On the death of Tullus, according to the custom established in the

first instance, the government devolved once more upon the senate,

who nominated an interrex; and on his holding the comitia, the people

elected Ancus Marciusking. The fathers ratified the election. Ancus

Marcius was the grandson of King Numa Pompilius by his daughter. As

soon as he began to reign, mindful of the renown of his grandfather,

and reflecting that the last reign, glorious as it had been in every

other respect, in one particular had not been adequately prosperous,

either because the rites of religion had been utterly neglected, or

improperly performed, and deeming it of the highest importance to

perform the public ceremonies of religion, as they had been instituted

by Numa, he ordered the pontiff, after he had recorded them all from

the king's commentaries on white tables, to set them up in a public

place. Hence, as both his own subjects, and the neighbouring nations

desired peace, hope was entertained that the king would adopt the

conduct and institutions of his grandfather. Accordingly, the Latins,

with whom a treaty had been concluded in the reign of Tullus, gained

fresh courage; and, after they had invaded Roman territory, returned

a contemptuous answer to the Romans when they demanded satisfaction,

supposing that the Roman king would spend his reign in indolence among

chapels and altars. The disposition of Ancus was between two extremes,

preserving the qualities of both Numa and Romulus; and, besides

believing that peace was more necessary in his grandfather's reign,

since the people were then both newly formed and uncivilized, he also

felt that he could not easily preserve the tranquility unmolested

which had fallen to his lot: that his patience was being tried and

being tried, was despised: and that the times generally were more

suited to a King Tullus than to a Numa. In order, however, that, since

Numa had instituted religious rites in peace, ceremonies relating to

war might be drawn up by him, and that wars might not only be waged,

but proclaimed also in accordance with some prescribed form, he

borrowed from an ancient nation, the Æquicolae, and drew up the form

which the heralds observe to this day, according to which restitution

is demanded. The ambassador, when he reaches the frontiers of the

people from whom satisfaction is demanded, having his head covered

with a fillet--this covering is of wool--says: "Hear, O Jupiter, hear,

ye confines" (naming whatsoever nation they belong to), "let divine

justice hear. I am the public messenger of the Roman people; I come

deputed by right and religion, and let my words gain credit." He then

definitely states his demands; afterward he calls Jupiter to witness:

"If I demand these persons and these goods to be given up to me

contrary to human or divine right, then mayest thou never permit me to

enjoy my native country." These words he repeats when he passes

over the frontiers: the same to the first man he meets: the same on

entering the gate: the same on entering the forum, with a slight

change of expression in the form of the declaration and drawing up of

the oath. If the persons whom he demands are not delivered up, after

the expiration of thirty-three days--for this number is enjoined by

rule--he declares war in the following terms: "Hear, Jupiter, and

thou, Janus Quirinus, and all ye celestial, terrestrial, and infernal

gods, give ear! I call you to witness, that this nation "(mentioning

its name)" is unjust, and does not carry out the principles of

justice: however, we will consult the elders in our own country

concerning those matters, by what means we may obtain our rights."

The messenger returns with them to Rome to consult. The king used

immediately to consult the fathers as nearly as possible in the

following words: "Concerning such things, causes of dispute, and

quarrels, as the pater patratus of the Roman people, the Quirites, has

treated with the pater patratus of the ancient Latins, and with the

ancient Latin people, which things ought to be given up, made good,

discharged, which things they have neither given up, nor made good,

nor discharged, declare," says he to him, whose opinion he asked

first, "what think you?" Then he replies: "I think that they should

be demanded by a war free from guilt and regularly declared; and

accordingly I agree, and vote for it." Then the others were asked

in order, and when the majority of those present expressed the same

opinion, war was agreed upon. It was customary for the fetialis to

carry in his hand a spear pointed with steel, or burned at the end

and dipped in blood, to the confines of the enemy's country, and in

presence of at least three grown-up persons, to say, "Forasmuch as

the states of the ancient Latins, and the ancient Latin people, have

offended against the Roman people of the Quirites, forasmuch as the

Roman people of the Quirites have ordered that there should be war

with the ancient Latins, and the senate of the Roman people, the

Quirites, have given their opinion, agreed, and voted that war should

be waged with the ancient Latins, on this account I and the Roman

people declare and wage war on the states of the ancient Latins, and

on the ancient Latin people." Whenever he said that, he used to hurl

the spear within their confines. After this manner at that time

satisfaction was demanded from the Latins, and war proclaimed: and

posterity has adopted that usage.

