TARQUIN'IUS. The family name of two kings of Rome, with whose history, or rather with the legends regarding whom, the fortunes of the city are closely interwoven. Demaratus, a Co rinthian noble, emigrated front Greece, and set tled at Tarquinii, in Etruria, where he married an Etruscan wife. A son, Lucumo, married into a noble Etruscan family. and emigrated to Rome, where lie was hospitably received and soon after admitted to the rights of citizenship. He took the name of Lucius Tarquinius, or, according to Livy, L. Tarquinius Priscus. The Roman mon arch, Ancus Alarcius, appointed him guardian of his children ; and on the death of the King (n.c. 616), the senate and the citizens unanimously elected Tarquinius to the vacant throne. 'His reign was a glorious one. Ile waged successful wars, forcing the whole of the twelve sovereign cities of Etruria to recognize his supremacy and do him homage. To him, also, are ascribed the construc tion of the magnificent cloaca', or sewers, the laying out of the Circus Maximus, and the build ing of shops ( tabcrna? vetcrcs) on the Forum; the institution of the Great or Roman Games; and the foundation of the Capitoline temple. Tar quinius was assassinated after a reign of thirty eight years (n.c. 578) at the instigation of the sons of Aneus tlarcius, who considered them selves as best entitled to the throne. But their crime did not avail them, for Servius Tullius, his nephew, was elected to the vacant throne. —LUCIUS TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS, son of Lucius Tarquinius, having murdered his father-in-law, Servius Tullius, is represented in the legend as audaciously usurping the vacant throne (n.c. 534) ; but as the whole drift of his legislative policy was to abolish the reforms of Servius, there can be little doubt that the real sig nificance of this part of his career lies in the fact that it indicates a successful reaction, on the side of the patricians, against the more liberal and progressive policy of the preceding age. That the younger Tarquinius, at least, is an historical character, seems to be pretty gen erally allowed. As far as we can gather from the
ancient annals, the usurpation of Tarquinius was probably achieved by the help of an enterprising section of the nobles, who clung tenaciously to their privileges, and could not endure the consti tutional recognition of the plebs. By means of subtle and unscrupulous intrigues he obtained or consolidated the Roman hegemony in Latium; offered sacrifice in the name of all the Latins at the Alban Mount; fused the contingents of the Latins with the Roman legion; put to death as traitors such of their chiefs as opposed hint; and, at the head of the combined forces, suc cessfully attacked the Volseians. On his return he completed the building of the temple of .Jupiter Capitolinus, which the elder Tarquinius had begun, and deposited in the rants the Sibylline hooks he had curiously acquired. (See Sum...) But his lavish expenditure both in war and peace necessitated the imposition of heavy taxes, and the patience both of plebs and patri cians was beginning to give way. During a war against the Rutuli Tarquinius laid siege to the town of Ardea. Here in the Roman camp oc curred the famous dispute between Sextus Tar quinius, the son of the King, and Collatinus, about the virtues of their respective wives, which led to the rape of Lucretia (q.v.). L. Junius Brutus (q.v.) carried the news of the outrage to Rome and called upon the people to rise against the tyrant, who was deposed by the senate; finally, the army before Ardea revolted. Tarquinius and his sons were obliged to flee, and an aristocratic republic was constituted at Rome (n.c. 509). Three different attempts were made to restore Tarquinius by force: first, by his own Etruscan kinsmen of Tarquinii ; second, by Lars Porsena (q.v.) of Clusium; and third, by his son-in-law, Octavius llaini1ius. All these, ac cording to the legend, failed; and at length Tar quinius, utterly baffled and beaten, retired to (111111T, where he died.