he shunned human society, but because he held converse with higher beings, and had been admitted to marriage with the gods, and that, by passing his time in converse with the nymph Egeria, who loved him, he became blessed, and learned heavenly wisdom."  

4. Plutarch's theological point: "However it is very right to believe that a god can feel friendship for a man and from this may spring a love which watches over him and guides him in the path of virtue."

5. Plutarch's interesting observation about disagreement over theology: "... if any one thinks differently, as Bacchylides says, 'The way is broad.'"

6. Numa's reluctance to be king: Numa is quoted as saying, in reply to people attempting to recruit him to be king, "...even the points which you praise in my character are far from those which make a good king, being love of leisure and of unprofitable speculation, and also a great fondness for peace and unwarlike matters.'" 

7. Numa's inauguration as king: "When they offered him the insignia of royalty, he bade them stop, saying that he wished to have his crown confirmed to him by God as well as by man. Taking the prophets and priests he ascended the Capital, which the Romans at that time called the Tarpeian Hill. There the chief of the prophets made him turn towards the south, covered his head, and then standing behind him with his hand laid upon his head, he prayed, and looked for a sign or omen sent from the gods in every quarter of the heavens. A strange silence prevailed among the people in the Forum, as they watched him eagerly, until a prosperous omen was observed."

8. "...he awed, interested, and softened the manners of the Romans, artfully beguiling them out of their warlike ferocity."

9. "His legislation about images was also connected with Pythagorean doctrine, which says that first principles cannot be touched or seen, but are invisible spiritual essences; for Numa forbade the Romans to worship any likenesses of men or beasts. Among them there was no image of a god, either carved or moulded, in the early times. For a hundred and seventy years they built temples, and placed shrines in them, but made no image of any living things, considering that it was wrong to make the worse like the better, and that the gods cannot be comprehended otherwise than by thought." 

10. "Their sacrifices also were connected with the Pythagorean doctrine; they were for the most part bloodless, and performed with flour, libations of wine, and all the commonest things."

(Note to myself: This is up to page 112 in my book.)