the palace.
But the sons of Ancus had forgotten that Tanaquil was left to thwart their plans.
No sooner was the king slain, than she ordered the doors of the palace to be closed. Then, when the people heard it rumoured that the king was dead and rushed to the palace, Tanaquil opened an upper window and spoke to the crowds below.
"The king is but wounded," she told them, "he is not dead. He has commanded that you should obey Servius until he is again able to rule." But all the while Tarquinius lay in the palace, dead.
But the people, loyal, as they thought, to the wishes of their king, allowed Servius to rule. And the sons of Ancus knew that they had killed the king in vain.
A few days later it was known that the king was really dead; yet, although neither the Senate nor the people had chosen Servius to be king, he continued to sit upon the throne and to rule over Rome. Moreover, he was wise enough to try to win the hearts of the people by promising to give them land and to rule justly.
So well did he perform his royal duties, that when he called together an assembly of the people he was at once elected king.
CHAPTER XVII
The Cruel Deed of Tullia
S ERVIUS T ULLIUS began to reign in 578 B . C . Like Pompilius and Ancus, he loved peace, and fought against none, save only the Etruscans.
With the Latins he made a treaty, after which the two tribes built a temple to Diana on the Aventine hill, and here every year sacrifices were offered for Rome and for Latium.
The city which Romulus had built on the Palatine had long ago become too small for the Romans. Little by little, cities had grown up on the neighbouring hills, and now Servius was able to enclose all the seven hills of Rome within the city, building around her a great wall of stone. This wall was called after the king the "Servian Wall," and so strongly was it built that it was still standing in the days of Augustus. Beyond the wall a deep moat was then dug, a hundred feet in breadth.
Having thus strengthened the city, Servius divided it into four regions, while the people were arranged in numerous tribes.
Should a citizen be wanted to appear before the king or the Senate, it was then an easy task to find the tribe to which he belonged and the region in which he dwelt.
Servius also made a law which pleased the Romans well, called an ordinance of the king.
This ordinance forbade the nobles to oppress the poor. It also decreed that, however lowly the birth of a Roman citizen, if he became rich he might hold positions of power in the State. This encouraged the poor man to be industrious, for if he could but gain wealth there was no ambition which he might not be able to satisfy.
But while the ordinance pleased the common people, it displeased the nobles, who had no wish to see the plebeians raised to positions which until now had been sacred to them and to their sons. They bore Servius no good will for passing this new law.
Trouble, too, was threatening the king through his two daughters, both of whom, as the Roman custom was, were named Tullia.
But although their names were the same, their natures were as different as summer is different from winter.
Tullia, the elder, was wicked and ambitious; Tullia, the younger, good and gentle.
Servius determined to marry his daughters to the sons of King Tarquinius, whose kindness had placed him on the throne.
The princes, as the princesses, were of strangely different natures. Lucius was proud, his temper violent; while Aruns was humble and good-natured.
Now the king thought that if the gentle Tullia married Lucius, he would become a better man; while he hoped that if his ambitious daughter married Aruns she would learn from him the grace of humility.
But Servius made a great mistake when he married his daughters. For before long Lucius hated his quiet wife, and killed both her and his brother Aruns, so that he and Tullia the elder might be free to marry each other.
No sooner had Lucius Tarquinius married Tullia,
But the sons of Ancus had forgotten that Tanaquil was left to thwart their plans.
No sooner was the king slain, than she ordered the doors of the palace to be closed. Then, when the people heard it rumoured that the king was dead and rushed to the palace, Tanaquil opened an upper window and spoke to the crowds below.
"The king is but wounded," she told them, "he is not dead. He has commanded that you should obey Servius until he is again able to rule." But all the while Tarquinius lay in the palace, dead.
But the people, loyal, as they thought, to the wishes of their king, allowed Servius to rule. And the sons of Ancus knew that they had killed the king in vain.
A few days later it was known that the king was really dead; yet, although neither the Senate nor the people had chosen Servius to be king, he continued to sit upon the throne and to rule over Rome. Moreover, he was wise enough to try to win the hearts of the people by promising to give them land and to rule justly.
So well did he perform his royal duties, that when he called together an assembly of the people he was at once elected king.
CHAPTER XVII
The Cruel Deed of Tullia
S ERVIUS T ULLIUS began to reign in 578 B . C . Like Pompilius and Ancus, he loved peace, and fought against none, save only the Etruscans.
With the Latins he made a treaty, after which the two tribes built a temple to Diana on the Aventine hill, and here every year sacrifices were offered for Rome and for Latium.
The city which Romulus had built on the Palatine had long ago become too small for the Romans. Little by little, cities had grown up on the neighbouring hills, and now Servius was able to enclose all the seven hills of Rome within the city, building around her a great wall of stone. This wall was called after the king the "Servian Wall," and so strongly was it built that it was still standing in the days of Augustus. Beyond the wall a deep moat was then dug, a hundred feet in breadth.
Having thus strengthened the city, Servius divided it into four regions, while the people were arranged in numerous tribes.
Should a citizen be wanted to appear before the king or the Senate, it was then an easy task to find the tribe to which he belonged and the region in which he dwelt.
Servius also made a law which pleased the Romans well, called an ordinance of the king.
This ordinance forbade the nobles to oppress the poor. It also decreed that, however lowly the birth of a Roman citizen, if he became rich he might hold positions of power in the State. This encouraged the poor man to be industrious, for if he could but gain wealth there was no ambition which he might not be able to satisfy.
But while the ordinance pleased the common people, it displeased the nobles, who had no wish to see the plebeians raised to positions which until now had been sacred to them and to their sons. They bore Servius no good will for passing this new law.
Trouble, too, was threatening the king through his two daughters, both of whom, as the Roman custom was, were named Tullia.
But although their names were the same, their natures were as different as summer is different from winter.
Tullia, the elder, was wicked and ambitious; Tullia, the younger, good and gentle.
Servius determined to marry his daughters to the sons of King Tarquinius, whose kindness had placed him on the throne.
The princes, as the princesses, were of strangely different natures. Lucius was proud, his temper violent; while Aruns was humble and good-natured.
Now the king thought that if the gentle Tullia married Lucius, he would become a better man; while he hoped that if his ambitious daughter married Aruns she would learn from him the grace of humility.
But Servius made a great mistake when he married his daughters. For before long Lucius hated his quiet wife, and killed both her and his brother Aruns, so that he and Tullia the elder might be free to marry each other.
No sooner had Lucius Tarquinius married Tullia,
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