num, and what
measures did he pursue?

2. In what light did his enemies consider his institutions? With what
success did they oppose him?

3. What were the other acts of Ancus? How many years did he reign?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] First an ambassador was sent to demand satisfaction for the
alleged injury; if this were not granted within thirty-three days,
heralds were appointed to proclaim the war in the name of the gods and
people of Rome. At the conclusion of their speech, they threw their
javelins into the enemy's confines, and departed.

* * * * *

CHAPTER VI.

FROM THE DEATH OF ANCUS MARTIUS, TO THE DEATH OF TARQUINIUS PRISCUS
THE FIFTH KING OF ROME.--U.C. 130.

The first of Tarquin's hapless race was he,
Who odium tried to cast on augury;
But Naevius Accius, with an augur's skill.
Preserved its fame, and raised it higher still.--_Robertson_.

1. Lu'cius Tarquin'ius Pris'cus was appointed guardian to the sons of
the late king, and took the surname of Tarquin'ius from the city of
_Tarquin'ia_, whence he last came. His father was a merchant of
Corinth,[1] who had acquired considerable wealth by trade, and had
settled in Italy, upon account of some troubles at home. His son, who
inherited his fortune, married a woman of family in the city of
Tarquin'ia.

2. His birth, profession, and country, being contemptible to the
nobles of the place, he, by his wife's persuasion, came to settle at
Rome, where merit also gave a title to distinction. On his way
thither, say the historians, as he approached the city gate, an eagle,
stooping from above, took off his hat, and flying round his chariot
for some time, with much noise, put it on again. This his wife
Tan'aquil, who it seems was skilled in augury, interpreted as a
presage that he should one day wear the crown. Perhaps it was this
which first fired his ambition to pursue it.

3. Ancus being dead, and the kingdom, as usual, devolving upon the
senate, Tarquin used all his power and arts to set aside the children
of the late king, and to get himself elected in their stead. For this
purpose, upon the day appointed for election, he contrived to have
them sent out of the city; and in a set speech, in which he urged his
friendship for the people, the fortune he had spent among them, and
his knowledge of their government, he offered himself for their king.
As there was nothing in this harangue that could be contested, it had
the