Chapter IV: Book I: 1 (3)

In the reign of Ancus, Lucumo,[35] a wealthy and enterprising man, came to settle at Rome, prompted chiefly by the desire and hope of high preferment, which he had no opportunity of obtaining at Tarquinii (for there also he was descended from an alien stock). He was the son of Demaratus, a Corinthian, who, an exile from his country on account of civil disturbances had chanced to settle at Tarquinii, and having married a wife there, had two sons by her. Their names were Lucumo and Arruns. Lucumo survived his father, and became heir to all his property. Arruns died before his father, leaving a wife pregnant. The father did not long survive the son, and as he, not knowing that his daughter-in-law was pregnant, had died without mentioning his grandchild in his will, the boy who was born after the death of his grandfather, and had no share in his fortune, was given the name of Egerius on account of his poverty. Lucumo, who was, on the other hand, the heir of all his father's property, being filled with high aspirations by reason of his wealth, had these ambitions greatly advanced by his marriage with Tanaquil, who was descended from a very high family, and was a woman who would not readily brook that the condition into which she had married should be inferior to that in which she had been born. As the Etruscans despised Lucumo, as being sprung from a foreign exile, she could not put up with the affront, and, regardless of the natural love of her native country, provided only she could see her husband advanced to honour, she formed the design of leaving Tarquinii. Rome seemed particularly suited for that purpose. In a state, lately founded, where all nobility is rapidly gained and as the reward of merit, there would be room (she thought) for a man of courage and activity. Tatius, a Sabine, had been king of Rome: Numa had been sent for from Cures to reign there: Ancus was sprung from a Sabine mother, and rested his title to nobility on the single statue of Numa.[36] Without difficulty she persuaded him, being, as he was, ambitious of honours, and one to whom Tarquinii was his country only on his mother's side. Accordingly, removing their effects, they set out for Rome. They happened to have reached the Janiculum: there, as he sat in the chariot with his wife, an eagle, gently swooping down on floating wings, took off his cap, and hovering above the chariot with loud screams, as if it had been sent from heaven for that very purpose, carefully replaced it on his head, and then flew aloft out of sight. Tanaquil is said to have joyfully welcomed this omen, being a woman well skilled, as the Etruscans generally are, in celestial prodigies, and, embracing her husband, bade him hope for a high and lofty destiny: that such a bird had come from such a quarter of the heavens, and the messenger of such a god: that it had declared the omen around the highest part of man: that it had lifted the ornament placed on the head of man, to restore it to him again, by direction of the gods. Bearing with them such hopes and thoughts, they entered the city, and having secured a dwelling there, they gave out his name as Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. The fact that he was a stranger and his wealth rendered him an object of attention to the Romans. He himself also promoted his own good fortune by his affable address, by the courteousness of his invitations, and by gaining over to his side all whom he could by acts of kindness, until reports concerning him reached even to the palace: and that notoriety he, in a short time, by paying his court to the king without truckling and with skilful address, improved so far as to be admitted on a footing of intimate friendship, so much so that he was present at all public and private deliberations alike, both foreign and domestic; and being now proved in every sphere, he was at length, by the king's will, also appointed guardian to his children.

Ancus reigned twenty-four years, equal to any of the former kings both in the arts of war and peace, and in renown. His sons were now nigh the age of puberty; for which reason Tarquin was more urgent that the assembly for the election of a king should be held as soon as possible. The assembly having been proclaimed, he sent the boys out of the way to hunt just before the time of the meeting. He is said to have been the first who canvassed for the crown, and to have made a speech expressly worded with the object of gaining the affections of the people: saying that he did not aim at anything unprecedented, for that he was not the first foreigner (a thing at which any one might feel indignation or surprise), but the third who aspired to the sovereignty of Rome. That Tatius who had not only been an alien, but even an enemy, had been made king; that Numa, who knew nothing of the city, and without solicitation on his part, had been voluntarily invited by them to the throne. That he, from the time he was his own master, had migrated to Rome with his wife and whole fortune, and had spent a longer period of that time of life, during which men are employed in civil offices, at Rome, than he had in his native country; that he had both in peace and war become thoroughly acquainted with the political and religious institutions of the Romans, under a master by no means to be despised, King Ancus himself; that he had vied with all in duty and loyalty to his king, and with the king himself in his bounty to others. While he was recounting these undoubted facts, the people with great unanimity elected him king. The same spirit of ambition which had prompted Tarquin, in other respects an excellent man, to aspire to the crown, attended him also on the throne. And being no less mindful of strengthening his own power, than of increasing the commonwealth, he elected a hundred new members into the senate, who from that time were called minorum gentium, a party who stanchly supported the king, by whose favour they had been admitted into the senate. The first war he waged was with the Latins, in whose territory he took the town of Apiolae by storm, and having brought back thence more booty than might have been expected from the reported importance of the war, he celebrated games with more magnificence and display than former kings. The place for the circus, which is now called Maximus, was then first marked out, and spaces were apportioned to the senators and knights, where they might each erect seats for themselves: these were called fori (benches). They viewed the games from scaffolding which supported seats twelve feet in height from the ground. The show consisted of horses and boxers that were summoned, chiefly from Etruria. These solemn games, afterward celebrated annually, continued an institution, being afterward variously called the Roman and Great games. By the same king also spaces round the forum were assigned to private individuals for building on; covered walks and shops were erected.

