It is recorded that Hercules, after having slain Geryon, drove away his cattle, which were surprisingly beautiful; and that, being fatigued with travelling, he lay down, near the river Tiber, in a grassy place, to which he had swum over, driving the herd before him, in order to refresh the cattle with rest and the rich pasture. There, having indulged himself in meat and wine, he was overpowered by sleep; whereupon a shepherd, who dwelt in the neighbourhood, named Cacus, of great strength and fierceness, being struck with the beauty of the cattle, wished to make prey of some of them; but considering, that if he should drive the herd before him into his cave, their tracks would direct the owner’s search, he dragged the cattle backward by the tails into the cave, picking out those that were the most remarkable for their beauty. Hercules awaking at the dawn of day, took a view of his herd, and missing some of the number, went directly to the next cave, to examine whether the footsteps led thither; but when he observed that they all pointed outward, and yet did not direct to any other quarter, perplexed, and not knowing how to act, he began to drive forward his herd from that unlucky place. Some of the cows, as they were driven off, missing those that were left behind, began, as was natural, to low after them, and the sound being returned from the cave, by those that were shut up in it, brought Hercules back. Cacus, endeavouring by force to prevent his approach to the cave, and invoking in vain the assistance of the shepherds, received a blow of his club, which put an end to his life. At that time, Evander, a native of Peloponnesus, who had removed hither, governed that part of the country, rather through an influence acquired by his merit, than any power of sovereignty vested in him. He was highly revered on account of his having introduced the wonderful knowledge of letters, a matter quite new to these men, who were ignorant of all the arts; and still more so, on account of the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whose prophetic powers had been an object of admirati............