Ancus, having intrusted the care of sacred matters to the flamen

and other priests, set out with an army freshly levied, and took

Politorium, a city of the Latins, by storm: and following the example

of former kings, who had increased the Roman power by incorporating

enemies into the state, transplanted all the people to Rome. And since

the Sabines had occupied the Capitol and citadel, and the Albans the

Coelian Mount on both sides of the Palatium, the dwelling-place of

the old Romans, the Aventine was assigned to the new people; not long

after, on the capture of Tellenae and Ficana, new citizens were added

to the same quarter. After this Politorium, which the ancient Latins

had taken possession of when vacated, was taken a second time by force

of arms. This was the cause of the Romans demolishing that city that

it might never after serve as a place of refuge for the enemy. At

last, the war with the Latins being entirely concentrated at Medullia,

the contest was carried on there for some time with changing success,

according as the fortune of war varied: for the town was both well

protected by fortified works, and strengthened by a powerful garrison,

and the Latins, having pitched their camp in the open, had several

times come to a close engagement with the Romans. At last Ancus,

making an effort with all his forces, first defeated them in a pitched

battle, and, enriched by considerable booty, returned thence to Rome:

many thousands of the Latins were then also admitted to citizenship,

to whom, in order that the Aventine might be united to the Palatium,

a settlement was assigned near the Temple of Murcia.[33] was likewise

added not from want of room, but lest at any time it should become a

stronghold for the enemy. It was resolved that it should not only be

surrounded by a wall, but also, for convenience of passage, be united

to the city by a wooden bridge, which was then for the first time

built across the Tiber. The fossa Quiritium, no inconsiderable defence

in places where the ground was lower and consequently easier of

access, was also the work of King Ancus. The state being augmented

by such great accessions, seeing that, amid such a multitude of

inhabitants (all distinction of right and wrong being as yet

confounded), secret crimes were committed, a prison [34] was built

in the heart of the city, overlooking the forum, to intimidate the

growing licentiousness. And not only was the city increased under this

king, but also its territory and boundaries. After the Mesian forest

had been taken from the Veientines, the Roman dominion was extended as

far as the sea, and the city of Ostia built at the mouth of the Tiber;

salt-pits were dug around it, and, in consequence of the distinguished

successes in war, the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged.

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.

Tarquin then recalled the Latins to the meeting, and having applauded

them for having inflicted well-merited punishment on Turnus, as

one convicted of murder, by his attempt to bring about a change of

government, spoke as follows: That he could indeed proceed by a

long-established right; because, since all the Latins were sprung from

Alba, they were comprehended in that treaty by which, dating from the

time of Tullus, the entire Alban nation, with its colonies, had passed

under the dominion of Rome. However, for the sake of the interest of

all parties, he thought rather that that treaty should be renewed, and

that the Latins should rather share in the enjoyment of the prosperity

of the Roman people, than be constantly either apprehending or

suffering the demolition of their towns and the devastation of their

lands, which they had formerly suffered in the reign of Ancus, and

afterward in the reign of his own father. The Latins were easily

persuaded, though in that treaty the advantage lay on the side of

Rome: however, they both saw that the chiefs of the Latin nation sided

with and supported the king, and Turnus was a warning example, still

fresh in their recollections, of the danger that threatened each

individually, if he should make any opposition. Thus the treaty was

renewed, and notice was given to the young men of the Latins that,

according to the treaty, they should attend in considerable numbers

in arms, on a certain day, at the grove of Ferentina. And when they

assembled from all the states according to the edict of the Roman

king, in order that they should have neither a general of their own,

nor a separate command, nor standards of their own, he formed mixed

companies of Latins and Romans so as out of a pair of companies to

make single companies, and out of single companies to make a pair: and

when the companies had thus been doubled, he appointed centurions over

them.

Nor was Tarquin, though a tyrannical prince in time of peace,

an incompetent general in war; nay, he would have equalled his

predecessors in that art, had not his degeneracy in other ways

likewise detracted from his merit in this respect. He first began the

war against the Volsci, which was to last two hundred years after his

time, and took Suessa Pometia from them by storm; and when by the sale

of the spoils he had realized forty talents of silver, he conceived

the idea of building a temple to Jupiter on such a magnificent scale

that it should be worthy of the king of gods and men, of the Roman

Empire, and of the dignity of the place itself: for the building of

this temple he set apart the money realized by the sale of the spoils.

Soon after a war claimed his attention, which proved more protracted

than he had expected, in which, having in vain attempted to storm

Gabii,[48] a city in the neighbourhood, when, after suffering a

repulse from the walls, he was deprived also of all hope of taking it

by siege, he assailed it by fraud and stratagem, a method by no means

natural to the Romans. For when, as if the war had been abandoned,

he pretended to be busily engaged in laying the foundations of the

temple, and with other works in the city, Sextus, the youngest of his

three sons, according to a preconcerted arrangement, fled to Gabii,

complaining of the unbearable cruelty of his father toward himself:

that his tyranny had now shifted from others against his own family,

and that he was also uneasy at the number of his own children, and

intended to bring about the same desolation in his own house as he had

done in the senate, in order that he might leave behind him no issue,

no heir to his kingdom. That for his own part, as he had escaped from

the midst of the swords and weapons of his father, he was persuaded

he could find no safety anywhere save among the enemies of Lucius

Tarquinius: for--let them make no mistake--the war, which it was now

pretended had been abandoned, still threatened them, and he would

attack them when off their guard on a favourable opportunity. But if

there were no refuge for suppliants among them, he would traverse all

Latium, and would apply next to the Volscians, Aequans, and Hernicans,

until he should come to people who knew how to protect children from

the impious and cruel persecutions of parents. That perhaps he would

even find some eagerness to take up arms and wage war against this

most tyrannical king and his equally savage subjects. As he seemed

likely to go further, enraged as he was, if they paid him no regard,

he was kindly received by the Gabians. They bade him not be surprised,

if one at last behaved in the same manner toward his children as he

had done toward his subjects and allies--that he would ultimately vent

his rage on himself, if other objects failed him--that his own coming

was very acceptable to them, and they believed that in a short time it

would come to pass that by his aid the war would be transferred from

the gates of Gabii up to the very walls of Rome.

Upon this, he was admitted into their public councils, in which,

while, with regard to other matters, he declared himself willing

to submit to the judgment of the elders of Gabii, who were better

acquainted with them, yet he every now and again advised them to renew

the war, claiming for himself superior knowledge in this, on the

ground of being well acquainted with the strength of both nations,

and also because he knew that the king's pride, which even his own

children had been unable to endure, had become decidedly hateful to

his subjects. As he thus by degrees stirred up the nobles of the

Gabians to renew the war, and himself accompanied the most active of

their youth on plundering parties and expeditions, and unreasonable

credit was increasingly given to all his words and actions, framed

as they were with the object of deceiving, he was at last chosen

general-in-chief in the war. In the course of this war when--the

people being still ignorant of what was going on--trifling skirmishes

with the Romans took place, in which the Gabians generally had the

advantage, then all the Gabians, from the highest to the lowest, were

eager to believe that Sextus Tarquinius had been sent to them as their

general, by the favour of the gods. By exposing himself equally

with the soldiers to fatigues and dangers, and by his generosity in

bestowing the plunder, he became so loved by the soldiers, that his

father Tarquin had not greater power at Rome than his son at Gabii.

Accordingly, when he saw he had sufficient strength collected to

support him in any undertaking, he sent one of his confidants to his

father at Rome to inquire what he wished him to do, seeing the gods

had granted him to be all-powerful at Gabii. To this courier no

answer by word of mouth was given, because, I suppose, he appeared of

questionable fidelity. The king went into a garden of the palace, as

if in deep thought, followed by his son's messenger; walking there for

some time without uttering a word, he is said to have struck off

the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff.[49] The messenger,

wearied with asking and waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii

apparently without having accomplished his object, and told what

he had himself said and seen, adding that Tarquin, either through

passion, aversion to him, or his innate pride, had not uttered a

single word. As soon as it was clear to Sextus what his father wished,

and what conduct he enjoined by those intimations without words, he

put to death the most eminent men of the city, some by accusing them

before the people, as well as others, who from their own personal

unpopularity were liable to attack. Many were executed publicly, and

some, in whose case impeachment was likely to prove less plausible,

were secretly assassinated. Some who wished to go into voluntary exile

were allowed to do so, others were banished, and their estates, as

well as the estates of those who were put to death, publicly divided

in their absence. Out of these largesses and plunder were distributed;

and by the sweets of private gain the sense of public calamities

became extinguished, till the state of Gabii, destitute of counsel and

assistance, surrendered itself without a struggle into the power of

the Roman king.

Tarquin, having thus gained possession of Gabii, made peace with the

nation of the Aequi, and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans. He

next turned his attention to the affairs of the city. The chief of

these was that of leaving behind him the Temple of Jupiter on the

Tarpeian Mount, as a monument of his name and reign; to remind

posterity that of two Tarquinii, both kings, the father had vowed, the

son completed it.[50] Further, that the open space, to the exclusion

of all other forms of worship, might be entirely appropriated to

Jupiter and his temple, which was to be erected upon it, he resolved

to cancel the inauguration of the small temples and chapels, several

of which had been first vowed by King Tatius, in the crisis of the

battle against Romulus, and afterward consecrated and dedicated by

him. At the very outset of the foundation of this work it is said that

the gods exerted their divinity to declare the future greatness of so

mighty an empire; for, though the birds declared for the unhallowing

of all the other chapels, they did not declare themselves in favour

of it in the case of that of Terminus.[51] This omen and augury were

taken to import that the fact of Terminus not changing his residence,

and that he was the only one of the gods who was not called out of

the consecrated bounds devoted to his worship, was a presage of the

lasting stability of the state in general. This being accepted as

an omen of its lasting character, there followed another prodigy

portending the greatness of the empire. It was reported that the head

of a man, with the face entire, was found by the workmen when digging

the foundation of the temple. The sight of this phenomenon by no

doubtful indications portended that this temple should be the seat of

empire, and the capital of the world; and so declared the soothsayers,

both those who were in the city, and those whom they had summoned

from Etruria, to consult on this subject. The king's mind was thereby

encouraged to greater expense; in consequence of which the spoils

of Pometia, which had been destined to complete the work, scarcely

sufficed for laying the foundation. On this account I am more

inclined to believe Fabius (not to mention his being the more ancient

authority), that there were only forty talents, than Piso, who says

that forty thousand pounds of silver by weight were set apart for that

purpose, a sum of money neither to be expected from the spoils of any

one city in those times, and one that would more than suffice for the

foundations of any building, even the magnificent buildings of the

present day.

