The plot was
discovered
v.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
5), and the compiler of the triumphal
story is opposed to all other traditions, and should Fasti. Cicero (de Rep. ii. 20) and Strabo (v. p.
certainly be rejected.
231) relate that Tarquinius also subdued the Aequi;
3
## p. 977 (#993) ############################################
1
TARQUINIUS.
TARQUINIUS.
977
STEMMA TARQUINIORUM.
Demaratus of Corinth.
Aruna.
Lucumo, afterwards
L. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS.
Tarquinia,
m. Servius
Tullius.
Tarquinia,
m. M. Brutus
L. TARQUINIUS
SUPERBUS.
Aruns.
Egerius,
commander of
Collatia.
Titus,
Sextus.
Aruns.
1
M. Brutus,
put to death
by Tarquinius.
L. Brutus,
the Consul.
Tarquinius
Collatinus,
m. Lucretia.
but this war is not mentioned by Dionysius, and Tarquinius had reigned thirty-eight years, when
is referred by Livy (i. 55) to Tarquinius Superbus. he was assassinated by the contrivance of the song
Although the wars of Tarquinius were of great of Ancus Marcius. They had long wished to take
celebrity, the important works which he executed vengeance upon him on account of their being de-
in peace have made his name still more famous. prived of the throne, and now fearing lest he should
Many of these works are ascribed in some stories secure the succession to his son-in-law Servius Tul-
to the second Tarquinius, but almost all traditions lius, they hired two countrymen, who, feigning to
agree in assigning to the elder Tarquinius the erec- have a quarrel, came before the king to have their
tion of the vast sewers by which the lower parts of dispute decided ; and while he was listening to the
the city were drained, and which still remain, with complaint of one, the other gave him a deadly wound
not a stone displaced, to bear witness to his power with his axe. But the sons of Marcius did not se-
and wealth. (See Dict. of Antiq. art. Cloaca. ) The cure the reward of their crime, for Servius Tullius,
quay by which the Tiber is banked, and through with the assistance of Tanaquil, succeeded to the
which the sewer opens into it, must clearly have vacant throne. Tarquinius left two sons and two
been executed at the same time, and may therefore daughters. His two sons, L. Tarquinius and Aruns,
be safely ascribed to the elder Tarquinius. were subsequently married to the two daughters of
The same king is also said in some traditions to Servius Tullius. One of his daughters was mar-
have laid out the Circus Maximus in the valley ried to Servius Tullius, and the other to M. Brutus,
which had been redeemed from water by the by whom sbe became the mother of the celebrated
Bewers, and also to have instituted the Great or L. Brutus, the first consul at Rome. The princi-
Roman Games, which were henceforth performed pal authorities for the life of Tarquinius Priscus are
in the Circus. The Forum, with its porticoes and Livy (i. 34-41), Dionysius iii. 46—73, iv. 1),
rows of shops, was also his work, and he likewise and Cicero (de Rep. iii. 20. ).
began to surround the city with a stone wall, a The life of Servius Tullius is given under Tul-
work which was finished by his successor Servius LIUS. There it is related how he was murdered,
Tullius. The building of the Capitoline temple is after a reign of forty-four years, by bis son-in-law,
moreover attributed to the elder Tarquinius, though L. Tarquinius, who had been urged on by his
most traditions ascribe this work to his son, and wicked wife to commit the dreadful deed. The
only the vow to the father.
Roman writers represent the younger Tarquinius
Tarquinius also made some changes in the consti- as a cruel and tyrannical monarch, and the fact
tution of the state.
He added a hundred new of his being the last king of Rome has doubtless
members to the senate, who were called patres contributed not a little to blacken his character.
minorum gentium, to distinguish them from the old The estimation in which he was held by the Romans
senators, who were now called patres majorum is shown by his surname of Superbus.
gentium. He wished to add to the three centuries L. TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS commenced his reign
of equites established by Romulus three new cen- without any of the forms of election. He seized
turies, and to call them after himself and two of the kingdom as a recovered inheritance, and did
his friends. His plan was opposed by the augur not wait to be elected by the senate or the
Attus Navius, who gave a convincing proof that people, or to receive the imperium from the curiae.
the gods were opposed to his purpose. [Navius. ] One of the first acts of his reign was to abolish
Accordingly he gave up his design of establishing all the privileges which had been conferred upon
new centuries, but to each of the former centuries the plebeians by Servius, since the patricians
he associated another under the same name, so that had assisted him in obtaining the kingdom. He
henceforth there were the first and second Ramnes, forbade the meetings of the tribes, and repealed the
Tities, and Luceres. He increased the number of laws which had conferred civil equality upon the
Vestal Virgins from four to six.
plebeians, and which had abulished the right of
3 R
VOL. III.
## p. 978 (#994) ############################################
978
TARQUINIUS.
TARQUINIUS.
was
1
Bcizing the person of a debtor. He also compelled him with the command of their troops, and when
the poor to work at miserable wages upon his mag- he had obtained the unlimited confidence of the
nificent buildings, and the hardships which they citizens, he sent a messenger to his father to in-
suffered were so great that many put an end to their quire how he should deliver the city into his hands.
lives. But he did not confine his oppressions to The king, who was walking in his garden when
the poor. All the senators and patricians whom the messenger arrived, made no reply, but kept
he mistrusted, or whose wealth he coveted, were striking off the heads of the tallest poppies with
put to death or driven into exile. The racant his stick. Sextus took the hint. He put to death
places in the senate were not filled up, and this or banished, on false charges, all the leading men
body was scarcely ever consulted by him. He of the place, and then had no difficulty in compel-
surrounded himself by a body-guard, by means of ling it to submit to his father.
