The Dynasty Of The Tarquins
The tale we have now to tell forces us to pass rapidly over years of
history. After several kings of Roman and Sabine birth had reigned, a
foreigner, of Greek descent, came to the throne of Rome. This was one
Lucomo, the son of a native of Corinth, who had settled at Tarquinii in
Italy. Growing weary of Tarquinii, Lucomo left that city, with his
family and wealth, and made his way to Rome. As he came near the gates
of
bearing it high into the air, descended and placed it on his head again.
His wife Tanaquil, who was skilled in augury, told him this was a happy
omen, and that he was destined to become great.
And so he did. His riches, courage, and wisdom brought him great favor
in Rome, and on the death of their king Ancus the people chose Lucius
Tarquinius--as they called him, from his native city--to reign over them
in his stead. He proved a valiant and successful warrior, and in times
of peace did noble work. He built great sewers to drain the city,
constructed a large circus or race-course, and a forum or market-place,
and built a wall of stone around the city in place of the old wooden
wall. He also began to build a great temple on the Capitoline Hill,
which was designed to be the temple of the gods of Rome. In the end
Lucius was murdered by the sons of King Ancus, who declared that he had
robbed them of the throne.
There is a story of the deed of an augur in his reign which is worth
repeating, whether we believe it or not. Lucius had little trust in the
augur, and said to him, "Come, tell me by your auguries whether the
thing I have in my mind may be done or not." "It may," said Attus, the
augur. "It is this," said the king, laughing: "it was in my mind that
you should cut this whetstone in two with this razor. Take them and see
if you can do it."
Attus took the razor and whetstone, and with a bold stroke cut the
latter in two. From that time on Lucius did nothing without first
consulting the augurs, and testing the purposes of the gods by the
flight of birds, and--so say the legends--he prospered accordingly.
The cause of the death of Lucius was this. One day a boy who dwelt in
the palace fell asleep in its portico, and as he lay there some
attendants who passed by saw a flame playing lambently around his head.
Alarmed at the sight, they were about to throw water upon him to
extinguish the flame, when Tanaquil, the queen, who had also seen it,
forbade them. She told the king of what had happened, and said that the
boy whom they were bringing up so meanly was destined to become great
and noble. She bade him, therefore, to rear the child in a way befitting
his destiny.
The boy, whose name was Servius Tullius, was thereupon brought up as a
prince, and when old enough married the king's daughter. Lucius reigned
forty years, and then the sons of Ancus, fearing to be robbed of their
claim to the throne by young Servius, who had become very popular,
managed to get an audience with and kill the king.
The murderers gained nothing by their deed of blood. Queen Tanaquil
shrewdly told the people that Lucius was only stunned by the blow, and
that he wished them to obey the orders of Servius. To the young man she
said, "The kingdom is yours; if you have no plans of your own, then
follow mine." For several days Servius acted as king, and then, the
people and senate having grown used to seeing him on the throne, the
death of Lucius was declared and Servius proclaimed king. He had the
consent of the senate, but had not asked that of the people, being the
first king of Rome who reigned without the votes of the assembly of the
Roman people.
Servius Tullius reigned long and won victories, but his greatest
triumphs were those of peace. He formed a league with the thirty cities
of Latium, and is said to have taken a census of the people of the city,
which was found to have eighty-three thousand inhabitants. To strengthen
his power he married his two daughters to two sons of Lucius Tarquinius,
a well-intended act which led to a tragic and dreadful deed.
The daughters of Servius were very unlike in nature, and the same may be
said of their husbands, and they became unequally mated. Lucius
Tarquinius was proud and full of evil, while his wife, the elder Tullia,
was good and gentle. Aruns Tarquinius was of a mild and kindly nature,
while his wife, the younger Tullia, was cruel and ambitious. They were
thus sadly mismated. But the evil pair saw in each other kindred
spirits, and in the end Lucius secretly killed his wife, and the younger
Tullia her husband. The wicked pair then married, and proceeded to carry
out the purposes of their base hearts.
Servius, being himself of humble birth, had favored the people at the
expense of the nobles. He even made a law that no king should rule after
him, but that two men chosen by the people should govern them year by
year. Thus it was that the commons came to love him and the nobles to
hate him, and when he asked for a vote of the people on his king-ship
there was not a voice raised against him.
Lucius, whom his wicked wife steadily goaded to ambitious aims,
conspired with the nobles against the king. There were brotherhoods of
the young nobles, pledged to support each other in deeds of oppression.
These he joined, and gained their aid. Then he waited till the harvest
season, when the commons were in the fields, gathering the ripened corn.
This absence of the king's friends gave him the opportunity he wished.
Gathering a band of armed men, he suddenly entered the Forum, and took
his seat on the king's throne, before the door of the senate-chamber,
from which Servius was accustomed to judge the people. Word of this act
of treason was borne to the old king, who at once hastened to the Forum
and sternly asked the usurper why he had dared to take that seat.
Lucius insolently answered that it was his father's throne, and that he
had the best right to it. Then, as the aged and unguarded king mounted
the steps of the senate-house, his ambitious son-in-law sprang up,
caught him by the middle, and flung him headlong down the steps to the
ground. Then he went into the senate-chamber and called the senators
together, as though he were already king.
The old monarch, sadly shaken by his fall, rose to his feet and made his
way slowly towards his home on the Esquiline Hill. But when he came near
it he was overtaken by some bravos whom Lucius had sent in pursuit.
These killed the unprotected old man, and left him lying in his blood in
the middle of the street.
And now was done a deed which has aroused the execrations of mankind in
all later ages. Tullia, who had instigated her husband to the murder of
her father, waited with impatience until it was performed. Then,
mounting her chariot, she bade the coachman to drive to the Forum,
where, heedless of the crowd of men who had assembled, she called Lucius
from the senate-house, and cried to him, in accents of triumph, "Hail to
thee, King Tarquinius!"
Wicked as Lucius was, he was not as shameless as his wife, and sternly
bade her to go home. She obeyed, taking the same street as her father
had followed. Soon reaching the spot where the bleeding body of the old
king lay stretched across the way, the coachman drew up his horses and
pointed out to Tullia the dreadful spectacle.
"Drive on," she harshly commanded. "I cannot," he replied. "The street
is too narrow to pass without crushing the king's body." "Drive on," she
again fiercely ordered, and the coachman did so. Tullia went to her home
with her father's blood upon the wheels of her chariot, and with the
execration of all good men upon her head. And thus it was that Lucius
Tarquinius and his wicked wife succeeded the good king Servius upon the
throne.
We may tell here briefly the end of this evil pair. Tarquin the Proud,
as he is known in history, reigned as a tyrant and oppressor, while his
wife was viewed with horror by all virtuous matrons. At length the
people rose against a base deed of the tyrant's son, and the wicked
Tullia fled in terror from her house. No one sought to stop her in her
flight; but all, men and women alike, cursed her as she passed, and
prayed that the furies of her father's blood might take revenge for her
dreadful deed.
She never saw Rome again. Tarquin sought long to regain his crown, but
in vain, and the wicked usurpers died in exile. No king ever again ruled
over the Romans. Tarquin's tyranny had given the people enough of kings,
and the law of good Servius Tullius was at last carried out.
More
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