Tarquin, intent upon the completion of the temple, having sent for

workmen from all parts of Etruria, employed on it not only the public

money, but also workmen from the people; and when this labour, in

itself no inconsiderable one, was added to their military service,

still the people murmured less at building the temples of the gods

with their own hands, than at being transferred, as they afterward

were, to other works, which, while less dignified, required

considerably greater toil; such were the erection of benches in the

circus, and conducting underground the principal sewer, the receptacle

of all the filth of the city; two works the like of which even modern

splendour has scarcely been able to produce.[52] After the people had

been employed in these works, because he both considered that such

a number of inhabitants was a burden to the city where there was no

employment for them, and further, was anxious that the frontiers of

the empire should be more extensively occupied by sending colonists,

he sent colonists to Signia[53] and Circeii,[54] to serve as defensive

outposts hereafter to the city on land and sea. While he was thus

employed a frightful prodigy appeared to him. A serpent gliding out of

a wooden pillar, after causing dismay and flight in the palace, not so

much struck the king's heart with sudden terror, as it filled him with

anxious solicitude. Accordingly, since Etruscan soothsayers were only

employed for public prodigies, terrified at this so to say private

apparition, he determined to send to the oracle of Delphi, the most

celebrated in the world; and not venturing to intrust the responses of

the oracle to any other person, he despatched his two sons to Greece

through lands unknown at that time, and yet more unknown seas. Titus

and Arruns were the two who set out. They were accompanied by Lucius

Junius Brutus, the son of Tarquinia, the king's sister, a youth of an

entirely different cast of mind from that of which he had assumed the

disguise. He, having heard that the chief men of the city, among them

his own brother, had been put to death by his uncle, resolved to leave

nothing in regard to his ability that might be dreaded by the king,

nor anything in his fortune that might be coveted, and thus to be

secure in the contempt in which he was held, seeing that there was but

little protection in justice. Therefore, having designedly fashioned

himself to the semblance of foolishness, and allowing himself and his

whole estate to become the prey of the king, he did not refuse to take

even the surname of Brutus,[55] that, under the cloak of this surname,

the genius that was to be the future liberator of the Roman people,

lying concealed, might bide its opportunity. He, in reality being

brought to Delphi by the Tarquinii rather as an object of ridicule

than as a companion, is said to have borne with him as an offering to

Apollo a golden rod, inclosed in a staff of cornel-wood hollowed out

for the purpose, a mystical emblem of his own mind. When they arrived

there, and had executed their father's commission, the young men's

minds were seized with the desire of inquiring to which of them the

sovereignty of Rome should fall. They say that the reply was uttered

from the inmost recesses of the cave, "Young men, whichever of you

shall first kiss his mother shall enjoy the sovereign power at Rome."

The Tarquinii ordered the matter to be kept secret with the utmost

care, that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might be ignorant

of the response of the oracle, and have no share in the kingdom; they

then cast lots among themselves, to decide which of them should first

kiss his mother, after they had returned to Rome. Brutus, thinking

that the Pythian response had another meaning, as if he had stumbled

and fallen, touched the ground with his lips, she being, forsooth, the

common mother of all mankind. After this they returned to Rome, where

preparations were being made with the greatest vigour for a war

against the Rutulians.

The Rutulians, a very wealthy nation, considering the country and age

in which they lived, were at that time in possession of Ardea.[56]

Their wealth was itself the actual occasion of the war: for the Roman

king, whose resources had been drained by the magnificence of his

public works, was desirous of enriching himself, and also of soothing

the minds of his subjects by a large present of booty, as they,

independently of the other instances of his tyranny, were incensed

against his government, because they felt indignant that they had been

kept so long employed by the king as mechanics, and in labour only fit

for slaves. An attempt was made, to see if Ardea could be taken at the

first assault; when that proved unsuccessful, the enemy began to be

distressed by a blockade, and by siege-works. In the standing camp, as

usually happens when a war is tedious rather than severe, furloughs

were easily obtained, more so by the officers, however, than the

common soldiers. The young princes also sometimes spent their leisure

hours in feasting and mutual entertainments. One day as they

were drinking in the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus

Tarquinius, the son of Egerius, was also at supper, they fell to

talking about their wives. Every one commended his own extravagantly:

a dispute thereupon arising, Collatinus said there was no occasion for

words, that it might be known in a few hours how far his wife Lucretia

excelled all the rest. "If, then," added he, "we have any youthful

vigour, why should we not mount our horses and in person examine the

behaviour of our wives? Let that be the surest proof to every one,

which shall meet his eyes on the unexpected arrival of the husband."