which he was enabled to do what he liked. But, In the midst of his prosperity, Tarquini
although a tyrant at home, he raised the state to troubled by a strange portent. A serpent crawled
great influence and power among the surrounding out from the altar in the royal palace, and seized
nations, partly by his alliances and partly by his on the entrails of the victim. The king, in fear,
conquests. The gave his daughter in marriage to sent his two sons, Titus and Aruns, to consult the
Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, the most power- oracle at Delphi. They were accompanied by
ful of the Latin chieſs, and by his means he ac- their cousin, L. Junius Brutus. One of the sisters
quired great influence in Latium. Under his sway of Tarquinius had been married to M. Brutus, a
Rome became eventually the acknowledged head man of great wealth, who died, leaving two sons
of the Latin confederacy. According to Cicero (de under age. Of these the clder was killed by
Rep. ii. 24) he subdued the whole of Latium by Tarquinius, who coveted their possessions ; the
force of arms; but Livy and Dionysius represent younger escaped his brother's fate only by feigning
his supremacy as due to his alliances and intrigues. idiotcy. On arriving at Delphi, Brutus propitiated
Any Latin chiefs, like Turnus Herdonius, who at- the priestess with the gift of a golden stick en.
tempted to resist him, were treated as traitors and closed in a hollow staff. After executing the king's
punished with death. At the solemn meeting of commission, Titus and Aruns asked the priestess
the Latins at the Alban Mount, Tarquinius sacri- who was to reign at Rome after their father. The
ficed the bull on behalf of all the allies, and distri- priestess replied, whichsoerer should first kiss his
buted the flesh to the people of the league. So mother. The princes agreed to keep the matter
complete was the union of the Romans and the secret from Sextus, who was at Rome, and to cast
Latins that the soldiers of the two nations were lots between themselves. Brutus, who better un-
not kept separate, but each maniple in the army derstood the meaning of the oracle, fell, as if by
was composed of both Romans and Latins. The chance, when they quitted the temple, and kissed
Hernici also became members of the league, but the earth, mother of them all. The fall of the
their troops were kept apart from the Roman le- king was also foreshadowed by other prodigies, and
gions.
it came to pass in the following way: -
Strengthened by this Latin alliance, and at the Tarquinius was besieging Ardea, a city of the
head of a formidable army, Tarquinius turned his Rutulians. The place could not be taken by force,
arms against the Volscians. He took the wealthy and the Roman army lay encamped beneath the
town of Suessa Pometia, with the spoils of which walls. Here as the king's sons, and their cousin,
he commenced the erection of the Capitol which Tarquinius Collatinus, the son of Egerius, were
his father had vowed ; but great as these were, feasting together, a dispute arose about the virtue
they were scarcely sufficient even for the founda- of their wives. As nothing was doing in the field,
tions of this magnificent edifice, and the people were they mounted their horses to visit their homes by
heavily taxed to complete the building. In digging surprize. They first went to Rome, where they sur-
for the foundations, a human bead was discovered prized the king's daughters at a splendid banquet.
beneath the earth, undecayed and trickling with They then hastened to Collatia, and there, though
and Etruscan soothsayers expounded the it was late in the night, they found Lucretia, the
prodigy as a sign that Rome was destined to be wife of Collatinus, spinning amid her handmaids.
come the head of the world. In the vaults of this The beauty and virtue of Lucretia had fired the
temple he deposited the Sibylline books, which the evil passions of Sextus. A few days he returned
king purchased from a sibyl or prophetess. She to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by
had offered to sell him nine books for three hundred Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. In the dead
pieces of gold. The king refused the offer with of night he entered the chamber with a drawn
Thereupon she went away, and burned sword; by threatening to lay a slave with his
three, and then demanded the same price for the throat cut beside her, whom he would pretend
six. The king still refused. She again went to have killed in order to avenge her husband's
away and burnt three more, and still demanded the honour, he forced her to yield to his wishes. As
same price for the remaining three. The king now soon as Sextus had departed, Lucretia sent for her
purchased the three books, and the sibyl disap- husband and father. Collatinus came, accompanied
peared.
by L. Brutus ; Lucretius, with P. Valerius, who
In order to secure his Volscian conquests, Tar- afterwards gained the surname of Publicola. They
quinius founded the colonies of Signia and Circeii. found her in an agony of sorrow. She told them
He was next engaged in a war with Gabii, one of what had happened, enjoined them to avenge her
the Latin cities, which refused to enter into the dishonour, and then stabbed herself to death.
league. Unable to take the city by force of arms, They all swore to avenge her. Brutus threw off
Tarquinius had recourse to stratagem. His son, his assumed stupidity, and placed himself at their
Sextus, pretending to be ill-treated by his father, head. They carried the corpse into the market-
and covered with the bloody marks of stripes, fled place of Collatia. There the people took up arms,
to Gabii. The infatuated inhabitants intrusted and resolved to renounce the Tarquins. A nuinber
;
blood ;
scorn.
## p. 979 (#995) ############################################
TARQUINIUS.