He was also preparing to surround the city with a stone wall, when a war with the Sabines interrupted his plans. The whole thing was so sudden, that the enemy passed the Anio before the Roman army could meet and prevent them: great alarm therefore was felt at Rome. At first they fought with doubtful success, and with great slaughter on both sides. After this, the enemy's forces were led back into camp, and the Romans having thus gained time to make preparations for the war afresh, Tarquin, thinking that the weak point of his army lay specially in the want of cavalry, determined to add other centuries to the Ramnenses, Titienses, and Luceres which Romulus had enrolled, and to leave them distinguished by his own name. Because Romulus had done this after inquiries by augury, Attus Navius, a celebrated soothsayer of the day, insisted that no alteration or new appointment could be made, unless the birds had approved of it. The king, enraged at this, and, as they say, mocking at his art, said, "Come, thou diviner, tell me, whether what I have in my mind can be done or not?" When Attus, having tried the matter by divination, affirmed that it certainly could, "Well, then," said he, "I was thinking that you should cut asunder this whetstone with a razor. Take it, then, and perform what thy birds portend can be done." Thereupon they say that he immediately cut the whetstone in two. A statue of Attus, with his head veiled, was erected in the comitium, close to the steps on the left of the senate-house, on the spot where the event occurred. They say also that the whetstone was deposited in the same place that it might remain as a record of that miracle to posterity. Without doubt so much honour accrued to auguries and the college of augurs, that nothing was subsequently undertaken either in peace or war without taking the auspices, and assemblies of the people, the summoning of armies, and the most important affairs of state were put off, whenever the birds did not prove propitious. Nor did Tarquin then make any other alteration in the centuries of horse, except that he doubled the number of men in each of these divisions, so that the three centuries consisted of one thousand eight hundred knights; only, those that were added were called "the younger," but by the same names as the earlier, which, because they have been doubled, they now call the six centuries.

This part of his forces being augmented, a second engagement took place with the Sabines. But, besides that the strength of the Roman army had been thus augmented, a stratagem also was secretly resorted to, persons being sent to throw into the river a great quantity of timber that lay on the banks of the Anio, after it had been first set on fire; and the wood, being further kindled by the help of the wind, and the greater part of it, that was placed on rafts, being driven against and sticking in the piles, fired the bridge. This accident also struck terror into the Sabines during the battle, and, after they were routed, also impeded their flight. Many, after they had escaped the enemy, perished in the river: their arms floating down the Tiber to the city, and being recognised, made the victory known almost before any announcement of it could be made. In that action the chief credit rested with the cavalry: they say that, being posted on the two wings, when the centre of their own infantry was now being driven back, they charged so briskly in flank, that they not only checked the Sabine legions who pressed hard on those who were retreating, but suddenly put them to flight. The Sabines made for the mountains in disordered flight, but only a few reached them; for, as has been said before, most of them were driven by the cavalry into the river. Tarquin, thinking it advisable to press the enemy hard while in a state of panic, having sent the booty and the prisoners to Rome, and piled in a large heap and burned the enemy's spoils, vowed as an offering to Vulcan, proceeded to lead his army onward into the Sabine territory. And though the operation had been unsuccessfully carried out, and they could not hope for better success; yet, because the state of affairs did not allow time for deliberation, the Sabines came out to meet him with a hastily raised army. Being again routed there, as the situation had now become almost desperate, they sued for peace. Collatia and all the land round about was taken from the Sabines, and Egerius, son of the king's brother, was left there in garrison. I learn that the people of Collatia were surrendered, and that the form of the surrender was as follows. The king asked them, "Are ye ambassadors and deputies sent by the people of Collatia to surrender yourselves and the people of Collatia?" "We are." "Are the people of Collatia their own masters?" "They are." "Do ye surrender yourselves and the people of Collatia, their city, lands, water, boundaries, temples, utensils, and everything sacred or profane belonging to them, into my power, and that of the Roman people?" "We do." "Then I receive them." When the Sabine war was finished, Tarquin returned in triumph to Rome. After that he made war upon the ancient Latins, wherein they came on no occasion to a decisive engagement; yet, by shifting his attack to the several towns, he subdued the whole Latin nation. Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, and Nomentum, towns which either belonged to the ancient Latins, or which had revolted to them, were taken from them. Upon this, peace was concluded. Works of peace were then commenced with even greater spirit than the efforts with which he had conducted his wars, so that the people enjoyed no more repose at home than it had already enjoyed abroad; for he set about surrounding the city with a stone wall, on the side where he had not yet fortified it, the beginning of which work had been interrupted by the Sabine war; and the lower parts of the city round the forum, and the other valleys lying between the hills, because they could not easily carry off the water from the flat grounds, he drained by means of sewers conducted down a slope into the Tiber. He also levelled an open space for a temple of Jupiter in the Capitol, which he had vowed to him in the Sabine war: as his mind even then forecast the future grandeur of the place, he took possession of the site by laying its foundations.

