TARQUINIUS PRISCUS, LUCIUS, fifth legendary king of Rome (616-578 He is represented as the son of a Greek refugee, who removed from Tarquinii in Etruria to Rome, by the advice of his wife, the prophetess Tanaquil. Appointed guard ian to the sons of Ancus Marcius, he supplanted them on their father's death. He laid out the Circus Maximus, instituted the "great" games, built the great sewers (cloacae), and began the construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. He carried on war successfully against the Sabines and subjugated Latium. He is said to have raised the number of the senators to 300, and to have doubled the number of the knights.
The introduction of many of the insignia of war and of civil office is assigned to his reign, and he was the first to celebrate a Roman triumph, after the Etruscan fashion, in a robe of purple and gold, and borne on a chariot drawn by four horses. He was assassinated at the instigation of the sons of Ancus The legend of Tarquinius Priscus is in the main a reproduction of those of Romulus and Tullus Hostilius. There seems to have
been originally only one Tarquinius ; later, when a connected story of the legendary period was constructed, two (distinguished as the "Elder" and the "Proud") were introduced, separated by the reign of Servius Tullius, and the name of both was connected with the same events.