979
TARQUINIUS.
of young men attended the funeral procession to contest was decided by the battle of the lake Re-
Rome. Brutus, who was Tribunus Celerum, sum- gillus, which was long celebrated in song, and the
moned the people, and related the deed of shame. description of which in Livy resembles one of the
All classes were inflamed with the same indignation. battles in the Iliad. The Romans were com-
A decree was passed deposing the king, and banish- manded by the dictator, A. Postumius, and by his
ing him and his family from the city. Brutus lieutenant, T. Aebutius, the master of the knights;
now set out for the army at Ardea Tarquinius the Latins were headed by Tarquinius and Oc.
meantime had hastened to Rome, but found the tavius Mamilius. The struggle was fierce and
gates closed against him. Brutus was received bloody, but the Latins at length turned to flight.
with joy at Ardea ; and the army likewise re- Almost all the chiefs on either side fell in the
nounced their allegiance to the tyrant. Tarquinius, conflict, or were grievously wounded. Tarquinius
with his two sons, Titus and Aruns, took refuge at himself was wounded, but escaped with his life ;
Cnere in Etruria. Sextus repaired to Gabii, his own his son Sextus is said to have fallen in this
principality, where, according to Livy, he was battle, though, according to another tradition, as we
shortly after murdered by the friends of those whom have already seen, he is said to have been slain
he had put to death. Tarquinius reigned twenty-five by the inhabitants of Gabii. It was related in
years. His banishment was placed in the year of the old tradition, that the Romans gained this
the city 244, or 3. c. 510. (Liv. i. 49–60; battle by the assistance of the Dioscuri (Castor
Dionys. iv. 41-75; Cic. de Rep. ii. 24, 25. ) and Pollux), who were seen charging the Latina
The remainder of the story may be told with at the head of the Roman cavalry, and who after-
greater brevity. The history of the establish- wards carried to Rome the intelligence of the de-
ment of the republic and of the attempts of Tar- ſeat of the Latins. A temple was built in the
quinius to recover the sovereignty, has already forum on the spot where they appeared, and their
been related in detail in other articles. L. Brutus festival was celebrated yearly on the Ides of Quin-
and Tarquinius Collatinus were the first consuls ; tilis (the 15th of July), the day of the battle of
but the people so hated the very name and race of Regillus, on which all the knights passed in solemn
the dethroned king, that Collatinus was obliged to procession to their temple. According to Livy the
resign his office, and retire froin Rome. P. Vale battle of the lake Regillus was fought in B. c. 498,
rius was elected consul in his place. [COLLATI- but he says that some of the annals placed it in
NUR. ] Meantime ambassadors came to Rome from B. C. 496, in which year it is given by Dionysius
Tarquinii, to which city Tarquinius had removed (vi. 3) and in the Fasti Capitolini.
from Caere, demanding the restitution of his pri- The Latins were completely humbled by this
vate property. The demand seemed just to the victory. Tarquinius Superbus bad no other state
senate and the people ; but while the ambassadors to whom he could apply for assistance. He had
were making preparation for carrying away the already survived all his family, and he now fled
property, they found means to organize a conspi- to Aristobulus at Cumae, where he died a wretched
racy among the young Roman nobles for the restor- and childless old man. (Liv. ii. 1—21 ; Dionys.
ation of the royal family.
The plot was discovered v. 1-vi. 21. )
by means of a slave, and the consul Brutus ordered In the preceding account we have attempted to
the execution of bis two sons, who were parties to give the story of the Tarquins as nearly as possible
the plot. The agreement to give up the property in the words of the ancient writers. But it is
was made void by this attempt at treason. The hardly necessary to remark in the present day that
royal goods were abandoned to the people to plun- this story cannot be received as a real history, or
der, and their landed estates were divided among to point out the numerous inconsistencies and
the poor, with the exception of the plain between impossibilities in the narrative. It may suffice as
the city and the river, which was reserved for a sample to remind the reader that the younger
public uses. This plain was consecrated to Mars, Tarquinius who was expelled from Rome in mature
and called the Campus Martius.
age, was the son of the king who ascended the
Tarquinius now endeavoured to recover the throne 107 years previously in the vigour of life ;
throne by force of arms. The people of Tarquinii and that Servius Tullius, who married the daughter
and Veii espoused his cause, and marched against of Tarquinius Priscus, shortly before he ascended
Rome. The two consuls advanced to meet them. the throne, immediately after his accession is the
A bloody battle was fought, in which Brutus and father of two daughters whom he marries to the
Aruns, the son of Tarquinius, slew each other. brothers of his own wife. It would be a fruitless
Both parties claimed the victory, till a voice was task to endeavour to ascertain the real history of
heard in the dead of night, proclaiming that the the later Roman monarchy ; for although the legend
Romans had conquered, as the Etruscans had lost has doubtless preserved some facts, yet we have no
Alarmed at this, the Etruscans criteria to determine the true from the false. The
fled, and Valerius, the surviving consul, entered story of the Tarquins has evidently been drawn
Rome in triumph.
from the works of several popular poets, and there
Tarquinius next repaired to Lars Porsena, the can be little doubt that one at least of the writers
powerful king of Clusium, who likewise espoused must have become acquainted with Greek literature
his cause, and marched against Rome at the head from the Greek colonies in southern Italy. The
of a vast army. The history of this memorable stratagem by which Tarquinius obtained possession
expedition, which was long preserved in the Ro- of Gabii is obviously taken from a tale in Herodotus
man lays, is related under PORSENA.
(iii. 154), and similar cases might easily be multi-
After Porsena quitted Rome, Tarquinius took plied. Hence we may account for the Greek origin
refuge with his son-in-law, Mamilius Octavius of of the Tarquins. There is, however, one fact in the
Tusculum. Under the guidance of the latter, the common tale which it is impossible to disbelieve,
Latin states espoused the cause of the exiled king, although it has been questioned by Niebuhr, we
and eventually declared war against Rome. The mean the Etruscan origin of the Tarquins. Niebuhr
one man more.
3 R 2
## p. 980 (#996) ############################################
980
TARQUITIA.