They were heated with wine. "Come on, then," cried all. They

immediately galloped to Rome, where they arrived when darkness was

beginning to fall. From thence they proceeded to Collatia,[57]

where they found Lucretia, not after the manner of the king's

daughters-in-law, whom they had seen spending their time in luxurious

banqueting with their companions, but, although the night was far

advanced, employed at her wool, sitting in the middle of the house in

the midst of her maids who were working around her. The honour of the

contest regarding the women rested with Lucretia. Her husband on his

arrival, and the Tarquinii, were kindly received; the husband, proud

of his victory, gave the young princes a polite invitation. There an

evil desire of violating Lucretia by force seized Sextus Tarquinius;

both her beauty, and her proved chastity urged him on. Then, after

this youthful frolic of the night, they returned to the camp.

After an interval of a few days, Sextus Tarquinius, without the

knowledge of Collatinus, came to Collatia with one attendant only:

there he was made welcome by them, as they had no suspicion of his

design, and, having been conducted after supper into the guest

chamber, burning with passion, when all around seemed sufficiently

secure, and all fast asleep, he came to the bedside of Lucretia, as

she lay asleep, with a drawn sword, and with his left hand pressing

down the woman's breast, said: "Be silent, Lucretia; I am Sextus

Tarquinius. I have a sword in my hand. You shall die if you utter a

word." When the woman, awaking terrified from sleep, saw there was no

help, and that impending death was nigh at hand, then Tarquin declared

his passion, entreated, mixed threats with entreaties, tried all means

to influence the woman's mind. When he saw she was resolved, and

uninfluenced even by the fear of death, to the fear of death he added

the fear of dishonour, declaring that he would lay a murdered slave

naked by her side when dead, so that it should be said that she had

been slain in base adultery. When by the terror of this disgrace his

lust (as it were victorious) had overcome her inflexible chastity,

and Tarquin had departed, exulting in having triumphed over a woman's

honour by force, Lucretia, in melancholy distress at so dreadful a

misfortune, despatched one and the same messenger both to her father

at Rome, and to her husband at Ardea, bidding them come each with a

trusty friend; that they must do so, and use despatch, for a monstrous

deed had been wrought. Spurius Lucretius came accompanied by Publius

Valerius, the son of Volesus, Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus, in

company with whom, as he was returning to Rome, he happened to be met

by his wife's messenger. They found Lucretia sitting in her chamber

in sorrowful dejection. On the arrival of her friends the tears burst

from her eyes; and on her husband inquiring, whether all was well, "By

no means," she replied, "for how can it be well with a woman who

has lost her honour? The traces of another man are on your bed,

Collatinus. But the body only has been violated, the mind is

guiltless; death shall be my witness. But give me your right hands,

and your word of honour, that the adulterer shall not come off

unpunished. It is Sextus Tarquinius, who, an enemy last night in

the guise of a guest has borne hence by force of arms, a triumph

destructive to me, and one that will prove so to himself also, if you

be men." All gave their word in succession; they attempted to console

her, grieved in heart as she was, by turning the guilt of the act from

her, constrained as she had been by force, upon the perpetrator of

the crime, declaring that it is the mind sins, not the body; and that

where there is no intention, there is no guilt. "It is for you to

see," said she, "what is due to him. As for me, though I acquit myself

of guilt, I do not discharge myself from punishment; nor shall any

woman survive her dishonour by pleading the example of Lucretia." She

plunged a knife, which she kept concealed beneath her garment, into

her heart, and falling forward on the wound, dropped down expiring.

Her husband and father shrieked aloud.

While they were overwhelmed with grief, Brutus drew the knife out of

the wound, and, holding it up before him reeking with blood, said: "By

this blood, most pure before the outrage of a prince, I swear, and I

call you, O gods, to witness my oath, that I will henceforth pursue

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, his wicked wife, and all their children,

with fire, sword, and all other violent means in my power; nor will

I ever suffer them or any other to reign at Rome." Then he gave the

knife to Collatinus, and after him to Lucretius and Valerius, who were

amazed at such an extraordinary occurrence, and could not understand

the newly developed character of Brutus. However, they all took the

oath as they were directed, and, their sorrow being completely changed

to wrath, followed the lead of Brutus, who from that time ceased not

to call upon them to abolish the regal power. They carried forth the

body of Lucretia from her house, and conveyed it to the forum, where

they caused a number of persons to assemble, as generally happens,

by reason of the unheard-of and atrocious nature of an extraordinary

occurrence. They complained, each for himself, of the royal villainy

and violence. Both the grief of the father affected them, and also

Brutus, who reproved their tears and unavailing complaints, and

advised them to take up arms, as became men and Romans, against those

who dared to treat them like enemies. All the most spirited youths

voluntarily presented themselves in arms; the rest of the young men

followed also. From thence, after an adequate garrison had been left

at the gates at Collatia, and sentinels appointed, to prevent any one

giving intelligence of the disturbance to the royal party, the rest

set out for Rome in arms under the conduct of Brutus. When they

arrived there, the armed multitude caused panic and confusion wherever

they went. Again, when they saw the principal men of the state placing

themselves at their head, they thought that, whatever it might be,

it was not without good reason. Nor did the heinousness of the event

excite less violent emotions at Rome than it had done at Collatia:

accordingly, they ran from all parts of the city into the forum, and

as soon as they came thither, the public crier summoned them to attend

the tribune of the celeres [58], with which office Brutus happened to

be at the time invested. There a harangue was delivered by him, by no

means of the style and character which had been counterfeited by him

up to that day, concerning the violence and lust of Sextus Tarquinius,

the horrid violation of Lucretia and her lamentable death, the

bereavement of Tricipitinus,[59], in whose eyes the cause of his

daughter's death was more shameful and deplorable than that death

itself. To this was added the haughty insolence of the king himself,

and the sufferings and toils of the people, buried in the earth in the

task of cleansing ditches and sewers: he declared that Romans, the

conquerors of all the surrounding states, instead of warriors had

become labourers and stone-cutters. The unnatural murder of King

Servius Tullius was recalled, and the fact of his daughter having

driven over the body of her father in her impious chariot, and the

gods who avenge parents were invoked by him. By stating these and, I

believe, other facts still more shocking, which, though by no means

easy to be detailed by writers, the then heinous state of things

suggested, he so worked upon the already incensed multitude, that they

deprived the king of his authority, and ordered the banishment of

Lucius Tarquinius with his wife and children. He himself, having

selected and armed some of the younger men, who gave in their names as

volunteers, set out for the camp at Ardea to rouse the army against

the king: the command in the city he left to Lucretius, who had been

already appointed prefect of the city by the king. During this tumult

Tullia fled from her house, both men and women cursing her wherever

she went, and invoking upon her the wrath of the furies, the avengers

of parents.

News of these transactions having reached the camp, when the king,

alarmed at this sudden revolution, was proceeding to Rome to quell the

disturbances, Brutus--for he had had notice of his approach--turned

aside, to avoid meeting him; and much about the same time Brutus and

Tarquinius arrived by different routes, the one at Ardea, the other at

Rome. The gates were shut against Tarquin, and sentence of banishment

declared against him; the camp welcomed with great joy the deliverer

of the city, and the king's sons were expelled. Two of them followed

their father, and went into exile to Caere, a city of Etruria. Sextus

Tarquinius, who had gone to Gabii, as if to his own kingdom, was slain

by the avengers of the old feuds, which he had stirred up against

himself by his rapines and murders. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned

twenty-five years: the regal form of government lasted, from the

building of the city to its deliverance, two hundred and forty-four

years. Two consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius

Collatinus, were elected by the prefect of at the comitia of

centuries, according to the commentaries of Servius Tullius.

[Footnote 1: Books I-III are based upon the translation by John Henry

Freese, but in many places have been revised or retranslated by

Duffield Osborne.]

[Footnote 2: The king was originally the high priest, his office more

sacerdotal than military: as such he would have the selection and

appointment of the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of Vesta, the

hearth-goddess. Their chief duty was to keep the sacred fire burning

("the fire that burns for aye"), and to guard the relics in the Temple

of Vesta. If convicted of unchastity they were buried alive.]

[Footnote 3: Surely there is no lack of "historical criticism" here

and on a subject where a Roman writer might be pardoned for some

credulity.--D.O.]

[Footnote 4: Livy ignores the more accepted and prettier tradition

that this event took place where the sacred fig-tree originally stood,

and that later it was miraculously transplanted to the comitium by

Attius Navius, the famous augur, "That it might stand in the midst of

the meetings of the Romans"--D.O.]

[Footnote 5: According to Varro, Rome was founded B.C. 753; according

to Cato, B.C. 751. Livy here derives Roma from Romulus, but this is

rejected by modern etymologists; according to Mommsen the word means

"stream-town," from its position on the Tiber.]

[Footnote 6: The remarkable beauty of the white or mouse-coloured

cattle of central Italy gives a touch of realism to this story.--D.O.]

[Footnote 7: The introduction of the art of writing among the Romans

was ascribed to Evander. The Roman alphabet was derived from the

Greek, through the Grecian (Chalcidian) colony at Cumae.]

[Footnote 8: The title patres originally signified the heads of

families, and was in early times used of the patrician senate, as

selected from these. When later, plebeians were admitted into the

senate, the members of the senate were all called patres, while

patricians, as opposed to plebeians, enjoyed certain distinctions and

privileges.]