At that time a prodigy was seen in the palace, which was marvellous in its result. It is related that the head of a boy, called Servius Tullius, as he lay asleep, blazed with fire in the presence of several spectators: that, on a great noise being made at so miraculous a phenomenon, the king and queen were awakened: and when one of the servants was bringing water to put out the flame, that he was kept back by the queen, and after the disturbance was quieted, that she forbade the boy to be disturbed till he should awaken of his own accord. As soon as he awoke the flame disappeared. Then Tanaquil, taking her husband apart, said: "Do you see this boy whom bringing up in so mean a style? Be assured that some time hereafter he will be a light to us in our adversity, and a protector of our royal house when in distress. Henceforth let us, with all the tenderness we can, train up this youth, who is destined to prove the source of great glory to our family and state." From this time the boy began to be treated as their own son, and instructed in those accomplishments by which men's minds are roused to maintain high rank with dignity. This was easily done, as it was agreeable to the gods. The young man turned out to be of truly royal disposition: nor when a son-in-law was being sought for Tarquin, could any of the Roman youth be compared to him in any accomplishment: therefore the king betrothed his own daughter to him. The fact of this high honour being conferred upon him from whatever cause, forbids us to believe that he was the son of a slave, or that he had himself been a slave when young. I am rather of the opinion of those who say that, on the taking of Corniculum, the wife of Servius Tullius, who had been the leading man in that city, being pregnant when her husband was slain, since she was known among the other female prisoners, and, in consequence of her distinguished rank, exempted from servitude by the Roman queen, was delivered of a child at Rome, in the house of Tarquinius Priscus: upon this, that both the intimacy between the women was increased by so great a kindness, and that the boy, as he had been brought up in the family from his infancy, was beloved and respected; that his mother's lot, in having fallen into the hands of the enemy after the capture of her native city, caused him to be thought to be the son of a slave.

About the thirty-eighth year of Tarquin's reign, Servius Tullius enjoyed the highest esteem, not only of the king, but also of the senate and people. At this time the two sons of Ancus, though they had before that always considered it the highest indignity that they had been deprived of their father's crown by the treachery of their guardian, that a stranger should be King of Rome, who not only did not belong to a neighbouring, but not even to an Italian family, now felt their indignation roused to a still higher pitch at the idea that the crown would not only not revert to them after Tarquin, but would descend even lower to slaves, so that in the same state, about the hundredth year after Romulus, descended from a deity, and a deity himself, had occupied the throne as long as he lived, Servius, one born of a slave, would possess it: that it would be the common disgrace both of the Roman name, and more especially of their family, if, while there was male issue of King Ancus still living, the sovereignty of Rome should be accessible not only to strangers, but even to slaves. They determined therefore to prevent that disgrace by the sword. But since resentment for the injury done to them incensed them more against Tarquin himself, than against Servius, and the consideration that a king was likely to prove a more severe avenger of the murder, if he should survive, than a private person; and moreover, even if Servius were put to death, it seemed likely that he would adopt as his successor on the throne whomsoever else he might have selected as his son-in-law. For these reasons the plot was laid against the king himself. Two of the most brutal of the shepherds, chosen for the deed, each carrying with him the iron tools of husbandmen to the use of which he had been accustomed, by creating as great a disturbance as they could in the porch of the palace, under pretence of a quarrel, attracted the attention of all the king's attendants to themselves; then, when both appealed to the king, and their clamour had reached even the interior of the palace, they were summoned and proceeded before him. At first both shouted aloud, and vied in clamouring against each other, until, being restrained by the lictor, and commanded to speak in turns, they at length ceased railing: as agreed upon, one began to state his case. While the king's attention, eagerly directed toward the speaker, was diverted from the second shepherd, the latter, raising up his axe, brought it down upon the king's head, and, leaving the weapon in the wound, both rushed out of the palace.