TATIANUS
TAAQYITIU
attempts to establish the Latin origin of Tarquinius republic, can scarcely be regarded as members of
by several considerations. He remarks that we the patrician gens.
read of a Tarquinia gens; that the surname Priscus TARQUI'TIUS. 1. A Roman writer, who
of the elder Tarquinius was a regular Latin surname, translated from the Etruscan a work entitled Os-
which occurs in the family of the Servilii and many tentarium Tuscum. (Plin. H. N. in Catal. Auctor.
others; and lastly, that the wife of the elder Tar- | lib. ii. ; Macrob. Sat. iii. 7 ; Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. iv.
quinius was called in one tradition, not Tanaquil, 43; Festus, p. 274, ed. Müller ; Müller, Etrusker,
but Caia Caecilin, a name which may be traced to vol. ii. p. 36. )
Caeculus, the mythic founder of Praeneste. These 2. L. TARQUITIUS, mentioned by Cicero in B. C.
arguments, however, have not much weight, and 50. (Cic. ad Atl. vi. 8. § 4. )
certainly are insufficient to refute the universally 3. Q. TARQUITIUS, occurs only on coins, of
received belief of antiquity in the Etruscan origin which a specimen is annexed. The obverse repre-
of the Tarquins, which is, moreover, confirmed by sents a woman's bead with C. ANNIVS, and the
the great architectural works undertaken in the reverse Victory in a biga, with Q. TARQUITI. А
time of the last Roman kings, works to which no similar coin is figured in Vol. I. p. 180, with the
Sabine or Latin town could lay claim, and which name of L. Fabius on the obverse ; and Eckhel
at that time could have been accomplished by the supposes that Q. Tarquitius and L. Fabius were
Etruscans alone. Moreover the tradition which the quaestors of C. Annius, who fought in Spain
connects Tarquinius with the Luceres, the third against Sertorius in B. c. 82. (Eckhel, vol. v. pp.
ancient Roman tribe, again points to Etruria ; for 134, 322. )
although Niebulir looks upon the Luceres as Latins,
most subsequent scholars have with far more pro-
bability supposed the third tribe to have been of
Etruscan origin. (Comp. Becker, Handbuch der
Römischen Alterthümer, vol. ii. part i. p. 30. ) The
statement of Dionysius that Tarquinius Priscus
conquered the whole of Etruria, and was acknow-
ledged by the twelve Etruscan cities as their ruler,
to whom they paid homage, must certainly be
rejected, when we recollect the small extent of the
COIN OF Q. TARQUITIUS,
Roman dominions under the preceding king, and
the great power and extensive territory of the TARQUI'TIUS PRISCUS. [PRISCUS. )
Etruscans at that time. It is far more probable TARRUNTE'NUS PATERNUS. (PATER-
that Rome was conquered by the Etruscans, and Nus. ]
that the epoch of the Tarquins represents an
TARTARUS (Táptapos), a son of Aether and
Etruscan rule at Rome. This is the opinion of Ge, and by his mother Ge the father of the Gi-
K. O. Müller. He supposes that the town of gantes, Typhoeus and Echidna. (Hygin. Praef.
Tarquinii was at this time at the head of Etruria, p. 3, &c. , Fab. 152 ; Hes. Theog. 821 ; Apollod.
and that the twelve Etruscan cities did homage to i. 1. & 2. ) In the Iliad Tartarus is a place far below
the ruler of Tarquinii. He further supposes that the earth, as far below Hades as Heaven is above
Rome as well as a part of Latium acknowledged the earth, and closed by iron gates. (Hom. II. viii.
the supremacy of Tarquinii ; and that as Rome 13, &c. , 481 ; comp. Hes. Theog. 807. ) Later
was the most important of the possessions of Tar- poets describe Tartarus as the place in the lower
quinii towards the south, it was fortified and world in which the spirits of wicked men are
enlarged, and thus became a great and flourishing punished for their crimes, and sometimes they use
city. Many Tarquinian nobles would naturally the name as synonymous with Hades or the lower
take up their abode at Rome, and one of them world in general ; and pater Tartarus is used for
might have been entrusted by Tarquinii with the Pluto. (Val. Flacc. iv. 258. )
[L. S. )
government of the city. Müller however thinks TARU'TIUS FIRMIA'NUS. [FIRMIANUS. ]
that L. Tarquinius is not the real name of the TASGE'TIUS, was of a noble family among
Etruscan ruler, but that Lucius is the Latinized the Camutes, and was made king of his people by
form of Lucumo, and that Tarquinius merely Caesar, but was assassinated in the third year of
indicates his origin from Tarquinii. According to his reign. (Caes. B. G. v. 25).
Müller the banishment of the Tarquins was not an TASIACES. [SABACES. ]
isolated event confined to Rome, but was connected TATIANUS (Tatiavós), a Christian writer of
with the fall of the city of Tarquinii, which lost at the second century, was born, according to his own
that time its supremacy over the other Etruscan statement (Orat. ad Graccos, sub fin. ) in Assyria,
cities. (Müller, Etrusker, vol. i. p. 118, &c. ) and was educated in the religion and philosophy of
TARQUI'NIUS. ! . P. TARQUINIUS, tribune the Greeks. (ibid. ) Clement of Alexandria (Strom.
of the plebs with Livius Drusus, B. C. 91, sup- lib. iii. c. xii. Ø 81, ed Klotz. Lips. 1831), Epi-
ported the latter in the laws which he proposed. phanius, in the body of his work (Haeres. xlvi. ),
(J. Obseq. c. 114. )
and Theodoret (Haeret. Fabul. Compendium, lib. i.
2. L. TARQUINIUs, one of Catiline's conspirators, c. 20), call him “ the Syrian,” or “ a Syrian by
turned informer, and accused M. Crassus of being race ;” but Epiphanius, in another place (adv.
privy to the conspiracy. (Sall. Cut. 48. )
Haeres. Indicul. ad lib. i. vol. iii. ), followed by
TARQUI'TIA GENS, was of patrician rank, Joannes Damascenus (De Haeresib. apud Coteler.
and of great antiquity, but only one member Eccles. Graec. Monum. vol. i. p.
story is opposed to all other traditions, and should Fasti. Cicero (de Rep. ii. 20) and Strabo (v. p.
certainly be rejected.