[Footnote 9: This story of the rape of the Sabines belongs to the

class of what are called "etiological" myths--i. e., stories invented

to account for a rite or custom, or to explain local names or

characteristics. The custom prevailed among Greeks and Romans of the

bridegroom pretending to carry off the bride from her home by force.

Such a custom still exists among the nomad tribes of Asia Minor. The

rape of the Sabine women was invented to account for this custom.]

[Footnote 10: The spolia opima (grand spoils)--a term used to denote

the arms taken by one general from another--were only gained twice

afterward during the history of the republic; in B.C. 437, when A.

Cornelius Cossus slew Lars Tolumnius of Veii; and in B.C. 222, when

the consul M. Claudius Marcellus slew Viridomarus, chief of the

Insubrian Gauls.]

[Footnote 11: The place afterward retained its name, even when filled

up and dry. Livy (Book VII) gives a different reason for the name:

that it was so called from one Marcus Curtius having sprung, armed,

and on horseback, several hundred years ago (B.C. 362), into a gulf

that suddenly opened in the forum; it being imagined that it would

not close until an offering was made of what was most valuable in the

state--i. e., a warrior armed and on horseback. According to Varro,

it was a locus fulguritus (i. e., struck by lightning), which was

inclosed by a consul named Curtius.]

[Footnote 12: Supposed to be derived from "Lucumo," the name or,

according to more accepted commentators, title of an Etruscan chief

who came to help Romulus.--D.O.]

[Footnote 13: The inhabitants of Fidenae, about five miles from Rome,

situated on the Tiber, near Castel Giubileo.--D.O.]

[Footnote 14: About twelve and a half miles north of Rome, close to

the little river Cremera; it was one of the most important of the

twelve confederate Etruscan towns. Plutarch describes it as the

bulwark of Etruria: not inferior to Rome in military equipment and

numbers.]

[Footnote 15: A naïvely circumstantial story characteristically told.

Though a republican, it is quite evident that Livy wishes to convey

the idea that Romulus, having by the creation of a body-guard aspired

to tyrannical power, was assassinated by the senate.--D.O.]

[Footnote 16: The reading in this section is uncertain.]

[Footnote 17: Two interpretations are given of this passage--(1)

that out of each decury one senator was chosen by lot to make up the

governing body of ten; (2) that each decury as a whole held office in

succession, so that one decury was in power for fifty days.]

[Footnote 18: At this time a grove: later it became one of the

artificers' quarters, lying beyond the forum and in the jaws of the

suburra, which stretched away over the level ground to the foot of the

Esquiline and Quirinal Hills.--D.O.]

[Footnote 19: Romulus had made his year to consist of ten months, the

first month being March, and the number of days in the year only 304,

which corresponded neither with the course of the sun nor moon. Numa,

who added the two months of January and February, divided the year

into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. This was the

lunar Greek year, and consisted of 354 days. Numa, however, adopted

355 days for his year, from his partiality to odd numbers. The lunar

year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days; this in

8 years amounted to (11-1/4 x 8) 90 days. These 90 days he divided

into 2 months of 22, and 2 of 23 days [(2 x 22) + (2 x 23) = 90],

and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial

periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only

66 days instead of 90 days--i. e., he inserted 3 months of only 22

days each. The reason was, because he adopted 355 days as the length

of his lunar year instead of 354, and this in 24 years (3 octennial

periods) produced an error of 24 days; this error was exactly

compensated by intercalating only 66 days (90--24) in the third

octennial period. The intercalations were generally made in the month

of February, after the 23d of the month. The management was left

to the pontiffs--ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent--dies

congruerent; "that the days might correspond to the same

starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out."

That is, taking for instance the Tropic of Cancer for the place or

starting-point of the sun any one year, and observing that he was in

that point of the heavens on precisely the 21st of June, the object

was so to dispense the year, that the day on which the sun was

observed to arrive at that same meta or starting-point again, should

also be called the 21st of June.]

[Footnote 20: A more general form of the legend ran to the effect that

but one of these shields fell from heaven, and that the others

were made like it, to lessen the chance of the genuine one being

stolen.--D.O.]

[Footnote 21: The chief of the fetiales.]

[Footnote 22: This vervain was used for religious purposes, and

plucked up by the roots from consecrated ground; it was carried by

ambassadors to protect them from violence.]

[Footnote 23: This gate became later the starting-point of the Appian

Way.--D.O.]

[Footnote 24: An imaginary sacred line that marked the bounds of the

city. It did not always coincide with the line of the walls, but was

extended from time to time. Such extension could only be made by

a magistrate who had extended the boundaries of the empire by his

victories,--D.O.]

[Footnote 25: Literally, "Horatian javelins."--D.O.]

[Footnote: Evidently so established after the destruction of the

inhabitants in the storming (see p. 17, above).--D. O.]

