Lays of Ancient Rome.

The text is illustrated with Forty-One (41) illustrations of various sizes by J. R. Weguelin. First published in 1842, this QUITE SCARCE JACKETED volume presents great Roman tales here retold by Thomas Babington Macaulay (also known as Lord Macaulay). In four of these, Macaulay recounts in poetic form four heroic episodes from early Roman lore with strong dramatic and tragic themes. Macaulay also included two poems inspired by more recent history: Ivry and The Armada. The narrative poems, or lays, by Thomas Babington Macaulay, are titled "Horatius" [which describes how Publius Horatius and two companions, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, hold the Sublician bridge, the only span crossing the Tiber at Rome, against the Etruscan army of Lars Porsena, King of Clusium, each of them willing to die in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the bridge, and sacking the otherwise ill-defended city.] "The Battle of Lake Regillus" [which celebrates the Roman victory over the Latin League at the Battle of Lake Regillus. Several years after the retreat of Lars Porsena and the Etruscans, Rome was threatened by a Latin army led by the deposed Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, together with his son, Titus Tarquinius, and his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, prince of Tusculum. In conscious imitation of the renowned Homer, the work includes several finely-described single combats]. "Virginia" [which describes the tragedy of Virginia, the only daughter of Virginius, a poor Roman farmer. The wicked Appius Claudius, a member of one of Rome's most noble patrician families, and head of the college of decemvirs, desires the beautiful and virtuous Virginia. He initiates legal proceedings, claiming Virginia as his "runaway slave", knowing that his claim will be endorsed by the corrupt magistracy over which he and his cronies preside. Driven to despair, Virginius resolves to save his daughter from Claudius' lust by any means even her death is preferable.] and "The Prophecy of Capys" [which narrates Romulus and Remus triumphal arrival at the house of their grandfather, Capys, a blind old man who then enters a prophetic trance foretelling the future greatness of Romulus' descendants, and their ultimate victory over their enemies in the Pyrrhic and Punic wars. The two additional poems also are of the highest quality. The first work, "Ivry, a Song of the Huguenots" celebrates a 1590 battle won by Henry IV of France and his Huguenot forces over the superior forces of the Catholic League. While Henry's succession to the French throne was contested by those who refused to accept a Protestant king of France, his great victory left him the only credible claimant to the French crown he was unable to overcome all his opposition until he converted to Catholicism in 1593. "The Armada:A Fragment" which describes the arrival at Plymouth in 1588 of news of the sighting of the Spanish Armada, and the lighting of beacons to covey the news not only to London but to all of England. Philip II of Spain had sent his Armada holding his army to invade England and to depose the Protestant Queen Elizabeth. While his fleet was considered by many to be invincible, the invasion was thwarted by a combination of England's vigilance and by her forces' tactics that took advantage of the size and poor maneuverability of the Armada's ships. Composed by Macaulay in his spare time during his thirties while employed as a member of the Governor-General of India's Supreme Council from 1834 to 1838