When those around had raised up Tarquin in a dying state, the lictors seized the shepherds, who were endeavouring to escape. Upon this an uproar ensued and a concourse of people assembled, wondering what was the matter. Tanaquil, amid the tumult, ordered the palace to be shut, and thrust out all spectators: at the same time she carefully prepared everything necessary for dressing the wound, as if a hope still remained: at the same time, she provided other means of safety, in case her hopes should prove false. Having hastily summoned Servius, after she had shown him her husband almost at his last gasp, holding his right hand, she entreated him not to suffer the death of his father-in-law to pass unavenged, nor to allow his mother-in-law to be an object of scorn to their enemies. "Servius," said she, "if you are a man, the kingdom belongs to you, not to those, who, by the hands of others, have perpetrated a most shameful deed. Rouse yourself, and follow the guidance of the gods, who portended that this head of yours would be illustrious by formerly shedding a divine blaze around it. Now let that celestial flame arouse you. Now awake in earnest. We, too, though foreigners, have reigned. Consider who you are, not whence you are sprung. If your own plans are rendered useless by reason of the suddenness of this event, then follow mine." When the uproar and violence of the multitude could scarcely be endured, Tanaquil addressed the populace from the upper part of the palace [37] through the windows facing the New Street (for the royal residence was near the Temple of Jupiter Stator). She bade them be of good courage; that the king was merely stunned by the suddenness of the blow; that the weapon had not sunk deep into his body; that he had already come to his senses again; that the blood had been wiped off and the wound examined; that all the symptoms were favourable; that she was confident they would see him in person very soon; that, in the meantime, he commanded the people to obey the orders of Servius Tullius; that the latter would administer justice, and perform all the other functions of the king. Servius came forth wearing the trabea[38], and attended by lictors, and seating himself on the king's throne, decided some cases, and with respect to others pretended that he would consult the king. Therefore, though Tarquin had now expired, his death was concealed for several days, and Servius, under pretence of discharging the functions of another, strengthened his own influence. Then at length the fact of his death was made public, lamentations being raised in the palace. Servius, supported by a strong body-guard, took possession of the kingdom by the consent of the senate, being the first who did so without the order of the people. The children of Ancus, the instruments of their villainy having been by this time caught, as soon as it was announced that the king still lived, and that the power of Servius was so great, had already gone into exile to Suessa Pometia.

And now Servius began to strengthen his power, not more by public than by private measures; and, that the children of Tarquin might not entertain the same feelings toward himself as the children of Ancus had entertained toward Tarquin, he united his two daughters in marriage to the young princes, the Tarquinii, Lucius and Arruns. He did not, however, break through the inevitable decrees of fate by human counsels, so as to prevent jealousy of the sovereign power creating general animosity and treachery even among the members of his own family. Very opportunely for the immediate preservation of tranquility, a war was undertaken against the Veientes (for the truce had now expired) and the other Etruscans. In that war, both the valour and good fortune of Tullius were conspicuous, and he returned to Rome, after routing a large army of the enemy, undisputed king, whether he tested the dispositions of the fathers or the people. He then set about a work of peace of the utmost importance: that, as Numa had been the author of religious institutions, so posterity might celebrate Servius as the founder of all distinction in the state and of the several orders by which any difference is perceptible between the degrees of rank and fortune. For he instituted the census,[39] a most salutary measure for an empire destined to become so great, according to which the services of war and peace were to be performed, not by every man, as formerly, but in proportion to his amount of property. Then he divided the classes and centuries according to the census, and introduced the following arrangement, eminently adapted either for peace or war.