231) relate that Tarquinius also subdued the Aequi;
3
## p. 977 (#993) ############################################
1
TARQUINIUS.
TARQUINIUS.
977
STEMMA TARQUINIORUM.
Demaratus of Corinth.
Aruna.
Lucumo, afterwards
L. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS.
Tarquinia,
m. Servius
Tullius.
Tarquinia,
m. M. Brutus
L. TARQUINIUS
SUPERBUS.
Aruns.
Egerius,
commander of
Collatia.
Titus,
Sextus.
Aruns.
1
M. Brutus,
put to death
by Tarquinius.
L. Brutus,
the Consul.
Tarquinius
Collatinus,
m. Lucretia.
but this war is not mentioned by Dionysius, and Tarquinius had reigned thirty-eight years, when
is referred by Livy (i. 55) to Tarquinius Superbus. he was assassinated by the contrivance of the song
Although the wars of Tarquinius were of great of Ancus Marcius. They had long wished to take
celebrity, the important works which he executed vengeance upon him on account of their being de-
in peace have made his name still more famous. prived of the throne, and now fearing lest he should
Many of these works are ascribed in some stories secure the succession to his son-in-law Servius Tul-
to the second Tarquinius, but almost all traditions lius, they hired two countrymen, who, feigning to
agree in assigning to the elder Tarquinius the erec- have a quarrel, came before the king to have their
tion of the vast sewers by which the lower parts of dispute decided ; and while he was listening to the
the city were drained, and which still remain, with complaint of one, the other gave him a deadly wound
not a stone displaced, to bear witness to his power with his axe. But the sons of Marcius did not se-
and wealth. (See Dict. of Antiq. art. Cloaca. ) The cure the reward of their crime, for Servius Tullius,
quay by which the Tiber is banked, and through with the assistance of Tanaquil, succeeded to the
which the sewer opens into it, must clearly have vacant throne. Tarquinius left two sons and two
been executed at the same time, and may therefore daughters. His two sons, L. Tarquinius and Aruns,
be safely ascribed to the elder Tarquinius. were subsequently married to the two daughters of
The same king is also said in some traditions to Servius Tullius. One of his daughters was mar-
have laid out the Circus Maximus in the valley ried to Servius Tullius, and the other to M. Brutus,
which had been redeemed from water by the by whom sbe became the mother of the celebrated
Bewers, and also to have instituted the Great or L. Brutus, the first consul at Rome. The princi-
Roman Games, which were henceforth performed pal authorities for the life of Tarquinius Priscus are
in the Circus. The Forum, with its porticoes and Livy (i. 34-41), Dionysius iii. 46—73, iv. 1),
rows of shops, was also his work, and he likewise and Cicero (de Rep. iii. 20. ).
began to surround the city with a stone wall, a The life of Servius Tullius is given under Tul-
work which was finished by his successor Servius LIUS. There it is related how he was murdered,
Tullius. The building of the Capitoline temple is after a reign of forty-four years, by bis son-in-law,
moreover attributed to the elder Tarquinius, though L. Tarquinius, who had been urged on by his
most traditions ascribe this work to his son, and wicked wife to commit the dreadful deed. The
only the vow to the father.
Roman writers represent the younger Tarquinius
Tarquinius also made some changes in the consti- as a cruel and tyrannical monarch, and the fact
tution of the state.
He added a hundred new of his being the last king of Rome has doubtless
members to the senate, who were called patres contributed not a little to blacken his character.
minorum gentium, to distinguish them from the old The estimation in which he was held by the Romans
senators, who were now called patres majorum is shown by his surname of Superbus.
gentium. He wished to add to the three centuries L. TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS commenced his reign
of equites established by Romulus three new cen- without any of the forms of election. He seized
turies, and to call them after himself and two of the kingdom as a recovered inheritance, and did
his friends. His plan was opposed by the augur not wait to be elected by the senate or the
Attus Navius, who gave a convincing proof that people, or to receive the imperium from the curiae.
the gods were opposed to his purpose. [Navius. ] One of the first acts of his reign was to abolish
Accordingly he gave up his design of establishing all the privileges which had been conferred upon
new centuries, but to each of the former centuries the plebeians by Servius, since the patricians
he associated another under the same name, so that had assisted him in obtaining the kingdom. He
henceforth there were the first and second Ramnes, forbade the meetings of the tribes, and repealed the
Tities, and Luceres. He increased the number of laws which had conferred civil equality upon the
Vestal Virgins from four to six.
plebeians, and which had abulished the right of
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VOL. III.
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978
TARQUINIUS.
TARQUINIUS.
was
1
Bcizing the person of a debtor. He also compelled him with the command of their troops, and when
the poor to work at miserable wages upon his mag- he had obtained the unlimited confidence of the
nificent buildings, and the hardships which they citizens, he sent a messenger to his father to in-
suffered were so great that many put an end to their quire how he should deliver the city into his hands.
lives. But he did not confine his oppressions to The king, who was walking in his garden when
the poor. All the senators and patricians whom the messenger arrived, made no reply, but kept
he mistrusted, or whose wealth he coveted, were striking off the heads of the tallest poppies with
put to death or driven into exile. The racant his stick. Sextus took the hint. He put to death
places in the senate were not filled up, and this or banished, on false charges, all the leading men
body was scarcely ever consulted by him. He of the place, and then had no difficulty in compel-
surrounded himself by a body-guard, by means of ling it to submit to his father.
