The three later kings of Rome are represented as having been Etruscans.
The first of these was Tarquinius Priscus, who migrated to Rome from the
Etruscan city of Tarquinii. He strengthened his position as king by
adopting the royal insignia of the Etruscans--a crown of gold, a
scepter, an ivory chair, a purple toga, etc. He carried on war with the
Latins and Sabines, drained the city, laid out the forum, and dedicated
a temple to Jupiter on the Capitoline hill.
The next of the later kings was Servius Tullius, the son of a slave
woman of the king’s household. He united Rome and the Latin cities in a
league; reorganized the government, and erected a new wall inclosing the
seven hills.
Tarquin the Proud, the last king, was engaged in the siege of an enemy’s
city only sixteen miles from Rome, when his son committed the outrage
upon the person of Lucretia, which led to the banishment of the family
and the overthrow of the regal government.
II. PERIOD OF THE REPUBLIC, 510-264 B. C.--The second period extends
from the expulsion of the kings to the beginning of the Punic wars.
During this period the Plebeians were admitted to the offices of
state, about 300 B. C. At the beginning of this period the
government was a thorough aristocracy, but at the close of it has
become a full democracy. It included about two hundred and fifty
years, and may be designated the period of the Plebeian and
Patrician contests, and the conquest of Italy.
When, at the close of the sixth century (509 B. C.), Rome ceased to be
under kingly rule, it became a republic. Instead of a king, two
magistrates called Consuls were elected every year. In other respects
the constitution remained as before. The first consuls were Brutus and
Collatinus.
As the city increased by immigration, and the admission of allies or
incorporation of subjects, two principal classes of the citizens
developed--the _Patricians_ and _Plebeians_. The Patricians were
probably those descended from the original citizens of the united Latin,
Sabine, and Etruscan town, and the Plebeians the descendants of those
afterwards admitted.
The internal history of Rome for several hundred years consists mainly
of the account of struggles between these two orders. The Patricians
alone were at first admissible to the great governing body, the Senate,
and they kept in their hands all the high offices of state, the higher
degrees of the priesthood, and the ownership of the public lands. The
two orders were not allowed to intermarry, and the Plebeians, though
they were free and personally independent (excepting compulsory service
in war) had no political rights.