Of those who possessed property to the value of a hundred thousand asses[40] and upward, he formed eighty centuries, forty of seniors[41] and forty of juniors.[42] All these were called the first class, the seniors to be in readiness to guard the city, the juniors to carry on war abroad. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a helmet, a round shield, greaves, and a coat of mail, all of brass; these were for the defence of the body: their weapons of offence were a spear and a sword. To this class were added two centuries of mechanics, who were to serve without arms: the duty imposed upon them was that of making military engines in time of war. The second class included all those whose property varied between seventy-five and a hundred thousand asses, and of these, seniors and juniors twenty centuries were enrolled. The arms they were ordered to wear consisted of a buckler instead of a shield, and, except a coat of mail, all the rest were the same. He decided that the property of the third class should amount to fifty thousand asses: the number of its centuries was the same, and formed with the same distinction of age: nor was there any change in their arms, only the greaves were dispensed with. In the fourth class, the property was twenty-five thousand asses: the same number of centuries was formed; their arms were changed, nothing being given them but a spear and a short javelin. The fifth class was larger, thirty centuries being formed: these carried slings and stones for throwing. Among them the supernumeraries, the horn-blowers and the trumpeters, were distributed into three centuries. This class was rated at eleven thousand asses. Property lower than this embraced the rest of the citizens, and of them one century was made up which was exempted from military service. Having thus arranged and distributed the infantry, he enrolled twelve centuries of knights from among the chief men of the state. While Romulus had only appointed three centuries, Servius formed six others under the same names as they had received at their first institution. Ten thousand asses were given them out of the public revenue, to buy horses, and a number of widows assigned them, who were to contribute two thousand asses yearly for the support of the horses. All these burdens were taken off the poor and laid on the rich. Then an additional honour was conferred upon them: for the suffrage was not now granted promiscuously to all--a custom established by Romulus, and observed by his successors--to every man with the same privilege and the same right, but gradations were established, so that no one might seem excluded from the right of voting, and yet the whole power might reside in the chief men of the state. For the knights were first called to vote, and then the eighty centuries of the first class, consisting of the first class of the infantry: if there occurred a difference of opinion among them, which was seldom the case, the practice was that those of the second class should be called, and that they seldom descended so low as to come down to the lowest class. Nor need we be surprised, that the present order of things, which now exists, after the number of the tribes was increased to thirty-five, their number being now double of what it was, should not agree as to the number of centuries of juniors and seniors with the collective number instituted by Servius Tullius. For the city being divided into four districts, according to the regions and hills which were then inhabited, he called these divisions, tribes, as I think, from the tribute. For the method of levying taxes ratably according to the value of property was also introduced by him: nor had these tribes any relation to the number and distribution of the centuries.

The census being now completed, which he had brought to a speedy close by the terror of a law passed in reference to those who were not rated, under threats of imprisonment and death, he issued a proclamation that all the Roman citizens, horse and foot, should attend at daybreak in the Campus Martius, each in his century. There he reviewed the whole army drawn up in centuries, and purified it by the rite called Suovetaurilia,[43] and that was called the closing of the lustrum, because it was the conclusion of the census. Eighty thousand citizens are said to have been rated in that survey. Fabius Pictor, the most ancient of our historians, adds that that was the number of those who were capable of bearing arms. To accommodate that vast population the city also seemed to require enlargement. He took in two hills, the Quirinal and Viminal; then next he enlarged the Esquiline, and took up his own residence there, in order that dignity might be conferred upon the place. He surrounded the city with a rampart, a moat, and a wall:[44] thus he enlarged the pomerium. Those who regard only the etymology of the word, will have the pomerium to be a space of ground behind the walls: whereas it is rather a space on each side of the wall, which the Etruscans, in building cities, formerly consecrated by augury, within certain limits, both within and without, in the direction they intended to raise the wall: so that the houses might not be erected close to the walls on the inside, as people commonly unite them now, and also that there might be some space without left free from human occupation. This space, which was forbidden to be tilled or inhabited, the Romans called pomerium, not so much from its being behind the wall, as from the wall being behind it: and in enlarging the boundaries of the city, these onsecrated limits were always extended, as far as the walls were intended to be advanced.

When the population had been increased in consequence of the enlargement of the city, and everything had been organized at home to meet the exigencies both of peace and war, that the acquisition of power might not always depend on mere force of arms, he endeavoured to extend his empire by policy and at the same time to add some ornament to the city. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus was even then in high renown; it was reported that it had been built by all the states of Asia in common. When Servius, in the company of some Latin nobles with whom he had purposely formed ties of hospitality and friendship, both in public and private, extolled in high terms such harmony and association of their gods, by frequently harping upon the same subject, he at length prevailed so far that the Latin states agreed to build a temple of Diana at Rome[45] in conjunction with the Roman people. This was an acknowledgment that the headship of affairs, concerning which they had so often disputed in arms, was centred in Rome. An accidental opportunity of recovering power by a scheme of his own seemed to present itself to one of the Sabines, though that object appears to have been left out of consideration by all the Latins, in consequence of the matter having been so often attempted unsuccessfully by arms. A cow of surprising size and beauty is said to have been calved to a certain Sabine, the head of a family: her horns, which were hung up in the porch of the Temple of Diana, remained for many ages, to bear record to this marvel. The thing was regarded in the light of a prodigy, as indeed it was, and the soothsayers declared that sovereignty should reside in that state, a citizen of which had sacrificed this heifer to Diana. This prediction had also reached the ears of the high priest of the Temple of Diana. The Sabine, as soon as a suitable day for the sacrifice seemed to have arrived, drove the cow to Rome, led her to the Temple of Diana, and set her before the altar. There the Roman priest, struck with the size of the victim, so celebrated by fame, mindful of the response of the soothsayers, thus accosted the Sabine: "What dost thou intend to do, stranger?" said he; "with impure hands to offer sacrifice to Diana? Why dost not thou first wash thyself in running water? The Tiber runs past at the bottom of the valley." The stranger, seized with religious awe, since he was desirous of everything being done in due form, that the event might correspond with the prediction, forthwith went down to the Tiber. In the meantime the Roman priest sacrificed the cow to Diana, gave great satisfaction to the king, and to the whole state.