which he was enabled to do what he liked. But, In the midst of his prosperity, Tarquini
although a tyrant at home, he raised the state to troubled by a strange portent. A serpent crawled
great influence and power among the surrounding out from the altar in the royal palace, and seized
nations, partly by his alliances and partly by his on the entrails of the victim. The king, in fear,
conquests. The gave his daughter in marriage to sent his two sons, Titus and Aruns, to consult the
Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, the most power- oracle at Delphi. They were accompanied by
ful of the Latin chieſs, and by his means he ac- their cousin, L. Junius Brutus. One of the sisters
quired great influence in Latium. Under his sway of Tarquinius had been married to M. Brutus, a
Rome became eventually the acknowledged head man of great wealth, who died, leaving two sons
of the Latin confederacy. According to Cicero (de under age. Of these the clder was killed by
Rep. ii. 24) he subdued the whole of Latium by Tarquinius, who coveted their possessions ; the
force of arms; but Livy and Dionysius represent younger escaped his brother's fate only by feigning
his supremacy as due to his alliances and intrigues. idiotcy. On arriving at Delphi, Brutus propitiated
Any Latin chiefs, like Turnus Herdonius, who at- the priestess with the gift of a golden stick en.
tempted to resist him, were treated as traitors and closed in a hollow staff. After executing the king's
punished with death. At the solemn meeting of commission, Titus and Aruns asked the priestess
the Latins at the Alban Mount, Tarquinius sacri- who was to reign at Rome after their father. The
ficed the bull on behalf of all the allies, and distri- priestess replied, whichsoerer should first kiss his
buted the flesh to the people of the league. So mother. The princes agreed to keep the matter
complete was the union of the Romans and the secret from Sextus, who was at Rome, and to cast
Latins that the soldiers of the two nations were lots between themselves. Brutus, who better un-
not kept separate, but each maniple in the army derstood the meaning of the oracle, fell, as if by
was composed of both Romans and Latins. The chance, when they quitted the temple, and kissed
Hernici also became members of the league, but the earth, mother of them all. The fall of the
their troops were kept apart from the Roman le- king was also foreshadowed by other prodigies, and
gions.
it came to pass in the following way: -
Strengthened by this Latin alliance, and at the Tarquinius was besieging Ardea, a city of the
head of a formidable army, Tarquinius turned his Rutulians. The place could not be taken by force,
arms against the Volscians. He took the wealthy and the Roman army lay encamped beneath the
town of Suessa Pometia, with the spoils of which walls. Here as the king's sons, and their cousin,
he commenced the erection of the Capitol which Tarquinius Collatinus, the son of Egerius, were
his father had vowed ; but great as these were, feasting together, a dispute arose about the virtue
they were scarcely sufficient even for the founda- of their wives. As nothing was doing in the field,
tions of this magnificent edifice, and the people were they mounted their horses to visit their homes by
heavily taxed to complete the building. In digging surprize. They first went to Rome, where they sur-
for the foundations, a human bead was discovered prized the king's daughters at a splendid banquet.
beneath the earth, undecayed and trickling with They then hastened to Collatia, and there, though
and Etruscan soothsayers expounded the it was late in the night, they found Lucretia, the
prodigy as a sign that Rome was destined to be wife of Collatinus, spinning amid her handmaids.
come the head of the world. In the vaults of this The beauty and virtue of Lucretia had fired the
temple he deposited the Sibylline books, which the evil passions of Sextus. A few days he returned
king purchased from a sibyl or prophetess. She to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by
had offered to sell him nine books for three hundred Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. In the dead
pieces of gold. The king refused the offer with of night he entered the chamber with a drawn
Thereupon she went away, and burned sword; by threatening to lay a slave with his
three, and then demanded the same price for the throat cut beside her, whom he would pretend
six. The king still refused. She again went to have killed in order to avenge her husband's
away and burnt three more, and still demanded the honour, he forced her to yield to his wishes. As
same price for the remaining three. The king now soon as Sextus had departed, Lucretia sent for her
purchased the three books, and the sibyl disap- husband and father. Collatinus came, accompanied
peared.
by L. Brutus ; Lucretius, with P. Valerius, who
In order to secure his Volscian conquests, Tar- afterwards gained the surname of Publicola. They
quinius founded the colonies of Signia and Circeii. found her in an agony of sorrow. She told them
He was next engaged in a war with Gabii, one of what had happened, enjoined them to avenge her
the Latin cities, which refused to enter into the dishonour, and then stabbed herself to death.
league. Unable to take the city by force of arms, They all swore to avenge her. Brutus threw off
Tarquinius had recourse to stratagem. His son, his assumed stupidity, and placed himself at their
Sextus, pretending to be ill-treated by his father, head. They carried the corpse into the market-
and covered with the bloody marks of stripes, fled place of Collatia. There the people took up arms,
to Gabii. The infatuated inhabitants intrusted and resolved to renounce the Tarquins. A nuinber
;
blood ;
scorn.
## p. 979 (#995) ############################################
TARQUINIUS.