[Footnote 27: Tiber and Anio.--D. O.]

[Footnote 28: Scourging and beheading, scourging to death, burying

alive, and crucifixion (for slaves) may make us question the justice

of this boast. Foreign generals captured in war were only strangled.

Altogether, the Roman indifference to suffering was very marked as

compared with the humanity of the Greeks.--D. O.]

[Footnote 29: The Lares were of human origin, being only the deified

ancestors of the family: the Penates of divine origin, the tutelary

gods of the family.]

[Footnote 30: "Curia Hostilia." It was at the northwest corner of the

forum, northeast of the comitium.--D. O.]

[Footnote 31: Identified with Juno.--D. O.]

[Footnote 32: This story makes us suspect that it was the case of

another warlike king who had incurred the enmity of the senate.

The patricians alone controlled or were taught in religious

matters.--D.O.]

[Footnote 33: Supposed to be an Etruscan goddess, afterward identified

with Jana, the female form of Janus, as was customary with the

Romans.--D.O.] The Janiculum [Footnote: The heights across the

Tiber.--D.O.]

[Footnote 34: Called Mamertinus; though apparently not until the

Middle Ages.]

[Footnote 35: Lucumo seems to have been, originally at least, an

Etruscan title rather than name.--D.O.]

[Footnote 36: No one was noble who could not show images of his

ancestors: and no one was allowed to have an image who had not filled

the highest offices of state: this was called jus imaginum.]

[Footnote 37: This part of the Via Nova probably corresponded pretty

closely with the present Via S. Teodoro, and Tarquin's house

is supposed to have stood not far from the church of Sta.

Anastasia.--D.O.]

[Footnote 38: A white toga with horizontal purple stripes. This was

originally the royal robe. Later it became the ceremonial dress of

the equestrian order. The Salii, priests of Mars Gradivus, also wore

it--D.O.]

[Footnote 39: This was a quinquennial registering of every man's age,

family, profession, property, and residence, by which the amount of

his taxes was regulated. Formerly each full citizen contributed an

equal amount. Servius introduced a regulation of the taxes according

to property qualifications, and clients and plebeians alike had to

pay their contribution, if they possessed the requisite amount of

property.]

[Footnote 40: Or, "pounds weight of bronze," originally reckoned by

the possession of a certain number of jugera (20 jugera being equal to

5,000 asses).]

[Footnote 41: Between the ages of forty-six and sixty.--D.O.]

[Footnote 42: Between the ages of seventeen and forty-six--D.O.].

[Footnote 43: A ceremony of purification, from sus, ovis, and taurus:

the three victims were led three times round the army and sacrificed

to Mars. The ceremony took place every fifth year]

[Footnote 44: These were the walls of Rome down to about 271-276 A.D.,

when the Emperor Aurelian began the walls that now inclose the

city. Remains of the Servian wall are numerous and of considerable

extent.--D.O.]

[Footnote 45: On the summit of the Aventine.--D. O.]

[Footnote 46: Those introduced by Tarquinius Priscus, as related

above.--D.O.]

[Footnote 47: At the foot of the Alban Hill. The general councils of

the Latins were held here up to the time of their final subjugation.]

[Footnote 48: A few ruins on the Via Praenestina, about nine miles

from the Porta Maggiore, mark the site of Gabii. They are on the bank

of the drained Lago Castiglione, whence Macaulay's "Gabii of the

Pool".--D.O.]

[Footnote 49: This message without words is the same as that which,

according to Herodotus, was sent by Thrasybulus of Miletus to

Periander of Corinth. The trick by which Sextus gained the confidence

of the people of Gabii is also related by him of Zophyrus and Darius.]

[Footnote 50: The name "Tarpeian," as given from the Tarpeia, whose

story is told above, was generally confined to the rock or precipice

from which traitors were thrown. Its exact location on the Capitoline

Hill does not seem positively determined; in fact, most of the sites

on this hill have been subjects of considerable dispute.--D.O.]

[Footnote 51: The god of boundaries. His action seems quite in keeping

with his office.--D.O.]

[Footnote 52: The Cloaca Maxima, upon which Rome still relies for

much of her drainage, is more generally attributed to Tarquinius

Priscus.--D.O.]

[Footnote 53: The modern Segni, upward of thirty miles from Rome, on

the Rome-Naples line.--D.O.]

[Footnote 54: On the coast, near Terracina. The Promontoria Circeo is

the traditional site of the palace and grave of Circe, whose story is

told in the Odyssey.--D.O.]

[Footnote 55: Dullard.--D.O.]

[Footnote 56: In the Pomptine marshes, about twenty miles south of

Rome and five from the coast.--D.O.]

[Footnote 57: Its site, about nine miles from Rome, on the road to

Tivoli, is now known as Lunghezza.--D.O.]

[Footnote 58: The royal body-guard. See the story of Romulus

above.--D.O.]

[Footnote 59: Spurius Lucretius.--D.O.]