Editing Dionysius of Halicarnassus (section)

====The Rape of the Sabine Women and death of Romulus====
[[File:The Intervention of the Sabine Women.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''The Intervention of the Sabine Women'', by [[Jacques-Louis David]], 1799]]
Following his institutional account, Dionysus described the famous [[Bride kidnapping|abducting]] of the Sabine women and suggesting thereby that the abduction was a pretext for alliance with the [[Sabines]].<ref>R Hexter ed., Innovations of Antiquity (2013) p. 164</ref> Romulus wished to cement relations with neighboring cities through intermarriage, but none of them found the fledgling city of Rome worthy of their daughters. To overcome this, Romulus arranged a festival in honor of Neptune (the [[Consualia]]) and invited the surrounding cities to attend. At the end of the festival, Romulus and the young men [[The Rape of the Sabine Women|seized all the virgins]] at the festival and planned to marry them according to their customs.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'' Book II, Chapter 12</ref><ref>G Miles, Livy (2018) p. 197</ref> In his narrative, however, the cities of [[Caenina (town)|Caecina]], [[Crustumerium]], and [[Antemnae]] petition for [[Tatius]], king of the [[Sabines]] to lead them to war; and it is only after the famous intervention of the Sabine women that the nations agreed to become a single kingdom under the joint rule of Romulus and Tatius, both declared ''[[Quirites]]''.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'' Book II, Chapter 46</ref>

After the death of Tatius, however, Romulus became more dictatorial, until he met his end, either through actions divine or earthly. One tale tells of a "darkness" that took Romulus from his war camp to his father in heaven.<ref name=":0">Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'' Book II, Chapter 56</ref> Another source claims that Romulus was killed by his Roman countrymen after releasing hostages, showing favoritism, and excessive cruelty in his punishments.<ref name=":0" />