979
TARQUINIUS.
of young men attended the funeral procession to contest was decided by the battle of the lake Re-
Rome. Brutus, who was Tribunus Celerum, sum- gillus, which was long celebrated in song, and the
moned the people, and related the deed of shame. description of which in Livy resembles one of the
All classes were inflamed with the same indignation. battles in the Iliad. The Romans were com-
A decree was passed deposing the king, and banish- manded by the dictator, A. Postumius, and by his
ing him and his family from the city. Brutus lieutenant, T. Aebutius, the master of the knights;
now set out for the army at Ardea Tarquinius the Latins were headed by Tarquinius and Oc.
meantime had hastened to Rome, but found the tavius Mamilius. The struggle was fierce and
gates closed against him. Brutus was received bloody, but the Latins at length turned to flight.
with joy at Ardea ; and the army likewise re- Almost all the chiefs on either side fell in the
nounced their allegiance to the tyrant. Tarquinius, conflict, or were grievously wounded. Tarquinius
with his two sons, Titus and Aruns, took refuge at himself was wounded, but escaped with his life ;
Cnere in Etruria. Sextus repaired to Gabii, his own his son Sextus is said to have fallen in this
principality, where, according to Livy, he was battle, though, according to another tradition, as we
shortly after murdered by the friends of those whom have already seen, he is said to have been slain
he had put to death. Tarquinius reigned twenty-five by the inhabitants of Gabii. It was related in
years. His banishment was placed in the year of the old tradition, that the Romans gained this
the city 244, or 3. c. 510. (Liv. i. 49–60; battle by the assistance of the Dioscuri (Castor
Dionys. iv. 41-75; Cic. de Rep. ii. 24, 25. ) and Pollux), who were seen charging the Latina
The remainder of the story may be told with at the head of the Roman cavalry, and who after-
greater brevity. The history of the establish- wards carried to Rome the intelligence of the de-
ment of the republic and of the attempts of Tar- ſeat of the Latins. A temple was built in the
quinius to recover the sovereignty, has already forum on the spot where they appeared, and their
been related in detail in other articles. L. Brutus festival was celebrated yearly on the Ides of Quin-
and Tarquinius Collatinus were the first consuls ; tilis (the 15th of July), the day of the battle of
but the people so hated the very name and race of Regillus, on which all the knights passed in solemn
the dethroned king, that Collatinus was obliged to procession to their temple. According to Livy the
resign his office, and retire froin Rome. P. Vale battle of the lake Regillus was fought in B. c. 498,
rius was elected consul in his place. [COLLATI- but he says that some of the annals placed it in
NUR. ] Meantime ambassadors came to Rome from B. C. 496, in which year it is given by Dionysius
Tarquinii, to which city Tarquinius had removed (vi. 3) and in the Fasti Capitolini.
from Caere, demanding the restitution of his pri- The Latins were completely humbled by this
vate property. The demand seemed just to the victory. Tarquinius Superbus bad no other state
senate and the people ; but while the ambassadors to whom he could apply for assistance. He had
were making preparation for carrying away the already survived all his family, and he now fled
property, they found means to organize a conspi- to Aristobulus at Cumae, where he died a wretched
racy among the young Roman nobles for the restor- and childless old man. (Liv. ii. 1—21 ; Dionys.
ation of the royal family.
The plot was discovered v. 1-vi. 21. )
by means of a slave, and the consul Brutus ordered In the preceding account we have attempted to
the execution of bis two sons, who were parties to give the story of the Tarquins as nearly as possible
the plot. The agreement to give up the property in the words of the ancient writers. But it is
was made void by this attempt at treason. The hardly necessary to remark in the present day that
royal goods were abandoned to the people to plun- this story cannot be received as a real history, or
der, and their landed estates were divided among to point out the numerous inconsistencies and
the poor, with the exception of the plain between impossibilities in the narrative. It may suffice as
the city and the river, which was reserved for a sample to remind the reader that the younger
public uses. This plain was consecrated to Mars, Tarquinius who was expelled from Rome in mature
and called the Campus Martius.
age, was the son of the king who ascended the
Tarquinius now endeavoured to recover the throne 107 years previously in the vigour of life ;
throne by force of arms. The people of Tarquinii and that Servius Tullius, who married the daughter
and Veii espoused his cause, and marched against of Tarquinius Priscus, shortly before he ascended
Rome. The two consuls advanced to meet them. the throne, immediately after his accession is the
A bloody battle was fought, in which Brutus and father of two daughters whom he marries to the
Aruns, the son of Tarquinius, slew each other. brothers of his own wife. It would be a fruitless
Both parties claimed the victory, till a voice was task to endeavour to ascertain the real history of
heard in the dead of night, proclaiming that the the later Roman monarchy ; for although the legend
Romans had conquered, as the Etruscans had lost has doubtless preserved some facts, yet we have no
Alarmed at this, the Etruscans criteria to determine the true from the false. The
fled, and Valerius, the surviving consul, entered story of the Tarquins has evidently been drawn
Rome in triumph.
from the works of several popular poets, and there
Tarquinius next repaired to Lars Porsena, the can be little doubt that one at least of the writers
powerful king of Clusium, who likewise espoused must have become acquainted with Greek literature
his cause, and marched against Rome at the head from the Greek colonies in southern Italy. The
of a vast army. The history of this memorable stratagem by which Tarquinius obtained possession
expedition, which was long preserved in the Ro- of Gabii is obviously taken from a tale in Herodotus
man lays, is related under PORSENA.
(iii. 154), and similar cases might easily be multi-
After Porsena quitted Rome, Tarquinius took plied. Hence we may account for the Greek origin
refuge with his son-in-law, Mamilius Octavius of of the Tarquins. There is, however, one fact in the
Tusculum. Under the guidance of the latter, the common tale which it is impossible to disbelieve,
Latin states espoused the cause of the exiled king, although it has been questioned by Niebuhr, we
and eventually declared war against Rome. The mean the Etruscan origin of the Tarquins. Niebuhr
one man more.
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980
TARQUITIA.
