Nubia Pompilius, an ante-historical king of Rome. After the death of Romulus there was an interregnum of a year, each of the senators in turn enjoying the regal prerogative; but the people soon demanded the election of a king. When the senate had given its consent, a dispute arose between the Sabines and Romans as to which people the sovereign should be taken from; and when it was agreed that he should be selected from among the Sabines, Numa Pompilius, of the town of Cures, was unani-mouslv chosen. His first care was the reforma-tion of the civil institutions. He divided the lands which Romulus had gained by conquest, founded the worship of Terminus, the god of boundaries, and divided the artisans according to their trades into nine companies. He was considered the author of the Roman ceremonial law. He regulated the duties of the pontiffs, who had charge of the enforcement of the laws. relating to religion, the augurs, the flamens, the vestal virgins, and the Salii, and prescribed the rites of worship. He reigned 39 years, and in all that time, as Livy relates, there were no wars, famines, or plagues. He was buried under the Janiculum hill. At his death the nymph Egeria, who had been his guide and counsellor through life, melted away in tear's, and was changed into a fountain.

According to popular tradition he derived much of his knowledge from Pythagoras, which critics regard as an anachronism. The sacred books of Numa were said to have been buried near him, and to have been discovered 500 years afterward (181 B. C).