e, and allowed him to vote in whatever tribe he chose to
be enrolled. The other freedmen were not allowed the suffrage till, long
after, it was given them by Appius to obtain popularity among them. The
whole ceremony is up to the present day called _vindicta_, after
Vindicius, we are told.

VIII. After this they allowed the king's property to be plundered, and
destroyed the palace. Tarquinius had obtained the pleasantest part of
the Field of Mars, and had consecrated it to that god. This field had
just been cut, and the corn lay on the ground, for the people thought
that they must not thresh it or make any use of it, because of the
ground being consecrated, so they took the sheaves and threw them into
the river. In the same way they cut down the trees and threw them in,
leaving the whole place for the god, but uncultivated and unfruitful.
As there were many things of different sorts all floating together in
the river, the current did not carry them far, but when the first masses
settled on a shallow place, the rest which were carried down upon them
could not get past, but became heaped up there, and the stream compacted
them securely by the mud which it deposited upon them, not only
increasing the size of the whole mass, but firmly cementing it together.
The waves did not shake it, but gently beat it into a solid consistency.
Now, from its size, it began to receive additions, as most of what the
river brought down settled upon it. It is now a sacred island close by
the city, with temples and walks, and in the Latin tongue it has a name
which means "between two bridges." Some state that this did not happen
when Tarquinia's field was consecrated, but in later times when
Tarquinia gave up another field next to that one, for the public use.
This Tarquinia was a priestess, one of the Vestal virgins, and she was
greatly honoured for having done so, and was allowed to appear as a
witness in court, which no other woman could do; she also was permitted
to marry, by a decree of the senate, but did not avail herself of it.
These are the legends which they tell about this island.

IX. Tarquin now gave up all hopes of recovering his throne by intrigue,
and appealed to the Etruscans, who willingly espoused his cause and
endeavoured to restore him with a great army. The consuls led out the
Romans to fight against them, posting them in holy places one of which
is called the Arsian grove, and another the Aesuvian meadow. When they
were