Servius, though he had now acquired an indisputable right to the kingdom by long possession, yet, as he heard that expressions were sometimes thrown out by young Tarquin, to the effect that he occupied the throne without the consent of the people, having first secured the good-will of the people by dividing among them, man by man, the land taken from their enemies, he ventured to propose the question to them, whether they chose and ordered that he should be king, and was declared king with greater unanimity than any other of his predecessors. And yet even this circumstance did not lessen Tarquin's hope of obtaining the throne; nay, because he had observed that the matter of the distribution of land to the people was against the will of the fathers, he thought that an opportunity was now presented to him of arraigning Servius before the fathers with greater violence, and of increasing his own influence in the senate, being himself a hot-tempered youth, while his wife Tullia roused his restless temper at home. For the royal house of the Roman kings also exhibited an example of tragic guilt, so that through their disgust of kings, liberty came more speedily, and the rule of this king, which was attained through crime, was the last. This Lucius Tarquinius (whether he was the son or grandson of Tarquinius Priscus is not clear: following the greater number of authorities, however, I should feel inclined to pronounce him his son) had a brother, Arruns Tarquinius, a youth of a mild disposition. To these two, as has been already stated, the two Tullias, daughters of the king, had been married, they also themselves being of widely different characters. It had come to pass, through the good fortune, I believe, of the Roman people, that two violent dispositions should not be united in marriage, in order that the reign of Servius might last longer, and the constitution of the state be firmly established. The haughty spirit of Tullia was chagrined, that there was no predisposition in her husband, either to ambition or daring. Directing all her regard to the other Tarquinius, him she admired, him she declared to be a man, and sprung from royal blood; she expressed her contempt for her sister, because, having a man for her husband, she lacked that spirit of daring that a woman ought to possess. Similarity of disposition soon drew them together, as wickedness is in general most congenial to wickedness; but the beginning of the general confusion originated with the woman. Accustomed to the secret conversations of the husband of another, there was no abusive language that she did not use about her husband to his brother, about her sister to her sister's husband, asserting that it would have been better for herself to remain unmarried, and he single, than that she should be united with one who was no fit mate for her, so that her life had to be passed in utter inactivity by reason of the cowardice of another. If the gods had granted her the husband she deserved, she would soon have seen the crown in possession of her own house, which she now saw in possession of her father. She soon filled the young man with her own daring. Lucius Tarquinius and the younger Tullia, when the pair had, by almost simultaneous murders, made their houses vacant for new nuptials, were united in marriage, Servius rather offering no opposition than actually approving.

Then indeed the old age of Tullius began to be every day more endangered, his throne more imperilled. For now the woman from one crime directed her thoughts to another, and allowed her husband no rest either by night or by day, that their past crimes might not prove unprofitable, saying that what she wanted was not one whose wife she might be only in name, or one with whom she might live an inactive life of slavery: what she wanted was one who would consider himself worthy of the throne, who would remember that he was the son of Tarquinius Priscus, who would rather have a kingdom than hope for it. "If you, to whom I consider myself married, are such a one, I greet you both as husband and king; but if not, our condition has been changed so far for the worse, in that in your crime is associated with cowardice. Why do you not gird yourself to the task? You need not, like your father, from Corinth or Tarquinii, struggle for a kingdom in a foreign land. Your household and country's gods, the statue of your father, the royal palace and the kingly throne in that palace, and the Tarquinian name, elect and call you king. Or if you have too little spirit for this, why do you disappoint the state? Why suffer yourself to be looked up to as a prince? Get hence to Tarquinii or Corinth. Sink back again to your original stock, more like your brother than your father." By chiding him with these and other words, she urged on the young man: nor could she rest herself, at the thought that though Tanaquil, a woman of foreign birth, had been able to conceive and carry out so vast a project, as to bestow two thrones in succession on her husband, and then on her son-in-law, she, sprung from royal blood, had no decisive influence in bestowing and taking away a kingdom. Tarquinius, driven on by the blind passion of the woman, began to go round and solicit the support of the patricians, especially those of the younger families:[46] he reminded them of his father's kindness, and claimed a return for it, enticed the young men by presents, increased his influence everywhere both by making magnificent promises on his own part, as well as by accusations against the king. At length, as soon as the time seemed convenient for carrying out his purpose, he rushed into the forum, accompanied by a band of armed men; then, while all were struck with dismay, seating himself on the throne before the senate-house, he ordered the fathers to be summoned to the senate-house by the crier to attend King Tarquinius. They assembled immediately, some having been already prepared for this, others through fear, lest it should prove dangerous to them not to have come, astounded at such a strange and unheard-of event, and considering that the reign of Servius was now at an end. Then Tarquinius began his invectives with his immediate ancestors: That a slave, the son of a slave, after the shameful death of his father, without an interregnum being adopted, as on former occasions, without any election being held, without the suffrages of the people, or the sanction of the fathers, he had taken possession of the kingdom by the gift of a woman; that so born, so created king, a strong supporter of the most degraded class, to which he himself belonged, through a hatred of the high station of others, he had deprived the leading men of the state of their land and divided it among the very lowest; that he had laid all the burdens, which were formerly shared by all alike, on the chief members of the community; that he had instituted the census, in order that the fortune of the wealthier citizens might be conspicuous in order to excite envy, and ready to hand, that out of it he might bestow largesses on the most needy, whenever he pleased.