TATIANUS
TAAQYITIU
attempts to establish the Latin origin of Tarquinius republic, can scarcely be regarded as members of
by several considerations. He remarks that we the patrician gens.
read of a Tarquinia gens; that the surname Priscus TARQUI'TIUS. 1. A Roman writer, who
of the elder Tarquinius was a regular Latin surname, translated from the Etruscan a work entitled Os-
which occurs in the family of the Servilii and many tentarium Tuscum. (Plin. H. N. in Catal. Auctor.
others; and lastly, that the wife of the elder Tar- | lib. ii. ; Macrob. Sat. iii. 7 ; Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. iv.
quinius was called in one tradition, not Tanaquil, 43; Festus, p. 274, ed. Müller ; Müller, Etrusker,
but Caia Caecilin, a name which may be traced to vol. ii. p. 36. )
Caeculus, the mythic founder of Praeneste. These 2. L. TARQUITIUS, mentioned by Cicero in B. C.
arguments, however, have not much weight, and 50. (Cic. ad Atl. vi. 8. § 4. )
certainly are insufficient to refute the universally 3. Q. TARQUITIUS, occurs only on coins, of
received belief of antiquity in the Etruscan origin which a specimen is annexed. The obverse repre-
of the Tarquins, which is, moreover, confirmed by sents a woman's bead with C. ANNIVS, and the
the great architectural works undertaken in the reverse Victory in a biga, with Q. TARQUITI. А
time of the last Roman kings, works to which no similar coin is figured in Vol. I. p. 180, with the
Sabine or Latin town could lay claim, and which name of L. Fabius on the obverse ; and Eckhel
at that time could have been accomplished by the supposes that Q. Tarquitius and L. Fabius were
Etruscans alone. Moreover the tradition which the quaestors of C. Annius, who fought in Spain
connects Tarquinius with the Luceres, the third against Sertorius in B. c. 82. (Eckhel, vol. v. pp.
ancient Roman tribe, again points to Etruria ; for 134, 322. )
although Niebulir looks upon the Luceres as Latins,
most subsequent scholars have with far more pro-
bability supposed the third tribe to have been of
Etruscan origin. (Comp. Becker, Handbuch der
Römischen Alterthümer, vol. ii. part i. p. 30. ) The
statement of Dionysius that Tarquinius Priscus
conquered the whole of Etruria, and was acknow-
ledged by the twelve Etruscan cities as their ruler,
to whom they paid homage, must certainly be
rejected, when we recollect the small extent of the
COIN OF Q. TARQUITIUS,
Roman dominions under the preceding king, and
the great power and extensive territory of the TARQUI'TIUS PRISCUS. [PRISCUS. )
Etruscans at that time. It is far more probable TARRUNTE'NUS PATERNUS. (PATER-
that Rome was conquered by the Etruscans, and Nus. ]
that the epoch of the Tarquins represents an
TARTARUS (Táptapos), a son of Aether and
Etruscan rule at Rome. This is the opinion of Ge, and by his mother Ge the father of the Gi-
K. O. Müller. He supposes that the town of gantes, Typhoeus and Echidna. (Hygin. Praef.
Tarquinii was at this time at the head of Etruria, p. 3, &c. , Fab. 152 ; Hes. Theog. 821 ; Apollod.
and that the twelve Etruscan cities did homage to i. 1. & 2. ) In the Iliad Tartarus is a place far below
the ruler of Tarquinii. He further supposes that the earth, as far below Hades as Heaven is above
Rome as well as a part of Latium acknowledged the earth, and closed by iron gates. (Hom. II. viii.
the supremacy of Tarquinii ; and that as Rome 13, &c. , 481 ; comp. Hes. Theog. 807. ) Later
was the most important of the possessions of Tar- poets describe Tartarus as the place in the lower
quinii towards the south, it was fortified and world in which the spirits of wicked men are
enlarged, and thus became a great and flourishing punished for their crimes, and sometimes they use
city. Many Tarquinian nobles would naturally the name as synonymous with Hades or the lower
take up their abode at Rome, and one of them world in general ; and pater Tartarus is used for
might have been entrusted by Tarquinii with the Pluto. (Val. Flacc. iv. 258. )
[L. S. )
government of the city. Müller however thinks TARU'TIUS FIRMIA'NUS. [FIRMIANUS. ]
that L. Tarquinius is not the real name of the TASGE'TIUS, was of a noble family among
Etruscan ruler, but that Lucius is the Latinized the Camutes, and was made king of his people by
form of Lucumo, and that Tarquinius merely Caesar, but was assassinated in the third year of
indicates his origin from Tarquinii. According to his reign. (Caes. B. G. v. 25).
Müller the banishment of the Tarquins was not an TASIACES. [SABACES. ]
isolated event confined to Rome, but was connected TATIANUS (Tatiavós), a Christian writer of
with the fall of the city of Tarquinii, which lost at the second century, was born, according to his own
that time its supremacy over the other Etruscan statement (Orat. ad Graccos, sub fin. ) in Assyria,
cities. (Müller, Etrusker, vol. i. p. 118, &c. ) and was educated in the religion and philosophy of
TARQUI'NIUS. ! . P. TARQUINIUS, tribune the Greeks. (ibid. ) Clement of Alexandria (Strom.
of the plebs with Livius Drusus, B. C. 91, sup- lib. iii. c. xii. Ø 81, ed Klotz. Lips. 1831), Epi-
ported the latter in the laws which he proposed. phanius, in the body of his work (Haeres. xlvi. ),
(J. Obseq. c. 114. )
and Theodoret (Haeret. Fabul. Compendium, lib. i.
2. L. TARQUINIUs, one of Catiline's conspirators, c. 20), call him “ the Syrian,” or “ a Syrian by
turned informer, and accused M. Crassus of being race ;” but Epiphanius, in another place (adv.
privy to the conspiracy. (Sall. Cut. 48. )
Haeres. Indicul. ad lib. i. vol. iii. ), followed by
TARQUI'TIA GENS, was of patrician rank, Joannes Damascenus (De Haeresib. apud Coteler.
and of great antiquity, but only one member Eccles. Graec. Monum. vol. i. p.