Servius, aroused by the alarming announcement, having come upon the scene during this harangue, immediately shouted with a loud voice from the porch of the senate-house: "What means this, Tarquin? By what audacity hast thou dared to summon the fathers, while I am still alive, or to sit on my throne?" When the other haughtily replied, that he, a king's son, was occupying the throne of his father, a much fitter successor to the throne than a slave; that he had insulted his masters full long enough by shuffling insolence, a shout arose from the partisans of both, the people rushed into the senate-house, and it was evident that whoever came off victor would gain the throne. Then Tarquin, forced by actual necessity to proceed to extremities, having a decided advantage both in years and strength, seized Servius by the waist, and having carried him out of the senate-house, hurled him down the steps to the bottom. He then returned to the senate house to assemble the senate. The king's officers and attendants took to flight. The king himself, almost lifeless (when he was returning home with his royal retinue frightened to death and had reached the top of the Cyprian Street), was slain by those who had been sent by Tarquin, and had overtaken him in his flight. As the act is not inconsistent with the rest of her atrocious conduct, it is believed to have been done by Tullia's advice. Anyhow, as is generally admitted, driving into the forum in her chariot, unabashed by the crowd of men present, she called her husband out of the senate-house, and was the first to greet him, king; and when, being bidden by him to withdraw from such a tumult, she was returning home, and had reached the top of the Cyprian Street, where Diana's chapel lately stood, as she was turning on the right to the Urian Hill, in order to ride up to the Esquiline, the driver stopped terrified, and drew in his reins, and pointed out to his mistress the body of the murdered Servius lying on the ground. On this occasion a revolting and inhuman crime is said to have been committed, and the place bears record of it. They call it the Wicked Street, where Tullia, frantic and urged on by the avenging furies of her sister and husband, is said to have driven her chariot over her father's body, and to have carried a portion of the blood of her murdered father on her blood-stained chariot, herself also defiled and sprinkled with it, to her own and her husband's household gods, through whose vengeance results corresponding with the evil beginning of the reign were soon destined to follow. Servius Tullius reigned forty-four years in such a manner that it was no easy task even for a good and moderate successor to compete with him. However, this also has proved an additional source of renown to him that together with him perished all just and legitimate reigns. This same authority, so mild and so moderate, because it was vested in one man, some say that he nevertheless had intended to resign, had not the wickedness of his family interfered with him as he was forming plans for the liberation of his country.

After this period Lucius Tarquinius began to reign, whose acts procured him the surname of Proud, for he, the son-in-law, refused his father-in-law burial, alleging that even Romulus was not buried after death. He put to death the principal senators, whom he suspected of having favoured the cause of Servius. Then, conscious that the precedent of obtaining the crown by evil means might be borrowed from him and employed against himself, he surrounded his person with a body-guard of armed men, for he had no claim to the kingdom except force, as being one who reigned without either the order of the people or the sanction of the senate. To this was added the fact that, as he reposed no hope in the affection of his citizens, he had to secure his kingdom by terror; and in order to inspire a greater number with this, he carried out the investigation of capital cases solely by himself without assessors, and under that pretext had it in his power to put to death, banish, or fine, not only those who were suspected or hated, but those also from whom he could expect to gain nothing else but plunder. The number of the fathers more particularly being in this manner diminished, he determined to elect none into the senate in their place, that the order might become more contemptible owing to this very reduction in numbers, and that it might feel the less resentment at no business being transacted by it. For he was the first of the kings who violated the custom derived from his predecessors of consulting the senate on all matters, and administered the business of the state by taking counsel with his friends alone. War, peace, treaties, alliances, all these he contracted and dissolved with whomsoever he pleased, without the sanction of the people and senate, entirely on his own responsibility. The nation of the Latins he was particularly anxious to attach to him, so that by foreign influence also he might be more secure among his own subjects; and he contracted ties not only of hospitality but also of marriage with their leading men. On Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, who was by far the most eminent of those who bore the Latin name, being descended, if we believe tradition, from Ulysses and the goddess Circe, he bestowed his daughter in marriage, and by this match attached to himself many of his kinsmen and friends.

The influence of Tarquin among the chief men of the Latins being now considerable, he issued an order that they should assemble on a certain day at the grove of Ferentina,[47] saying that there were matters of common interest about which he wished to confer with them. They assembled in great numbers at daybreak. Tarquinius himself kept the day indeed, but did not arrive until shortly before sunset. Many matters were there discussed in the meeting throughout the day in various conversations. Turnus Herdonius of Aricia inveighed violently against the absent Tarquin, saying that it was no wonder the surname of Proud was given him at Rome; for so they now called him secretly and in whispers, but still generally. Could anything show more haughtiness than this insolent mockery of the entire Latin nation? After their chiefs had been summoned so great a distance from home, he who had proclaimed the meeting did not attend; assuredly their patience was being tried, in order that, if they submitted to the yoke, he might crush them when at his mercy. For who could fail to see that he was aiming at sovereignty over the Latins? This sovereignty, if his own countrymen had done well in having intrusted it to him, or if it had been intrusted and not seized on by murder, the Latins also ought to intrust to him (and yet not even so, inasmuch as he was a foreigner). But if his own subjects were dissatisfied with him (seeing that they were butchered one after another, driven into exile, and deprived of their property), what better prospects were held out to the Latins? If they listened to him, they would depart thence, each to his own home, and take no more notice of the day of meeting than he who had proclaimed it. When this man, mutinous and full of daring, and one who had obtained influence at home by such methods, was pressing these and other observations to the same effect, Tarquin appeared on the scene. This put an end to his harangue. All turned away from him to salute Tarquin, who, on silence being proclaimed, being advised by those next him to make some excuse for having come so late, said that he had been chosen arbitrator between a father and a son: that, from his anxiety to reconcile them, he had delayed: and, because that duty had taken up that day, that on the morrow he would carry out what he had determined. They say that he did not make even that observation unrebuked by Turnus, who declared that no controversy could be more quickly decided than one between father and son, and that it could be settled in a few words--unless the son submitted to the father, he would be punished.

The Arician withdrew from the meeting, uttering these reproaches against the Roman king. Tarquin, feeling the matter much more sorely than he seemed to, immediately set about planning the death of Turnus, in order to inspire the Latins with the same terror as that with which he had crushed the spirits of his own subjects at home: and because he could not be put to death openly, by virtue of his authority, he accomplished the ruin of this innocent man by bringing a false charge against him. By means of some Aricians of the opposite party, he bribed a servant of Turnus with gold, to allow a great number of swords to be secretly brought into his lodging. When these preparations had been completed in the course of a single night, Tarquin, having summoned the chief of the Latins to him a little before day, as if alarmed by some strange occurrence, said that his delay of yesterday, which had been caused as it were by some providential care of the gods, had been the means of preservation to himself and to them; that he had been told that destruction was being plotted by Turnus for him and the chiefs of the Latin peoples, that he alone might obtain the government of the Latins. That he would have attacked them yesterday at the meeting; that the attempt had been deferred, because the person who summoned the meeting was absent, who was the chief object of his attack? That that was the reason of the abuse heaped upon him during his absence, because he had disappointed his hopes by delaying. That he had no doubt that, if the truth were told him, he would come attended by a band of conspirators, at break of day, when the assembly met, ready prepared and armed. That it was reported that a great number of swords had been conveyed to his house. Whether that was true or not, could be known immediately. He requested them to accompany him thence to the house of Turnus. Both the daring temper of Turnus, and his harangue of the previous day, and the delay of Tarquin, rendered the matter suspicious, because it seemed possible that the murder might have been put off in consequence of the latter. They started with minds inclined indeed to believe, yet determined to consider everything else false, unless the swords were found. When they arrived there, Turnus was aroused from sleep, and surrounded by guards: the slaves, who, from affection to their master, were preparing to use force, being secured, and the swords, which had been concealed, drawn out from all corners of the lodging, then indeed there seemed no doubt about the matter: Turnus was loaded with chains, and forthwith a meeting of the Latins was summoned amid great confusion. There, on the swords being exhibited in the midst, such violent hatred arose against him, that, without being allowed a defence, he was put to death in an unusual manner; he was thrown into the basin of the spring of Ferentina, a hurdle was placed over him, and stones being heaped up in it, he was drowned.